Jefferson Is Helping Nets, Even When He's Hurting
By JOHN ELIGON
Published: March 22, 2007
最近真的很忙，這篇也是先貼出來，晚點再翻 :P
Richard Jefferson realizes that he will not feel healthy until the season
is over, but his return from arthroscopic ankle surgery has boosted the
Nets' playoff chances.
"He's a huge addition to this team since he came back," forward Bostjan
Nachbar said. "I think he's the main reason why we were able to turn it
around, especially defensively, because he's got the experience and he
knows how to guard."
Jefferson was sidelined for six weeks to rehabilitate his right ankle.
He has played in the past seven games, and is averaging 20 points over
the past five. The Nets (31-37) are 3-2 during that stretch and have
held their last three opponents to 95 points or fewer, displaying a
penchant for defense that is a characteristic of Jefferson's play.
Still, that defense has not been good enough to defeat teams like Miami
or Denver. That leaves the Nets, tied with Orlando for the last playoff
spot, to wonder whether they can hit their stride with Jefferson unable
to play to his physical potential.
"I think everyone falls in love pretty quickly with, 'Oh, you know you're
back playing, you're putting up solid numbers,'" Jefferson said. "But it's
going to be an up-and-down process."
Jefferson said he felt as good as he had all season, although he is still
battling aches and pains. He said the biggest challenge on the court was
regaining his explosiveness and getting into a rhythm again. He said he
was still having trouble with midrange jump shots. On Tuesday night, he
was 6 of 17 from the field in a 94-90 loss to the Nuggets.
Jefferson said his ankle injury was more difficult to overcome than the
ruptured ligament in his left wrist that sidelined him for the final 49
games of the 2004-5 regular season. Even with the wrist injury, Jefferson
said, he was able to keep working out to maintain the strength in his
legs and his stamina. In the meantime, the Nets endured many late-game
defensive breakdowns without him. Jason Collins said that Jefferson posed
a matchup problem for opposing teams because he was big enough to defend a
power forward.
"Anytime you bring a player like Richard back on to a team that has a great
understanding of the defensive philosophy, it’s going to help the overall
team defense," Collins said.
And when Jefferson is on offense, Collins said, opposing power forwards
would have a difficult time defending him because of his speed and his
ability to hit the outside shot.
Jefferson's attitude might be as important as his defensive intuition.
"You take it personal when people are scoring on you or when they score
more than once or score two times in a row," he said. The 21 games
Jefferson spent on the injured list gave him an opportunity to assess the
Nets’ struggles. He saw a team that was not getting to the free-throw
line often, not getting out in transition and breaking down defensively
late in games.
"We're an average team defensively," he said. "We just have to be an
above-average team in the last three minutes. You can’t accept mistakes
and you have to be able to accept criticism more in those times.
"You can't get mad when Coach yells at you with six minutes to go because
you give up an open 3. Don't get mad if the coach takes you out. Don't
get mad if the coach changes who's guarding. That's when you have to take
a challenge, and the good teams do."
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