Wednesday, March 10th, 2010...9:59 am
Standing still, Richard Jefferson struggles
With apologies to Manu Ginobili, when the Spurs acquired Richard Jefferson fans were expecting more than a (sometimes solid) bench player. Starting alongside Duncan and Parker, Jefferson was suppose to help move the Spurs to the top of the standings.
The only movement Jefferson has seen so far this season, however, is his name up and down the lineup card. For much of this season Jefferson has been stationary in the corner, as if he were Bruce Bowen or Sean Elliott before him.
And there are still questions why Jefferson has struggled?
It has been far too simple to say Jefferson is a bad fit or struggled without explaining why. People assume that a scorer in his prime can simply transition into any system without ever taking into account how that player created all his points in the past.
But Jefferson is not a scorer. Scorers are those who, like a Kobe Bryant or Kevin Durant, can create their own offense. Too often people miscast a player once they hit the 20 ppg mark.
Some, like Reggie Miller or Rip Hamilton, were shooters whose system allowed them a lot of opportunities. Others, like Amare Stoudemire, are great finishers who rack up a lot of points on the tail end of plays created by others. But to the point, rarely are these players asked to, or successful at, creating their own offense from a standstill.
For Jefferson, his scoring prowess and skill set can be summed up in one word: movement.
If you want to delve a little deeper into that, just read the man’s own words, courtesy of a recent Express-News story.
“Anybody who watches the game with an intelligent eye can see I was doing a lot of things I had never done over the course of my career,” he says. “I’ve never guarded guys like LaMarcus Aldridge. I’ve never been a swing guy. I’ve never taken the ball out of bounds.
“Keith Bogans was brought in here to play defense and hit corner threes. (Antonio) McDyess was brought in here to rebound and hit pick-and-pop jumpers. You can’t really say that my role on this team is the same role you’ve seen me do the last eight years and be successful.”
“I played in the Princeton offense for six years, a movement offense,” Jefferson says. “Now I’m on a team with a dominant guy like Tim (Duncan), and we have pick-and-roll guards who are quality scoring guards.”
For all Jefferson’s athletic ability, he is not a very creative slasher. He can drive, but only in straight lines. He’s an athlete, but not one with a superb first step or great agility.
For all intents and purposes, he’s a secondary offensive player who excels in exploiting the driving lanes a teammate’s playmaking or the movement an offensive set creates but has trouble creating his own.
Therein lies the problem. The Spurs offensive system of the past decade has simply asked its small forward to stand in the corner and shoot threes. Bruce Bowen was reliable, and Sean Elliott had a quick enough first step to take advantage of defenses that crowded his shot.
Throughout the season, Popovich has tinkered with Jefferson in the post to incorporate him in the offense, but even that is playing more to a capability rather than a strength. In short, handing the ball to Jefferson at a standstill against a set defense was never going to work.
Does that mean I believe the Spurs front office was short sighted in acquiring such a poor fit? Without any insight into the team’s line of thinking, what makes sense is that if the team was not going to move Jefferson around it could at least move the defense.
In last year’s playoff series against the Mavericks, Tony Parker was able to collapse their entire defense. Only, with the rest of the supporting cast being nothing but spot-up shooters, Dallas was able to sell out in chasing shooters off the three-point line without fear of anyone outside of Parker getting to the rim.
In theory, even in a pick and roll offense Jefferson should be able to exploit the scrambling defense created by Parker and Ginobili’s penetration. Rotating defenders create opportunistic driving lanes.
Unfortunately, the Spurs pick and roll attack has not been as dynamic this season with the injuries to Parker and the slow start by Ginobili. Defenders have been more apt to stay at home, turning Jefferson into a spot-up shooter.
It’s little wonder that Jefferson was able to find somewhat of a niche when paired with a resurgent Ginobili off the bench. Over the past several weeks Ginobili has gotten back to drawing that third or fourth defender, moving defenses out of position and opening up Jefferson’s game for the occasional 20-point night.
If Jefferson is to become more than just an expiring contract and valuable trade asset at this point, the Spurs must hope for one of two things.
That Parker returns at some point as a reasonable facsimile of himself, creating the driving lanes that were present in last year’s playoffs. Or that over the offseason the Spurs pick up some of the personnel needed to incorporate more of their motion offense.
