<div align="right" style="height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <div style="float: right; margin-right: 14px; width: 26px; height: 16px;"> </div> <div style="float: right; width: 26px; height: 16px; margin-right: 3px;"> </div> <div class="lightgrey smaller" style="float: right; width: 100px; height: 16px; margin-right: 5px;">Adjust font size:</div> </div> <div id="story_font" class="font-sizer4" style="padding: 0px 5px;"><font face="Arial">That's just R.J. being R.J.</font> Sitting at his locker after the New Jersey Nets recently snapped a six game losing streak by beating the Portland Trail Blazers, Richard Jefferson is in his element. Witty one-liners are flying. Cracking jokes about teammates is the entertainment. Beat writers are getting razed and the last thing Jefferson wants to talk is his 30 point performance.</p> So he doesn't. He prefers another kind of stage.</p> "I'm not really a joke guy. I'm more of a sarcastic observation guy," Jefferson confessed. "You have to enjoy what you do because before you know it you'll be 40-years-old and about to retire."</p> Jefferson has had plenty of time to observe the last two years. Injuries have gotten the best of him. First it was torn ligaments in his wrist, then a sprained right ankle and bone spurs caused him to nearly miss the majority of last season. So while the Nets have been shaky at best to start this season, Jefferson ranks second in the Eastern Conference in scoring.</p> "I've been blessed to be healthy this season," Jefferson told HOOPSWORLD. "I pride myself on every year improving my game. This season, I'm 27 years old and I'm coming into the prime of my career."</p> Now entering his seventh year in the league, Jefferson has never missed a Nets playoff game the past six season because of his injuries and this season he is averaging 24.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game intwelve games.</p> But despite being healthy and averaging 16.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game for his career, it seems Jefferson never quite receives his due praise at times.</p> "You know what happened to him," Frank told HOOPSWORLD. "It was the injuries. Everyone talked about Richard, then the injuries and people tend to forget. It's like out of sight out of mind."</p> Injuries are one thing. Playing alongside Jason Kidd and Vince Carter is something else. For Jefferson though, it's not about getting lost in the shadow of Kidd and Carter.</p> It's about soaking up their light.</p> "You have two Hall of Famers," Jefferson said. "Kidd is one of the top three or four point guards in the history of this game. This dude is breaking Wilt Chamberlain's record. So to get lost behind a guy like that, it's no disrespect. But at the same point, those two guys have made my game better, especially Jason because we've played with each other.</p> "With Vince, I've learned so much about how to be a dominant wing from him and how to carry that over from each game."</p> So far this season, it has carried over for Jefferson. He's been the Nets most valuable player while Carter missed five games and lost six straight before Carter returned in New Jersey's win over Portland.</p> Maybe this will be the year Jefferson's numbers and play earn him a trip to the All-Star Game. Then again, Jefferson has far more important matters on his mind.</p> "I really don't think about that or talk about it. There's been years in the past where I not necessarily stressed myself out but worried about it.</p> "This season I was just coming into it happy to be healthy."</p> Now that's just R.J. being R.J.</p> http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?STORY_ID=6180</div>
Basically comes down to this, without VC or Kidd, RJ is ineffective. He knows it, every nets fan should know it.</p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jizzy)</div><div class='quotemain'> Basically comes down to this, without VC or Kidd, RJ is ineffective. He knows it, every nets fan should know it.</p></div> </p> That's bit unfair to say, who would build those lineups on purpose?? RJ would do well on almost any balanced team.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (jerkstore)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jizzy)</div><div class='quotemain'></p> Basically comes down to this, without VC or Kidd, RJ is ineffective. He knows it, every nets fan should know it.</p> </div></p> </p> That's bit unfair to say, who would build those lineups on purpose?? RJ would do well on almost any balanced team.</div></p> </p> Exactly, he needs a balanced team where someone could draw the attention away from him and he's a master of capitalizing on that. You saw what happened when VC went out, entire defenses just shut RJ down.</p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jizzy)</div><div class='quotemain'></p> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (jerkstore)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jizzy)</div><div class='quotemain'></p> Basically comes down to this, without VC or Kidd, RJ is ineffective. He knows it, every nets fan should know it.</p> </div></p> </p> That's bit unfair to say, who would build those lineups on purpose?? RJ would do well on almost any balanced team.