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
Right now, the team is struggling, I've struggled. And I think it's a direct correlation.
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.
We don't concern ourselves with what other teams are doing. Because if you worry about who's winning, who's losing, trying to do all this math, sometimes you can get caught up in all that.
Just because he had an off night when all eyes were on our team doesn't mean that we have to question what we do and what we did to get here.
I got it going in the second half. I just tried to keep playing through my teammates. They found me on some good looks. Honestly, our whole team had it going in the second half.
My first three years here is all about team and having lots of players around me. So you had to learn how to maximize your few opportunities. I was never a volume shooter. You look at my second or third year, I shot about 50 percent from the floor.
I have a lot of faith in my teammates and coaching staff. There are no major moves. We'll find a way. Somehow, someway, things will come up roses for us.
There are about five or six teams that realistically have a chance of winning a championship. I definitely think we're one of them.
We were the last team to beat them in the Eastern Conference. We still have confidence against this team.
We knew we had the ability to beat good teams on their floor. So we knew if we could just establish some consistency (at home) we could string together some wins.
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.
We've shown improvement and I believe our schedule gets a little more favorable. If we keep everybody healthy, I believe we can (win 50). I think we're going to be a team that makes a real good push. Sometimes, people forget about what we can do.
There is no doubt about it, both teams pride themselves on defense. It's not going to be a high-scoring game. It's going to be that type of series.
There are five or six teams that realistically have a chance to win the championship, and I definitely believe we're one of them.