o Anyone home! Callin Richard Jefferson

[silverblk mystix]

Richard Jefferson is what he is... The NBA's most expensive three point shooting specialist the league has ever seen. He no longer has the ability to create shots for himself and his defense is pathetic. But I don't blame any loss on the eighth or ninth best player on the team..... that would be downright silly.

Your take on this is seriously flawed.

RJ is shooting threes because that is what this offense is designed to do...he caught so much last year for not STAYING behind the 3 pt line and causing spacing problems by not staying behind the 3 pt line...

He still has the ability to drive, dunk/finish/slash if that is what the coach asked him to do but that is not what his role is.

If he was ever isolated on one side or if the coach ran as many plays for him as he did for Finley--then RJ would be averaging 20+ points the way he has for most of his career....

RJ has been the consummate professional by doing almost everything that has been asked of him by the coaching staff...and spending his summer working his butt off to help the team and to become a better fit.

If you paid attention to defense you would see that he is carrying his weight when it comes to defensive assignments and rotations and is not hurting the team by blowing assignments or half-assing it...

the ENTIRE team sucked yesterday ...but the ENTIRE team was magnificent against Miami...these are the ups and downs of an NBA season.

[tenbeersbold]

IMHO...It's a combination of things.
1) Pop deep sixed the back door cuts/alley oops that were called fer him earlier in the season after RJ muffed more than he made and that probably was a confidence hit.
2) RJ has some seriously bad "referee" mojo, I can almost hear the offensive foul being called as soon as he puts the ball on the floor,why I'm not sure,he's no better or worse than others at goin' to the hoop regarding bumping and clearing.
3) I honestly think his game has gotten stale just spotting up,plus he doesn't have a guard thats really looking to feed him/set him up.

[moisaenz]

I know RJ is supposed to be a role player, but I believe sometimes he does not get good offensive touches.. When either Parker or Ginobili have a bad game and the other is on the bench, I think some plays should run through him especially when the 3s are not going in.But how can you expect for Jefferson to drive the ball correctly when he only gets it for a corner 3???I am not a coach but I think POP can get a bit more offense from RJ.

[Hoops Czar]

Your take on this is seriously flawed.

RJ is shooting threes because that is what this offense is designed to do...he caught so much last year for not STAYING behind the 3 pt line and causing spacing problems by not staying behind the 3 pt line...

He still has the ability to drive, dunk/finish/slash if that is what the coach asked him to do but that is not what his role is.

If he was ever isolated on one side or if the coach ran as many plays for him as he did for Finley--then RJ would be averaging 20+ points the way he has for most of his career....

RJ has been the consummate professional by doing almost everything that has been asked of him by the coaching staff...and spending his summer working his butt off to help the team and to become a better fit.

If you paid attention to defense you would see that he is carrying his weight when it comes to defensive assignments and rotations and is not hurting the team by blowing assignments or half-assing it...

the ENTIRE team sucked yesterday ...but the ENTIRE team was magnificent against Miami...these are the ups and downs of an NBA season.

Obviously, we are polar opposites on the RJ front. I can't comment on the amount of backlash he took in regards to his 3-ball, What I can tell you is he stunk from long range last year (31%). I have a hard time believing Pop or anyone else for that matter would give him flack for not shooting it more often.

As for his drives and dunks.... they're far and few between. I cringe when he puts the ball on the floor because unless he's bailed out with a foul call, its almost always a TO.

I'm not one to hand out brownie points... but kudos to him for the hard-work he put in over the summer. But his defense still lacks. Its not that he's missing defensive assignments "all the time". His lateral quickness is shot and he can't keep quicker defenders in front of him while bigger and stronger defenders overpower him.

[InTheCrust]

he got distracted by luke walton.

[Flux451]

Right away, I think, RJ needs to come alive by the time playoffs come rollin around.
He needs to be a consistent 3rd or 4th offensive option...sometimes even the 2nd.
More pick and rolls with him slashing and such, please.
I have a feeling he is saving his tough drives and hard dunks for later. No injury, mindset.

Whatever it is. He needs to wake up.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

RJ has mostly been missing for 6-8 weeks. He comes up with the odd big play, but he also disappears for long stretches.

SPAM time RJ, that means time to step up your intensity.

[Tuddy]

He will get more points when they start running again

[SouthTexasRancher]

LESS Jefferson has no damn business starting for the Spurs. He just does not fit with the 1st group, nor is he good enough to be a starter for any of the top tier teams. Bring his sorry ass off the bench with the 2nd group where he'd be much more in his comfort zone. Jefferson is too damn lazy for me. Bring Bonner back to the starting lineup where he and Manu can open it up/spread the floor for Tony, Blair and Timmy. Pop also needs to once and for all put Tiago on the floor with the 2nd group for consistent playing time and see if he is just another Ian Mahinni 'project' or is he going to be of any help to us before 2025. And get that lazy ass James Anderson in shape or trade his ass. My 118 year old Great-Great-Great Grandpappy is in better shape than James is in. And knock him on his ass a bunch of times in practice to rid him of his skeeeeeeeeered deer in the headlights look. He always looks like someone is about to drop him off the Empire State Building or the Sears Tower.

