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Isiah Thomas sat Stephon Marbury against the Nets, and started Jamal Crawford in his place at PG, moving Quentin Richardson to SG, and inserting Jared Jeffries into the starting lineup. Jeffries, it should be noted, did start the majority of the games he played last season. Nate Robinson came off the bench as he normally does. In doing so, Thomas presented an interesting starting lineup for the Knicks: The Tallest Lineup In The NBA.
In a time when most teams are going small (the Knicks do, too), this lineup was particularly tall, and yet still athletic and quick (to a degree). Check it out:
PG: Jamal Crawford. Crawford is listed (generously) as 6'5. I say generously because he just doesn't seem that much taller than Marbury, who is 6'1. But that may be because he doesn't "play tall" - he's not a rebounder, he doesn't block shots, and he doesn't post. Keep in mind that Crawford generally plays at the two-guard spot; he's usually matched up against taller (or at least similar heighted) opponents. At point guard he's above average. Points are generally around 6'1 to 6'3.
It's also a better matchup for the formerly thin Crawford. He's list at 190 lbs, though he has add 15 pounds of muscle this offseason. Don't underestimate the importance of that muscle; at 6'5, 190 Crawford was very thin and skinny and lanky. At 205 he's still slim, but able to withstand a little more body contact.
Crawford at PG doesn't work because he's not good at keeping the offense moving, but Jamal is good at passing the ball to Eddy Curry, and keeping the big man happy.
SG: Quentin Richardson. Q-Rich is listed as 6'6, though he looks more like 6'7. Whatever. He's 235 lbs, and hardly fat. Use that to compare to the 40 pounds thinner, and only one inch shorter, Crawford. That's why Crawford needs to get to the 210-220 lbs range to be a good weight for his height.
Anyway, at 6'6 Richardson is about average for a SG. But he's also a player who does play big - he averaged 7.2 rpg last season on the Knicks. He can post smaller SGs when guarded by them. He'll play like a big SG, though he will also settle for too many three pointer attempts, too.
SF: Jared Jeffries. Another ridiculously tall player for his position, Jeffries is listed at 6'11, 240. Among starting SF, here are the only two that would be in Jeffries' class: Yi Jianlin (6'11, 238) and Andrea Bargnani (7'0). That's it. Most SF are around the same size as SG, which is to say from 6'6 to 6'9.
Jared Jeffries is not expected to start much on the Knicks this season, but keep in mind that Renaldo Balkman is still out with an injury. Wilson Chandler is too unproven, and Fred Jones is a bench role player. Jeffries also started most of his games in Washington prior to the Knicks. The only way he'll start here is if Q-Rich is injured (very likely at some point), or if Q-Rich starts at SG, and the Knicks switch up their backcourt a bit (moving either Crawford or Marbury to the bench).
And of course, the PF (Zach Randolph) and C (Eddy Curry) are quite big for their position. Put them together, and the Knicks basically tossed out the largest lineup in the league. Only the Bucks and Raptors come close, but the Knicks backcourt beats both of those teams (particularly the Raptors with the undersized, but super quick, TJ Ford).
It'll be interesting what else Zeke does with the starting lineup, given different types of players he has, especially if an injury occurs.
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Knick notes from around the web:
Newsday's Ken Berger thinks the Knick do have enough pieces for a Kobe trade, though they will not be the forerunners. The Bulls and Mavs remain the favorites, but if the Bulls get stubborn about trading Deng (or if the Lakers deem him too expense right away, since he needs a contract extension soon), and the Lakers refuse to trade with the Mavs (who are unlikely to move Dirk, but might move Josh Howard), the Knicks have to be taken seriously. As Berger points out (and as I've written in the past) the Knicks have lots of assets: young players (Wilson Chandler, Balkman, David Lee, and Randolph Morris (we don't buy that Mardy Collin, Demetris Nichols or Jared Jordan have much worth, yet). They also have big contracts that expire at the right time (the end of 2009), such as Stephon Marbury and Malik Rose. That's the big free agent year (read: The year the Lakers get Elton Brand and Dwayne Wade together).
And the Knicks would have no problem taking back a bad contract like Vladimir Radmonovic (the only bad contract on the Lakers right now, and a must-go in a Kobe deal). He also fails to mention that Curry would also be an attractive name to send back to the Lakers for Kobe.
While most "experts" are acting as if the Lakers are going to want a big superstar back in return for Kobe, most teams actually look for assets to rebuild around. The Knicks have plenty, thanks to stellar drafting the last two seasons, and "bad" contracts that expire at the right time.
I doubt the Knicks will get Kobe, but that's only because I still doubt he will be moved before February at the earliest, and probably not until the end of the season. But if he does, do not count out the Knicks, even if they aren't the favorites. They might be the surprise darkhorse candidate.
