Jefferson hits sophmore wall

In three seasons of college, Richard Jefferson played a total of 2,211 minutes. In his rookie season with the Nets, Fred Kerber of the New York Post continues, he eclipsed this by playing 2,358 minutes between the regular season and playoffs.

Now in his second season Jefferson not only has surpassed his playing from from a year ago but also has a much bigger role with much more responsibility. Even without the playoffs, he is on pace to play over 2,800 minutes. So, he admitted, "my body is tired" and for the first time, Jefferson felt the fabled wall.

"Name one other person in my situation that has played as much as I have and is in the situation I am," said Jefferson, receiving no immediate answers because there is no one.

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New Jersey Nets

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Kidd and Scott Having Difficulties?

Despite an impressive victory against the Knicks Thursday night and one a week ago against the the Pacers, the New Jersey Nets have seen better days. They have been slimping, accumilating a 4-6 record since All-Star break, with some attributing it to complacency, poor shooting or lack of defensive intensity.

However, Dave D'Alessandro writes in Thursday's Star Ledger, “The problems around here are worse than you think.” In D’Alessandro’s column he writes that a Nets insider was quoted as stating, "Let's put it this way…Jay just wishes that Byron would do more coaching than the other stuff he gets involved in. And that's a problem."

He went on to say, "I used to think it's 80-20 that Jay would re-sign here. Now I think it's no better than 50-50."

As many know, the Nets chemistry has been far from great. They have struggled at times in coming up with big defensive stops and executing plays down the stretch. Sure players are the ones on the court who ultimately have to produce, but has coaching played a role in their sudden demise. The Nets have seen losses to the Grizzlies, Magic (twice), Sixers, Wizards and Cavs.

Yes, some of those losses have come against teams that have been playing better as of late, but losses to the Grizzlies and Cavs have many questioning the Nets present state.

After the Cavs game Tuesday night, Scott stated, “I’m searching a little bit.”

Interestingly enough, D’Allesandro writes how maybe fans have spotted the signs themselves. “We've lost count of the number of times Kidd has glanced over to the bench in crunch time this month to see whether Scott wanted a specific play, only to have his coach turn his back on him.”

Has Kidd been denied guidance from his coach? Has Scott spent more time worrying about other teams players, most recently his quotes towards Spreewell, than worrying about his relationships with his own players? Or has the Nets found that internal turmoil which most great teams experience?

One thing is for sure, a sour relationship between coach and star player could lead to a very unhappy ending for the New Jersey Nets.

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New Jersey Nets

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Sixers considering bringing back Hill

Tyronne Hill was a key member of the Sixers team that went to the NBA Finals two seasons ago, but was then traded to the Cavaliers for forward Matt Harpring (now with the Jazz). While the trade hurt Hill, he might soon be back in the Sixers fold after his wish to be waived by the Cleveland Cavaliers was granted yesterday.

The player who might play a major role in getting Hill back in Philadelphia may be Monty Williams, coach Larry Brown distressed at his decision not to dress for the game.

Phil Jasner of the Philadelphia Daily News writes that Williams, in uniform earlier in the evening, decided against playing because of recurring problems with his surgically repaired left knee. He has appeared in just seven games all season; he played 5 minutes in the first half of Sunday night's victory over Cleveland after having three tubes of fluid drained from the knee.

"I don't think we can go much longer like this," Brown said. "It's not fair to the team, it's not fair to Monty. If he's going to come one day and want to give it a try and then the next day can't go, we can't overcome that. We've got to just figure this thing out. It's been this way all year with so many different people."

Other teams in the hunt for Hill's services include New Jersey, Dallas, San Antonio and the Lakers.

"Tyrone and I will talk about it and make a decision about what he wants to do, probably sometime [today]," Bartelstein said. "He has great feelings for Larry Brown, [general manager] Billy King and the players there, but it's a tough call."

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Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, New Jersey Nets, Dallas Mavericks

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