Anything less could leave the Spurs, like Jefferson, stuck in neutral.
49 Comments
March 10th, 2010 at 10:25 am
I for one was never looking at Jefferson as the savior. He was suppose to be the fourth option and a upgrade defensively in comparison to Bonner and Mason. The problem obviously has been that 2 of the 3 first options haven’t been there for most of the season. Ginobili is finally back and that’s great but that’s only been for about the past month. Imagine if Parker was healthy and playing now the way he was playing at the end of last season. If that were the case Jefferson could fill the role I think Pop and RC envisioned when they acquired him.
March 10th, 2010 at 10:36 am
“With apologies to Manu Ginobili, when the Spurs acquired Richard Jefferson fans were expecting more than a (sometimes solid) bench player. ”
WTF was that.
March 10th, 2010 at 10:46 am
Jefferson is trade bait at this point. This article doesn’t address the fact that RJ lacks aggression on the offensive end and at times loses concentration on the defensive end. In the times I have watched the Spurs, he seems to simply float through the games without really asserting himself. While no one expected him to morph into Kobe this year, we never expected him to disappear completely from entire games. He played 28 minutes against the Cavs and took only 3 shots. If you look at his game log for the entire season, this happens all too often.
I know that players have a difficult time adjusting to Pops system and oftentimes, players excel in their second season with the Spurs (Brent Barry). However, we need to get younger and more athletic and Jefferson’s expiring contract might be the key. I commend the Front Office and ownership for rolling the dice and taking on his contract, but this is one of the few gambles that have blown up in our face. This summer it’s time to let him go and for the franchise to move on.
March 10th, 2010 at 11:13 am
48MoH
Great article! Well written.
It sounds like Jefferson is talking his way into why he has under-performed. To me, that mindset demonstrates mental weakness and a lack of aggression. His quotations don’t account for his drop off in rebounds and FT% though. I just think his mindset isn’t where it needs to be. Some posters will blame the coach for not coddling, I mean involving, him enough. In reality, he just isn’t the player the Spurs thought they were getting. He can’t adapt. Whatever man. I guess we’d have to take his word for it in that regard. I wouldn’t expect to see him in a Spurs uniform beyond this season or next anyhow.
March 10th, 2010 at 11:26 am
Colin, I agree with you. I believe there is definitely mental weakness if not an entire lapse that has taken place. He plays more like a rookie than Blair does. It’s a shame. Especially after this early sign of promise. He played with energy and intent. Remember this game without Tony and Tim?
http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=291111024
My how times have changed.
March 10th, 2010 at 11:27 am
Well written article with perhaps one issue.
I for one, disagree with the statement that Jefferson is not a scorer. Jefferson is a scorer, but to be more accurate, is a volume shooter/scorer. His best play is when he is allowed the freedom to take a large number and often bad attempts of shots.
In San Antonio, he has not been given that luxury. His shot attempts are limited, and only come with the help of others. Limited to being the 4th option, we will never see the best Jefferson has to offer.
What surprises me is that the coaching staff (especially without Tony Parker these days) has not given the green light for Jefferson to go nuts.
(And yes, to be perfectly honest they very well may have and Jefferson might not just be playing hard enough. That is a possibility. I choose to believe the transition to 4th option has more to do with his failure than Jefferson’s effort.)
Trying to make Jefferson a 4th option is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. He has never been known as a defender and limited scorer. So why ask him to do it here? Jefferson has even admitted as much when he comments on the new things he has to do here.
I for one, wonder why the coaching staff has not just allowed Jefferson to be one of the focal points of the offense. Make him the number one, or number 2 option. Manu and Tim are so gifted offensively, that they are better equipped to get their numbers EVEN WHEN they are not being the focus of the shot attempts.
Going into the season, in terms of shot attempts i thought the spurs would be more like this - 1) parker, 2) Jefferson, 3) Manu, 4) Tim.
Parker, like Jefferson is a volume scorer. They’d be the ones looking for attempts. Manu would, in essence, continue to run the offense as the creator and facilitator of shots. He could get his whenever necessary.
