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Welcome Home, J.R. Smith

ByVernon McKenzie

Feb 20, 2012

Jersey Native Embraces Chance to Play for Knicks

NEW YORK – Funny how time and circumstances can heal old wounds.  Just a few years (December 2006) ago at the very same arena (new construction not applicable here) there was a brawl between the Denver Nuggets and the New York Knicks in which a few of the combatants were on the floor again.  Those immersed in the scuffle that also landed in the stands were Jared Jeffries, Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith.  They were on different sides back then but now they’re doing it together as Knickerbockers.

Smith who is an athletic freak of nature – ala Knicks rookie, Iman Shumpert – is 6-6 and 220 pounds with sonar type range.  He also has within his arsenal a killer like crossover as well as jaw dropping hops.  He entered the game with 5:43 left in the first quarter for Amar’e Stoudemire – ironically, the first guy off the bench and he received a warm welcome from the Garden crowd.  Smith wore No. 8, his number as a high-school football player in New Jersey and the number of popular ex-Knicks Danilo Gallinari and Latrell Sprewell – two high scoring dynamos.

“Coach really shocked me,’’ Smith said. “He said I wasn’t going to play or I was going to play limited minutes. My teammates were unbelievable in helping me.’’

Smith, like any ball player that is offensive-minded, is excited about playing for Coach Mike D’Antoni who said, “His offense and coaching matches my game to a T.  Fast-paced, run the lane, if you’re open, shoot the ball.  And now he’s more into defense.  The pieces they’ve put around the team, the guys are really, really defensive-oriented.’’  That is a credit to assistant coach Mike Woodson.

 “The first five minutes was really mind-blowing,” Smith said. “The whole time during warmups, I’m sitting there thinking, ‘This is crazy. I’m at the Garden. I’m wearing a Knick uniform. This is crazy.’ I never would’ve imagined this in a million years.  And to be out there for that first five minutes, the first thing I was thinking was, ‘Don’t airball your first shot.’  You never want to live that down in New York City, so once I made the first one it really got me going.”

 “Melo sealed the deal for me,’’ Smith said. “Chris Paul (former teammate with the New Orleans Hornets) and Melo are the godfathers of my two daughters. After playing with him in Denver and telling me what type of atmosphere this really was, he sealed the deal 100 percent.

 “I really looked at the situation at hand, playing in L.A., playing at home,’’ Smith added. “It was really a no-brainer, playing with the system here – that fits in right. It’s a perfect situation for me.’’

 

Jerald L. Hoover

 

You can also follow me on twitter:  JerryHoover65

 

By Vernon McKenzie

Graduate of New Institute Of Technology with a BA in Communications with a focus on Television Radio. Owner and Executive Producer of PureSportsNY

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