Redd, Al Jefferson back on the court; sadly, so are the Knicks
The Knicks rolled out what might be the worst NBA starting lineup you’ll see all year (Chris Duhon, Larry Hughes, Jared Jeffries, Al Harrington, David Lee), but they still managed to beat the Nets in yesterday’s preseason opener for both teams because, frankly, the Nets also have high potential to stink. Harrington led NY with 23 points, Lee had 20 and nine boards, and Wilson Chandler came off the bench for 21 points. Chandler is expected to take over that starting SG spot soon enough, but he’s been a little banged up in training camp … Nate Robinson was curiously quiet, coming off the bench for 17 minutes and scoring six points. Granted, it’s still preseason, but considering he’s is in a contract year and just knowing how he plays, Robinson could be one of the League’s most prolific gunners when the games start to count … Chris Douglas-Roberts led NJ with 21 points as the starting two-guard, while Brook Lopez scored 19 and Devin Harris put up 14 points and four assists … The respective Lottery picks saw varying degrees of struggle in this one: Terrence Williams shot 4-for-13 to finish with 11 points and seven boards, and Jordan Hill went 1-for-8 to get five points and four boards. T-Will has been getting nothing but great reviews all summer, but everything we’ve heard about Hill says he’s having a hard time. Of the Top-10 picks in the Draft not named Ricky Rubio, Hill and Hasheem Thabeet look most likely to go bust … Thankfully for the Bucks and anyone interested in them not being awful, Michael Redd was on the court for their preseason opener. Redd only played 16 minutes (7 pts, 2-4 FG) in a loss to Minnesota, but he looked healthy. Al Jefferson (14 pts) and his rehabbing knee were also on the court, and Andrew Bogut (back) made an uneventful 9-minute cameo … Jonny Flynn started over Ramon Sessions and had a stat line that was very Kevin Martin-ish, scoring all 14 of his points at the line (14-15 FT) to go with seven assists. Rookie counterpart Brandon Jennings posted 14 points and five dimes while coming off the bench behind Luke Ridnour … Kevin Love said he wants a bigger role in the Wolves’ offense this year, and made a strong case by posting 17 points and 13 boards. If Wayne Ellington wants a bigger role, he needs to do better than 1-for-6 shooting. On pure scoring ability alone, Ellington should be pushing Corey Brewer for that SG spot … The Warriors knocked off the Clippers, getting 21 points from Anthony Morrow (four threes), 19 and 10 boards from Kelenna Azubuike, and 18 from Corey Maggette. Azubuike got the start alongside Monta Ellis (8 pts, 12 mins) in the backcourt, while Stephen Curry had five points (2-10 FG), nine assists and five steals off the bench … DeAndre Jordan posted 22 points and 10 rebounds for L.A., and Eric Gordon scored 19. Blake Griffin (knee) didn’t play … Monday’s NBA schedule has two games: Heat at Pistons, and Magic at Mavericks — otherwise known as The Polish Hammer Bowl. (Actually, Marcin Gortat said in a recent interview that he’d rather be called “The Polish Machine.” Whatever, man.) If the Dallas/Orlando game were in the regular season, it’d be interesting to see how Stan Van Gundy and Rick Carlisle play the matchup game with non-traditional forwards like Rashard Lewis, Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Marion, and guard/forward hybrids like Vince Carter and Josh Howard … Michael Beasley is going to start at SF in the Heat/Pistons game, the first step in his winning the job from James Jones. You know if Beasley’s summer had been quiet, this wouldn’t even be a competition, but he needs to prove himself that he’s reliable … After suffering a mild concussion in the Bulls/Pacers game over the weekend, Tyrus Thomas was back at practice looking like everything was OK … The other day we were talking about the 2016 Olympics being award to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and mentioned some of the NBA’s current Brazilian players and their likelihood of playing. At the time we forgot about Nene — kind of an “out of sight, out of mind” thing since he didn’t play with Brazl in this summer’s FIBA Americas tourney. However, in an interview with FanHouse, Nene said he won’t even be playing ball by the time 2016 comes around. “In seven years, I’m retired in seven years,” Nene said … We’re out like The Polish Machine …
October 5th, 2009 at 12:44 am
zcw says:
first………
October 5th, 2009 at 1:04 am
Johnson says:
Why would the knicks’ starting 5 be the worst lineup…? i reckon its actully pretty good… well i would say its one of the better lineups in most of the teams..