</div></p> </p> Exactly, he needs a balanced team where someone could draw the attention away from him and he's a master of capitalizing on that. You saw what happened when VC went out, entire defenses just shut RJ down.</p> </div></p> I think we've all seen by now that RJ is a fantastic second option but can't be the focal point of an offense on a winning team. Vince just has more skills and moves to get to the basket or get himself open enough to hit a shot from the outside or find the open man. RJ is like a shawn marion or a josh howard, none of those guys can be number one guys on winning teams either in my opinon. I feel it's because of their lack of offensive instincts. Guy's like Vince, Kobe, Lebron, Wade, TMac have that ability to make quick decisions to either make the move to the basket, take the shot or draw the defense to themselves so they can kick it out to someone.</p> </p> </p>
[quote name='farouq710'] [quote name='Jizzy']</p> [quote name='jerkstore'][quote name='Jizzy']</p> Basically comes down to this, without VC or Kidd, RJ is ineffective. He knows it, every nets fan should know it.</p> [/QUOTE]</p> </p> That's bit unfair to say, who would build those lineups on purpose?? RJ would do well on almost any balanced team.[/QUOTE]</p> </p> Exactly, he needs a balanced team where someone could draw the attention away from him and he's a master of capitalizing on that. You saw what happened when VC went out, entire defenses just shut RJ down.</p> [/QUOTE]</p> I think we've all seen by now that RJ is a fantastic second option but can't be the focal point of an offense on a winning team. Vince just has more skills and moves to get to the basket or get himself open enough to hit a shot from the outside or find the open man. RJ is like a shawn marion or a josh howard, none of those guys can be number one guys on winning teams either in my opinon. I feel it's because of their lack of offensive instincts. Guy's like Vince, Kobe, Lebron, Wade, TMac have that ability to make quick decisions to either make the move to the basket, take the shot or draw the defense to themselves so they can kick it out to someone.</p> </p> </p>[/QUOTE] </p> Focal point? He's the leading scorer. Yes he's too easy to defend without an equal or bigger threat. Yeah, he's not Wade or James but you pair him with an equal player and he's capable of getting an efficient 25 points. Am I the only one who dosent think that Boki/Wright/Kidd/Collins are equal threats? We'll see Marion vs RJ in the ASG I think, but yeah he's on that level now and will have a chance to proove he's at least that or better in the next few years. And yeah, I'll be the first to say he's adifferent player with Vince on the floor, but so is Boki/Wright. They become like near equals and RJ has tons of space to opperate. I don't feel like Luke Walton about him or anything, but I think if you put him in Chicago, Detroit, Pheonix, Toranto, Golden State,Mavs...and he's still an exceptional role player if not moreso.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'></p> </p> Focal point? He's the leading scorer. Yes he's too easy to defend without an equal or bigger threat. Yeah, he's not Wade or James but you pair him with an equal player and he's capable of getting an efficient 25 points. Am I the only one who dosent think that Boki/Wright/Kidd/Collins are equal threats? We'll see Marion vs RJ in the ASG I think, but yeah he's on that level now and will have a chance to proove he's at least that or better in the next few years. And yeah, I'll be the first to say he's adifferent player with Vince on the floor, but so is Boki/Wright. They become like near equals and RJ has tons of space to opperate. I don't feel like Luke Walton about him or anything, but I think if you put him in Chicago, Detroit, Pheonix, Toranto, Golden State,Mavs...and he's still an exceptional role player if not moreso.</div></p> the reason people refer to him as a second option is because Vince doesn't need RJ to be effective. RJ desperately needs Vince there to take attention away from him because he is fundamentally flawed and exposed once double teamed. Sure one-on-one he could take his man or fire up a jumper, but so could 90 percent of the athletic wing players in this league. Vince and RJ are not equals on the court and even Jefferson understands that. He is still a fundamentally key cog to the team though because he takes pressure off Vince and last yr, Carter was just burnt out carrying the team down the stretch. With RJ hot right now, they can almost become a one-two punch. Alas, if only RJ could learn to become a better passer, we'd be lethal.</p> </p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (purplehaze89)</div><div class='quotemain'> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'></p> </p> Focal point? He's the leading scorer. Yes he's too easy to defend without an equal or bigger threat. Yeah, he's not Wade or James but you pair him with an equal player and he's capable of getting an efficient 25 points. Am I the only one who dosent think that Boki/Wright/Kidd/Collins are equal threats? We'll see Marion vs RJ in the ASG I think, but yeah he's on that level now and will have a chance to proove he's at least that or better in the next few years. And yeah, I'll be the first to say he's adifferent player with Vince on the floor, but so is Boki/Wright. They become like near equals and RJ has tons of space to opperate. I don't feel like Luke Walton about him or anything, but I think if you put him in Chicago, Detroit, Pheonix, Toranto, Golden State,Mavs...and he's still an exceptional role player if not moreso.