Sunday’s game was ripe for the Knicks to blow. Noon time start against a Nets team coming off its first win. Additionally, Devin Harris is one of those players that can win a game all by himself if he gets hot (or gets the calls). But, after being down 61-53 at halftime, the Knicks defense went zone and picked up the intensity, while Larry Hughes took control of the offense with an outstanding 3rd quarter. The Knicks asserted their will on the game and made it 3 wins in 4.
Going zone in the second half proved to be a great move by D’Antoni. Jared Jeffries was especially effective in the zone, using his length and (relative) quickness to deny the 3 from the top of the zone, and then dropping down into the paint when necessary to cause turnovers or bad shots. His double-team efforts were always timely and intelligent, never leaving anyone too open or hung out to dry. I really thought he helped galvanize the defensive effort, and suffocated what was a hot Nets team in the first half.
Looking at the box score was extremely interesting. Jared was 0-1 from the field!! He did take 8 foul shots, but still… 0-1 from the field in 36 minutes. Unbelievable. He also had 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. Here’s the interesting part, though. Jeffries lead the Knicks with a +20, while the next closest Knicks were Lee and Harrington with +13 each. A +20 on 0-1 FG’s and 2 assists. I’m not a big believer in the +/- stat, but I thought it was illuminating in JJ’s peculiar case, and pretty impressive in my eyes. He must be doing something right, right???
Looking at 82games.com, Jared is actually near the bottom of the Knicks +/- list. But, if you look at his win % on the same site, you see that Jared is a little better than the average for Knicks who’ve played substantial minutes. As of today, the Knicks win % is .286 (at 6-15). Jared’s win % is .368 – so basically the Knicks are a better team when Jared plays. I should note that Gallo leads the rotation guys with .444.
Clearly Jeffries isn’t one of the most talented guys in the league, but on a team that has been pretty bad so far this year, I feel like his statisics don’t do him some of the justice that he deserves. No matter how awkward he looks out there at times, Jared is an important part of the team.
