One on one with ... Jason Richardson. (NBA Insider).(basketball player)(Interview)

After winning the slam dunk contest and receiving MVP honors in the rookies vs. sophomores game on All-Star weekend, Warriors rookie guard Jason Richardson has parlayed that success into more confident performances. He has averaged 16.3 points since the break, vaulting into the Rookie of the Year race. TSN's Sean Deveney caught up with Richardson and asked him about his turnaround.

TSN: Well, you have been playing well, personally, lately. Is there any reason behind it?

JR: I just have been trying to help this team out as much as I can. I got a little energy from the All-Star break, winning the dunk contest and being MVP of the rookie game. That gave me some confidence. Now I want to pick it up for the whole second half of the season.

TSN: Had you worked on the dunks?

JR: The Wednesday before I left, the last day we had practice before the break, we had a 9 o'clock practice, but me and Gilbert (Arenas) came in at 8, and that was the first time we worked on it. We didn't even really work on it seriously. We just went over the dunks I knew I could do, and those are the ones I did in the contest. That last dunk I tried, that one I had only tried once before. And I had missed it. But I knew it was one I could get, so I put it up my sleeve.

TSN: There was some ...