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**Tom** · 10-02-2003, 07:31 AM

ToddMacCulloch11 · 10-02-2003, 09:35 AM

As far as shooting, Byron Scott wants to see his 23-year-old small forward connect from outside on a more frequent basis. Jefferson, in the offseason, has been shooting more from the outside in the hopes of becoming a 3-point threat.

That would be good, very good.

**Petey** · 10-02-2003, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Who would have thought it possible? Richard Jefferson is actually cockier than he was last year.

That's what happens when you go from the Nets' stud sixth man to star starter to Team USA member. And don't forget about young, rich and famous. But what's the next hurdle? What will be the next swagger-inducer?

"[I want to] try to become one of the best players in the league," Jefferson said. "Not so much the most dominant because we have so many players on this team, but to be one of the best players at my position. That's the type of respect that I'm trying to get. We have so many players that there'll never be a day where I'm like a Tracy McGrady or Vince Carter, where I'm called on to do every single thing."

I'm glad he thinks highly of himself, that is a good thing, but difference between him and those 2 players is they want to be the man. I don't like how he settled and says... this team doesn't need me to be like those 2. Heck throw either of them on here and we would cake walk into the finals.

-Petey

ToddMacCulloch11 · 10-02-2003, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Petey!

I'm glad he thinks highly of himself, that is a good thing, but difference between him and those 2 players is they want to be the man. I don't like how he settled and says... this team doesn't need me to be like those 2. Heck throw either of them on here and we would cake walk into the finals.

-Petey

I thought that myself. I mean, we don't desperately need that player, but its not like it would be a bad thing to have one.

**Aurelino** · 10-02-2003, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ToddMacCulloch11!

I thought that myself. I mean, we don't desperately need that player, but its not like it would be a bad thing to have one.

I think he is being a bit cautious here. He doesn't want to say he wants to become a dominating player whom the Nets depend on. But he does say he wants to become the best at his position.
Here's another article. I think the bolded statement kind of explains what he means.

Quote:

RJ's weight no heavy matter

EAST RUTHERFORD - How Richard Jefferson spent his summer vacation:

"Here, there, and everywhere," he said Wednesday. "I spent a couple of weeks in Arizona, a couple weeks in California, a couple weeks here [in New Jersey], a couple weeks in Puerto Rico [playing for Team USA]."

What Richard Jefferson ate for dinner two nights ago:

"I had two cheeseburgers and a six-piece McNuggets [order] from McDonald's at about 10:30 at night," he said, "and went to bed about 11:30."

Any wonder, then, that coach Byron Scott tweaked Jefferson's conditioning when the third-year forward reported to training camp this week.

Jefferson didn't exactly show up as the 2002 version of Rodney Rogers - whom the Nets are curious to see today when the rest of the squad reports. Yet his frenetic summer and self-acknowledged dreadful eating habits brought him to camp carrying about 235 pounds on his 6-foot-7 frame, about where he remembers reporting last season. He said he finished the Finals 3½ months ago at 218.

Scott said Wednesday that's no big concern, for he expects to see the 23-year-old starting small forward running, jumping, and doing all things Richard Jefferson by Friday's and Saturday's two-a-day full-squad practices.

Jefferson, meanwhile, acknowledges that while his busy summer left him with little time to focus on his individual workouts, he believes it will ultimately enhance his growth as a player. Although he saw limited game time with Team USA, he practiced daily against the likes of Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady, and learned lessons he finds hard to describe.

"It's just the mentality some of those guys have," said Jefferson, who was joined on the team by fellow Nets Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin. "Allen Iverson, Tracy and Vince, Ray Allen, Tim Duncan -everyone is completely different. Everyone has their own style.

"They [all] get the job done, but they have different approaches. So it's just a matter of me finding my approach, finding out how I want to play this game."

That process, Scott acknowledged, will take more time, for he believes that not until the fourth, fifth, or sixth season does a player stop being "young."

"I think Richard is close to that ... closer to not being called 'young' anymore because of all the things that he's been through in his first two years," Scott said. "He's been to the Finals in two straight years. That's almost a season within itself. So I think he's a lot more mature than some guys that are going into their third year, but he's still not to the point where you can say he's not young any more."

Jefferson is stepping out beyond the three-point line with his jumper, however, after pushing his range out at least a step to just inside the arc during last season. He doesn't expect to become Kerry Kittles-like and live by the three, but believes he can take and make a few more than last season, when he shot just 56 and made only 13 (23.2 percent).

Otherwise, after averaging 15.5 points and 6.4 rebounds last season, consistency is one of the goals for a player of whom Scott said more than once Wednesday, "The sky's the limit."

A sky that, at Jefferson's age, is sometimes full of pie

Courtesy www.northjersey.com

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