i can't understand why any fan who pines for 90's knicks grit doesn't love jeffries. i remember the isiah years and they sucked. but since jeffries has played for d'antoni he's been an incredible defender, capably guarding rondo and chris paul and chris bosh and dwight howard and everything in between. the guy drew FIVE charges tonight. FIVE. and he actually took two more that were borderline that he got called for fouls on. give this man some respect.
D’Antoni Speaks Up for Jeffries
By HOWARD BECK
Anyone who plays or coaches at Madison Square Garden is eventually inoculated against the boos and the taunts, building up a steady resistance to the crowd’s emotional whims. It is an accepted part of playing in New York, one that is rarely questioned.Coach Mike D’Antoni took a minute Monday night to question it, and passionately so.
The subject was Jared Jeffries, one of the Knicks’ most maligned players. Jeffries is often booed for his inability to make shots, especially those at the rim. He is also one of the Knicks’ most dedicated defenders, which is often overshadowed by his air balls.
After watching Jeffries bang with Utah’s Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap for nearly 34 minutes, anchoring the Knicks’ frontcourt in Amar’e Stoudemire’s absence and helping to key a 99-88 victory, D’Antoni felt compelled to defend his honor.
He called Jeffries’s performance “unbelievably good,” then paused and said, “Indulge me one second.
“Anybody who boos Jared Jeffries has got to re-examine their life a little bit,” D’Antoni said. “I’m sorry to have to — I love our fans, and I like Madison Square Garden, the arena — but here’s a guy who came back to us, minimum contract. He could have gone to a lot of other teams. He plays as hard as anybody could possibly ever play, with injuries, everything you ask him. He takes every charge, every dirty play, every rebound. He works every second.
“And there are people that look at that and go, ‘I think I’ll boo him.’ I have a hard time believing that.”
D’Antoni, who lobbied hard to re-sign Jeffries, said, “I understand the frustration” with his offensive limitations. He compared booing Jeffries’ tireless work to booing “what is good about America. To me it’s like, are you kidding me? Are you serious?”
Twenty minutes later, Jeffries returned the favor, offering a passionate endorsement of D’Antoni, who has come under fire from fans because of the Knicks’ struggles.
“Me and coach have a great relationship, and I’ll die for him,” Jeffries said. “That’s why I take charges, why I dive out there, because he’s the best coach in the N.B.A. There’s no coach in the N.B.A. that’s a better players’ coach, and you see that with Jeremy Lin. No other coach in the league that would have given Jeremy the opportunity he has now. No other coach in the league would give me this chance – Bill Walker, Landry Fields, Steve Novak— and the way we played tonight is a tribute to what Coach is able to do in getting the best out of his players.”
As for himself, Jeffries said he understood the fans’ frustration with him over the years.
“But I think I always go out there and play as hard as I can,” he said. “I play with a lot of effort, a lot of energy, and sometimes fans — there will be, sometimes, they hate me. But that’s not going to affect how much I love this city, how much I enjoy playing at the Garden and wanted to be part of a winning team here.”
2/7/2012 2:21 AM
I was just going to post this. Jared is a guy that can be a bit frustrating, but i've always understood what coaches see in him. For this team we need players that play great TEAM defense and lead the way for other guys to bust it out there. You can see how hard he's playing and he came back for nothing really, just to play for this team and this coach. He was making strides under MDA before he was traded. I was happy when we got him back last year and he's even better this year. 