But what of Tim? Well he’d get his on the OCCASIONAL post up and pick and roll. But his focus should be the offensive glass and being the anchor of the defense. (Think David Robinson towards the end of his career. ) Yes, people, we are to that point in Duncan’s career. Duncan is capable of the big scoring night still, but we should not expect it.
Well there’s my rant. Take it for what it is worth. Yet another well written post on 48 minutes of Hell. Love the work.
-Spicy
March 10th, 2010 at 11:36 am
I think Hubie Brown said it best.
More or less he said that its hard to adjust when you come to a contender. Especially if you played a bunch of meaningless games.
RJ is the fourth option, so right away your minutes go down and shot attempts go down.
You go from shooting 15 shots to 8 or 9 shots.
Suddenly those 8 or 9 shots become magnified. Each 8 or 9 shots matters. You have no room for error.
Mabe RJ just can’t take the pressure.
The Cavs game for example. He shot 3 times before that unfortunate travel. He only got 3 chances to score. Is it any wonder he travelled?
If you give any player only 9 shots there is now way he is going to make all 9. At the most he might make 5.
I just think RJ needs a little more room for error.
I think he flourished more when TD was out. He knew he would get more shots.
It makes sense.
Because how else can you explain a guy missing wide open shots? You don’t have to “understand” a system to hit open shots.
I also had no idea his one on one game was so limited.
He was playing pretty good before the Cavs game.
I like him playing with MANU.
We shall see.
March 10th, 2010 at 11:40 am
People talk about trading RJ and his “expiring contract” this summer, but who would do this trade and what would the Spurs get back? Won’t the Spurs by definition have to take back non-expiring contracts? And how does getting 14m/year of long term contracts on players someone else doesn’t want help us?
March 10th, 2010 at 12:26 pm
doggydogworld -
To answer your question - no, we do not have to take back non-expirings in an RJ deal. If we do indeed trade RJ, it will most likely be for a combination of young pieces and expirings, most likely in (at least) a 3 team trade. The hope is that we grab a few young guys/draft picks for the future and expirings that will lessen the tax burden down the road.
One thing I can assure will not happen - we will not take back any expensive, long term deals. At worst, we let RJ roll off the cap next summer.
March 10th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
All season it looks like RJ is lost somewhere between being an All-Star and a roleplayer. Despite the unselfishness of the big 3, it almost looks like Jefferson was afraid of stepping on somebody’s toes.
@doggydog
Teams don’t always trade players they don’t want. RJ’s expiring contract provides big monetary relief and that goes a long way in today’s NBA. Sometimes teams (ex: Utah Jazz) give away key players just to save some money.
March 10th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
This is all on Richard Jefferson! Players like Hill and Blair have both been able to be aggressive without taking the team out of its offense, why can a veteran such as Jefferson not do the same thing?
B/c he has no attention to detail, no discipline, and has mental lapses!
His crybaby faces at the end of almost ever play frustrate me to no end! I am so glad he is not starting and if he ends up costing us Manu, so help me God!
I actually feel bad for Popovich, it is obvious from the statements that Pop made in the summer that he thought the Spurs were getting a player comparable to Stephen Jackson, a player that could get his own shot when needed and had the pride and discipline to guard the league’s elite swingmen. If Jefferson had met those expectations guess who wouldn’t be playing as many minutes….that’s right Keith Bogans, those minutes would have potentially have gone to Hill or Mason from the very beggining of the season. So the 2nd part of my post hopefully serves as reminder to all of you that are angry with Bogans amount of PT, blame Jefferson!
