I can't even blame Rasho for the suckitude that is

[Blame Rasho]

Richard Jefferson...

[TAI8]

Our biggest problem right now is lack of interior defense..While Richard Jefferson has not helped the defensive cause by any means he is still a valuable scorer who provides much needed offense from the 3 that we lacked for years..

[co_laper]

Thing is, we expected our interior defense to be weak from the very beginning. Our bigs (Dice, Blair, Bonner) are just not on par with the big boys (Lakers, Boston, Cavs). But atleast we expected Jefferson to be a stud given the amount of money he makes and the expectation that comes with it. Personally, I expected that even if our bigs sucks, our perimeter would look so good with Jefferson, Manu, and Parker that it offsets it. Now, we just suck all around.

I don't think the Spurs make a big change before the deadline because unless it's a blatant rape deal, then changing one part for another means we're restarting all over again and we won't have enough time to gel for the playoffs. But another season with this roster? That's hard to bear with.

I have to blame it on Richard Jefferson.

[Blame Rasho]

Our biggest problem right now is lack of interior defense..While Richard Jefferson has not helped the defensive cause by any means he is still a valuable scorer who provides much needed offense from the 3 that we lacked for years..

He sucks... can't defend nor rebound... He allows more points than he puts up.

Scoring 12 ppg isn't being a valuable scorer...

The Spurs aren't better for adding Richard Jefferson.

[SApuro_]

I am sick to my stomach but just imagine how Peter Holt feels. Guy must drink alot. Dropped so much cash on this team and they have failed.

Its easy to blame RJ because he was supposed to be the missing piece. The 3 we hadnt had since the ninja but in reality its the 4/5 were we have the problem.

Dice is the reason we suck. That dude just hasn't shown up. Guy looks slow and old. Typical over the hill Spurs signing. Steve Smith, Kevin Willis, Steve Kerr, etc. The difference with those guys they only played a handful of mins and were not counted on to hold down the D. As sad as it is Dice is the best defender outside of TD that we have.

From what I saw last night and in Portland the other night this team will not get there this year. Problem is we can't shed payroll we gotta go all in because we are pot committed. No one is going to pick up RJ's contract or Dice for that matter. Is Holt going to go deeper in the wallet to make another blockbuster trade? I wouldn't its a business...the guy has vacations and lavish lifestyle (peter holt lavish haha) to maintain.

I just hope Manu stays healthy and gets paid...stay a spur so we can retire his jersey.

[TAI8]

Our biggest problem right now is lack of interior defense..While Richard Jefferson has not helped the defensive cause by any means he is still a valuable scorer who provides much needed offense from the 3 that we lacked for years..

He sucks... can't defend nor rebound... He allows more points than he puts up.

Scoring 12 ppg isn't being a valuable scorer...

The Spurs aren't better for adding Richard Jefferson.

Ginobili is averaging 13 PPG...does that mean he isn't a valuable scorer for us? Jefferson is only taking 10 shots a game...the lowest in his career since his rookie year. Not easy scoring a lot of points on a team with 5 players in double figures..

[Blame Rasho]

Yes... Jefferson is valuable...

[TAI8]

Our offense has been the best it's ever been since the '07 championship season..Jefferson is a big part of that...Like I said our biggest problem right now is interior defense..For the first time in a long time we're a better offensive team than defensive team..Our defensive identity that defined Spurs basketball is long gone because our front court outside of Duncan sucks defensively and we have no legitimate backup SF, forcing us to go small..

[Blame Rasho]

Our offense has been the best it's ever been since the '07 championship season..Jefferson is a big part of that...Like I said our biggest problem right now is interior defense..For the first time in a long time we're a better offensive team than defensive team..Our defensive identity that defined Spurs basketball is long gone because our front court outside of Duncan sucks defensively and we have no legitimate backup SF, forcing us to go small..

Yes... Jefferson is valuable to our offense...

[TAI8]

Our offense has been the best it's ever been since the '07 championship season..Jefferson is a big part of that...Like I said our biggest problem right now is interior defense..For the first time in a long time we're a better offensive team than defensive team..Our defensive identity that defined Spurs basketball is long gone because our front court outside of Duncan sucks defensively and we have no legitimate backup SF, forcing us to go small..

