Posted by PresIke:
Ewing having multiple coaches and Craw are not the same comparison. Su, you're comparing apples and oranges, man. Ewing was a SUPERSTAR center in an age where centers dominated. The team had some winning seasons and was considered a top player from day 1. Crawford was not intended to be that guy, and had to since no one else could. He had not only multiple coaches, but really bad ones, on top of constant controversy. By the time Ewing was in his prime he not only had Patino who he won with, but with the two bad coaches afterward and even being one of the "50 greatest players" they could barely make the playoffs. In comes Riley, plus a style that FIT THE TEAM, in a defensive hard knocks game plan, and they never looked back.
i only brought it up b/c of this:
I was really close with Isiah and didn't know who would be coming to coach us and was pretty nervous about that. When I found out it was Coach D'Antoni, I didn't know what to do. I was so excited because that's the style of ball I like to play. This is the best chance I may ever have at proving I belong as an elite player.
so in his own mind, he thinks he is an elite player.
crawford was coached by skiles. he leaves to the knicks, and skiles has that team in the playoffs 3 years in a row.
marbury was coached by lenny. they made the playoffs. he comes to the knicks, the same coach didn't make it through the season.
skiles + lenny + larry were the last 3 coaches crawford had before isiah. he had good coaches. he just failed to change his game. he's said the same thing before. again, the guy seems like a good person. but the way he wrote this blog, it was almost passive aggressive. i know i have to do this BUT... i need to work on this BUT...
but forget about what he said. all i know is that with a coach like d'antoni, crawford will be allowed to shoot (something he likes to do) and he won't be asked to play defense, or at least won't be held accountable on that end of the court. so if there's a tailor made coach for crawford's game, it's d'antoni. now, will those inflated #'s mean crawford becomes a better player under d'antoni? i think we'll be able to tell this year.
this blog is something that should be written from a player who's entering his 3rd year in the league, not 9th. the point he has made about coaches tells me he views others as a reason for him not becoming elite, rather than himself.
9/4/2008 11:28 PM