Jamal Crawford, where memory is your worst enemy
by hawksdawgs on Oct 1, 2009 11:43 AM EDT
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Can a fan take a player one possession at a time? Because if it is possible, that is my recommendation for you on how to handle Jamal Crawford. Don't take the good with the bad. Don't go tabula rasa into each game. Actually, separate the man out by possession. Because if you can forget Crawford practically walking the guy he was defending toward an open layup, the crossover into drilling a smooth jumper is going to be pure joy.
The problem with Jamal Crawford is his exceptional skills are tainted by his exceptional inadequacies. He is kind of the anti Zaza Pachulia. Hate rises up at Crawford only in relation to how skilled a basketball player he is. How can a guy that quick and athletic be that bad at defense? How can a dude who can shoot it that well take so many bad shots? Why does a player with those handles and that good at shooting free throws not drive to the hoop more? The negative is defined by the positive.
And of course our issue all season is that those strengths and weaknesses probably are not going to change. So I am pulling earlier counter measures, a little something I am calling "Memento fandom." In the moment, you rejoice or you cry. You fist pump or you convulse in rage, and then you forget. It is the only way to experience Jamal Crawford, blatently forced amensia.
Because the best thing about an amazing play is seeing it in the moment. Experiencing that joy manifested on the hardwood. The worst thing about the bad play, the contested three pointer with 21 seconds on the shot clock while holding onto a lead in the fourth, is reliving it over and over again. Things are defined as bad for how long they stick with you. Things are defined as good in the moment, how quickly it gets you out of your chair, how fast you text your buddy to see if he is watching. I am telling you "memento fandom." You will thank me later.
So we know what we are getting with Jamal Crawford. It was repeated over and over during Jamal Crawford half week. A scorer who goes through dry spells. A good shooter with bad shot selection. A guy who could defend but does not...at all. A man who can finish games with the best of them and who rebounds with the worst of them. My plan is to try and revel in those good qualities and punch as few walls as possible in response to the bad ones. And maybe, just maybe if my hope that Crawford's game is best suited as a 6th man comes to fruition and my fear that Jamal is the worst defender in the league is roundly proven wrong (to the point where he is only below average), we might just find from possession to possession the Hawks have seriously upgraded their team.
Other player previews: Marvin Williams, Zaza Pachulia, Mo Evans, Mike Bibby
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I'm still holding out hope
that some combination of Mike Woodson, the chance for a first playoff appearance, and the limited playing time will convince Jamal to work harder on defense.
On offense, I expect him to be exactly the same guy he’s always been-a volume shooter who will go on runs ranging from unstoppable to brick city. He might be just a little more efficient this year as he faces second units instead of starters.
that right there is my big fear
will he come in and take advantage of his mismatches or will he come in and shoot 14 times in the second quarter.
history leans to me being scared but the fact that his skills and attitude could make such a great 6th man keep me a bit hopeful.
love for that to be true
but the “tenacious d” quote would be like praising zaza’s jumping ability.
you want to tell the guys “look, i enjoy seeing the glass half full but not being lied to.”
Hope from David Thorpe
From Truehoop:
“David Thorpe cautions against reading too much into individual defensive ratings, as coaching has such a massive effect. His example: With Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, Seattle was a bad team. Both players, then, had very bad defensive ratings according to adjusted plus/minus. Yet in the last two years, those same players have been starters (Allen on the 2007/2008 Celtics, Lewis on the 2008/2009 Magic) on the NBA’s best defensive teams, with good defensive ratings. His point: Put a motivated player in a good defensive system, and they’ll perform.”On bad teams, there is often not a good plan," Thorpe explains. “But get them playing for Tom Thibodeau or Stan Van Gundy, and all kinds of players can master when to go over the screen, when to go under, when to lock and trail, which 3-point shooters to close out, not fouling on shot fakes, when to help from the weakside. … Take the five worst defenders in the league — so long as they’re motivated to be good defenders — and sprinkle them among the Cavaliers, the Magic, the Celtics, the Spurs and the Rockets, and I think you’d be surprised at how effective they could be.’”
nice find. thanks for sharing.
crawford has played for pre-skiles bulls, knicks, and warriors so the unknown factor/benefit of a defensive coach is out there.
the downside is we dont really have any examples of woody really transforming a guy (he has not had a lot of opportunity. maybe bibby and lue and that is it.) but not a done deal that woody knows how to “coach up” defense.
not sure what zaza was like pre hawks, but joe has always been decent and flip was not very good. i will give woody credit. the hawks go through great stretches of defense, but he has not had many opportunities to coach up a guy to invest in defense.
Zaza Pre Hawks
The Bucks chose to invest in Gadzuric over Zaza…That should tell you where Zaza was prior to the Hawks.
Joe/Flip
Joe was NOT an All Star by any stretch prior to the Hawks.Flip was gotten for the minimum because he could not find a team and was about to head overseas.
