Not including last night's game:
Percentage is still decent, but he's simply not being aggressive enough. It would be okay if the Spurs were getting great defense out of him, but while that has been an improvement over last year, it's not like he's locking down people. Rebounding has taken a significant nosedive, too.Code:Month MPG FGP FGA/36 PPG RPG APG October 27.5 0.647 11.1 17.0 3.0 2.5 November 32.6 0.486 10.7 14.7 3.6 1.3 December 32.0 0.455 10.9 12.0 5.5 1.5 January 29.7 0.461 9.3 9.6 4.0 1.3 February 31.1 0.500 7.5 9.4 2.8 1.4 March 26.2 0.565 6.3 7.6 2.6 0.6
If the Spurs plan on winning by offense, they're going to need to start getting more from him.
I said this awhile back and people scoffed me and said he was just in a slump. He came out strong and heard all the "Jefferson for MIP!" talk and now he's content to just be a jumpshooter again because other fans think he's been better based on his early play but the truth is he's been for awhile now. But he has been clutch at times, hitting timely 3 pointers.
I don't think he's been . would be those numbers with a 38% shooting percentage. He's become too content with either hanging around the perimeter, or half-hearted drives where he doesn't try to draw fouls and looks to pass the ball out at the slightest opportunity.
Look at Neals and Blairs numbers compared to his and I think you'll see where the production has gone.
I honestly think RJ does fine. He spreads the floor but really he's probably just in the right spot as far as order of production goes.
Whoah, I knew it was bad but I didn't realize it was that bad. He definitely needs to step up his aggressiveness. At least we've continued to win. I wonder what's going on with him.
It's not enough to have RJ do "fine" imo. I have used the term with him and I have used it often. He "floats". He is content just being out there and not messing up. Not messing up does not mean you are helpful.
He doen't get paid to float. He gets paid to be an impact player. If you look at LA and the talent they have, talent wins. RJ's talent has to show through and he has to be a major part. He can't just "not hurt" the Spurs.
With those scoring numbers and lack luster defense, his rebounding should have sky rocketed. He is one of THE BIGGEST problems Spurs have with regards to rebounding.
Spurs can still win a ton of regular season games with him just hanging around and not doing much, but if a le is the goal, then it's no where near enough IMO.
Adding the spurs record :
The reccord is a little bit worse every month.Code:Month MPG FGP FGA/36 PPG RPG APG Rec October 27.5 0.647 11.1 17.0 3.0 2.5 1-1 November 32.6 0.486 10.7 14.7 3.6 1.3 14-1 December 32.0 0.455 10.9 12.0 5.5 1.5 13-2 January 29.7 0.461 9.3 9.6 4.0 1.3 12-3 February 31.1 0.500 7.5 9.4 2.8 1.4 9-3 March 26.2 0.565 6.3 7.6 2.6 0.6 5-2
It's still very good record each month but the spurs played definitely better early in the season when RJ was aggressive
You have to believe the coaching staff is in his grill about this. He was rocking along early in the year. Nailing 3's from the corner, etc.
Good find Shoog. It's felt like RJ's been less aggressive as the year has gone on. Interesting though how's he's been still shooting the ball great. I'm sure the coaches are aware and will right this ship for the post season.
His lack of aggression is cause for concern.
But like I keep telling pego and mookie, he still tends to hit that wide open 3 pointer (1st Q, 4th Q, no matter what Quarter) way more often than not, even in his unaggressive state.
So I will take that, and just keep my fingers crossed that he keeps hitting those open 3's and will up the aggression in the playoffs.
lol second year. Guess it only works for part of the season then gradually wears off.
Cue the "but no plays are called for him" arguments.
Last night was a prime example of what RJ needs to do more. I agree with everything DPG said. RJ is not Michael Finley or Keith Bogans. Giving him a play won't stall the offense. He needs to be aggressive.
Besides RJ, what about George Hill? Is anyone worried that this guy will be a non-factor in the playoffs?
I thought he tried to drive in the last two games, and got himself to the line. Not quite what he was early in the season but an improvement compared to last week.
I think his agression has regressed, but it also has to do with the team going back to more halfcourt sets and running less.
Luckily for us, Pop can adress both things during the week off that we'll have before the Playoffs.
In any case, he has not hurted the team and others (Blair, Neal and Hill) have taken over his agresiveness slack.
