Jefferson was lucky to have his first 2 seasons with Kidd. He would look no better than Chris Jeffries, Shandon Anderson or Tariq Abdul Wahad if he was with any other team. However, he has dramatically improved his skills over his 2 season to the point where he will probably be able to play in any system soon, not just run-n-gun. I think if Eddie had a free pass for his first seasons, he's look much better than he looks now. Seriously, Eddie would fit in with the Nets better than Jefferson. He's a shotblocking force, a better rebounder than K-Mart, and considering the age difference, there is little or NO difference in offensive capability between K-Mart and Griffin. Griffin needs time, unfortuantely, we can't give it to him.
RJ was quite bitter at being traded away for a kid with 2 other first round picks. I though he had the pride but not the game. Sadly he proved me wrong. RJ worths us trading EG and two first round picks for him now.
What were you talking about? If a slashing small forward is not needed, just tell me why we tried to sign Rashard Lewis last summer? And why did we trade for James Posey mid-season? Please don't tell me that you think Posey is a better jump shooter than Jefferson. Posey's an older and poor man's Jefferson and without the upside too.
Some people just don't get it Newgirl. First they said Kidd was the reason why McDyess is the player he is. He left Jason Kidds side and became a all star and olympian. Next, they said Kidd made Marion,but he went on to become a all star after Kidd left also. Now they're saying he's making Jefferson, yet his scoring and fg% are up across the board. I guess no one gets credit for being a hard worker these days. The thing is, Kidd can make a average player better, but he can't make a good player great. That line has to be crossed by that player in the summers working out and stuff. Of course Kidd does make it easier for you as a player, but that shouldn't take away from the hard work and countless effort these player put in over the summer. I remember when Marion couldn't shoots 3's, now he's better than anyone on our current team except rice. Did Kidd shoot those shots in the summer for Marion last yr or this yr? was Kidd taking those shots this summer for Jefferson this past summer? Magic made the game easier for Scott,Worthy and company, but Worthy would have scored more, but maybe won less without Magic. As a player, which would you rather have? I guess people will start saying Kidd made Collins if all of a sudden he gets really good also.
ONCE AGAIN He was *not* he Rockets pick . . NJ Picked him from the start Had the trade NOT been in place.. . the rockets probably would *NOT* have picked him at all BTW - When has Rashard Lewis been a slasher. Rocket River
I thought he had been on the Rockets' 'wish list' for the draft. Only that Eddie was higher. So that had Eddie been gone, he'd have been who they'd have looked to.
Jefferson has defeinetly improved his game but like I've been trying to say, RJ doesn't fit in w/ the Rox "offensive philosophy" if you want to call it that. He is still not a good 3pt shooter which is what he would be required to do here in Houston, thats all I'm saying. I have no beef w/ RJ whatsoever but he would have Shandon Anderson for us. Certain players fit w/ certain systems. Just like Bobby Jackson was purely mediocore w/ the Nets and TWolves but found his nitch in Sac, like Nash was nothing special in Pho but is an all-star in Dallas. Hell Marion (who I love) would not have been a good fit here in Hou and our system would have slowed his progression. Its just the system. Once the Rox work w/ EG on his low post game and create a offensive scheme that will put him in the best position to suceed (like they need to do w/ all the parts they have), I believe Eddie will be fine. PS: Please remember EG has not turned 21 yet.
I, for one, am not saying that Jefferson won't be a good player if he leaves the Nets. I'm saying that a player with Richard Jefferson's skill set (coming into the league) would NOT succeed, at least offensively, on any team other than a run-n-gun team. It's not secret that the Nets style raises your FG% because of all the backdoor plays and transition points. Coming into the league, Griffin was more talented. As of now, Griffin has more potential. However, Jefferson has been a better player since he got here. Don't forget that Jefferson couldn't hit a jumper to save his life last season, and still is unable to consistently hit the 3. As for Griffin, you'd be saying the SAME things about him right now if he was playing for Kidd and the Nets, and you KNOW it.
Leebigez, you are right. Actually what I found it funny is that by saying that Kidd "makes Jefferson better", people actually are dissing Steve Francis and admitting that our point guard cannot make his teammates better. Some people should know that you can't have it both ways.
I disagree that Eddie would flourish with Kidd. Even Kidd can't make him look good. I'd say of all the players on our team, Eddie would benefit the least from Jason Kidd. You look down the list of players that Kidd has played with: Mcdyess, Kittles, Marion, Jefferson, KMart, all of them are very athletic and explosive. Eddie is an average athlete and not the slightest bit explosive. Those players are perfect for the transition game, Eddie isn’t. Of all the players on our team, Eddie gets the fewest transition points. When was the last time he threw down a monstrous dunk or flew for an alley-oop? Cato, Posey, Cat, Francis, hell, even Yao throw down more alley-oops. Kidd may be great at getting easy basket for his teammates, but it won't do much good because Eddie is a terrible finisher near the basket. More often than not, if Kidd passes him the ball, Eddie will either fumble the pass, blow the easy lay-up, or throw up a weak shot that gets stuffed. If Eddie were playing with Kidd in NJ he would be doing the same things he does now, standing 30 feet from the basket ready to chuck up a 3-pointer. That's all he knows how to do.
Actually you can have it both ways. Kidd makes Jefferson better and Steve doesn't make his teammates better.
Did Rox try to sign Lewis last summer? Beyond 'lip service', I'm just not too sure. JPo's jumper is jumpy, but he brings a lot to the floor. I like his game, I want him resigned, I want him as a piece to this puzzle. How does he compare to Jefferson? Pretty fairly, I'd say. I like his upside just fine.
What he said. Since Rudy isn't creative enough to come up with an offense that doesn't rely on SF's unique skills, when SF is out, we suck for the most part.
Why did we start arguing about Steve? There's no argument about this: Kidd makes his teammates look better, while Steve doesn't. That's not the point. The point is that Eddie Griffin would look just as good as Jefferson if he were in NJ, probably better. Points off transition and backdoor cuts would really help him gain confidence and his stats would look great too. Keith Van Horn isn't HALF the athlete Eddie Griffin is, but he looked much better playing with Kidd and was still getting transition points, running like a horse up and down the court. Don't tell me Eddie isn't more athletic than Van Horn.
Jefferson had four years of study at Arizona under a great coach. He's supposed to be ahead of Eddie. Eddie had one year under an average coach. When we drafted Eddie, we knew it was a long term investment. Also, for all of you throwing around this pot-smoking tag. Ever wonder how many of your lawyers and doctors and presidents smoked pot when they were in their 20's? I know some of the same people dogging EG and MoTay for smoking pot voted for Clinton who also smoked pot and said it wasn't a big deal. If it's not a big deal for a president to have smoked pot, why is it such a friggin big deal for a basketball player? Not to mention, what do you guys do that no one knows about? How many of you guys download mp3's, or drank before you were legal, or pirate software, or any of the things that are illegal? I'm no angel, so I'm not going to dog someone for doing something that they do that I might consider wrong.
Jefferson didn't have 4 years at Arizona- he declared for the NBA draft after his junior year. Plus he missed a good chunk of his sophmore season with a broken foot. Jefferson is only two years older than Griffin.
this kinda has little to do with the post, but I was walking down broadway near nyu yesterday and this black mercedes suv stops on the side and a tall guy walks out and crosses my path. I did a double take and I realized that it was richard jefferson as he walked into a radio shack. i didnt say anything as he looked like he wanted to be inconspicuous. oh well, if things were different id probably be seeing eddie griffin going into a cvs to get eye drops...