[Cessation]

LESS Jefferson has no damn business starting for the Spurs. He just does not fit with the 1st group, nor is he good enough to be a starter for any of the top tier teams. Bring his sorry ass off the bench with the 2nd group where he'd be much more in his comfort zone. Jefferson is too damn lazy for me. Bring Bonner back to the starting lineup where he and Manu can open it up/spread the floor for Tony, Blair and Timmy. Pop also needs to once and for all put Tiago on the floor with the 2nd group for consistent playing time and see if he is just another Ian Mahinni 'project' or is he going to be of any help to us before 2025. And get that lazy ass James Anderson in shape or trade his ass. My 118 year old Great-Great-Great Grandpappy is in better shape than James is in. And knock him on his ass a bunch of times in practice to rid him of his skeeeeeeeeered deer in the headlights look. He always looks like someone is about to drop him off the Empire State Building or the Sears Tower.

lol so much fail in this post

[DaBears]

Jefferson.. IMHO gets plenty of touches during the game, whether it be at the top of the circle where he looks to hit Manu or Tony coming off a screen.. I'll give him credit in the fact that he has never ball hogged, or taken ill advised shots.. But those touches that he does give up he can try to take advantage and go 1 on 1 more often.. He gets at least 12-13 touches a game, if not more.. He might not be in a position to score with them, but he could try to mix it up a bit more and look for his own.. Scoring overall has taken a hit because in part of his lack of scoring..

I know and have seen better outa him before.. He can do better, i hope for him as a player & career he continues to improve.

[AlleyOopNazi]

no more alley-oops that used to be a staple to a spurs win early in the season, dead-eye jumpers look flat again= regression from a good off-season.

[Waps1980]

no more alley-oops that used to be a staple to a spurs win early in the season, dead-eye jumpers look flat again= regression from a good off-season.

I would have said over a month ago his 3 ball dropped off but of late (last 30 days) he has been shooting over 50% from 3 (18/35).
I don't think his jumper is off at all, but his confidence is down as he gets his drive all round from powerful offense, thats what gets him going.
Something I'm sure Pop knows and should be trying to generate before the playoffs.

[20beastie45]

Next Years Trade Chip!!!!!!!! He has to have some credit for getting us to the point we are right now....but we don't play for the best regular season record....We can get some valueable talent for him...Too Soon?.....nah

[duncan228]

Hit the link for the whole piece.

For Jefferson, changed form equals changed results
Jeff McDonald

Over the summer, the Spurs worked to change Richard Jefferson’s head. They also changed his bank account.

When they asked to change something even more sacred — his jump shot — Jefferson was ready to draw a line in the sand.


...“It was tough, but I bought in,” said Jefferson, who took an immediate pay cut to return to the Spurs in July. “I trusted the coaches, and wanted to do what they needed me to do.”


..."Most players aren’t too interested in having a coach change this, that or the other about them,” Popovich said. “He was unemotional and selfless in that regard. He didn’t worry about what somebody might think.”

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...anged-results/

[mingus]

RJ just has to show up against the big dogs and he's done a fine job of that for the most part.

One thing I've expressed time and time again though is that RJ has merely one play for him. A guy your paying 10 mil has one in play. That is not reflective of his offensive talent, which I believe he has, but is not put to use.

[mingus]

RJ should be given more opportunities to get to the rim. He had a knack at getting to the line before SA. That is an underrated ability. It gets opposing bigs in foul trouble and disrupts the flow for the other team, two things that aren't kept as far as stats. It's a shame his ability isn't used.

[bigdog]

I also agree that even though Parker and Manu are the focal points of the offense, there should be at least a handful of plays run for Jefferson. Post him up, let him take his man to the bucket and get to the line. That alley oop play the ran so much, change it up and run different plays like that. Use his athleticism. I've also seen numerous times on the break when Parker has a 3 on 1 with Jefferson and Hill alongside of him, yet he takes the ball himself. Let RJ play.

[greyforest]

Sean/Bill said RJ was 7th overall this season in the NBA for 3pt %.

That's really, really good. Better than I realized.

Bonner is still #1. Neal is #1 among all rookies.

[Indazone]

I would say that Jefferson's role and style of playing is based more on what Pop wants him to do. He's got to camp out there for proper spacing. Now that's not to say, that with your offense, he can't go down low and make those hard cuts to get open.