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Eddy Curry is annoyed at the continuous beatdowns he gets when he's fouled, according to the Daily News. That article only skims the surface. As reported by Alan Hahn here (perhaps because he actually attends and watches the games!):
"In
consecutive games, Eddy Curry has gotten physically involved with the Celtics'
Kendrick Perkins and the Nets' Malik Allen. With Perkins, Curry was involved in
two double-fouls for shoving. He was assessed a technical Thursday night when
he tossed Allen aside after a whistle. The 6-11, 285-pound Curry says
opponents' overly physical play is "getting old" and says he won't
put up with it this season. "It's a fine line between playing hard and
getting into a shoving match out there," he said. "I prefer not to
play that way, but sometimes I don't have a choice." ...
Also, Posting and Toasting has noted that Jamaal Magliore is super-aggressive with Eddy Curry, and the refs often look the other way, perhaps leading to the above quote by Curry that set off the string of articles. According to Seth, it's been a pattern with Magliore since last year. And I agree with Seth - I would like to see Curry sock Magliore in the face, if for no other reason than to establish that he won't put up with this ish. But Eddy is too nice a guy. Someone needs to tell him that it was Jamaal who sent those guys over to his place to rob him in the summer.
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Another Newsday writer speculates that the whole Allan Houston comeback may have been "a public-relations smoke screen" to distract the focus from the fallout after the Anucha Browne-Sanders trial. If Houston did so, then he's the ultimate team player, and we need to retire his jersey immediately (f*ck Jared Jeffries; filth marked jersey, take that off!). But I doubt it's that simply; I think Allan really was trying to come back, and knew the Knicks would at least give him some leverage with the teams that might need him (Nets, Boston), but it just didn't work. They aren't interested. Such is life sometimes. I wish Houston nothing but the best... he seems like a nice, religious guy, and that jumper was the most beautifuliest jumper in the NBA (Glen Rice was a close second).
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Not Knicks-related, but... a video clip posted over at Plissken at the Buzzer (originally found via True Hoops) indicates to me that Marco Belinelli really is a Sylvester Stallone as Rocky looking dude. Minus the guns, of course.
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Finally, The Blowtorch nails it with this post entitled "What Your Favorite NBA Player Says About You". Some examples:
Shaquille O'Neal: "You haven't watched the NBA in 6 years".
Gilbert Arenas: "You read basketball blogs."
Good stuff, go check it out.
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Oh, you are right GM. I took out the part where I mentioned that "despite being a starter for two years in Washington, and for most of last season with the Knicks, Jeffries has never topped 26 minutes per game". He just isn't consistent enough, and gets into foul trouble a bit, too. Mostly though, he just can't contribute on the offensive side.
But, I should add, we know nothing about Yi yet, and little about Bargnani (he seems a little overhyped, personally). Just saying, they haven't do jack yet, though I would absolutely bet on them being more productive this season than Jeffries. I just wouldn't guarantee it!
I think this is a good time to note that Q might be my favorite college baller of all-time. He was a legend here in high school and dominated at DePaul. I think he's closer to 6'4 then 6'7, but man could be rebound in college. He was good for 20/15 every night.
that tallest line up thing is cool (especially after seeing the shortest line up with franchise and stabury), except for one thing...
jamal can't catch up to SGs so how is he supposed to catch PGs WITH 15 more pounds?
I'm really of the beleif that they need to start balkman at the 3 (lee is too slow) and Q at 2, and have Jamal be like a diluted version of manu. Seriously, with Z and Curry and Steph and Q, do we really need offense from the 5th guy? really? might as well have a finisher/defender/beast/pothead helpin out...
Prez: Agree this is not the best Knick lineup, though any lineup is significantly flawed.
Crawford is good with Curry, but can't play defense (though he's slightly better at keep a point in check than the opposing teams SG, who is usually their best scorer).
Randolph may be worse on defense than Curry (who is good man to man, actually; he's just not very much of a help defender, which too often is what the Knicks need).
My ideal lineup would be Marbury, Q-Rich, Balkman, Randolph, Curry. I would bring Lee, Crawford, Robinson (his defense intensity may earn him 4th quarter minutes, too), and either Chandler or Jeffries off the bench. Rose will back up the big guys for about 8-10 minutes a night.
Fred Jones will also see some time at SG/SF on defense. Wow, the Knicks just have too many players....
"Someone needs to tell him that it was Jamaal who sent those guys over to his place to rob him in the summer"
Classic SML!
I like the fact that the Knicks can rollout a variety of lineups. I've got to believe that this will make them a dangerous playoff matchup for any team...
The Knicks have so many players because the majority of their guys only play one side of the court.
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Unfortunately for the Knicks, Jeffries is never going to be half as good as Yi or Bargnani...I watched him from his senior year of high school through college and I've never been impressed with him.