Richard Jefferson

SApuro_ · Post #1 » by **SApuro_** » Sat Mar 20, 2010 3:31 pm

Will the real Richard Jefferson please stand up.

RJ has been playing very well the past 1/2 dozen games or so. He has been taking it to the hole and not settling for the outside jumper. So there I am at the Miami game on 3rd roll constantly yelling at RJ to be aggressive. A couple of times he looks over at me smiles and nods his head.

One thing RJ is alot bigger than I thought. Dude is almost the same size as Blair....just drive and get fouled. Which is what has he been doing.

Parker is a must if we are going to go anywhere in the playoffs but I think RJ finally understands his role and feeling comfortable in a Spurs jersey.

co_laper · Post #2 » by **co_laper** » Sat Mar 20, 2010 6:19 pm

I'm just not too sure, but I think RJ's production is up when one of the big 3 is injured. This time it's parker. I forgot who got injured earlier in the season when RJ played really well. Was that Parker too or was it Manu?

Donald Kaufman · Post #3 » by **Donald Kaufman** » Sun Mar 21, 2010 10:44 am

We're a better team when RJ is aggressive offensively, simple as that. He needs to step up and play consistently. He's done this for most of his career, so it shouldn't be that difficult.

joe.linnen · Post #4 » by **joe.linnen** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 4:13 am

this team has a great big 4 and I'm loving it... I'm a Laker fan and I want to see you guys in the playoffs

co_laper · Post #5 » by **co_laper** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 6:27 am

Jefferson can't be considered one of the big 4 when he's not even the team's 4th best player right now. That title has to belong to George Hill.

co_laper · Post #6 » by **co_laper** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 5:54 am

Jefferson will be getting an earful from Pop after today's game.

Huge mistake late in the 4th quarter. I remember Jefferson saying something about not being used to taking the ball out of bounds and all. It shows today. Late 4th quarter (like a minute or two left), Cavs doing a fullcourt press and Jefferson threw a chest pass too hard (Hill was too close to catch a pass that fast) and Hill dropped it. That one play got the cavs back in the game. Jefferson got taken out right after that play and never got backed in. We even see Hairston playing crunch time despite not playing the whole game instead of Jefferson. His final statline is decent.. 16 points and 5 rebounds, but that was a near costly mistake by Jefferson.

Donald Kaufman · Post #7 » by **Donald Kaufman** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 6:49 am

If we can move RJ and his ridiculous contract in the offseason I think we should.

SApuro_ · Post #8 » by **SApuro_** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 9:45 am

No one is going to take his contract. Our best bet is at the trade deadline with a team looking to cut salary the next year.

The guy has been a huge disapointment but he has picked up his game of late. Maybe by next year he will have a better feel for the system and really gel. Remember most spurs are way better their second year in a spurs uni.

JasonDaPsycho · Post #9 » by **JasonDaPsycho** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 9:08 am

I'll give him one more year.

Popovich's offense is difficult to follow, and it's no surprise that it takes up to a year to get used to.

Donald Kaufman · Post #10 » by **Donald Kaufman** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 9:20 am

SApuro_ wrote:No one is going to take his contract. Our best bet is at the trade deadline with a team looking to cut salary the next year.

The guy has been a huge disapointment but he has picked up his game of late. Maybe by next year he will have a better feel for the system and really gel. Remember most spurs are way better their second year in a spurs uni.

Yeah true. Hedo was pretty average when we had him in '04. Stephen Jackson took a while to find his feet.

I wasn't expecting 20ppg from him like some fans were, that was never going to happen. But I have been surprised by the amount of games where he's just disappeared like he has.

co_laper · Post #11 » by **co_laper** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 12:01 pm

Well 20 ppg is a bit of a stretch. Personally, I feel the dissapointment with RJ is quite across the board. There's not one part of his game that is at the level I expected in.

Like for instance, we expect him to bring some offense and like you said, his disappearing act is too much. He's looking better when we're shorthanded but for me, his offense is not what i expected. I wasn't thinking 20 ppg, but I was thinking 15-17 ppg out of the 15 million acquisition. He's doing 12 right now.

I also expected him to get to the line a lot here and that also did not happen. Sure, he's averaging less minutes now. 31 mpg opposed the 36 mpg he got in Milwaukee or the 39 mpg in New Jersey the year before, but that's only 5-8 minutes less. He was getting 8 FTA in NJ and 6+ FTA in Milwaukee. He's now at 3.3 FTA per game.

Rebounding is also something that i expected because I always felt there was plenty of rebounds to be had here. He's doing 4 rebounds a game. I expected him to get 6 a game. Hoping for 7. But atleast 5. And he's doing 4.

Defense is also something I think we all expected out of him because if someone is going to replace Bruce's defense then it has to come from someone who's playing 30-35 minutes a game and covering the opponent's best player at all time. Not some 15-20 minute bench guy like we're doing now with Bogans. We need Jefferson to be that guy and he's not.

I'm glad jefferson steps up when Tony is down, but his season won't be judged by what he's doing when someone goes down. It's by what he does in the playoffs and how he meshes with the big 3.

Donald Kaufman · Post #12 » by **Donald Kaufman** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 12:30 pm

Definitely, like Roger Mason last year, RJ's true value will come in the playoffs. I guess it's true for any new acquisition though. I can forgive 12ppg, 4rpg and the occasional disappearing act during the regular season, but he needs to step up in the postseason. If he does, all will be forgiven as far as I'm concerned.

I don't love his game and never have. I did think he'd have more of an impact, and yeah 20ppg was never going to happen anyway. But for $14-15M per we are well within our rights to expect more. He's playing well recently but what happens when TP gets back?

rocopc · Post #13 » by **rocopc** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 2:44 pm

Donald Kaufman wrote:Definitely, like Roger Mason last year, RJ's true value will come in the playoffs. I guess it's true for any new acquisition though. I can forgive 12ppg, 4rpg and the occasional disappearing act during the regular season, but he needs to step up in the postseason. If he does, all will be forgiven as far as I'm concerned.

I don't love his game and never have. I did think he'd have more of an impact, and yeah 20ppg was never going to happen anyway. But for $14-15M per we are well within our rights to expect more. He's playing well recently but what happens when TP gets back?

First RJ>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Mason in every aspect of the game

And TP has to undestand that have to expand his game, and share the ball with Manu and RJ, Hill is doin it and the Spurs are playing better

Donald Kaufman · Post #14 » by **Donald Kaufman** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 3:14 pm

I wasn't suggesting that Mason was better than RJ. I was saying that last year was Mason's first year with us, and he showed his value (or lack of it) in the playoffs. Same deal with RJ this year.

I don't know how it will pan out with TP coming back. We need him to make a run in the playoffs, but we're clicking at the moment. I don't want it to be like the situation in Orlando last year, the Magic were playing well and rushed Jameer Nelson back and it messed things up.

co_laper · Post #15 » by **co_laper** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 3:22 pm

Yeah, honestly I'm hoping that TP and Pop understands that atleast in the 1st round it should be Hill as the starting PG. Parker is still going to get his 35-40 minutes come playoff time.

SApuro_ · Post #16 » by **SApuro_** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 7:52 pm

Coming to SA has been a tough spot for RJ from the beginning. Expectations where so high. We have to give him credit for playing really hard the past 10 games or so. Hell last night dude got 11 rebounds. RJ is being more aggressive and taking it to the hoop.

I like his team focus and like Kaufman said as long as he shows up in the playoffs all is forgotten.