Yes... Jefferson is valuable to our offense...

Do you think Richard Jefferson is the biggest reason why we're struggling?

[Blame Rasho]

Our offense has been the best it's ever been since the '07 championship season..Jefferson is a big part of that...Like I said our biggest problem right now is interior defense..For the first time in a long time we're a better offensive team than defensive team..Our defensive identity that defined Spurs basketball is long gone because our front court outside of Duncan sucks defensively and we have no legitimate backup SF, forcing us to go small..

Yes... Jefferson is valuable to our offense...

Do you think Richard Jefferson is the biggest reason why we're struggling?

No... it is Rasho....

[TAI8]

There is no need to be sarcastic unless you truly think Richard Jefferson is the one who deserves all the blame for our struggles which is extremely narrow minded thinking...

[Donald Kaufman]

RJ is an easy target. He makes $14M per year and gets 12ppg. He should be able to at least average more points than millions of dollars per year. His D is non-existent and he can't rebound for sh*t. He's been a major disappointment.

But is it all his fault? Not even close. Pop's rotations have been confused and awkward, this has been the least cohesive unit (on both ends of the floor) in the Duncan era, our defensive rotations are a joke. Dice has brought nothing. Blair has had his moments but is awful on D. Manu has shown flashes of his former self but has clearly lost several steps. Parker has been hobbled and inconsistent.

[batmana]

This is the first time I'm gonna go at Jefferson but frankly I also think he is the main reason we suck. I am also going to say something you may not agree with but it's about our offense. It's supposedly the best we've had since 2007, right? I completely disagree - even if that's what the numbers say. We surely average more PPG but we play faster and have zero defense. Our offense again disappears for long stretches and we give up double digit leads like nothing. That is where we expected RJ to fill in and he hasn't. The commentators of the Lakers game the other night said that RJ is losing confidence over the fact that he is not scoring and is allowing that to affect his overall game and attitude and I completely agree. He should do more than just try to score but he doesn't. He had one or two highlight plays (big blocks and posterizing dunks) earlier in the season in games we lost badly because he got angered at the defeat but that's about it. The other night against the Lakers I remember I was actually screaming at the monitor for Pop to take him out after a horrible shot early in the first half (I believe we were still leading).
Now, let me say that I actually believed Jefferson would be a huge addition and was eager for the season to start. I've always been a fan of his and thought he would really help our offense. I still know he is a very good player and I hope something happens and he starts getting it. He looks content with taking a spot-up shot and looks like he doesn't care if it goes in or not - that's not the player we expected - where is his penetration, drawing contact... What we have right now from Jefferson offensively is about what we would have from a 38-year-old Bowen if he was to return and get the same touches right now, I'm sorry but that's what I think.

[Donald Kaufman]

I agree actually. Too much is made of our apparently decent offense. I think it's clunky and badly managed.

[TAI8]

This is the first time I'm gonna go at Jefferson but frankly I also think he is the main reason we suck. I am also going to say something you may not agree with but it's about our offense. It's supposedly the best we've had since 2007, right? I completely disagree - even if that's what the numbers say. We surely average more PPG but we play faster and have zero defense. Our offense again disappears for long stretches and we give up double digit leads like nothing. That is where we expected RJ to fill in and he hasn't. The commentators of the Lakers game the other night said that RJ is losing confidence over the fact that he is not scoring and is allowing that to affect his overall game and attitude and I completely agree. He should do more than just try to score but he doesn't. He had one or two highlight plays (big blocks and posterizing dunks) earlier in the season in games we lost badly because he got angered at the defeat but that's about it. The other night against the Lakers I remember I was actually screaming at the monitor for Pop to take him out after a horrible shot early in the first half (I believe we were still leading).
Now, let me say that I actually believed Jefferson would be a huge addition and was eager for the season to start. I've always been a fan of his and thought he would really help our offense. I still know he is a very good player and I hope something happens and he starts getting it. He looks content with taking a spot-up shot and looks like he doesn't care if it goes in or not - that's not the player we expected - where is his penetration, drawing contact... What we have right now from Jefferson offensively is about what we would have from a 38-year-old Bowen if he was to return and get the same touches right now, I'm sorry but that's what I think.

