http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061211/SPORTS01/612110359/1108

GREENBURGH - After missing the first 22 games of the season with a fractured wrist, Jared Jeffries is ready to grace the Knicks with his defensive presence.

He is expected to play tonight against the Boston Celtics.

Knicks coach Isiah Thomas plans to bring the versatile forward in off the bench for now. It's possible Jeffries will move into the starting lineup when Channing Frye recovers from a sprained ankle in the next few days.

Limiting major adjustments is a priority for a team struggling to make headway in the standings.

"I think when Channing gets back, you have your full team," Thomas said yesterday after practice. "That's when you start making some changes and some adjustments, and I'm hoping that we'll have two units that are playing well."

Jeffries has played just 19 minutes, all in the preseason opener against the Nets, after signing a five-year, $30 million contract.

All of the medical hurdles have been cleared.

"I'm getting excited," Jeffries said after shooting a few extra free throws yesterday. "I'm getting anxious. I stayed in pretty good shape the whole time, so I feel ready."

Thomas believes it will be a fairly seamless transition.

"If you were trying to incorporate him as an offensive player, then it would definitely throw some things off," he said. "But as a guy who's coming in who's going to defend and do the intangibles, who's going to make your team a little bit more solid, a little bit better defensively, it shouldn't be that big of an adjustment."

Hard to handle: After watching Eddy Curry pile up a career-high 36 points against Milwaukee on Saturday, an obviously impressed Quentin Richardson claimed the only person capable of stopping the Knicks' middleman is currently stuck on the sidelines in Miami.

It was a reference to Shaquille O'Neal.

The way things are going right now, Curry can nod in agreement. He's scored at least 20 points in each of the last nine games and would love another crack at Yao Ming, who provided a few humbling moments earlier in the season.

"I definitely wish I could play against Yao again," he said. "I had my opportunity. But it's going to be tough (stopping me). The way I'm playing now I definitely think it's going to take a team effort to stop me."

The last Knicks player to have a similar run of success was Allan Houston, who scored at least 20 points in 10 straight games between Jan. 26 and Feb. 18, 1998.

Around the rim: Stephon Marbury did not miss any practice time yesterday after being inadvertently kicked in the left arm by Andrew Bogut on Saturday, resulting in a contusion. ... Frye was on the court after practice doing some legwork with strength coach Greg Brittenham. It's unclear exactly when he will return from a sprained left ankle.

Good news. This should definitely help keep opponents' scoring down. A lot of 2s and 3s have burned us. Has he practiced with the team yet? I'm wondering how rusty he'll be.

Will be interesting to see how much our defensive savior can contribute. Based on talk about how he's a defensive stopper, I expect no less than a 33-27 record to finish the season, to bring us to .500.

Now for reality. We'll have to see how he fits into the Knicks uniform. Does he offer more than Balkman? Can he play PF? Can he play decent enough on offense so that he doesn't hinder us there? All of these questions will be answered soon. I don't know what the answers will be, but those are the questions.

JJ is far from a defensive stopper..He is an extra body...Guys we signed him for the mid level exception...What does our history tell us about the talent of these mid level signing...If you are looking for JJ to be a defensive stopper, you are setting yourselves up for a big disappointment...

Posted by holfresh:


JJ is far from a defensive stopper..He is an extra body...Guys we signed him for the mid level exception...What does our history tell us about the talent of these mid level signing...If you are looking for JJ to be a defensive stopper, you are setting yourselves up for a big disappointment...

Only going by claims made by others on this board and by Mr. Isiah Thomas, who basically said it was okay for us to fail since JJ2 was injured. Those claims were acknowledged and agreed upon by many on this board. So it's only fair to hold those same standards up, since he is returning, no?

I really hope this works out.

Zeke is touting him as this humungous be-all-end-all difference maker so if that's the case, I'm hoping he'll better be THAT MUCH BETTER than Balkman.

I want to get amped for the guy, but I gotta see the results first.

Holfresh I agree with you thought I would never say that lol. He played 25 minutes in washington and the guy has no offensive skills at all.

Here's what Hollinger @ ESON Insider has to say (Knick bashing notwithstanding, of course):

Scouting report: Jeffries is 6-11, but is a perimeter player lacking the muscle and nastiness to play inside. Instead he uses his length and quickness to bother scorers on the perimeter. The Wizards played him on shooting guards at times and even put him on Chauncey Billups in one game, but those pairings taxed his lateral movement to the limit. He doesn't fare as well when small lineups force him to play inside, but he gets deflections with his reach and is a good wingman in zones.

Offensively, Jeffries is incredibly frustrating. He handles the ball well for his size and has decent athleticism, but he's a poor finisher around the basket with a maddening tendency to blow easy shots. He's an OK midrange shooter, but at 29.2 percent for his career on 3-pointers he's the first option for opponents to leave open when they want to double-team.

2006-07 outlook: The Knicks signed Jeffries to a five-year deal for the full midlevel exception, an offer the Wizards wisely chose not to match. While Jeffries won't have the most outlandish contract in Gotham, it's safe to say the Knicks overpaid for a player with marginal offensive skills.

If you ignore the contract, he'll pay some dividends in the short term. The Knicks need somebody who doesn't need or want the ball and is willing to play defense, and he fills that hole. Additionally, the team was very weak at small forward, where Jeffries now projects as the starter once he returns from a broken wrist. But that's more a commentary on the Knicks' many flaws than an endorsement of Jeffries, who is an eighth or ninth man being paid starter's money. At least he'll have plenty of company.


Most similar at age: J.R. Reid

[Edited by - K22 on 12-11-2006 12:29 PM]

I remember going to a Knicks/Nets game (Knicks won) waaaaaay back, I think in fall of 1996 and we just got Reid. He had a real good game and scorred 14 points, and the whole crowd kept chanting "J....R.... RRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEID!!!!!!!!!!!" the same way the PA announcer was doing it. Fun stuff.

I don't expect much from him individually, but he does help our team in that he adds some versatility to our front line. He helps us guard different types of line-ups that we could not guard before. Even if he is not a stopper the versatility is a plus. He doesn't lead us from the land of mediocrity(a true PG and a shotblocker/rebounder) will do that. But in the short run he is a very welcomed addition in my book. I think we go from below mediocre to mediocre with his addition.

Thank God we have this generations Bill Russell back.

There's one less excuse.