Jefferson's Confidence

When SI's Marty Burns is writing about something, you know it is accepted as mainstream thinking because he only writes about the biggest stories that have already been reported locally 5 times over.  So none of this is a surprise to any of us, but it is always nice to see one of our own get some positive national publicity.

Jefferson's emergence over the past few months as a consistent and reliable low-post threat and defender has given hope to Celtics fans. If Boston could somehow land Greg Oden in the draft, Gang Green would have a nice young frontcourt pairing to go with Paul Pierce. Of course, that assumes the Celtics pony up the dough to sign Jefferson to a contract extension this summer.

Jefferson, meanwhile, said he's just happy to have finally answered the doubts about his ability to play in the NBA. Some Celtics insiders believe he might have lost some confidence, especially when he heard his name mentioned in those Allen Iverson trade rumors last summer and earlier in the season. Jefferson denied it, though he acknowledged that he did hear those critics who called him a wasted draft pick.

"Not confidence. Just more of the disappointment of being hurt and not knowing what was wrong," he said of his mind-set the past two seasons. "People doubting me -- that got to me more than anything. But I never lose confidence. I know what I can do."

There is also a short piece on remembering DJ.