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Thanks for sharing, Blackjack.
I love seeing all the X's and O's of basketball; it's such a beautiful game.
Hopefully all of the Spurs' set plays will have at least an option involving RJ in them whenever he's on the floor.
Moving Richard Jefferson: The Spurs best way to utilize him
by Andrew A. McNeill
Getting Richard Jefferson on the move is the Spurs best option for using the small forward
It’s no surprise that Richard Jefferson faces a lot of pressure in his second season on the San Antonio Spurs. In his first, Jefferson came with the weight of a $15 million salary. And while averages of 12.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game were decent, they did not fulfill the expectations many fans and team personnel had. Even though he’ll be playing at a reduced price in 2010-11, the belief that he should play at a level worthy of a $15 million contract will still be there.
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Thanks for sharing, Blackjack.
I love seeing all the X's and O's of basketball; it's such a beautiful game.
Hopefully all of the Spurs' set plays will have at least an option involving RJ in them whenever he's on the floor.
Good article, thanks OP. First I thought it was about trading him but it was more interesting than that. Hopefully he will get a couple more points next season after set plays like this. We have better shooters now and I don't see why we would want him stand still and shoot 3s. Better team D would give him a couple of easy extra points too.
Rj flourishes in run and gun offenses with offensive freedom. Spurs are not that. Just pray he hits more of his threes and they find a middle ground to get him involved. He is at his best with a gifted passing point guard(kidd) or a chris paul. Parker is not that. Can't wait to see how he adjusts.
When I'm watching the game I hardly even notice it, but everyone has a duty and that makes it even more beautiful, like you said.
Description of the first play: I know that alley-oop play when I see it. The Spurs only use it from time to time and it only works with Richard Jefferson cause the other guys do not have the athletic ability to pull it off. I also saw it get stopped a few times.
You could see from that play that McDyess faked a pick and rolled to his sweet spot to the baseline. But, Ginobili passed it to Jefferson while Amare moved towards McDyess. Open lane here. Jefferson swings it to Parker.
From there, you could see that Duncan is quite far away from Parker to set a screen for him. Truth to be told, Parker really never operated from that corner and started attacking there frequently once he became one of the main options. Jefferson then begins his fake move to Parker. Bu seriously, has anyone of you seen Jefferson set a screen for Parker? Again, the lane is open because Amare went to cover McDyess. The main problem in that video was Channing Frye because he should have switched up and blocked Jefferson's path to the rim.
Jefferson, with the wide open lane after the Timmy back-screen then throws it down.
Description of the second play: Simple yet effective. Looking at the play, this is what broke down.
Both Hill and Ginobili were at the opposite end of the court where Jefferson was. This was key. Manu receives the ball form Hill and Duncan set the off-screen pick. Jefferson can get to the rim or set up for a jumper based on which direction he goes to. If he decides to set up for the jumper, and if it doesn't succeed, he would have dumped it to Duncan on the low block. He decides to fake the direction and cut baseline. Notice that McDyess had Dirk's attention and he couldn't help out, otherwise McDyess would have caught it from Manu and shot the ball there.
The problem there was that Caron Butler fell for the fake and Dampier was slow and focused on Duncan instead, even after Jefferson ran by him. It should be noted here that once Jefferson caught the ball if Dampier even reacted, he couldn't pass it to Duncan even if he wanted to due to the lack of court vision and the deep position in which he caught the ball.
Of course, in this play, Dampier got caught slacking and Jefferson finished the play underneath the rim.
RJ will be the same player this year as he was last year, which is basically someone the other team can sluff off on because he has limited range.. which in turn will make it more difficult for Duncan and Parker to operate. I'll give the Parker/?/Jefferson/Dice/Duncan starting lineup 15 games before Pop starts frantically making adjustments.
Well saying RJ won't make adjustments isn't an accurate statement. He'll be another year older (31 I think), slower, and a little less athletic which will give him plenty of "adjusting".
I'm not saying to change the offensive style of play. With all the sets the Spurs run, each one could have an option for RJ. The plays in the article that Blackjack posted are designed for RJ; of course, most NBA team offensive sets aren't designed to get just one desired look: they have multiple options in case the first one is defended well. All I'm saying is that each of the Spurs' sets should have an option just for RJ similar to the ones in the article whenever he is in the game.
I thought this thread was about trading Richard... oh, well...
When Timmy on the floor no. But with all the new young legs there is a chance we may see the Spurs pushing more in transition. Parker is great on the run no he needs to connect with RJ.
I'm so glad that the Spurs payed 40 million to a player that they still have to "figure out" how to make fit.
Get over it already...
You're like a guy at a party who keeps bringing up how his ex-girlfriend left him three years ago.
I'm so glad Spursfans still feel like complaining about signing a player whose contract ink is dryer than a hundred year old woman.
It's a new season; be optimistic, and move on.
C'mon benny, do your best to be jolly and gay for the new season.Get over it already...
You're like a guy at a party who keeps bringing up how his ex-girlfriend left him three years ago.
Pop: Richard?
: Yes Pop?
Pop: We've come up with a reward strategy for good play this year. I think you'll like yours.
: What is it Pop? I hope it's that bed set from Pottery Barn. You know the pink one?
Pop: What? No. Good God man. We want you to be motivated the entire year, so... (slides folder across the table). I hope you like it.
: (opens folder) Oh my gentle Jesus... Me likey.
Pop: Good. We've got him chained up in the basement. Go get 'em Richard.
: (working out maniacally while dialing phone) Luke, we've got him. Bring the boys.
That guy has a pretty hard time not talking about her when that ex-girlfriend keeps showing up at every party he goes to...which is exactly what will happen this season.
lol Clay AikenPop: Richard?
: Yes Pop?
Pop: We've come up with a reward strategy for good play this year. I think you'll like yours.
: What is it Pop? I hope it's that bed set from Pottery Barn. You know the pink one?
Pop: What? No. Good God man. We want you to be motivated the entire year, so... (slides folder across the table). I hope you like it.
: (opens folder) Oh my gentle Jesus... Me likey.
Pop: Good. We've got him chained up in the basement. Go get 'em Richard.
: (working out maniacally while dialing phone) Luke, we've got him. Bring the boys.
Don't they have to do that (to a certain extent) with every player except for the one they build the team around? This whole "bad fit" bull is overblown and highly exaggerated.
More of this would be great :
It is? It's over blown bc of the contract, which makes sense.
After a contract is signed, I think they should forget about it and judge production based on something else. Production per $ is a meaningless figure and would mean guys on cheap contracts are the best players in the league.
That being said, I'm pretty sure RJ has one year to show improvement in his impact to the team and if not he will be shopped (again).
No it is not over blown bc that is why bad contracts are so deadly in this league. Also they don't have to fit other players in like he stated. They usually bring players in that fit their system. It is def not over blown bc good fits and chemistry are crucial and bad contracts are killers.
Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili did not fit the system. Popovich had to adjust his system to adapt to them. He had to adjust his style to get the best results from their talents. I'm not saying Jefferson is on that level at this point or that Pop needs to go to such extremes, but a little adjustment by Pop to help RJ find his role and be productive is certainly attainable and beneficial.
The Spurs have fine tuned their system and built around the big 3. They are not changing that. Would doing the things mentioned help RJ look better? Yes. Would it help the team? Doubtful.
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