Jefferson vs Neal

[jermaine]

Why is it Jefferson starts & finishes games? Neal plays harder & shoots better. Jefferson don't try to drive, & when he do its a charge. No matter how good Neal is playin, he's gettin yanked. I think Pop keeps Jeferson in just to throw that hoop from Parker to Jefferson 1 time a game. CB someone help me understand what's going on with that?

[TDMVPDPOY]

i assume pop thinks NEAL is a locomotive train running out of steam to finish games...

[DMC]

Pun attempt aside, RJ makes big money. You don't sit a big money guy and start a cheap player. Sure Neal is doing well, but there's no reason to start him. Who would you bring off the bench for scoring? Manu came off the bench for most of his career for a reason. We need that punch during that time, and a soft bench would kill us.

People over value starting roles and can't get past the high school notion that bench players are not very good.

[Waps1980]

There is an element of defence involved in closing out games and while RJ isn’t the best defender he brings size.
He has done some pretty big jobs on superstars this year and passed the challenge.

Having Parker, Manu and Neal or Parker, Manu and Hill close out we are lacking in size especially if Blair is on the floor to.
Neal maybe too small to close, or Hill and Manu may not be able to play SF to take on the likes of Melo or Durant in the final stages least RJ has physical size against those guys and when he puts his mind to it can play solid D even if only for a 5 minute stint.

[crc21209]

Size obviously. That and Neal (although improving) still tends to have mental lapses on D.

[DesignatedT]

Definitely Size plus having a rebounder like RJ to help on the boards is huge down the stretch.

[m33p0]

Why is it Jefferson starts & finishes games? Neal plays harder & shoots better. Jefferson don't try to drive, & when he do its a charge. No matter how good Neal is playin, he's gettin yanked. I think Pop keeps Jeferson in just to throw that hoop from Parker to Jefferson 1 time a game. CB someone help me understand what's going on with that?
that's precisely why he's in there. and because of that, he will always need to be defended.

[jermaine]

Thanks fellas