RJ could be more aggressive offensively, but with the team looking at cruising into having HCA throughout the playoffs, do we need to assess blame on why we aren't averaging another 10 pts per game?
Maybe if we go down in a playoff series it'd be useful for finding someone to blame, but right now is probably not the time for it. Why RJ? We could do the same for Tim, we could look at all sorts of stats and say he needs to suck it up and start producing.
Fact is, RJ's reduced points are being made up from a variety of teammates, namely Gary Neal. So if RJ was still going at his October ppg clip of 17, that pretty much runs Neal dry on shot attempts, unless you want Manu, TP, Hill taking less shots so that Neal gets his.
That said, I agree with your comments on RJ's defense. He has the athleticism and ability to do a lot more on defense than he currently is doing. We'll need lots more from him if we want to win the WCF and Finals. That effort and ability is refined during the regular season, not turned on in the playoffs. We need RJ to become that defensive stopper and not so much on the offensive end. We have lots of fire power. We need teams fearing him defensively.
I just think the Spurs have too many damn scoring options for RJ to be even more aggressive and up that PPG average. At any given time TD, TP, Manu, Neal, and Hill can all drop 10 or more points in a quarter if they get hot. But I think if called upon or if they run a couple more plays for him his numbers would look better. I think we all saw what RJ is capable of in that Game 2 win against Dallas last year when RJ exploded in the 1st half...
RJ definitely needs to turn it back up a notch going into the playoffs. He has been a lot less aggressive and a lot more lackadaisical for the past couple months. Saying that, I don't think he's been " " and it seems like he has been more aggressive with the ball when he has it these last 3 games or so.
I'd like to see the Spurs approach a game with some urgency and focus. The Spurs spend too much time acting like things aren't important and Pop spends too much time playing mind games and being a smartass when asked about things. RJ had something to prove and the Spurs had a mission early in the season. They've coasted since the all-star break; they either need to just rest everyone starting now or just decide that this is the time to start ratcheting up the intensity.
By intensity, are we talking a change in minutes played by the starters?
If so, I don't think we need to do that with 16 games to go in the reg season. I think we've been blessed to have the depth we have and use it all season long to rest our starters and still win games. I think we continue that formula into the playoffs and then increase the starters minutes when the need arises.
If by intensity we mean effort, then yeah, somewhat. This team has tons of players with championship rings. No one criticized Horry for his pacing in those championship years. I think this team will rise to the challenge of the playoffs.
Pop doesn't let them lose focus on our strategy of a team first at ude and so they have that ingrained all season long. This team is hungry and they know if this year isn't it, it'll be a while for the next opportunity. They won't leave anything on the floor come playoffs... when the horn sounds, it'll be all spent.
They've coasted since mid January, tbh. With the possible exception of the Heat game and maybe one or two others.
The Spurs played pretty well in the first quarter against the Heat and then gave up 40 points in the second. I don't remember the last 48 minute effort by the Spurs.
Not directly. Playing with more focus and intensity will probably lead to fewer minutes for the starters because the games will be put away sooner. That's exactly how to take advantage of their depth. That requires that the second unit play well too.
Don't know if you've noticed, but the Spurs ('we', 'us') are not playing the same basketball they were playing in December. If they aren't going to get out of this rut and get some good work habits back, then they need to rest now and decide to use the last week of the season to try to right the ship. I don't think they need to go playoff intensity for sixteen games, but I'd like to see them put one good game together at some point where they go hard for rebounds, defend,get out and run, and stop letting teams back into the game.
I saw a team leave a lot on the floor against Phoenix last year, and there were the exact same number of championship rings as this year, so all that is out the window. At some point they either need to flip the switch or rest. Having to play deep into the fourth quarter against bad teams because they can't grab a defensive rebound or defend in the paint wastes energy and doesn't prepare them for the postseason.
RJ will be fine. His dips in offensive production are attributed for purposeful refocusing on trying to get other players involved in the scheme (Blair, Hill, Neal . . .) by the coaching staff. RJ is naturally going to be the one who loses touches.
I think he has been solid defensively. Especially in games where he has a marquee matchup (Durant, James, Artest . . .). He has had some games where his focus has been off, but all the Spurs are guilty of that.
I don't think RJ or Pop are going to let the fruits of their labor go to waste.
The other Spurs are not lacking fault in all of this. They simply are not getting Jefferson involved in the offense.
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