Injuries kept their Big Three, Manu, Duncan, and Tony Parker out of Monday nights home game against the Portland Trailblazers.
Some would say Spurs' small forward Richard Jefferson was out of the game too.
Only, RJ wore a uni, ran up and down the court, and defended (kind of), and gave other occasional appearances of actually being in the line-up.
What I'm trying to say is, Jefferson sucked.
But, that's not news and it's not new to people following the Spurs this year.
On a night when the Spurs were in desperate need of some leadership, scoring, and athleticism because 4 of their 5 starters were on the bench (Antonio McDyess also sat out with back spasms) is it too much to expect your $8million+ man to do a little something to help the club --- scratch that, for $8mil+ he should be doing A LOT of something to help his shorthanded club.
RJ is 4th on the roster in earnings, but he's never earned it.
He was a huge disappointment to the Spurs last season and most team supporters excused Jefferson by noting that he was unfamiliar with the Spurs' system.
This year (his 2nd with the team) started out in a way that supported that theory.
His play was solid on both ends of the court and he looked more comfortable in those first two months than he did all of the season before.
But, by the end of December, that was all gone.
Since December, there has not been even an occasional game wherein he has shown the promise he showed at the beginning of the season.
Jefferson has not reached his career average of 16 points since February 4th in a game against the lowly Sacramento Kings.
And while he's above 40% for the season in 3point shooting, that percentage remains high only because of the many 1-for-1 nights he has from behind the 3point line.
Remove those 1-for-1 nights and his average is well below the 40% mark.
Which brings us to Monday night's game against Portland.
On a night when he had neither Manu or Parker taking shots away from him, and on a night when he had neither McDyess or Duncan clogging the paint, here is what the Spurs got from Jefferson:
2-for-5 from the field, 1-for-3 3 pointers, 2-4 free throws, 6 rebounds, 0 assists, 2 turnovers, and 7 points.
Jefferson was matched point-for-point by his following teammates:
Undrafted guard Chris Quin, Fellow-forward Steve Novak, and guard/forward Danny Green....the same Danny Green that the Spurs waived last November then resigned earlier this month.
A few things stand out about all of the above players who matched or surpassed RJ's point total versus Portland.
1. Not one of them is a starter for the Spurs.
2. They all played fewer minutes than did RJ.
3. All of them are in their first season with the Spurs
Point #3 is really poignant -- Remember how much RJ sucked his first year?
Hell, Danny Green is in his first MONTH.
What should also be mentioned when reviewing the stats is that Jefferson only had 4 points until hitting a meaningless 3-pointer in the final minute and well after Portland had the game in hand. And up until that final minute, 2 of his 4 points were from free throws.
What's that mean? That means Richard Jefferson was only able to muster ONE bucket in the midst of a game that did not include the Spurs' Big Three players.
That production - and I use the term production very loosely here - is terrible considering he was on the court for over 25 minutes of game time.
Given the available players for Monday's game, the importance of the game (Lakers are catching up quick for first place in the West), and the expectations once held for RJ, by my math $8mil + 25minutes + 7points - 0 assists = BUST.
Whatever the Spurs' plans are for the post-season, Spurs fans better hope they don't include relying on RJ for anything outside of garbage time minutes...because garbage is all they are getting from him.
BC for life FOO!
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