The sad difference is that Finley was an excellent one on one defender when he still had athletecism.Quote:
Originally Posted by admiralsnackbar
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The sad difference is that Finley was an excellent one on one defender when he still had athletecism.Quote:
Originally Posted by admiralsnackbar
If Parker passes him the ball he can bounce back. Parker needs to pass the fucking ball.
damn, you're right. I'd almost forgotten. Spurs SFs do take it to the rim!Quote:
Originally Posted by ohmwrecker
Here is a highlight video from RJ's days at the Nets.
This is a video of RJ in his 'prime.'
Now throughout this entire video I did not see one case of Rj just beating a manned up defender with a crossover or the like. What I see a bunch of is him driving baseline from the corner when his man sags inside and transition baskets. In all of that he beats Bosh off the dribble and makes some scoop against a big he was lucky to not have blocked. This is all shit he was able to do last year as well.
The first two videos in this case are stupid. In the first one he does not have a one on one. He is leading the break and Temple is on the other wing. Temple is behind him and both defenders are under the basket. He takes it to the basket and he deals with both of them so he pulls up. Was it good transition d. were Temple and he not on the same page? I have no idea but this idea that he somwhow could have magically split them is stupid.
In the second, he bobbles it and McDyess goes under the basket as RJ makes his move. McDyess' defender stays put on RJs move and he is thus double teamed. McDyess is out of bounds. RJ had his man stumbling.
In both cases it looks to be more of a case of the guys not knowing what the other is doing and not a lack of anything that RJ could do before as evidenced by the initial highlight film.
When you play with penetrating Parker you have to be able to hit the open shot. Parker cant shoot so we definitely cant have another player out there at the same time that cant shoot. That is unless they play the Pf or C position.Quote:
Originally Posted by ohmwrecker
I agree with this....I like to think a lot of his weaknesses were mental, and largely due to the pressure he felt by trying to make things work under all the things listed above in what was basically a contract year for him. I believe RJ already knew midseason that he was going to have to opt out in order to get a long-term deal since he was second guessing his ability/value, knowing the Spurs were in dire needs to fill the SF spot made this less risky for him. It worked out in the end for both teams, despite what people here seem to think.Quote:
Originally Posted by timaios
Interesting....
In fact, last year Jefferson had 1.61 points per possession (6th in the NBA)
I think he will bounce back but his ppg is not going to get much better when he is the 4th or 5th option.
He needs to improve in rebounds and general defense which I think he will, hge picked up in both those towards the end of the season.
Hopefully his confidence picks up cos his entire game will come with that.
Exactly.Quote:
Originally Posted by ohmwrecker
Richard Jefferson's athleticism may be regressing but he's still one of the most athletic on our particular team.
Have to keep in mind he's more of a stocky forward than a quick-like guard, and matched up against other forwards, he's not a bad option.
He was a volume shooter who has to adjust to our system just like Finley (who went from 14.2 FGA to 9.0 FGA, and shot low 40% his first few months on the team)... Jefferson has a lot of potential to bounce back, but it's on him.
I didn't create this GIF and you can catch this dunk on youtube, but here against Oklahoma, it looked like Jefferson was guarded by the small forward Jeff Green somewhere at the top of the key, and needless to say... RJ, right now, still has the vertical, power, and quickness to smash one down on 7'0 Nenad Krstic, or Greg Oden, and other big men of their caliber.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...tik1-13-10.gif
Here in this play, he's matched up against another team's bench SF/PF (Indiana's Hansbrough) not as deep in the corner or at the top of the key, but in the mid-range area with the ball in-hand. He shows some skill and ballhandling faking left, then gets to the basket within a few steps to finish a reverse with relative ease... Hansbrough is far from an elite defender (don't get me wrong), but the point is RJ's offense and ability to driven/finish hasn't massively deteriorated in one season.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...maddict/09.gif
Here in this 27 second clip (about a month before heading into the playoffs), Duncan has the ball in the post against the Clippers, Jefferson off-the-ball is working, uses a little fake to the middle of the court to gain a step on his defender, than receives a little hand off from Duncan (while RJ's man is hedged off by Timmy), a hop-step later along the baseline and Jefferson completes one handed dunk..... his athleticism is certainly still there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V46W8RNraF8
As for the article, it's probably very easy to pick out a handful of botched possessions through out the 82 game regular season (and post season), but surely Jefferson was doing some things right, some things wrong, and some things about average, regardless of merely aging and regression.
Out of his 360+ made field goals, about 300 of them were from within the arch, and his finishing skills are still pretty good. It's true that his numbers of "getting to the rim" have dropped, but like others have mentioned, his role in San Antonio was a stark contrast to what he was used to.
His problem has mostly been consistency on both ends, limited shot attempts/looks/lobs, and being mismatched against taller players like LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Love when Bonner went down with a hand injury. This season, hopefully that (small ball) will be less of an option with 25 year old Splitter on board, Blair expected to play more, Bonner (unfortunately) re-signing, and McDyess always available.