March 10th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Bottom line is he has not been and will not be a good fit for our team. Blame the front office for not doing there homework on this guy. What I mean is that Jefferson has never been a superstar(even though he gets paid like one). He has never been a player that can score at will and his defense was suspect at best in NJ as well as with the Bucks. I will only concentrate on offense though, because I feel that defensively we have not been very good this season as compared to other years. In NJ he played with Jason Kidd a pass first point guard(unlike what we have here in SA) also he scored alot on fast breaks that were started with Kidd making a steal. He also did not have to score as much because they had Vince Carter to handle that for them. Even though he had a nice average while there in large part due to the fact that they played a more wide open style of offense. His year with the Bucks he had a solid offensive year, but keep in mind that they lost their best offensive player(Michael Redd) as well as Andrew Bogut for a considerable amount of time as well. He had to score and since Skiles plays more wide open and up tempo it was not a bad fit for him offensively. I guess my biggest concern is not that he has not been a good fit(We should have smellled a rat when Scott Skiles wanted to get rid of this guy) but rather the lack of focus, energy, and passion that comes from this guy making $173,000 per game. I think most of us could say that if he played hard at least we could handle that. He plays with none of those traits and instead this guy seems content on making excuses or having excuses made for him and when you are the 2nd highest paid player on a team that has won 4 titles in the last 11 seasons it is unexceptable. But alas I still think the FO should have done a more thorough job on evaluating this guys potential for a role on this team. Once again another bad move from the front office that will set us back and has killed one of TD’s last years and a good one at that.
March 10th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
As far as trading the guy we have little to no shot at getting a fair deal for the guy. We will get @$$ raped if we somehow find a sucker( I mean trade partner) for this guy. As I said the move has set us back. Remember he was the guy that we really tried to move before the trade deadline and nobody wanted him. I understand that his will be an expiring deal next year but with him having the year he is having there still is no value. And honestly why not take the advantage ourselves of having 15 million coming off the books end of next year. Bottom line is we were one of the first teams to reach out to Washington for the deal that ended up in Dallas. We wanted them to take Jefferson and they wanted either Gino or Parker in the deal not Jefferson. We see how that deal is working out for the Mavs right now. And yes I would have dealt Parker in a heart beat, and not just because he is hurt either.
March 10th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
Hoopster -
Washington went with Dallas’ deal b/c Howard comes off the books this year, unlike RJ who comes off the books next summer. Washington not wanting Jefferson had little to do with his play, and more to do with the tax relief for next season, which they wouldn’t have gotten with RJ.
Next summer, I think we’ll see a deal similiar to the Rockets’ and Mavs’ deals. When it comes to salary dumps, it’s more about the financial savings and less about what the player gives you on the court. With the salary cap coming down next year for the first time ever, teams are still going to be trying to slash payroll for the coming years. RJ’s deal will be the biggest on the market in that regard.
March 10th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
lol he’s gonna go as fast as he came
March 10th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
Jefferson is, quite frankly, shit.
$14 mln for Jefferson? I’d rather give Bonner the raise.
Useless cunt won’t even TRY on ‘D’ some games. What the hell is that shit? He shouldn’t be making excuses about his retardness, and just be getting his head down and working hard to try and produce something more then the SF equivalent of Kwame. Idiot.
March 10th, 2010 at 1:37 pm
Hobson13
March 10th, 2010 at 10:46 am
“This article doesn’t address the fact that RJ lacks aggression on the offensive end and at times loses concentration on the defensive end. In the times I have watched the Spurs, he seems to simply float through the games without really asserting himself. While no one expected him to morph into Kobe this year, we never expected him to disappear completely from entire games. He played 28 minutes against the Cavs and took only 3 shots. If you look at his game log for the entire season, this happens all too often.”
I agree. Well said.
Colin
March 10th, 2010 at 11:13 am
“It sounds like Jefferson is talking his way into why he has under-performed. To me, that mindset demonstrates mental weakness and a lack of aggression.”
Yes, I believe you are correct here.
Spicy
March 10th, 2010 at 11:27 am
“He has never been known as a defender and limited scorer. So why ask him to do it here?”
But why not? Artest was never known as a defender AND “limited” scorer. He might not be scoring as efficiently, but his head is still in the game, and he often has had a positive impact in games. He went from a very productive all-around player to strictly a role player within the starting line-up of a championship contender. How do you explain his success at being a fourth option in the VERY unique system that the Lakers run?
“Parker, like Jefferson is a volume scorer.”
Yes, but Parker has always been an efficient scorer, Jefferson has not. And that is key in a Spurs system. Jefferson needs to be satisfied with taking less shots, and making more of them, by taking the ball to the rack more frequently. And there’s no law in the Spurs system that inherently dissuades him from doing this.
