2011 Atlanta Hawks Player Review: Jamal Crawford

Continuing the player by player reviews as we are coming down the homestretch so to speak. My apologies for not having these completed by now. With all of the other things going on surrounding the Hawks and the NBA Draft, these got pushed back a little bit.

when it comes down to the times when we need a stupid shot made at the last possible second

I probably badmouthed Jamal more than anyone because of his defensive lapses, but I never thought about how hard it must’ve been for him to play PG. I don’t even know how anyone can look at Jamal, and the way he plays, and think PG. You’re right, Woody had the right idea, especially when you consider how weak our 2nd unit was, to let Jamal be Jamal and come in for instant offense. He made everyone forget about Flip Murray as soon as he got here.

And even though he made waves with his comments about his contract at the start of this season, he could’ve complained a lot more than he did. How many of the league’s best scorers would be willing to come off the bench in the first place, win the 6th Man award, and then be forced to play out of position the next season, in his contract year? The transition must’ve been tough for him this year, and he still wanted to stay in Atlanta and made it very clear that he liked playing in this city and with this group of guys. Gotta give him credit for that. Not to mention the 4 point plays, the crossovers, the game winning shots (I’ll never forget the one against Phoenix, or better yet, the one in Game 3 against Orlando), and it was refreshing to have someone on this team who knew how to carry himself and give a good interview.

If I was younger (when I didn’t pay as much attention to defense and contracts), Jamal would probably be my favorite Hawk. With that said, I agree with you 100% that it wouldn’t make sense to resign him unless it was for cheap, which probably wouldn’t happen. And like you said, when his shot was off, it was pointless to have him on the court. It was the same with Bibby. I think one big difference between this year and last year was that Woody did a good job of going with the hot hand. Drew seemed to want to stick it out with the same guys even if they were ice cold all night and getting killed on the defensive end.

But the fact that our bench is still weak makes me wonder if we’ll need a player like Jamal who can carry the weight offensively. I like Kirk, and I’ll take defense over offense any day, but I just don’t know if the loss of Jamal will leave a bigger hole in our bench production than anyone’s expecting. Zaza’s offense will probably take a hit too because Jamal was one of the few guys who was able to get him involved offensively. They built some nice chemistry together over the last 2 years. Plus, Jamal wasn’t afraid of taking the big shots. Al seems to shy away from those moments, Josh tries to do it from deep, and Joe is usually doubled. I’m hoping Kirk can fill that void. I think if we had a deeper or more balanced bench, losing Jamal wouldn’t be the problem that it might end up being.

ok first Kris where are you for vacation?

Second,
Jamal has been great for the Hawks. No one will ever forget the excitement he brought to the team. But his time is done and over. He must be gone for following reasons,

1. With Jamal here, the assistant coach will continue to utilize him as his go to point guard. He won’t let Teague develop. With another “has been” player on the roster in Captain Kirk, that will just mean Teague won’t develop.
2. It means ball will be in hands of Smoove and Lion more, and less jump shooting by one of the most jump happy teams of the league. But that is mostly on the assistant coach offensive scheme.
3. We don’t need to invest 10M in another shooting guard, when we have dire needs for other positions. We already are overpaying JJ to the tune of 16-20M per year (SMDH). We can not afford paying Jamal also 10M a year. Spend that money to replace the ghost Marvin and get a seven footer with a pulse (the flyweight Bensen from high school rated college does not count).
4. Jamal for whatever reason, did not have a good year. He was effective vs. Orlando in playoffs, but he was inefficient during the year. One can not forget that Hawks record got much worse. Lots of that was because of the assistant coach, the rest was Jamal cooling down. Whether it was Jamal reverting back to norm, or Jamal not being happy, it does not say many good things for a 30 year shooting guard.
5. We need to take his money that he wants, and spend on backup shooting guards, small forwards, and if at all possible a thick big man
6. DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE – Jamal does not know the meaning of the word

With the addition of Kirk Hinrich and the emergence of Jeff Teague, Jamal Crawford is as good as gone one he becomes an UFA

with the 6th man award

He is a 35% career 3pt shooter… not all-time great three point shooter status

He is terribly bad a defense. As bad as Mike Bibby.

According to John Hollinger’s PER rankings, Jamal Crawford is 26th amongst SG.

To be in the NBA it takes a certain amount of talent. JC is good at putting up volume shots and making enough to get decent points.

Of all the criticisms that Joe and Josh get for being the main parts of the Hawks agenda, Jamal Crawford gets more praise for the little that he brings to the court.

He had a really good ‘09-’10 season. But this past year showed exactly why he was never on a winning team until he became the 6th man for the Atlanta Hawks. If he is not scoring, there is no point of him being on the court. He is not a good facilitator and so playing him at PG is about as bad as playing Al at small forward.

As much as he is identified as instant offense off the bench, he only does it for a set of games at a time. He is either hot or cold. That’s how he averaged 14.2 ppg. He would score 20 ppg for a week and then for two weeks he would average 10 ppg.

If he is not scoring, there is no point of his presence on the court. At least Josh, Joe, and Marvin ( who all get the most criticism on the team) can impact the game in other
 parts of the game.

Sign-and-trade Jamal!

im gonna miss him and what he brought to our team

But, I appreciate what Jamal brought to this team. We all know the lack of defense and the propensity to put up massive amounts of shots wether they are falling or not, but we will also remember every single four-point play and every single ridiculous game-ending (cough Phoenix cough)-falling-down-35ft+ shot that he made. When JC is on fire, I feel like I’m playing NBA Jam. I absolutely love that.

However, I just don’t see how we can bring him back.