USA TODAY
Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sam Amick
Al Jefferson and the Bobcats' commitment to defense have helped key a turnaround
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USATODAY
Charlotte Bobcats center Al Jefferson learned early on in this NBA life that learning the basketball basics late was far better than never learning them at all.

Case in point? His rookie season with the Boston Celtics, when his coach at the time, Doc Rivers, gave the brutish big man DVD homework to study of a Hall of Famer who Jefferson – shockingly enough – had never heard of: the one and only Moses Malone.

"At that time (2004), I really didn't know who Moses Malone was coming out of (Prentiss) Mississippi," said Jefferson, who was the Celtics' 15th pick in the first round that year. "I watched that DVD, and was like, 'Wow.'

"Just to be able to have my game now represent the old-school game back in the day that at one point in time the world was used to and loved? I'm thankful."

Fast forward to this season, his 10th in the league and his first since signing a three-year, $40.5 million deal with Charlotte last summer, and Jefferson is enjoying yet another late lesson that has helped the Bobcats improve by 10 games thus far and play their way into playoff position just two seasons after they set a new league record for worst winning percentage: the importance of defense. With first-year coach Steve Clifford the mastermind behind the turnaround and one of Jefferson's boyhood idols, Patrick Ewing, his associate head coach, the Bobcats (22-29) are ranked sixth in the league in defensive rating this season (101 points allowed per 100 possessions) after being dead last in 2012-13 (108.9).

This is new territory for Jefferson, who had never been a regular starter on a team that was ranked any higher than 17th in defensive rating (the 2006-07 Celtics). And that, by comparison, was a good year on the defensive end in Jefferson's world. Jefferson's Minnesota Timberwolves teams (2007-10) never ranked higher than 27th and his Utah Jazz teams (2010-13) never ranked higher than 21st.

Now, though, he's a pivotal part of this group that has made defense its calling card. He knew that was the plan when he met with Clifford back in July, and when people he trusts explained how Clifford's NBA upbringing which came under the Van Gundy brothers as an assistant meant he knew both how to teach defense and how to make the most of good big men (see Dwight Howard, Ewing et al). Add in the fact that much of Jefferson's daily instruction now is coming directly from a living legend who – in stark contrast to the Malone situation – needed no introduction in Ewing, and it's safe to say this has been the most gratifying of seasons.

"Patrick, he told me the first day I met him that he knew I was a great offensive player, but that I've got to be motivated to become a better defensive player because that's the way we're going to win," said Jefferson, the 29-year-old who cited Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O'Neal as his other big-man favorites growing up. "When you've got a Hall of Famer telling you that, there's no excuse. You've got to do it. When he can believe in you, it makes it that much easier to believe in yourself. It's been amazing to have him around."

All in all, Jefferson – All-Star snub be darned – is quieting the many critics who questioned the Bobcats' decision to bring him aboard last summer. He remains a rare breed of offensive player, a dominant post presence whose scoring production (20 points per game) and rebounding (10.6) are at their highest since his 2008-09 campaign with the T-Wolves. In this day and age when centers have been stricken from the All-Star ballot and the Miami Heat have won back-to-back titles with a perimeter-oriented attack, Jefferson relishes his role as a relic.

"The league has changed so much," he said. "It's more of run and gun, big men shooting jumpers and threes, so for me to still have that – guys like me, (the Sacramento Kings') DeMarcus Cousins, (the San Antonio Spurs') Tim Duncan – to still have that low-post presence game, where you demand a double-team and are a mismatch, I just think that's something that a lot of people don't have. It makes you very unique. I'm very proud of that."

He'd love to be able to take pride in a playoff appearance, too, as Jefferson has played in the postseason twice in his career (first round defeats in Boston in 2004-05 and Utah in 2011-12). Defense, as he has been so eager to learn, is the way to make it happen.

"When I first met (Clifford) when I signed here, he said, 'We're going to have to be a defensive team, and it's going to have to start with you,'" Jefferson said. "I wanted to take the challenge. I know I still have a ways to go with it, but every time I talk to him he says I'm getting better on that end. And that makes me feel good. I want to be a complete player. I don't want to only be known for offense. I know that for us to make it in the playoffs, and to go deep in the playoffs, we're going to have to be a balanced team."