Seems to me Neal is the guy that deserved the big contract. Jefferson started the season nicely but the guy has faded considerably. Time for Pop to put a boot up Jeffersons ass again I think.
Jefferson has done well when he shoots, his shooting has impressed me alot this year compared to last. Pop has gotten away from running plays for him,and when they do he does a pretty good job scoring, he made some corner 3's last night, and his D lately has been good.
He's fine last time I checked we still have the best record in the league.
Jefferson didn't deserve that contract at all. The problem is that we didn't have any other option.
The free agency was so terrible that i remember people calling Rasual Butler the best possible option.
We still don't know if he opted out because he had that new deal on the table and our FO was trying to avoid the tax. If there was not a pre-arrangement between the FO and RJ, i'd say this is one of the worst contracts of the summer.
RJ is the same guy from last year, except in the 3P shooting %. The rest is the same piece of player.
And we have Neal for the next 2 year in a really cheap deal. I he keeps playing like that, i'd say he deserves a nice contract, but not as big as Richards.
At least Neal made his rape pay off. Kobe lost on a boodle on his.
The thing is, without that new contract, which essentially halved RJ's salary, there isn't even a discussion here, because Gary Neal is still in Europe, and likely Splitter is too, or is traded. We also maybe dump that #20 pick that became JA. That $7M that the Spurs clawed back was HUGE.
Jefferson is better this year. Even though his production has dropped, his efficiency hasn't. The production drop is due to usage not ability or efficiency.
I agree. It was a case of losing the battle to win the war. RJ didn't deserve that contract, but his weaknesses aside he was still the best SF available (other than LBJ) and we needed one badly. So the new contract, while overpaying him, did get us under the tax and give us the best player we were going to get in the market. And increased our ability to get Splitter, and to a lesser extent Anderson and Neal.
Jefferson has more talent and physical tools..Neal's balls are much more saggy though, that's the difference..one is a sensitive softy, the other is a cold-blooded sexual predator..it's easy to predict which player will be more likely to step up in big games IMO..
This is not even close to being true.
RJ tends to float around too much and not get himself involved but this season, he has been insanely clutch in big games. He and Neal both don't hesitate at all on threes in crunch time even when struggling. THe difference between the two is that Neal is more assertive throughout in getting his own offense while RJ defers too much. Still I give RJ props for being a legit clutch outside shooter for us this year. Now if only Bonner and HIll would stop thinking and just let it fly in crunch time.
And Neal is freakin awesome.
Hopefully RJ will step it up in the playoffs!!
Jefferson plays the 3, and Neal doesn't.
Jefferson vs. Anderson, sure
Neal vs. Hill, sure
Gary and RJ aren't in compe ion
gary neal > outside of the big 3
RJ is not getting involved in the ofence. But he is shooting great.
This, he needs to be in crunch time alongside Tim, Manu, Tony and Dice or Bonner.
Bonner and Crunch in the same sentence.....
If he keeps shooting his 3 over 50% in the playoffs, why not?
He seems like he's starting his usual, playoff choking already - clanking wide, wide open 3s (2-7 last night). Looks like every Marion, Diaw (SFs) salivates at backing down Bonner in the post.
Neal is great - his shot (more than any other Spur) looks good from anywhere on the court.
Just want RJ to defend the SFs well and hit the 3pter. I hate to see him driving to the basket - he always commits the offensive foul. His contract is terrible especially in comparison to TP's but Spurs didn't have much choice.
I will never understand how Bonner gets bashed because he makes all his threes only because he's wide open and then he's bashed for missing his wide open threes because he's in choke mode. Apparently, he's not allowed to go into a slump at all. Basically, the reaction by the people who hate him was the same after that first Heat game as after last night's Bobcats game.
When they run plays for him, he's great. Without that, he's limited to a spot up 3 pt shooter, which he has gotten much better at. I like RJ this year, and lately he's shown a few flashes of driving to the basket. Let's hope he does that in the playoffs.
this.
critisize him for his d, yeah... but he's a great shooter - neal with it.
lol @ comparing rj and neal's contracts though.
i think gary neal has better potential then ghill3 atm if he can improved his defense
If RJ had Neal's fire he'd be a of player. It's gotten to the point where I trust Neal taking the shot over RJ. Neal's improving and RJ's regressing.
That deal with RJ giving up his 15 mil this year for longer terms, helped FO built this team. With that 7mil over the cap, there wasnt possibility on bringin Splitter here. Then Spurs would have to take 3 people for minimum. Players like Collins, Novak, Quinn would be 8th or 9th in rotation instead of 12th or DNP. That was big.
Neal is in his first NBA year. He is working for bigger salary in future.
Jefferson has been great this season. The problem last year was that he didn't know how he fit in, and he's improved a thousandfold this year.
The Spurs have been slumping and only started trying to turn it on for a couple of games. If RJ doesn't show up in the playoffs, then you can complain about his contract.
On the other hand Neal has been great, but let's not forget how many people (me)thought the three year deal he got was bad, and pretty much everyone agreed that it was a bit of a gamble. If he'd gotten any contract with the word "million" in it, heads would have exploded.
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