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
You have to get it done in the playoffs before people talk about what you accomplished.
There's a lot of ups and downs to every playoff series. We didn't really get dominated. It was a game that was back and forth. They got (a questionable foul) call with 0.9 seconds to go that put them on the free throw line. That was the difference in the game, 0.9 seconds. So we weren't that far off.
In order to play well in the playoffs you have to position yourself in the regular season. That's where the regular season becomes important.
In the past few seasons, have we had some good playoff matches? Yeah, we have. Are we looking for an opportunity to have another one against them? I think that would be a lot of fun..
I think we are going to be a team that makes a real good push. We have been a team that people consistently talk about for the last five years (come) playoff time. Sometimes people forget what we can do. I think the last 15 games, a lot of people are going to be talking about other (teams) while we are still playing well and having a chance to make some noise in the playoffs.
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.
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.
The Nets, since I've been here, are going to be judged by how you play in the playoffs. You win a lot of games in the regular season, we're still going to be judged by how you play in the playoffs. This is good, this is great, but we understand ultimately what's the big picture.
I let us down in a small way. I was disappointed that we lost, that I got thrown out, but I wasn't out here trying to prove anything.
I have no problem with anything and Frank knows that because he knows I'd go talk to him.