***Here is the info I couldn't post within the question.

Jamal-27 yrs old. Makes 7.2 mil this year. 4 yrs, 36 mil left on Contract. As per ESPN's Hollinger:

2005-06 season: Crawford was the one Knick who seemed the least affected by the daily insanity at Madison Square Garden. While everyone else's role changed on an almost nightly basis, Crawford settled in as the sixth man and was one of the league's best reserves. Crawford's 41.6 percent shooting may not seem like much, but it was his best full-season mark as a pro, and he hit four game-winning shots -- not an easy feat when your team wins only 23 games.

The most shocking change was in his free-throw rate. Crawford hardly ever got to the line two seasons ago, preferring to use a series of crossovers to free himself for long jumpers. Last season he was much more insistent about using his quickness to penetrate instead of settling for jumpers, and as a result he more than doubled his free-throw rate. You'll rarely see a pro make such a huge shift in this category -- in the last 20 years, only one other player has played 1,500 minutes or more in consecutive seasons and doubled his free-throw rate. (That was Byron Scott in 1991-92.)

Since I've been killing Larry Brown in most of the other Knicks comments, we should hand out some credit here. It's hard to believe that Crawford's shift didn't come in part as the result from some prodding from the man in charge, especially since his free-throw rate rose as the season went on. Thanks to the free throws, Crawford's 54.4 TS% was a huge improvement.

Scouting report: Crawford has exceptional quickness for his size and some great shake-and-bake moves that allow him to get by defenders. He tends to fall in love with his jumper instead of taking opponents to the rim, which is why his field-goal percentage has been poor his entire career. He needs to develop his midrange game further to take advantage of his ability to beat the first defender, and like most of the Knicks' other guards, he needs to see the floor better.

Crawford has long arms and can get steals, but he's playing far below his potential at the defensive end of the floor. He has good quickness and length, but his effort level is inconsistent at best and his lack of strength can be exposed by bigger shooting guards. The Knicks defended worse with him on the court, which is quite a statement, since New York's other guards weren't exactly All-Defense candidates.

2006-07 outlook: Crawford figures to take on the same role he did last season, splitting time between both guard spots and providing offense off the bench. He'll also be waiting in the wings as an insurance policy if the Marbury-Francis marriage proves unworkable. He's one of the few Knicks who is in the proper role for his talents, and he's not even that grossly overpaid. Look for him to blithely put up his 15 a game while the circus goes on around him.
Most similar at age: Latrell Sprewell

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/players/hollinger?statsId=3407

Fred Jones- 28 yrs. old. Makes 3.1 mil, FA at the end of the season. As Per Hollinger:

2005-06 season: Jones' numbers took a dip in 2005-06, partly because he played much of the second half of the season with a torn ligament in his left thumb when he probably should have sat out. His monthly splits make this distinction more obvious: he shot 31.6 percent in March, with lower numbers from 3 and the line too, and then played only four games in April before shutting it down.

Not that he was any great shakes the rest of the year. Jones has basically become a generic backup shooting guard, a mildly below-average shooter who isn't really great at anything but isn't especially awful either. Thus, hypothetically speaking, if you were writing an analysis of all the players in the NBA, he'd be one of the hardest ones to say something interesting about ...

One thing that is interesting, though, is how Jones' leaping ability has failed to translate into any rebounds. He ranked 48th at his position in rebound rate, a pretty normal figure for him during the course of his career. I know he's trying to play shooting guard at 6-2, but it still surprises me that he can't snag a few more.

Scouting report: Jones has shown in recent dunk contests that he's an amazing leaper, but he puts that to shockingly little use in games. Jones' rates of rebounds and blocked shots are below average, and he's not a daunting driver to the basket or an incredible transition finisher. One would think he'd be able to drive past bigger guards and then use his hops to finish, but his free-throw rates have been average and more often than not he takes midrange jumpers.

Jones' defensive numbers were stellar two years ago but have really fallen off the past two years. That's probably because he's been asked to defend almost exclusively on the wings, and his lack of height gets him into some trouble here. He has good quickness and decent strength, but at the end of the day he's still 3 inches shorter than most of the guys he covers, and that's tough to overcome.