NOTE: The economy is the reason Flip could not get a good contract this year and not lack of demand .. he still got a 100% raise from the Bobcats and significant interest from many teams. Please give Woody some credit.!!!!
He might be questionable when it comes to rookie development, but he has done an excellent job with veterans!
completly agree that
he has done a good job of getting zaza to buy into a role.
and i loved what woody did with flip. but i would say we certainly expected all-star level pay from joe before he got here. because the hawks sure as hell paid him like one. woody’s joe focused offense allowed Joe to earn his money. but i wouldnt call it overachieving on his or woody’s part.
Topic Revisit
"This is America, if we can’t self-righteously look down on others and blame them for our faults, the commies win."-----Cormican on Bleeding Green Nation w/r/t fans overreacting to the Eagles signing of Michael Vick
I think people are really over exaggerating the situation
Who said Crawford was shooting bad shots ? Is it the coach or team ? Or analysts who may catch one or two games and dont know what the coach is even asking him to do ?
I have yet to see one article where either the Knicks or Warriors questioned Crawfords shot selection ? In fact I have seen several coaches say that Crawford often goes the extra mile with the coaches instructions and playing a team game .
I recall espn saying how Larry Brown would hate Crawford and yet brown loved Crawford .I also recall how everyone said Crawford would be shooting and ball hogging like crazy in D’antoni’s 7 seconds or less offense and yet Crawford before he was traded was shooting over 43% from the field and from 3 .
With the knicks starting and playing primarily sg according to 82games.com Crawford had a per of 18 and opponents 15.
With the warriors starting at point guard but moving back and forth in Nelsons ever changing lineups Crawfords PER at sg was 18 and the opp 13 .But he willingly accepted playing pg when he arrived he though up to that point he was scoring the ball better than Stephen jackson .
Joe at sg last year had a PER of 19 and his opp. 13
Thats why when people say Crawford doesnt play ANY defense its hard to believe . Guys are not having career nights against him he just isnt as good of a defender as he should be but that doesnt mean he doesnt play ANY defense.
knicks fans say Crawford was to blame but then I see the knicks highest paid and best player at the time in Marburys crazy videos online and I think wow if they didnt trade Crawford that franchise wouldve been even worse if thats possible .
Warriors fans blame Crawford but he didnt even join them until after the season started and say Crawford didnt mesh but if anyone has seen jacksons comments about the organization and his trade request and then Monte Eliis’s all but saying flat out how he cant play with the rookie Curry at Media day shows just what is going on with that team.
I for one think Crawford is gonna be great and we will get to see his best as we dont have the same problems that either of those teams had and still have.
when i was talking to other teams fans
educated ones. most said he took too many shots and took too many jumpers. those are not all “bad shots” like a fadaway from 30 feet. but they are bad shots because they are not the best shot available.
check out the post and comments from the jamal crawford half week.
but i agree that the fact that the whole team was bad where ever crawford was lended to fans having a overly negative feeling about him. and as i tried to capture in the post, jamal crawford’s negatives are easy to be enraged by.
but thats all subjective from a fans point of view
What coaches or players ever said jamal was shooting too much? Fans dont know what the coach was telling him to do and Ive been looking through as many articles and game recaps I could find and I cant find anything about shot selection coming from a coach or team.
I just think that some fans dont like his style of play but when I looked back at the teams hes played on and what was happening at the time. I cant find a reason why he shouldnt have been shooting on the knicks when Marbury was out.But of course just like Joe’s average when you are forced to have to create your own shot all the time your percentages are gonna take a hit.
The best evidence I could find in favor Crawford doing well was that he was averaging 20 ppg on 17 shots in 06-07 but when D’antoni took over he still averaged 20 ppg but on 15 shots. I think people see the playground moves and think hes a playground player but I think Crawford actual would be better in a more structured environment where he knows where the shots will come from and he can find a rhythm.
There has never been a volume scorer that doesnt have the the backing of the team and coach like Crawford .If he was ball hogging I just dont think he would nearly as liked and respected by players and coaches that he is .
You just cant hide that in the nba not for nine years no matter how nice you are .
he was 25th out of 27 shooting guards in shooting percentage last year. no one likes josh smith taking jumpers and we have heard one public complaint about it in five years. and that was because sekou smith overheard bibby yelling at woodson on the court.
i am optimistic that jamal is going to help in a major way. but i think he would help them even more if he was more selective on the shot taking by either not taking bad shots or not firing when he is obviously streaking in the bad way on a certain night.
I'm still blindly optimistic
I just heard on the radio that he donated money to the Atlanta Fund victims. He can’t be all that bad, can he? I’ve seen some interviews that he’s done. He’s seems really soft spoken and humble. I also watched the interview where he explains how he gets so many 4 point plays and the art of the crossover. I can’t help but be excited. I know the Warrior and Knick fans are snickering right now, but I can’t help it,
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