If they play JJ an extended period of time this offense will stagnate. When JJ is on the floor the other team can go small and blitz every pick and roll. Joe Johnson guarded our 5 and they switched every screen making Duhon ineffective. Today they had Iverson guarding Jeffries. We are playing 5 on 4 when he is on the floor. Memo to JJ the reason you were open for 7 bricks is because the other team wanted you open. PEJ could finish on the pick and roll, play with energy, and have to be guarded by a big instead of a guard.

Same reason why Balkman was a better fit than jefferies.

Dantoni is just saying the right things. I don't know what he believes deep down. But better D'antoni act like he believes in Jeffries. With Dantoni's love, maybe JJ can become something useful. I do think Dantoni and Walsh would trade him in a second if they could.

couldn't agree w/u more... i would much rather see PEJ getting minutes to finish on the break & add some shotblocking & athleticism off the wings

The fact is he is the only 6'11" guy available we have and he does help our defense. Its not for more than 20 minutes so it doesn't hurt that much. And about D'Antoni, don't believe everything he says. He knows that in order to have the team he wants he has to get rid of many of this players, therefore he has to elevate whatever value they have. It may be hard with Jeffries but its possible. And the trade kicker, well, send cash considerations when you trade him.

this thread reminds me of the early anxiousness around the Chris Duhon signing. Let's let the player find his way back into game playing shape and show us what he's got before we dump him for a complete unproven player who can shoot the ball.

Posted by martin:

this thread reminds me of the early anxiousness around the Chris Duhon signing. Let's let the player find his way back into game playing shape and show us what he's got before we dump him for a complete unproven player who can shoot the ball.

The main problem is his contract, so if the complete unproven player has potential or comes with a draft pick, its a nice trade.

But yeah, just let him have more time with the team and the system. He could start playing well and then... TRADE.

Posted by Knicksfan:

Posted by TMS:

as we all learned from the Jerome James signing, legit 7 footers are hard to come by, or in JJ's case, legit 6'11" inchers.

You gotta stay positive. If we all concentrate and believe that Jeffries will be traded, much likely he will!

Before going to bed, pray for a Jeffries trade.

dude, i pray for that every night & before every meal... sometimes before i take a whizz in the morning.

Not sure what Jeffries is capable of doing that can surprise us...he has shown very little appreciable skill since he's been in the NBA. He can play some defense, but he's not changing the game with his defense or creating that many turnovers...

I do hold out hope that D'Antoni will make him look respectable, but I'm not banking on it.

On Duhon, I believe I posted here that I thought he could average 8-9 assists before the year.

I'm not talking about when he was on the Wizards. I'm talking about when the Knicks were in Atlanta on Friday.

Posted by TMS:

Posted by martin:

this thread reminds me of the early anxiousness around the Chris Duhon signing. Let's let the player find his way back into game playing shape and show us what he's got before we dump him for a complete unproven player who can shoot the ball.

i wasn't 1 of those Duhon doubters but at least u can cut the doubt some slack there since Duhon hadn't been playing on this team for the past few years like Jefferies has... we have much more intimate knowledge of Fishlips' quality as a basketball player from years past... u really should not expect him to be much more than a guy who will provide a little energy off the bench in 15 minute spurts over the course of the season... he's not going to be a revelation under Mike D'Antoni's coaching.

I disagree. Curry was a feature player 2 years ago and last year is was Curry and Randolph in the post, mostly that means JJ2 was playing the 3 or outside where he is a fishlips out of water. I'd like to see what he can do in a MDA system where he will be close to the basket.