The Spurs are a better offensive team with Jefferson than without..That's a fact..Our offense in '08 was 15th..Our offense in '09 was 13th..We added four new rotation players: Bogans, Jefferson, Blair, and Dyess..Out of all those players Jefferson is the biggest reason why scoring is no longer an issue for this team unless you think Blair or Dyess, both limited offensive players, have made more of an impact than him..As of right now our defense is 10th..The last time a Spurs defense was out of the top 5 was the year we tanked for Duncan..I already acknowledged that Jefferson has not helped the cause defensively, but we have a flaw that stemmed from the way we are built..Our front court is trashy outside of Duncan..Bonner, Blair, and Dyess are all atrocious defenders..Interior defense is more important than perimeter defense because players will miss regardless of whether or not our perimeter guys put a hand up on their face..Players do miss open shots..It happens..The same can't be said for players that have to face our front court..To protect the paint is to reduce the amount of high percentage shots made and quite frankly our bigs don't get it..

[batmana]

You say our offense is ranked 10th but we play faster. A couple of years ago we played a lot slower, had much fewer possessions and obviously scored less pts. Jefferson, IMO, is having very little effect on where our offense is ranked. Believe it or not, Blair might have more effect on those statistics since he is taking only point-blank shots that are bound to go in. The problem is that we expected Jefferson to take it to the rack and help us score with basically noone else on the floor - when our leaders are resting, or when they are in a slump. Now if he was doing that, even at a worse shooting percentage, we'd have little to say against him. He appears to be content with the so called "role" that he supposedly has - to be a spot-up shooter. I am utterly convinced that's not his role. He is welcome to take an open shot but he is also expected to slow the ball and take his defender one-on-one with his excellent athleticism, draw contact and create space for others with his penetration. Instead, his game is now only up to whether he makes those spot-up shots or not. That's why I said Bowen could average the same numbers - after all Bowen was always an efficient spot-up shooter and given 10 shots a night (that's what someone else had said Jefferson gets this season) in a sped-up tempo and probably a couple more touches that Jefferson uses to get to the line (which Bowen would probably still put up) he could average double-digit numbers. And we know even at 38 Bowen could give an offensive player hell if he puts his mind into it. Jefferson appears to be trying at the defensive end, just not too hard. And that's pissing us off as Spurs fans since we were always proud of our defense. I'd say Bonner is actually playing a lot better D than you guys give him credit for because he is trying to be physical and not give ground easily. Now when he gets beaten off the dribble or overpowered, those are the rules of physics and that's about all he can do with his tools. All we hope is Jefferson starts using his tools as well... GO SPURS GO!

[wizardg]

Here's what I've seen.

RJ has dissapointed me .... BUT. Pop hasn't helped by shuffling lineups and playing to stay healthy more than win a lot of the time.

When I envisioned RJ as a Spur I saw him playing with Manu, and ending those 3 live body and 2 bum offenses that actually won titles with Bruce and Oberto/Nazi/Rasho playing along side TD.

What I've seen, and I don't have the League pass this year has been a lot of RJ playing without Manu.

This is the lineup I don't think I've seen and the one we need to try. Esp against the Lakers.Celtics, Cavs etc.

TD
Ratliff
RJ
Manu
TP

RJ needs to play with the big three. And only Ratliff can bring back our D. Pops system works with two bigs protecting the paint and setting the tone.
We can size down for small teams ... but either way Ratliff needs morefloor time. Even if we have to play a junk zone from time to time.

I know Ratliff can be as fragile as a saltine cracker but hey ... two tears in a bucket ...... it!

But backto the topic. RJ has to play with the big three ASAP

[co_laper]

Actually, I think RJ needs to come off the bench. He needs his shots to be effective. He's not getting it with the first team. I say the time is now to start Manu. I don't care who we start at SF. It can be Finley or have Manu start at SF or whatever. Fact is, I don't see how Jefferson has earned his starting role. The only reason I can think of anymore is because he's the only one with a true SF size. Everyone else is SG's size. Mason, Hill, Bogans, Manu. If we need to start 4 guards, then we should start 4 guards. It's time to give the minutes to guys who earned it. Jefferson, has not.

[righteous015]

Rasho's doing great for the Raps!

But yeah, RJ is steadily declining with the Spurs. He used to just rely on Kidd to get him the ball.