duncan228
04-19-2010, 09:54 PM
Jefferson Has Yet to Pay Off for Spurs (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/sports/basketball/20spurs.html)
By Jonathan Abrams
The New York Times
Shortly before his playoff debut with the San Antonio Spurs, Richard Jefferson discussed his newfound serenity after a bumpy introduction to Spurs basketball. A critical factor, he said, was Coach Gregg Popovich’s recent decision to allow him to play the entire first quarter.
As has been the case most of Jefferson’s first year with the Spurs, the decision did not go as planned in Game 1 on Sunday against the Dallas Mavericks. Jefferson’s two quick fouls forced him to the sideline two minutes into the game. He did not find the continuity he desired in his game, finishing with 4 points in 32 minutes during San Antonio’s 100-94 loss to the Mavericks.
“I think we’ve got to have a few more people step up and play worth a damn,” Popovich lamented. “I thought we had a lot of guys that played like dogs.”
Popovich did not single out Jefferson. His box score was a clear indictment.
“You give them all the credit, but there wasn’t too much positive,” Jefferson said.
Last summer, several N.B.A. teams, made significant acquisitions. The Cleveland Cavaliers traded for Shaquille O’Neal, the Boston Celtics signed Rasheed Wallace, the Orlando Magic landed Vince Carter and the Los Angeles Lakers brought in Ron Artest. The richest teams got richer, and the deals were expected to keep the league’s powers in their elite position.
But injuries, unfamiliarity with teammates, simple disregard or some other combination has made the assimilation process take longer than expected.
“They all had to adjust, especially Jefferson and Artest going from second or third options in the years they just played recently to being a fourth option,” Jeff Van Gundy, the ESPN analyst and former N.B.A. coach, said. “That’s a difficult change.”
Jefferson’s situation is particularly vexing. Recently at this time of year, the question has arisen whether it is the end of the Spurs’ dominance in the Western Conference. Jefferson, who is the youngest of the major off-season acquisitions at 29 years old, represents the Spurs’ attempt to cheat the rebuilding process while extending the Tim Duncan era.
“It just hasn’t worked out as well as he would have liked, and for me it is puzzling,” said Van Gundy, who categorized Jefferson’s shot as off. “I thought when the trade went down, it would work really well.”
By trading for Jefferson, the Spurs briefly ditched their organizational mind-set. They tended to draft Mensa smart and built their core by landing Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. They surrounded the core with role players who have high character, first Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry and Michael Finley and now George Hill, Roger Mason and Matt Bonner.
With Jefferson, whom the Milwaukee Bucks traded in a salary dump, the Spurs are paying the luxury tax for the first time (Jefferson is set to make $15.2 million next season if he does not opt out of his contract). He is the most significant acquisition through trade or free agency that the Spurs have made during Duncan’s tenure.
At the season’s onset, Jefferson, who has averaged more than 22 points a game twice in his nine-year career, struggled in the Spurs’ pick-and-roll offense. His scoring is not based on creating his own shot, but is predicated on movement.
“That’s not my game,” Jefferson said. “I struggle if that’s what you want me to do. But that’s not something that I can’t improve and can’t work on, but it’s just not typically something I’ve been expected to do.”
The offensive struggles affected Jefferson’s defense and rebounding, which did not endear him to Popovich.
This was Popovich’s most trying season in a long while. He has tried to integrate new players while his backcourt stars were sidelined. Ginobili was injured, came off the bench, then started. Parker started, was injured and now comes off the bench.
The Spurs teetered near the bottom of a crowded playoff hunt and came together by winning eight of their last 11 games (excluding the finale against Dallas when their core rested), setting up the third playoff draw against the Mavericks in five years.
“He just started to concentrate on a couple of things,” Popovich said of Jefferson. “One of them was rebounding and the other was not just settling for jump shots, but getting to the rim, and he’s done both those things real well over the last part of the season.”
Jefferson averaged 12.3 points, the fewest since his rookie season with the Nets in 2001-2. But he pointed out that his shooting percentage of 46.7 was his highest since 2005-6.
“You look at Ron Artest coming into L.A., what he’s coming into,” Jefferson said. “He’s coming into Pau Gasol. He’s coming into a team that won a championship and people expect him to have some type of impact like he was going to be a dominant player in that group.
“No. He’s going to come in there and try to fit in, and knowing some people in the organization and some of the players in that team, Ron viewed it as: ‘Hey, listen, I’m here to come and take some pressure off, do this, do that. I’m not coming here trying to average as many points as I averaged in Houston.’ That doesn’t make sense. Not with all of the players they have. And I look at it the same way.”
He concluded by saying, “It’s how we’re playing going into the playoffs versus how we played all year long.”
During the game, Dirk Nowitzki scorched San Antonio for 36 points, while Jefferson’s presence was hardly felt. He, and the Spurs, may be back at the beginning, at a time when the end of dominance may be near.