“(Think David Robinson towards the end of his career. ) Yes, people, we are to that point in Duncan’s career. Duncan is capable of the big scoring night still, but we should not expect it.”
No, we clearly are not there yet.
doggydogworld
March 10th, 2010 at 11:40 am
“People talk about trading RJ and his “expiring contract” this summer, but who would do this trade and what would the Spurs get back? Won’t the Spurs by definition have to take back non-expiring contracts? And how does getting 14m/year of long term contracts on players someone else doesn’t want help us?”
Very good point.
Tyler
March 10th, 2010 at 12:26 pm
“The hope is that we grab a few young guys/draft picks for the future and expirings that will lessen the tax burden down the road.”
And who’s going to do that type of deal for RJ, the way he’s played this year? A moron? Let’s face it, unless we can come up with a trade with some team that thrives with a motion offense, that still has faith in the “old” RJ (somehow?!), we’re going to be stuck with Jefferson until at least next February’s trade deadline.
March 10th, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Hoopster
March 10th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
“I guess my biggest concern is not that he has not been a good fit(We should have smellled a rat when Scott Skiles wanted to get rid of this guy) but rather the lack of focus, energy, and passion that comes from this guy making $173,000 per game.”
“As far as trading the guy we have little to no shot at getting a fair deal for the guy. We will get @$$ raped if we somehow find a sucker( I mean trade partner) for this guy.”
Agreed.
March 10th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
Jim Henderson -
Please re-read the 2nd paragraph of my response to Hobson, most notably the part about how in a salary dump, it’s more about finances and less about on-court production.
And yes, we most likely will be stuck with RJ till next February’s trade deadline - when most big deals go down (like this year for example).
Listen, if we’ve learned anything this year, it’s that teams will do almost anything to dump salary and avoid paying the dollar for dollar luxury tax. All you have to do is look back at this year’s trade deadline to see that. At next year’s trade deadline, the most valuable assets won’t necessarily be guys that produce on the court, but players with contracts that are due to come off the books that summer. You saw it with the deals in Dallas, Houston and Milwaukee. Expect more of the same next season.
March 10th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Jefferson is paid $14 million this season $15 million next. What a joke.
March 10th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
Whether or not RJ “earns his keep” still remains to be seen. There are still 21 games left. He could surprise everyone and becoma as good as everyone said he was during the pre-season. Most people have given up on RJ and the Spurs already this season. We need to keep the faith and trust Pop and the team to get things done. I’ve said it elsewhere and I’ll say it here: I STILL BELIEVE!!!!! 2010 THE YEAR OF THE SPURS!!!!! GO SPURS GO!!!!!
March 10th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
[...] The Horseshoe: Speaking of which, Richard Jefferson is looking worse and worse for the Spurs. [48 MoH] [...]
March 10th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
I understand RJ likes running game and all that, now, I have seen when Parker has the ball around mid court, Hill sprints up the court for an easy pass from parker for a fast break. I have seen this play many times. Why doesn’t RJ ever run and get easy points? I just don’t get it. If you are having a hard time getting the ball in your hand, wouldn’t you be interested in running and getting easy buckets?
March 10th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
RJ has been playing better, but is definitely not worth his paycheck. However, coming off the bench has allowed him to play better, and that should be the focus of this team. Wins are all that matters at this point.
March 10th, 2010 at 4:28 pm
RJ does run upcourt. He was first to the rim on both of Manu’s steals in Q4 against the Cavs (traveled on one, though) as well as the play last week in which Tony broke his metacarpal. Problem is, the Spurs don’t go for steals that often so RJ gets few chances to run.
March 10th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
I think coming into this we all knew he was overpaid, it was just a bullet you had to bite to get a player.
So far as aggression, he’s been hitting the boards better, but with his offense-what kind of aggression do you want?
Just putting your head down and driving, I’m not sure that’s in his skill set.
But on one point you guys are right, his offense has often effected the other areas of his game from time to time. A coach or general manager would like everyone to have a Manu Ginobili mindset, but the reality is most players are wired this way. We’ve just been fortunate.
March 10th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
@Tyler, I understand big deals with expiring contracts happen near the trade deadline. But the salaries have to match and it makes no sense to swap expiring for expiring, so the team getting rid of the loser with an expiring contract generally takes back long term contracts the other team wants to shed.
