Silly question. Jefferson has some very real holes in his game which are rarely improved. He 1. Can't shoot the 3, which is a major liability in a 2/3 guy. 2. Isn't really big enough to be a legit 3. 3. Isn't really good with the ball. Like Cat, I haven't been impressed by this facet of his game. Anybody here besides CFBC remember Chucky Brown? Remember how he scored about 70% of his points as a Rocket? Most of them seemed to come off of dunks off of passes from Clyde Drexler. Jefferson has more talent than Chucky... but then, Jason Kidd's also a better distributor than Clyde Drexler. But Jefferson got many of his points off of dunks and lay-ups from Kidd. Eddie also has some holes in his game, but fortunately, they're of the variety that are fixed more easily or are less damaging. 1. He lacks the body necessary to play the post in the NBA. Gee... ever hear of weight training? 2. He needs to improve his ball skills. Hard to do... but he's a PF, so it's less detrimental. 3. He needs to be far more consistent. Think that might come? He was, after all, younger than Kwame Brown. I prefer shot-blocking PFs with 3 point range who happen to need weight training to athletic 2/3's that can't shoot 3's or handle the ball. Jefferson may not be Shandon Anderson... but I'd be shocked if his career is even as good as Kerry Kittles'... who, after all, can shoot.
I think Jefferson has a better all round game than Anderson and plays hard on both ends and can improve with time,but Griffin has better potential.
Jefferson's a nice player with a wonderful potential to be a Shawn Marion like player...but Griffin has the potential to be so much more (i.e. higher ceiling). Good wing players are plentiful in today's NBA, big men are not.
Why should we keep Jefferson? Witnessing him getting wasted by the Shot Editor Eddie is not fun in my book.
Wow! Such vitrol in response to such a simple question. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask this question, especially in such an unthreatening way. BTW, just as a reminder, I think the word was that NJ would have picked Vlad Radmonovic if Seatle hadn't right beforehand. To me, the best match for Jefferson is someone like Quintin Richardson. I think that Jefferson has many attributes that make him able to play well right away, but whether he develops a well rounded game in the long term is far from sure. I will cut him some slack because he was a post player in HS. Given that he's only been a perimiter guy for a couple of years, I think he's done pretty well. Just for comparison, however, lets look at their per 48 minute stats. Points: Jefferson 18.6 Griffin 16.3 Rebounds: Jefferson 7.3 Griffin 10.5 Assists: Jefferson 3.5 Griffin 1.3 Blocks: Jefferson 1.2 Griffin 3.39 Steals: Jefferson 1.6 Griffin .43 Given these numbers, I think the two come out fairly close... IMHO, Griff's rebound advantage is more significant than Jefferson's scoring advantage, as is the case with Griff's block advantage vs Jefferson's steal advantage. Given that Griffin is two years younger, and pretty much universally considered the player with more growth potential, I'm all for Griffin. I also think that there are players whose reputation is built by appearing in the finals. Sam Cassell and Robert Horry, for example, were two players that were not generally known among the casual fans before the Rockets were in the finals. Afterwards, on the otherhand, they were stars in the general perception. I think Jefferson looks brighter to some because he has been seen in the brighter light. If Griffin had been in the finals with the Nets, he too would have become the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Actually, Jefferson shows some improvement in the summer league, playing some point forward; he plays solid D. I don't know if it's still posted, there was an audio interview with him on sportingnews.com/nba; he's also well-spoken and intelligent. Now, given all that, I'll take Eddie, who'll be a monster when he reaches Jefferson's age.
thats a hard question, this or last season, Jefferson would have helped our team more than eddie, we are packed at PF and we plan to use eddie there, if we had jefferson he could back up cuttino, even start at sg or sf if we needed, he's versatile and could run effectively with francis and cat, BUT in the future when eddie starts, only if he becomes an effective and dominating PF on both ends, we'll have to see , it'll be clear that we made the right choice!
i liked jefferson coming out of arizona. he's very athletic, quick, explosive, has a great work ethic, etc. however, as has been stated already...good sf's are pretty easy to come across. in fact, i have a feeling we may end up with one in rashard lewis. as for the shandn andersn v richard jefferson comparisons, The Cat, i have to disagree. shandn andersn's work ethic, imo, was terrible. how in the hell do you never develop a respectable jumper or respectable dribbling skills when your team needs you to do so? shandn was garbage. jefferson OTOH, already has better handles than shandn. no, he isn't AI, but he not a turnover waiting to happen, either. his jumper is not great, but it is at least a threat. you have to at least think about him shooting, which is more than you would do for shandn. shandn, well..don't get me started. like i said, it won't be long before mr. andersn is out of the league.
From what I've seen and read, Boki is better at creating his own shots and can shot. OTOH Jefferson is the better defender. Hopefully Boki will live up to our expectations. I'm elated to have Griffin and Boki on the team.