By Jonathan Abrams
The New York Times
Shortly before his playoff debut with the San Antonio Spurs, Richard Jefferson discussed his newfound serenity after a bumpy introduction to Spurs basketball. A critical factor, he said, was Coach Gregg Popovich’s recent decision to allow him to play the entire first quarter.
As has been the case most of Jefferson’s first year with the Spurs, the decision did not go as planned in Game 1 on Sunday against the Dallas Mavericks. Jefferson’s two quick fouls forced him to the sideline two minutes into the game. He did not find the continuity he desired in his game, finishing with 4 points in 32 minutes during San Antonio’s 100-94 loss to the Mavericks.
“I think we’ve got to have a few more people step up and play worth a damn,” Popovich lamented. “I thought we had a lot of guys that played like dogs.”
Popovich did not single out Jefferson. His box score was a clear indictment.
“You give them all the credit, but there wasn’t too much positive,” Jefferson said.
Last summer, several N.B.A. teams, made significant acquisitions. The Cleveland Cavaliers traded for Shaquille O’Neal, the Boston Celtics signed Rasheed Wallace, the Orlando Magic landed Vince Carter and the Los Angeles Lakers brought in Ron Artest. The richest teams got richer, and the deals were expected to keep the league’s powers in their elite position.
But injuries, unfamiliarity with teammates, simple disregard or some other combination has made the assimilation process take longer than expected.
“They all had to adjust, especially Jefferson and Artest going from second or third options in the years they just played recently to being a fourth option,” Jeff Van Gundy, the ESPN analyst and former N.B.A. coach, said. “That’s a difficult change.”
Jefferson’s situation is particularly vexing. Recently at this time of year, the question has arisen whether it is the end of the Spurs’ dominance in the Western Conference. Jefferson, who is the youngest of the major off-season acquisitions at 29 years old, represents the Spurs’ attempt to cheat the rebuilding process while extending the Tim Duncan era.
“It just hasn’t worked out as well as he would have liked, and for me it is puzzling,” said Van Gundy, who categorized Jefferson’s shot as off. “I thought when the trade went down, it would work really well.”
By trading for Jefferson, the Spurs briefly ditched their organizational mind-set. They tended to draft Mensa smart and built their core by landing Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. They surrounded the core with role players who have high character, first Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry and Michael Finley and now George Hill, Roger Mason and Matt Bonner.
With Jefferson, whom the Milwaukee Bucks traded in a salary dump, the Spurs are paying the luxury tax for the first time (Jefferson is set to make $15.2 million next season if he does not opt out of his contract). He is the most significant acquisition through trade or free agency that the Spurs have made during Duncan’s tenure.
At the season’s onset, Jefferson, who has averaged more than 22 points a game twice in his nine-year career, struggled in the Spurs’ pick-and-roll offense. His scoring is not based on creating his own shot, but is predicated on movement.
“That’s not my game,” Jefferson said. “I struggle if that’s what you want me to do. But that’s not something that I can’t improve and can’t work on, but it’s just not typically something I’ve been expected to do.”
The offensive struggles affected Jefferson’s defense and rebounding, which did not endear him to Popovich.
This was Popovich’s most trying season in a long while. He has tried to integrate new players while his backcourt stars were sidelined. Ginobili was injured, came off the bench, then started. Parker started, was injured and now comes off the bench.
The Spurs teetered near the bottom of a crowded playoff hunt and came together by winning eight of their last 11 games (excluding the finale against Dallas when their core rested), setting up the third playoff draw against the Mavericks in five years.
“He just started to concentrate on a couple of things,” Popovich said of Jefferson. “One of them was rebounding and the other was not just settling for jump shots, but getting to the rim, and he’s done both those things real well over the last part of the season.”
Jefferson averaged 12.3 points, the fewest since his rookie season with the Nets in 2001-2. But he pointed out that his shooting percentage of 46.7 was his highest since 2005-6.
“You look at Ron Artest coming into L.A., what he’s coming into,” Jefferson said. “He’s coming into Pau Gasol. He’s coming into a team that won a championship and people expect him to have some type of impact like he was going to be a dominant player in that group.
“No. He’s going to come in there and try to fit in, and knowing some people in the organization and some of the players in that team, Ron viewed it as: ‘Hey, listen, I’m here to come and take some pressure off, do this, do that. I’m not coming here trying to average as many points as I averaged in Houston.’ That doesn’t make sense. Not with all of the players they have. And I look at it the same way.”
He concluded by saying, “It’s how we’re playing going into the playoffs versus how we played all year long.”
During the game, Dirk Nowitzki scorched San Antonio for 36 points, while Jefferson’s presence was hardly felt. He, and the Spurs, may be back at the beginning, at a time when the end of dominance may be near.