Look at the Houston deal. Houston got rid of McGrady but received Kevin Martin (4 years, 44m), Jared Jeffries (2 years, 15m) and Jordan Hill (2 years, 5m). Now Houston apparently wanted Kevin Martin but if he doesn’t work out they’ve got a bigger problem than they just solved.
So while I’m sure the Spurs will be able to move RJ after this year it’s not at all clear to me they’ll be able to put a deal together than improves the team. I mean, would you trade RJ’s expiring for a 4 year/44m Kevin Martin-like contract?
March 10th, 2010 at 5:30 pm
Jesse Blanchard
In reference to my aggression comment:
He is averaging 4 rebs/game this season which is down a little from his career #’s of 5 rpg. I wouldn’t necessarily agree he has been hitting the boards better (maybe lately he has, but not consistently). He is a career 5 rpg player who is capable of at least 7 rebs/game.
I agree that simply putting his head down and driving recklessly isn’t what we’d like to see. I would like to see him earn some more trips to the free throw line which can be done by a simple 1- dribble go move…..that IS in his repertoire. His free throw attempts and FT% are WAY down this year compared to his career #’s…..to me, a sign of not being aggressive. Evidently for a number of reasons discussed, he has digressed to being a player comparable to what he was in his rookie season. There are plenty of reasons/excuses as to why his performance has been sub-par, but to me it seems like he has talked himself into being a shell of a player.
March 10th, 2010 at 6:02 pm
@ Jesse
Just because you get a bit more rebounds does not constitue agressiveness. He should be more agressive on the ball and trust the help defense. Alot of the second tier players get frustrated with a little pressure on the ball. If the player blows by him RJ can foul him. He has six fouls to give and should make them count. In my opinion his offensive game will come around when he starts to play some defense. The bottom line is RJ needs to grow a pair and start playing like an NBA player.
March 10th, 2010 at 7:59 pm
one thing many of you have neglected in the trade scenarios:
yes, teams trade to save money, but expiring deals this large are almost always made with cap space in mind. we don’t know the parameters of the next cba, but most smart teams are avoiding salary past next year like the plague. also, the free agent pool in ’11 isn’t as strong as this year’s. therefore, trading jefferson’s expiring for a long term deal might not be easy or wise, unless it’s something insanely lopsided (like the pau gasol trade, which i still call lopsided; you can’t re-evaluate a trade two years later cause it fluked out well and say it wasn’t lopsided at the time).
March 10th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
I don’t understand what the big fuss is all about with regards to being able to trade Jefferson. Of course the Spurs will have to take on additional longer term contracts, but that doesn’t necessarily doom the Spurs future cap situation. Remember that Parker comes off the books at the end of next year also. Those two contracts alone are worth over $25 mil.
Here’s the point: Almost everyone agrees that the Rockets made out big time when they traded an injured T-Mac and an undersized big to get a great shooter (Martin), a great young prospect (Jordan Hill), and a great future draft pick ( the Knicks 2010 first rounder). If the Spurs could trade RJ and maybe McDyess and get this kind of haul, they do it in a second. It’s time to rebuild and RJ could be the key. Here are some names that were thrown around this year that might get traded next year
Al Jefferson
Danny Granger
Andre Igoudala
David West
And with the emergence of Darren Collison, expect to hear C3P’s name out there.
If the Spurs play their cards right, we may be able to really improve this team. Let’s face it, how much worse can it get with a $15 mil/year role player?
March 10th, 2010 at 8:26 pm
@Colin -
RJ as a sub is averaging 5.8 rebs (last 10 games/post all-star). This does not include the 7 he had tonight.
He also had 2 blocks tonight, which is a good sign of aggressiveness for a smaller guy.
March 10th, 2010 at 8:44 pm
Grego
Gotcha. Agreed. My main point about his “lack of” is in his free throw attempts and drop in FT %’s. I wouldn’t consider him a “smaller guy”….dude has at least a 35in.+ vertical. He has the prototypical wing-man body to go after the boards. His rpg increase in the last 10 games, which I acknowledged, just tells me that he could have been doing that all season (just inconsistent). You don’t need plays drawn or coach coddling to get after the glass.
