The Jamal Crawford half-week part II: the Knickerbocker years
by hawksdawgs on Aug 28, 2009 7:11 AM EDT
12 comments
Seth at Posting and Toasting (just another great blog on SBN) was kind enough to follow suit with Golden State of Mind and answer a few questions on our new BFF Jamal. Despite playing during some of darkest days of Knickdom, it seems these four years might give the best indication of what Crawford can, cannot, and won't do on the court. Thanks to Seth for reliving the Isiah day for us. I am sure it is no easy feat.
A brief forward from Seth to start it off.
I should note before I say anything that I love Crawford. He's extremely talented, shows great character, and can single-handedly pilot a win when he's on. That said, he's usually not on, and it's something you either learn to accept or die trying. Some answers to your questions
And now the q&a.
How does Crawford help a team win? How does he help a team lose?
P&T - Crawford helps a team win because he is capable of hitting a shot from absolutely anywhere on the floor. He helps a team lose because he's fully aware of that fact. Jamal pulls and pulls and pulls without ever hesitating. On some nights, this makes for an otherworldly display of offensive prowess (as in the '07 game against Miami in which Crawford hit SIXTEEN straight field goals en route to 52 points). On other nights, fans must avert their eyes.
What do you miss most about Jamal Crawford?
P&T - What I miss most about Crawford is his handle. Every once in a while, Jamal busts out some of the most jaw-dropping dribbles known to man. His signature move is a sort of staccato behind-the-legs dribble, which he can do while running. Grown men have wet themselves at the sight of that move. It's like the Magnum of crossovers. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Was his defense really that bad?
P&T - Yes, it was.
Why did your team get rid of him?
P&T - The Knicks got rid of Crawford because of his lengthy contract. If he hadn't been such a financial burden, I'm certain Jamal would've hung around and flourished in the D'Antoni offense.
How much did Crawford being an Isaiah acquisition taint Crawford?
P&T - The Isiah association may have tainted Crawford slightly, but I'd actually say that Jamal was one of the few Knicks to really grow during those horrible years. In fact, perhaps his most progressive season was under the demon-coach-who-must-not-be-
Thanks again to Seth. Stay tuned. Jamal Crawford half-week roles on tomorrow. What a ride!
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So from the sounds of it....
we are getting at worst a taller Ben Gordon with a better handle. I like the move even more now, especially if Woody actually uses his now solid 2 deep bench to his advantage. Mo Evans did pretty well when he had to play more significant minutes last year. Teague, Crawford, Mo, Joe Smith, and Zaza are as good as the starting unit for some of the worse teams in the league (Griz, Knicks), not a bad 10 man set once you add in the starters Bibby, Joe, Moustache, Smooth, and Al, if they can mesh and work together well.
Actually
Mo Evans was pretty disappointing last year, at least as far as I’m concerned. He did have an early season run where he couldn’t miss with his three, but after that, he was a non-factor offensively (his USG% was dangerously close to Randolph Morris territory).
Now, certainly we didn’t expect him to be a offensive force, but he was supposed to be a good defensive 2 who could spell JJ. Instead, he played 84.4% of his minutes at the 3, where he allowed his opponent to post an eFG% or 53.5 and a PER of 18.8. He also averaged 2 minutes per game at the 4, where, needless to say, he was steamrolled. Instead of a good defensive two, he was poor defensive 3 who, alarmingly, was routinely asked to play stretches against guys with 5-6 inches on him.
That second unit doesn’t look bad, but I doubt we’ll end up seeing them all on the floor together, or in that configuration.
yea but he tries so hard....
i have never been on the Mo Evans band wagon but i read good analysis like that and i kind of just want to blame woodson.
most of me just thinks he is not as good at defense as he or woodson thinks he is. so lets just hope that corner three stays hot a little longer next season.
That's all true
But where else was/is he gonna play and who was/is going to play backup minutes at SF if not Mo?
What’s interesting about Crawford this year is that while he is a very similar player to Flip, he plays more minutes. If Teague can play better than Mo, than we can phase Evans out and play Joe at the three more often. If not, Crawford plays more of a backup point guard role, and Mario/Teague have even less of a role than Mario/Acie did.
ben gordon doesn't have any handle whatsoever
crawford is a beast with the pill. but gordon is a little muscle box. crawford is a string bean. both liabilities on defense. crawford is a little more erratic on offense. but seriosuly, they are very much similar players, aside from the handle. the handle is worlds apart.
twitter.com/aighttho
Demon Coach for the Bobcats?
Dave Hanners? Surely he can’t mean the other guy? Does Bret know about this?
i'll say his name
larry brown deliberately sunk the ship in new york, it was the most unprofessional thing i have ever seen. behind the scenes maybe it was tough on him. but, excuse me, i’d rather have my team play with shorts for shirts and shirts for shorts than to have my coach trot them out there and make them look ridiculous on a nightly basis.
he is most certainly a demon.
twitter.com/aighttho
the knick faithful emerging
hey there. i’m a knick fan, and i was and will always be wild about crawford’s game. the dude is a terrific player. and seemed like a good teammate. he does shoot an awful lot. but when you got a guy who can get hot the way he can – you want him feeling free to shoot.
i’m guessing that jamal will be coming off the bench and that makes him an instant 6th man of the year candidate. he’ll demolish every second unit in the nba. that’s a garuntee.
something that bothered me about his game (defense aside) is that sometimes jamal doesn’t get a few shots when he is entering the game. and if that happens he has the tendency to fade. this leads to him being passive on offense. and the worst thing for a gifted offensive player is to be passive on offense.
also, you guys should be really excited because jamal is one of the best in the league at penetrating in order to set up the lob. you guys got some mean alley-oop catchers. so the whole league is gonna be on notice. jamal puts it right on the money time and again.
and there was some move he did to ray allen right when he first started playing for the warriros. in boston. filthy!
i could go on for days. believe me. jamal is a good fit. i would start him and joe johnson. sit bibby as much as possible. but that’s me.
twitter.com/aighttho
and another thing
jamal gets fouled on three point shots more than anyone in the league. it’s awesome. lethal free throw shooter too.
twitter.com/aighttho
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