</div></p> the reason people refer to him as a second option is because Vince doesn't need RJ to be effective. RJ desperately needs Vince there to take attention away from him because he is fundamentally flawed and exposed once double teamed. Sure one-on-one he could take his man or fire up a jumper, but so could 90 percent of the athletic wing players in this league. Vince and RJ are not equals on the court and even Jefferson understands that. He is still a fundamentally key cog to the team though because he takes pressure off Vince and last yr, Carter was just burnt out carrying the team down the stretch. With RJ hot right now, they can almost become a one-two punch. Alas, if only RJ could learn to become a better passer, we'd be lethal.</p> </p></div> </p> Horsehockey, Vince was the lone ranger last year and I think he's still paying for it (physically). RJ isn't "hot" as you say, just healthy. LMAO "fundamentally flawed". </P> We all know Carter's the big dog, Never said he wasn't. What I AM saying is that if you replace Vince with Prince, Rip, Redd, Matrix ect......You still get the same outta RJ.</P>I think the point you really fail to undestand is that RJ is not a double-team target on any well put together team.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (jerkstore)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (purplehaze89)</div><div class='quotemain'></p> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'></p> </p> Focal point? He's the leading scorer. Yes he's too easy to defend without an equal or bigger threat. Yeah, he's not Wade or James but you pair him with an equal player and he's capable of getting an efficient 25 points. Am I the only one who dosent think that Boki/Wright/Kidd/Collins are equal threats? We'll see Marion vs RJ in the ASG I think, but yeah he's on that level now and will have a chance to proove he's at least that or better in the next few years. And yeah, I'll be the first to say he's adifferent player with Vince on the floor, but so is Boki/Wright. They become like near equals and RJ has tons of space to opperate. I don't feel like Luke Walton about him or anything, but I think if you put him in Chicago, Detroit, Pheonix, Toranto, Golden State,Mavs...and he's still an exceptional role player if not moreso.</div></p> the reason people refer to him as a second option is because Vince doesn't need RJ to be effective. RJ desperately needs Vince there to take attention away from him because he is fundamentally flawed and exposed once double teamed. Sure one-on-one he could take his man or fire up a jumper, but so could 90 percent of the athletic wing players in this league. Vince and RJ are not equals on the court and even Jefferson understands that. He is still a fundamentally key cog to the team though because he takes pressure off Vince and last yr, Carter was just burnt out carrying the team down the stretch. With RJ hot right now, they can almost become a one-two punch. Alas, if only RJ could learn to become a better passer, we'd be lethal.</p> </p> </div></p> </p> Horsehockey, Vince was the lone ranger last year and I think he's still paying for it (physically). RJ isn't "hot" as you say, just healthy. LMAO "fundamentally flawed".</p> </p> We all know Carter's the big dog, Never said he wasn't. What I AM saying is that if you replace Vince with Prince, Rip, Redd, Matrix ect......You still get the same outta RJ.</p> </p> I think the point you really fail to undestand is that RJ is not a double-team target on any well put together team. </div></p> </p> Prince? Matrix? I thought those guys were similar players to RJ, playing second(or even third) fiddle to other players offensively?</p> Also, I'm not sure of what you mean by "focal point". I have my own definition of it: Players who get plays started, who make the most decisions on offense, or players that defenses must focus on and base their defenses on at time. These are players like Nash, Chauncey, TMac, Kobe, JJ, Bdiddy, Duncan, VC, Kidd....</p> In no way do I believe RJ is an "offensive focal point" in my terms. He's simply playing second fiddle to Vince and Kidd. Sure, once in a while he can take the ball himself and create scoring opportunities himself, but in no way has he ever shown this ability on a consistent basis. It's always great decision making by Vince or Kidd that gets him most of his buckets.</p> And I agree with you, jerk. "Fundamentally flawed" is a bad way to describe RJ. He is probably the least fundamentally flawed player on the team. It's just that he doesn't have the same "killer(?) mentality" that Vince has, to attack an offense and find the best way to score on the offense. Vince shows this much, much more than RJ (although once in a while decisions are quite questionable).</p>
