Hornets center Al Jefferson: I’m ‘sick’ of being defensive liability

Charlotte Hornets center Al Jefferson feels a bit insulted this preseason, and coach Steve Clifford is good with that.

Jefferson and Clifford talked before the start of training camp about Jefferson’s goals. Jefferson said he’s sick of opposing teams targeting his pick-and-roll defense, and he has to do something about that.

“I refuse to continue getting picked on at the end of games. It’s not fun,” Jefferson said following morning practice Wednesday at UNC Asheville. “Last year at the end of games teams always put me in high pick-and-rolls. I got sick of them thinking that was to their advantage, and it was to their advantage.”

The Hornets are no more paying Jefferson for his defense than they pay Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to be a jump shooter. But this isn’t baseball, where Jefferson could be a designated hitter and avoid playing defense. His gift is low-post scoring – he averaged 21.8 points per game last season – and he’s no longer willing to accept being a liability at the defensive end.

Clifford found it appealing that Jefferson brought up the subject of his defensive flaws, rather than the coaches having to raise the issue.

“He’s working hard. His attitude is great. I sense more of a hunger than any kind of complacency,” Clifford said. “He sees what the possibilities are for the group. He’s competitive and wants to win.”

That word “complacency” comes up often in Clifford’s public statements. He likes the Hornets’ approach this preseason, but he’s always wary of any player becoming satisfied too easily.

“Every year you have to take each player’s temperature,” Clifford said. “Regardless of what your profession is, it’s just human nature. It’s hard to keep yourself at this level. These guys are no different.”

Jefferson could get away with being satisfied after earning third-team All-NBA honors last season. But the way it worked out in the playoffs, with Jefferson hobbled by a torn plantar fascia in his left foot and the then-Bobcats being swept by the Miami Heat, created an edge to the offseason.

“We all left with a bad taste in our mouths,” Jefferson said. “I feel like without that injury we would have won a couple of (playoff) games and had a chance to win the series. If we’d won Game 2, we would have come back to Charlotte tied 1-1 and who knows what might have happened.”

Jefferson’s pain was so severe that Clifford finally sat him for Game 4.

“Coach and everyone was telling me to sit out,” Jefferson said. “We knew that was the beginning of the end, that this was a wrap.”

Things went back on the upswing over the summer when the Hornets signed free agents Lance Stephenson, Marvin Williams and Brian Roberts. Jefferson was elated to get the help, which might reduce the number of double-teams sent his way this season.

“The front office and MJ (owner Michael Jordan), they did their job. They got the weapons we need and now we’ve got to put it all together,” Jefferson said. “We’ve got the best coach in the world to help us do it.”

Jefferson can keep that coach happy by improving defensively.

“There’s a reason (teams pick on his defense) – I’d pick on me too,” Jefferson said. “So I want to take the challenge to get better at that so it’s not an option they always go to. And they do go to it, so I’m culpable.”

This story was originally published October 1, 2014 at 4:53 PM with the headline "Hornets center Al Jefferson: I’m ‘sick’ of being defensive liability."