October 5th, 2009 at 1:16 am
Lothario says:
Nene retired in seven years? Wanna bet?
October 5th, 2009 at 1:43 am
Otto says:
@ #2 Johnson:
1. Huh?
2. I can’t take anything seriously from someone who uses the word “reckon” freely and publicly.
October 5th, 2009 at 2:00 am
Dodge Taylor says:
In Johnson’s defence, I think he may be and Aussie and therefore “reckon” is socially acceptable.
I also agree that NY’s line-up really isn’t that bad or the worst we’ll see. I remember one day last season the following starting 5’s were in action on the same day:
Indiana Pacers:
TJ Ford
Marquis Daniels
Nesterovic
Jeff Foster
B Rush
OKC Thunder:
Watson
Green
Petro
Mason
Collison
Yes, those were the STARTERS for both teams on that day. U G L Y you ain’t got no alibi!
October 5th, 2009 at 2:35 am
luckylester says:
to discredit dodge taylor he said, “U G L Y you ain’t got no alibi!”
but I think Larry Hughes can be a pretty solid player, and while he’s struggled the last couple years, it’s not like he’s old, and he has been a pretty damn good player before – David Lee is a starter-level player in the league, and Al Harrington has tons of ability. Chris Duhon, Jarred Jeffries, well, that’s not as easy to defend. tough line-up – at least the Nets have Devin Harris, and Courtney Lee would light it up for the Knicks, Brook Lopez, a pretty promising young big – not a load of those around. Hell, I think the Nets have a starting lineup that is going to be pretty legit in a couple years.
October 5th, 2009 at 3:32 am
BRUCE says:
Did that China-man play? I am going to be hounding his arse all season long, waiting for Yi to break-out. It will never happen, count on it!
October 5th, 2009 at 3:34 am
Hi Jurg from Denmark says:
a big hi hi to dime and mainly mr austin burton.
such a good day with some more nba for you to get randy for. and yet so weird that in one game 3 people with ACL injured. redd, big baby al jeffersone and one of jurgo fav player mr corey brewer. and jurgy know ACL cos he crossover on good freind Vladamir one day and vlad tear his ACL. he was bad player before injury and now so much worse.
and a lovely big tiddle pip to mr dodge taylor. this is jurgo fave smack writer. i wish mr dodge would write some more to smack. i giggled when i read his writing becaus it is so good.
and that is alot for jurg to write. thank you helena.
from jurg (and helena thank you helena for helping with my twitter).
October 5th, 2009 at 3:54 am
Atom says:
Polish machine? I thought that was the silent alarm clock?
But seriously, Sasha Fierce is going to get pissed if people actually start calling Gortat the Machine while the only time people him that they are trying their best to contain their laughter.
What does this guy have against hammers? Please Gortat, dont hurt em!
October 5th, 2009 at 3:58 am
ab_40 says:
this looks like a fake jurg.
but why isn’t there any video of milwaulkee minnesota. can’t believe I’m asking for highlights from milwaulkee and minnesota… preseseason huh. Dianna Taurasi did you see that headbut she gave out last night she’s the femal equivelant of kobe including the dirty tricks but they can get away with it because they are one of the if not the best at what they do… she did get a technical though
October 5th, 2009 at 6:28 am
K Dizzle says:
Steph Curry needs to get his efficiency together. You shoot 34% in summer league, you can’t come out in the preseason and go 2-10…..
October 5th, 2009 at 7:32 am
Amar says:
some coaches/GM’s usually have that midas touch. Others have the touch of shit.
