Season Preview - Al Jefferson

We continue our in-depth season previews with all you need to know about Al Jefferson.

Scroll down for: Jefferson's Bio; Jefferson's Numbers; Coach J.B. Bickerstaff's analysis; Timberwolves.com analysis and Jefferson's Five Facts.

JEFFERSON'S BIO
This kid can play basketball. Arguably the key component in the Kevin Garnett trade, Jefferson exploded onto the NBA scene in his third year out of high school, putting up 16.0 ppg, 11.0 rpg and 1.54 bpg for Boston last year. Jefferson notched 38 double-doubles by dominating the paint with his wide array of low-post moves and aggression on the glass.

After starring at Mississippi's Prentiss H.S. as a Parade All-American, Jefferson was the 15th overall pick in the 2004 draft. He put up decent numbers in his first two seasons, but truly dedicated himself for the first time following his second year, resulting in the dramatic rise in his play and his numbers in year three.

Jefferson loves kids and has offered assistance to children from Hurricane Katrina in his home state of Mississippi, in addition to giving school supplies to kids from the I-35W tragedy. His favorite actor is Eddie Murphy and his favorite player growing up was Shaquille O'Neal.

JEFFERSON'S NUMBERS

Season	G	FGM-A	Pct.	FTM-A	Pct.	Reb	Ast	Pts	Blk
2005-06	59	189-379	.499	86-134	.642	5.1	0.5	7.9	0.8
2006-07	69	453-882	.514	201-295	.681	11.0	1.3	16.0	1.5
Career	199	837-1630	.513	372-564	.681	6.9	0.7	10.3	1.0

COACH J.B. BICKERSTAFF SAYS...
"He's your post threat. You have to get him the ball on the block and let him go to work. He also does a great job of rebounding the basketball. He's great on the offensive glass, he's really good defensively, and he is a double-double guy when he rolls out of bed in the morning. I think he has to continue to grow and figure out different ways to get that double-double, but his strength is being down in that paint doing the dirty work."

TIMBERWOLVES.COM SAYS...
If you've been reading our site, we've been saying the same thing about Al since acquiring him: Almost all great teams are built around a true low-post talent. To break it down most simply, the reason low-post scorers are so crucial to a team is that they demand a double-team. Jefferson literally demands a double-team each time he catches down low, and that's where he wants to catch it. A lot of teams doubled KG when he was down on the block, but that wasn't very often at all. Now, once that defense collapses, it changes the whole basketball game. Plus, it doesn't hurt that Big Al eats rebounds for breakfast, gets boards for a snack before lunch, gorges basketballs at his midday meal and finishes his day by cleaning the glass.

JEFFERSON'S FIVE FACTS
1) As a senior, Big Al was a 2004 McDonald's All-American selection, and was a finalist for several H.S. player of the year awards after he averaged 43 points, 18 rebounds and seven blocks per game.
2) Jefferson signed a letter of intent to play at Arkansas before declaring for the NBA Draft.
3) He became the first player drafted by Boston out of high school (Kendrick Perkins was drafted by Memphis and subsequently traded).
4) Jefferson grew up near Wolves teammates Gerald Green, and the two were on the same AAU circuit.
5) In the off-season prior to the 2006-2007 season, Jefferson hired a personal chef and lost about 30 pounds.

COMING SOON: MARK MADSEN