Jefferson publicly admitted to having a disappointing season, I'm sure he understands. Hopefully him, Popovich, the Big-3, and George Hill, all continue to gel enough to where Jefferson in time gains more of a Tayshuan Prince type of role as far as chemistry and Points Per Game (Prince was typically around the 3/4th scoring option in Detroit, but effective).
He also needs improvement with his freethrows and layups, he missed a lot of those last season
More than likely we'll see the same RJ as last year. The RJ/Bonner contracts are probably the two worst given out by the Spurs FO in the Tim Duncan era.
yes tp made rj miss those d rotationsQuote:
Originally Posted by Mr.Robinson
yes tp when he was hurt on the bench made rj miss those shots
RJ needs to average 5 rebound a game!!!!!!!!
I can live with the 12 points but play d and rebound
The expectations for RJ are not high. If he can avg a solid 13 pts and play decent defense that should be fine, between him and anderson if they total 20 pts on average, the Spurs will be fine at the small forward spot. If RJ can do that, his resigning will go down as a hugely succesful off season move. with the money the spurs had we could'nt have done better
lolQuote:
Originally Posted by ducks
RJs best games were when TP was out, that and some of the teams best games.
I think RJ will be marginally better than last season in terms of scoring and shooting, but will continue to be patchy and hesitant going to the rim, and frustratingly inept on D. I hope no-one seriously thinks he can be the lockdown perimeter defender this team needs, because he doesn't have it in him... he simply doesn't have the instincts to be even a homeless man's Bruce Bowen.
Yeah, I think he'll be a bit better than last year but nowhere near value for 10mil, and certainly not in making a difference as far as team success. I hope I'm wrong, but most 30yo SFs can't change their spots to stripes, no matter how hard they try...
Nice find. I will admit that when RJ occasionally turned on the afterburners last season, he put together some vicious moves. We need more of them from him, many more.Quote:
Originally Posted by SCdac
He was great in Game 2 against Dallas.
The Spurs last year were not a very good passing team. The old formula of feeding it to Duncan and spreading the floor with 3pt shooters needs to change. I like the pick and roll offense that is being used now. Unfortunately, Tim Ducan is not a very good pick and roll player. He lacks the athleticism to roll to the basket muchless doing something with the ball if it is given to him in paint. Blair, on the otherhand, played the pick and roll well for a big man. Him teaming up with Manu was fun to watch.
I think this is where Tiago is going to help not just Jefferson but all the Spurs become a better offensive team. Tiago on the pick and roll is masterful. He commands so much attention after the screen he sets that defenders will be forced to sag to protect the rim. This will allow easier shots from outside (similar to the Suns Amare Stoudemire when he sets the pick). Tiagos ability to finish and to even a greater extent his ability to pass is going to other Spurs cutting baseline for easy layups, or in Jeffersons case, easy dunks. Tiago may surpass Duncan as the best passing big man on the Spurs roster and challenge Manu as the best passer on the team.
Hansborough has never and will never be a small forward. This past year, his rookie season, he played ZERO minutes at SF according to 82games. That play had to have been just a busted play where Hansborough was caught on the perimeter with no prayer of stopping anyone.Quote:
Originally Posted by SCdac
agree on all points.Quote:
Originally Posted by AFBlue
about athleticism: someone mentioned he could lose some weight. possible. won't bring back all the speed, but could help a bit. the thing about athleticism is also the balance between the athleticism you in fact have at one point and what you try to do then. a smart player (and good coach) will adjust the game to this actual potential. and what RJ still has, is very good size and wingspan for the SF spot. he needs to adjust and learn to better utilize this size. (no idea if he can do that at 30. but he should definitely study some Battier videos)
Spurs and Dick played the best basketball all season when TP went down. When you're not involved in the offense it can fuck with the rest of your game.Quote:
Originally Posted by ducks
This. I don't know what his problem was/is but I do think it's mental. Hopefully he has things sorted out now. I can understand that players temporarily go through rough times just like everybody else. On the other hand what I would never understand or tolerate is players showing no heart and not caring about their team winning games while earning millions. I hope RJ is not one of those players.Quote:
Originally Posted by admiralsnackbar
:lol Sean Elliott took it to the rim slightly more than Bowen did. It was the biggest knock on his game that he wouldn't go to the rim even if there was a lane.Quote:
Originally Posted by ohmwrecker
The biggest knock? I don't think so. You are obviously overstating to prove your point. Not to mention being a total asshole while doing it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Obstructed_View
My point was Elliott was more than a spot up shooter in the Spurs' system and he was never a consistent 3 point shooter. People have the Memorial Day Miracle burned into their brains and think that Elliott was just lights out from that corner three. Not true. He wasn't bad, but he only had three season where he shot slightly above 40%.