I hope he keeps it up, I’m not one to sit back and say “I told ya so” but rather see him show up in a game like the Cleveland game or against Utah. It’s one thing to do it against the Knicks and another against the Lakers or the Jazz for example. I AM rooting for the guy. I’m just critical when he won’t show up.
March 10th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
How can any of you fault the front office for rolling the dice? Would you rather see those corpses Bowen and Fin at wing? 15 million for Jefferson is insane, I agree, but it’s only one more year. Even someone like Salmons, who makes half that, is looking for a long term deal this summer. Take Micheal Redd, unrestricted this summer-he makes 17 million now. If you think any impact player was gonna sign a short term deal with the Spurs for 15 million summer of 2010 you are crazy.
March 10th, 2010 at 9:56 pm
@Colin - I just was supporting Jesse’s comment that RJ was rebounding more aggressively recently. That is true and shows in the numbers recently.
I didn’t mean to say that he’s exceeding his expectations now. However, he’s at least showing that he can do more even if he’s not scoring. Is he still disappointing? Yes, for the most part, unless he’s contributing on many more plays (where it doesn’t show up on the stats).
RJ is a motion guy. That’s not going to change much obviously. He works well with Manu, but now that his role has changed, RJ and Blair (somewhat) will have to adapt.
Also I don’t find it that odd that RJ starts struggling offensively once Manu started. Parker’s injury just puts a lot of holes in the current system, especially since Spurs lack to the shooters to help Duncan out/Duncan isn’t as dynamic so the shooters don’t get as many opportunities to make them count.
March 10th, 2010 at 11:06 pm
Tyler
March 10th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
Yeah, I agree, I just don’t see the interest in this off-season (acquiring RJ). And I thought some of the above comments expressed hope to get something for Jefferson THIS YEAR. That I don’t see happening. If they did move Jefferson this year & got some value back (e.g. Prince from the Pistons would be a perfect fit here) it would be a real coup.
Colin
March 10th, 2010 at 5:30 pm
Right on. Plus he has been inconsistent on defense, which also seems to have been hurt substantially by these negative mind-sets he gets into.
BayAreaSpursFan
March 10th, 2010 at 6:02 pm
“In my opinion his offensive game will come around when he starts to play some defense. The bottom line is RJ needs to grow a pair and start playing like an NBA player.”
Yes!!
March 11th, 2010 at 1:32 am
Well, I guess we didn’t have a lot of motion tonight.
+1 for the Manu theory.
March 11th, 2010 at 7:46 am
[...] I pointed out yesterday, without Ginobili, Jefferson struggles to create his own shot (he was 0-2 in 18 minutes). Moving [...]
March 11th, 2010 at 9:07 am
[...] has been stationary in the corner, as if he were Bruce Bowen or Sean Elliott before him… 48 Minutes Of Hell Share and [...]
March 11th, 2010 at 10:32 am
Jim Henderson -
Why do you feel you have to validate everyone’s points and opinions?
March 11th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
DieHardSpur
March 11th, 2010 at 10:32 am
It’s not validation. I express agreement or disagreement with the comments made on this blog, as most on here do. “Validating” someones point suggests that without this persons’ approval, the point someone is making is somehow not “valid”. Obviously, everyone’s “points” on this blog are “valid” in and of themselves. They do not need anyone’s “approval” to be “valid”.
Now, I will sometimes quote entire or portions of comments that I find particularly important, accurate, or insightful to the topic at hand, and express my “agreement” or “appreciation”, but NOT my “approval”.
As well, I will use data or logic to the best of my abilities if I want to express disagreement with a “point” being made.
So I’m not clear what your point is? Please be more specific, if you care to. I just think it’s nice when “good” points are sometimes pointed out and acknowledged by others. Don’t you?
March 11th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
Check out this stat guys….when RJ puts up at least 15 or more FG’s…Spurs are 6-0….
March 11th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Jesse,
His not really even hitting the boards hard.
In the Cavs game he had 9 rebounds, and nearly all of them bar 2 were the result of the ball falling to him, or his team mates boxing out and tipping it to a black jersey.
It’s pretty devestating to see just how disinterested he is.