Last time knicks were worth while? Before Don Nelson became the ‘coach’. That team has been sad for a long time.
Mavs — very talented, Dirk and Nash? Couldn’t get anything done in the playoffs. Don leaves and they finally make it to the finals.
GSW? That’s basically been his team for the last 30 years, and he’s so good at making them dysfunctional that right now he’s on autopilot. His ultimate fear is actually playing basketball, so he keeps going for the gimicks. (you know, like having a team that has Ralph Sampson and Manute Bol on the roster — and having them both sit on the bench all game long instead of being conventional) This current dubs team looks like it was made up by a guy with double vision. “Let’s go out and get two really tall, scrawny PFs, and get two weak ass PGs who can’t pass, and love to shoot! Balance the team with ball-hog veteran SFs and fill the rest of the roster out with misfits! Woo!”
Nelson needs to man up and have his team play basketball, not some kind of three ring circus ball.
October 5th, 2009 at 8:31 am
sans says:
Preseason starting 5s aside, the Knicks ran with their A team, minus Wilson Chandler. That squad sucks. I just realized recently that after a full year of playing 2k9, I have never played against the Knicks in Live. Never. 500+ games, no one chose the Knickerbockers. Because they suck.
Oh and I didn’t get to Smack last night to write this but–fuck you DIME, saying Greg Paulus is auditioning to be the Browns quarterback…that hurts….5 interceptions would be an upgrade right meow. Do I talk about the Seattle Sounders replacing the Sonics? No. I do not.
October 5th, 2009 at 9:24 am
hansosword says:
DEandre Jordan…22pts?
October 5th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Josh Tha roc says:
Fake jurg sux.
Clips need to rid themselves of camby and the croc, hand the keys to Deandre and Blake. They have nothing to lose anyway
October 5th, 2009 at 10:05 am
Jacqueline Mitchell says:
It’s gonna be a long,long year for Knicks and Nets fans.Have mercy.
October 5th, 2009 at 10:59 am
bdk23 says:
when is dime goin to get on their FBI shit and bust this fake JURRGOOO…we want the original JURRGOO back…this guy souunds like an impostaa!LOL
October 5th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Michorizo says:
Polish Sausage is what he should be called
October 5th, 2009 at 11:26 am
dagwaller says:
hahaha @ sans
October 5th, 2009 at 11:27 am
sh!tfaced says:
Polish Machine? He got sandpaper or something? Isn’t that what they call a sander? He does have a nice shine with him being bald and all.
October 5th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Shaq Fan says:
yall sound like a bunch of haters. Ill buss ya ass wit the knicks in 2K9….i cant wait till tommorow so i can go in on 2K10…i got the special anniversery edition. Fuck kobe tho.
October 5th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Mellmeister says:
well, we could only expect the worst…
October 5th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
doc says:
I reckon Johnson is fucking crazy.And in a couple months only nickname Gortat gonna have is the Polish Bum.Or the big warmup wearer.
October 5th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Chief-man44 says:
13 boards in 21 minutes for k-love. that’s an absolutely filthy THIRTY boards per 48 minutes. yeah.
October 5th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Ike with the Iverson Jersey says:
The N.Y. Knicks will make the playoffs (If Healhty)…..
October 5th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
JL says:
Good to see K Love getting amongst the boards already, the combo of him and jefferson up front could get interesting in the next few seasons (if the wolves front office doesn’t blow up the joint again)
Anthony morrow is going to have a breakout season…
The polish hammer/machine should be known as the artist formerly known as jim mcilavine…BOOM!
October 5th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
the cynic says:
I don’t know why, but every time I watch Al Harrington play I laugh out loud and wonder why anyone would ever pay this guy to play basketball. He doesn’t have the mental capacity to mow my lawn
October 6th, 2009 at 12:23 am
That's whats up says:
yeah, but he’ll trim your wifey’s bush up real nice…