RJ is flawed because his dribble is weak and his passing is subpar. He is an attacker on offense. The kind of slasher this team needs as a pick me up. However, he tends to force when the going gets tough because he lacks the passing ability of Carter or McGrady or Kobe etc to create better opportunities for his teammates. So he can't single handedly lead teams to wins the way Vince has in the past. This is the primary reason why he is a second fiddle type player. Defenses are designed to shut down Vince Carter. All RJ needs is a double team and he will struggle.</p> That is the simple reality of the situation. He is who he is because of the two alpha dogs on the team. When either one of his wingmates are out, but especially Carter, he will struggle.</p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (purplehaze89)</div><div class='quotemain'></p> RJ is flawed because his dribble is weak and his passing is subpar. He is an attacker on offense. The kind of slasher this team needs as a pick me up. However, he tends to force when the going gets tough because he lacks the passing ability of Carter or McGrady or Kobe etc to create better opportunities for his teammates. So he can't single handedly lead teams to wins the way Vince has in the past. This is the primary reason why he is a second fiddle type player. Defenses are designed to shut down Vince Carter. All RJ needs is a double team and he will struggle.</p> That is the simple reality of the situation. He is who he is because of the two alpha dogs on the team. When either one of his wingmates are out, but especially Carter, he will struggle.</p> </div></p> </p> Ya, great point purplehaze. Hit the nail right on the head with that one. "Rescept".</p>
[quote name='peg182'] [quote name='jerkstore'][quote name='purplehaze89']</p> </p> the reason people refer to him as a second option is because Vince doesn't need RJ to be effective. RJ desperately needs Vince there to take attention away from him because he is fundamentally flawed and exposed once double teamed. Sure one-on-one he could take his man or fire up a jumper, but so could 90 percent of the athletic wing players in this league. Vince and RJ are not equals on the court and even Jefferson understands that. He is still a fundamentally key cog to the team though because he takes pressure off Vince and last yr, Carter was just burnt out carrying the team down the stretch. With RJ hot right now, they can almost become a one-two punch. Alas, if only RJ could learn to become a better passer, we'd be lethal.</p> </p> [/QUOTE]</p> </p> Horsehockey, Vince was the lone ranger last year and I think he's still paying for it (physically). RJ isn't "hot" as you say, just healthy. LMAO "fundamentally flawed".</p> </p> We all know Carter's the big dog, Never said he wasn't. What I AM saying is that if you replace Vince with Prince, Rip, Redd, Matrix ect......You still get the same outta RJ.</p> </p> I think the point you really fail to undestand is that RJ is not a double-team target on any well put together team. [/QUOTE]</p> </p> Prince? Matrix? I thought those guys were similar players to RJ, playing second(or even third) fiddle to other players offensively?</p> Also, I'm not sure of what you mean by "focal point". I have my own definition of it: Players who get plays started, who make the most decisions on offense, or players that defenses must focus on and base their defenses on at time. These are players like Nash, Chauncey, TMac, Kobe, JJ, Bdiddy, Duncan, VC, Kidd....</p> In no way do I believe RJ is an "offensive focal point" in my terms. He's simply playing second fiddle to Vince and Kidd. Sure, once in a while he can take the ball himself and create scoring opportunities himself, but in no way has he ever shown this ability on a consistent basis. It's always great decision making by Vince or Kidd that gets him most of his buckets.</p> And I agree with you, jerk. "Fundamentally flawed" is a bad way to describe RJ. He is probably the least fundamentally flawed player on the team. It's just that he doesn't have the same "killer(?) mentality" that Vince has, to attack an offense and find the best way to score on the offense. Vince shows this much, much more than RJ (although once in a while decisions are quite questionable).</p>[/QUOTE] </p> "Focal Point" was from post #8, I would not call RJ a focal point either. Although I would say that by default he could be considered one by looking at his season average. RJ's weaknesses (as pointed out by P-haze) seem very obvious when he's played a hard 35-40 minutes. Glaring things happen when he's tired. What I'm trying to say about RJ here is that if he's paired with a couple other second bananas he can still get a nice boxscore (without 2 future HOF's). that's all. He may never be a lead offensive wing or Captain but he's pretty solid when healthy.
Playing 2nd banana to Carter on offensce isn't bad. I agree he would score with any kind of team that as a whole generates points (not only from off of a primary scorer like VC). In fact, he might thrive even more. Plus he plays consistently better D than Carter. Kidd, Carter, Jefferson...they all bring their fair share to the table in one way or the other.</p>