2006-07 outlook: The Raptors signed Jones to a three-year, $11 million free-agent deal in the offseason, where he'll compete with fellow free agent Anthony Parker for the starting shooting guard role. Neither of them are starter quality, but if I had to pick a horse in this race I'd go with the more assertive and better-shooting Parker.

Jones' projections for this year aren't as optimistic as they should be, because as long as he doesn't try to play hurt for a month he should put up numbers that are closer to his 2004-05 output. Nonetheless, anything more than 10-15 minutes a night off the bench for him is really pushing it.
Most similar at age: Tony Smith
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/players/hollinger?statsId=3612

Fred Jones should be part of the trade that brings Artest to NY.

Dickau, on the other hand, has some value to us for being a true point guard.

Jeffries and Jones for Artest would make me a very happy fan

we don't need offense as much as we need perimeter defense.

On what universe is Fred Jone better than Jamal Crawford?

Posted by joec32033:

Posted by VDesai:

On what universe is Fred Jone better than Jamal Crawford?

I didn't say BETTER, not once. This is a fit vs. talent(?) for lack of a better term type of question.

Ok, but Jamal Crawford is so much better than Jones that he's a much better fit.

A) Fred can't shoot at all. His career shooting percentages are on par with Crawford and he doesn't have the J that Craw has. Craw has worse shot selection. I'll give you that. But Fred still manages to only get 39% of his shots in.

B) Fred can defend a little, but at 6'2 he's still a liability against big shooting guards like Crawford

Fred is the kind of player that can only really crack 1/2 of NBA rotations. Jamal Crawford can play on any team with his talent level and playmaking ability. Does he have his weaknesses? Yes. But does he fit anywhere better than Fred Jones? Yes.

Is this a joke?

Posted by MaTT4281:

Isn't there anything to be said about the number of CLUTCH shots JC has made for us over the past few years?
What about the chemistry with Curry? Eddy was noticeably missing the feeds from Jamal after the ankle injury sidelined him.

Does JC have a poor shot selection? Obviously, but I don't think it will be as much of an issue this year with ZBo taking a good portion of those shots away. Jamal has never come off as a cancer who will let this become an issue in the locker room. I have read several articles talking about how coachable the guy is. If he's asked to help distribute the ball and hit the open shot, I think he could flourish.

The bolded part is the one and only reason I am worried about trading Jamal. The effect that it will have on the one piece that Isiah has bonded himself to.

And I also agree. If we were talking about Jamal being the PG, I would have a very different feeling. At PG, the distribution responsibilities curb his chucking to a large degree.

I will post my poll tomorrow...would you rather: a) have court side seats, or b) get stuck on a crowded subway? Discuss...

Posted by MaTT4281:

Isn't there anything to be said about the number of CLUTCH shots JC has made for us over the past few years?

I have read several articles talking about how coachable the guy is. If he's asked to help distribute the ball and hit the open shot, I think he could flourish.

I remember when Isiah was called Mr. Clutch and Detroit was winning

now Jamal is being hailed by Knick fans as "Mr. Clutch" yet he has never been on a team that has won more than 33 games.

I jus don get it.

ps

if he was coachable, year 7 in the league we still wouldn't be talking about the ill-advised long range off balance jumpshots. I believe he is asked to distribute the ball and hit open shots. closest he has come to looking like he can actually play pro was under Brown for a couple months after he stopped sulking about not starting.

I recall when he first was being talked about in Isiah's first season and we played Chi at the Garden. he went like 4-24 because he kept going 1-on-1 and firing up bricks from long distance not even thinking about thinking about teammates at the best or at worst putting the ball on the floor and making something happen going towards the rim. for the better part of the last 3 seasons as a Knick he has been that same guy.

unless a deal for an all-star 2 or 3 is on the table he and Fred Jones would be my 3rd and 4th guards and Dickau the 5th. 25 mpg for Crawford, 18-22 for Jones.

Marbury and Mardy start

[Edited by - McK1 on 04-07-2007 10:33 PM]

Fred Jones can't even hold Jamal's jock strap. Can you really see Fred Jones going off on Wade, Kobe, and Billups like Jamal?

I don't think Fred Jones would even drop 15 points on any one of those players listed above.

[Edited by - BigC on 07-04-2007 10:44 PM]