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
Vince hit some shots. He is going to shoot whether he is hot or not, but we have so much confidence in him. He received criticism from the media, he received criticism from different people, but it wasn't from anyone in this locker room. It wasn't from anyone in the coaching staff, because we believed in him and believed that he had the right intent. That was one of his games that you just forget about it and know that he is going to come out and play well the next one.
Vince has hit some of the craziest shots in the history of this league. But the importance of that shot is what I am most proud of for him.
We just couldn't hit a shot. We were driving and kicking, getting wide-open looks, but we couldn't get anything to fall.
We just couldn't hit a shot. It was one of those nights.
I try and get him to shoot more threes. That's his next step. They're right there. You can't not shoot 18-footers like that and not be able to hit some threes. It's just a matter of getting an opportunity.
We didn't do a very good job of playing through each other or through the people we should have been. And then we got cold. They were hitting shots and mainly it was a lot of defensive problems. But sometimes your offense is a part of the problem.
We didn't really shoot the ball very well as a team. When you attack the basket and try to get to the free-throw line, that's something that can kind of help you out. When you're not hitting shots and you continue to get to the basket and get easy buckets, that's something that we try to do.
They have an unbelievable crowd here. But for us, it was, 'OK, they hit a few shots, let's calm down. We felt confident and it worked for us in the end.
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.
A.J. has never done that before. He had a great game. To act like that's going to be the norm over the series, I think everybody knows that's not going to be the case. He got hot. He hit some big shots for them.
It would have made things a lot easier on Vince (Carter).
Right now, the team is struggling, I've struggled. And I think it's a direct correlation.
Realistically, I haven't played well since I came back. Nobody plays perfect in this league but I haven't played a good game since I got back. Tonight it was turnovers and missed free throws. I need to figure this out if I'm going to help our team.
Our expectations are high. But we're just like a lot of teams at this time of the year. We're going to try to win 16 games.