At this point I feel like he is just in a funk with his role on the team and fact that he is getting hammered by commentators on all sides regarding his level of play.
It’s like his just waiting out the clock till Friday afternoon at 5PM when he can walk out the door on that job he really hates.
March 11th, 2010 at 7:50 pm
>This summer it’s time to let him go and for the >franchise to move on.
he’s under contract for next year. He will likely be on the roster next year, and then he play out his contract, or be traded around next year’s trade deadline as a big expiring contract.
Tim has said next season will be his last. he may change his mind, but one thing the spurs braintrust did get right is to bring in a player with a big contract that expired at the same time as Tim would retire so they have maximal cap space to work with after Tim is gone.
March 12th, 2010 at 12:10 am
I thought Tim’s deal was through 2012-2013 season. He may retire before that but I doubt he would leave ~$20mil on the table, especially when he took one for the team when he signed his current deal and took less then he should have gotten for the benefit of the team. Plus what everyone needs to keep in mind is the cap is going to go down probably alot since owners are claiming huge losses. So while all the cap relief will help it will not be as much as it would if we had all the expiring deals now. But we will have $27mil expiring between Jokerson and Parker next year so that should help. Not sure what we do with Parker. I think we should deal him. Am sure most of u will disagree with that, but I think we can get another PG to fill the role.
March 13th, 2010 at 8:43 am
[...] but it should enable the Spurs to see more of the Jefferson they expected, as pointed out in a post earlier this week. It’s little wonder that Jefferson was able to find somewhat of a niche when paired with a [...]
March 14th, 2010 at 12:43 am
r j is finally showing up with some regularity, playing with manu seems to be something that works for him, r j seems much more focused and determined of late, thankfully its right around seating time, it looks like the spurs mojo found its way home, things are warming up in south texas thank the Lord !
March 18th, 2010 at 5:58 am
Stop being mean to Richard Jefferson. I truly and honestly believe that RJ is an amazing basketball player. If you watch all the spurs games like I do, you would notice that recently, RJ’s basketball preformance has progressed to where he is beggining to trust his teamates. In fact, when players and coach pop are interviewed, they have nice things to say about RJ. If you have watched the most recent games like Spurs against Magic, you would know that Richard Jefferson scored the most points(20 points) and had the most rebounds(6 rebounds). Everybody knows or should know that RJ has become much more aggressive, as shone in recent games. However many of you say that he has not been shooting well and his defence is lacking. Well, how do you explain his increasing amount of rebounds? How do you explain his increasing amount of points per game? Richard Jefferson plays a certain position on the court, which means he has certain responsibilities. He cannot just push George Hill out of the way during a fastbreak just to get a shot! RJ is a team player, so should every basketball player, but what he brings to a basketball game is not found in some NBA players. He brings effort, energy, and power. Before you put RJ down, think about, or WATCH how he concentrates defensivly, watch how he runs to save or steal a ball. I’m not saying these things because I like to debate, I’m saying these things because I admire and love the spurs. I watch all of their games( depends if my parents let me), I know how they play and what they can do. When you guys say that Richard Jefferson is struggling, I agree, but what player does not stuggle at times like these. For instance Tim Duncan has been stuggling lately with his shooting, but that does not make him a horrible player. Those are the type of players that are willing to learn from their mistakes. Is their one player who shoots 100% every game? With that said I am pretty sure that Richard Jefferson will not be kicked out of the team, because he is what the team needs. For instance Keith Bogans shoots maybe about 6 points a game, he even sometimes shoots 0 points a game, but the spurs need him because of his strong defence. Each player on the spurs team has their weakness but that is what makes the team so diverce and interesting to watch. Its fun to watch a game where the teamates can trust eachother because they know that they have good rebounders, good passers, good stealers, and good shooters. Instead of questioning Richard Jefferson’s role, think about and watch how he and his fellow teamates have done to complete their team. Also think about Richard Jefferson’s stats compared to others. I love the Spurs, but I hate false statements.
April 18th, 2010 at 8:09 am
[...] no. 53: Standing Still, Richard Jefferson Struggles In short, handing the ball to Jefferson at a standstill against a set defense was never going to [...]
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