Richard Jefferson
Richard Jefferson
Richard Allen Jeffersonis an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association. He was a member of the United States men's national basketball team at the 2003 Tournament of the Americas and the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics, and won the NBA championship as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth21 June 1980
CityLos Angeles, CA
CountryUnited States of America
Mike is such a great player, such a clutch player. I joke with him, because he doesn't jump very high and he's not very fast, yet he's still one of the most effective guys in the NBA because he's so intelligent. He knows the game, and he knows what it takes to get it done.
I just wanted Gilbert and JT to go at it because they were the only two guys who had any energy out there, it seemed like, ... I wanted to push them a little so they'd get each other fired up.
We would drive and kick it to guys with wide-open looks but couldn't get anything to fall. For the most part we played good defense, but you have to be near perfect on the defensive end to have a chance the way we were shooting.
The preseason served its purpose, ... I know guys like to complain about the preseason games, but they would really complain if we didn't have them.
We won the division (this way). You lose a game and have a bad shooting night and people question what you were doing. This is a guy who's an All-Star and has done so many things throughout the season there's no need to question it now.
He's been playing well for them all year. He's a guys who's been experienced for them, he's played in the NBA Finals, so a first-round playoff game, there's not so much pressure on him to perform.
Maybe the 1 o'clock start helped us. Dirk and those guys didn't wake up until the second half.
If he hasn't let it go yet then you guys should be talking to him. It was an unfortunate incident that he got hurt. We moved on. Maybe except for Kenyon, who is no longer with our team. The biggest person he had a problem with isn't on our team anymore. It is no big deal.
The guy (O'Neal) missed four shots, including free throws. The difference was that he was playing at home. A lot of things tend to go your way when you're at home.
Everybody's surprised. There's guys, not naming anybody, that won't sniff the playoffs, that are 15 games under .500, that are playing in the game. But it is an All-Star Game. It's an individual performance game. Very rarely do team players get rewarded. He's probably the best team player in the game.
The ball was moving, to tell you the truth. It was drive, drive, pass, pass and then somebody had an open shot and we just knocked them down.
It was just one of those nights. It was a combination of us playing good defense and getting good looks and good shots. We were fortunate to get them on a night where they didn't hit their shots.
It was just like the good old days. When I'm out there running, then that's when I'm playing my best. It felt so good out there. We showed that we still have the ability to get out there.
It was a frustrating first half of the season because we can play a lot better. We've had some inconsistencies.