actually, that shot shows just how much Larry Brown is rubbing off on him. The Knicks were up about 8 with 2:30 to go. Rather than jack a 3 with 20 on the shot clock Crawford pulled back, let the offense get established and take time off the clock. Not taking the shot was the right thing to do. Even wide open 3's arent the highest % shot. What the Knicks needed there was to kill the clock. Not jack a shot early in the 24

I disagree. When you have a good shot take it. Taking a good shot is not jacking. In fact the next two shots Crawford took were worse even thoughy he hit them. A three with 2:30 left on the clock and 8 points up is a game ender, and you can't find a more open three than that. The reason he pulled back was fear.

What does Crawford do well? What do you want to see him do more of? What could Crawoford do that would indicate he has "a clue" to you?

Crawford has amazing offensive ability. He is actually a fantastic shooter and a fantastic driver. His handle is among the nastiest in the league, better than Marbury's or Nate Robinson's. His ability with the ball is amazing, he is like a Harlem Globetrotter in the NBA. The fact is he is just wild, and that means no matter what his talent, he has historically hurt his teams more than he has helped.

What would show me the JC has a clue would be seeing 'intent' or 'control' in his game. Intent would be driving to the hole with an idea of what he wants to do outside of shoot anything he can get off. Intent would be making a pass to actually get someone else a shot, or set up a beneficial situation, not just to bail himself out (Such as last night's highlight play.). Those sort of things would show me that he is learning, or 'getting a clue'

oohah



[Edited by - oohah on 12-01-2005 7:25 PM]

so making a move that makes your defender fall down so you can then hit a wide open 15 footer is a bad shot?

I disagree. When you have a good shot take it.

Is it still a good shot when AI grabs the long rebound, pushes the ball down court and drills a transition 3 or gets an and 1? I dont think so. Smart players manage situations. Your better off taking NO shot and letting the clock expire than taking ANY kind of 3 with 20+ seconds left on the 24. Thats pro hoops 101. I'm suprised your pushing this point.

What would show me the JC has a clue would be seeing 'intent' or 'control' in his game. Intent would be driving to the hole with an idea of what he wants to do outside of shoot anything he can get off. Intent would be making a pass to actually get someone else a shot, or set up a beneficial situation, not just to bail himself out (Such as last night's highlight play.). Those sort of things would show me that he is learning, or 'getting a clue'

well... he may never excell at that. Its the Marbury dilema all over again. When your a gifted scorer like he (like you described) you have spent your youth getting your own shot and being the man.

Who is Crawford supposed to be setting up? Frye? Rose for that baseline jumper we all love so much? Ariza with no jumper?

Crawford is the only guy on the team that throws a good ally oop, or finds guys on the back door.

Yes... your 100% right most of his skills go to finding his shot, but when he's on the floor isnt he usually a first or 2nd scoring option? You just want those shots to be good.

Last year those shake and bake moves were for 3's. That sucked. Thats chucking. When you have his stroke though using those moves to create open 12-15 footers is just good basketball.

The only other thing I can say is the ball moves better when Jamal is in there. He does a lot of driving and dishing. Maybe not to create a play but just to start the ball swinging.

you have to stop looking at the jamal crawford now and think of the jamal crawford of last season. they are almost two different players. jamal 2k5 actually has a head on his shoulders and like other said, is doing what he's told. SAS said that he spoke to lb this past weekend, and lb said (as he was shaking his head), "jamal's confused. i've been extremely hard on him. i am b/c i see so much potential in him." and hopefully the bulls game is his coming out party as he hasn't looked that aggressive or CONFIDENT this entire season. he has all the tools and you could see his game developing throughout the season. THREE times this season, he's passed on open 3's. twice he took a dribble in a took a mid-range shot (which he hit), and the one the other day where he dribbled it back out. he still takes that one or two crackhead shots a game and he sometimes throws the ball away. i attribute that to him being more scared about doing it the "right way" as opposed to letting it naturally happen. he is being DEPROGRAMMED right in front of our eyes. before the season, when we were all making our preseason picks and forecasts, i said that jamal will develop the most under lb and i wouldn't be surprised if he's not our best all around player by the end of the year. this is just the beginning. when people complain that he's a 6 year player aren't really taking other factors into account. like fish said, he missed an entire year with an injury. he playe ONE year of high school ball. ONE year of college ball. then had 4 coaches not really teaching him and allowing him to go nuts with his shot. so development wise, i think he only has a year or two on a guy like frye. herb actually tried reigning him in a little bit last year and now lb has him in a cage. and he may be starting to tear his way out of it.


[Edited by - djsunyc on 12-01-2005 9:29 PM]

you have to stop looking at the jamal crawford now and think of the jamal crawford of last season. they are almost two different players. jamal 2k5 actually has a head on his shoulders and like other said, is doing what he's told. SAS said that he spoke to lb this past weekend, and lb said (as he was shaking his head), "jamal's confused. i've been extremely hard on him. i am b/c i see so much potential in him." and hopefully the bulls game is his coming out party as he hasn't looked that aggressive or CONFIDENT this entire season. he has all the tools and you could see his game developing throughout the season. THREE times this season, he's passed on open 3's. twice he took a dribble in a took a mid-range shot (which he hit), and the one the other day where he dribbled it back out. he still takes that one or two crackhead shots a game and he sometimes throws the ball away. i attribute that to him being more scared about doing it the "right way" as opposed to letting it naturally happen. he is being DEPROGRAMMED right in front of our eyes. before the season, when we were all making our preseason picks and forecasts, i said that jamal will develop the most under lb and i wouldn't be surprised if he's not our best all around player by the end of the year. this is just the beginning. when people complain that he's a 6 year player aren't really taking other factors into account. like fish said, he missed an entire year with an injury. he playe ONE year of high school ball. ONE year of college ball. then had 4 coaches not really teaching him and allowing him to go nuts with his shot. so development wise, i think he only has a year or two on a guy like frye. herb actually tried reigning him in a little bit last year and now lb has him in a cage. and he may be starting to tear his way out of it.

I agree with your saying JC is being scared into playing properly. I do not agree that his 6 years are not equal to another player's 6 years. I do know he had limited organized basketball experience, but once again, like I said, taking decent shots/passes is not astrophysics.

BUT, hey if it the magic trick is a scaring from LB for JC to realize his potential, I don't mind.

oohah

first of all the playing scared thing is played out. He's got a guarenteed contract for the next 5 years.

It's not about the contract, it's about being yanked off the floor...benched in other words.

Ooh you harp on it till the cows come home but NOT taking that 3 with 21 seconds on the clock and 2:30 remaining was the right thing to do. Probably the reason he pulled up was he heard Larry yelling NOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Harping? I brought it up once. You are the one who fixated on it. As far as who was yelling what, that is pure speculation. For that matter so is whether or not JC has been playing while looking over his shoulder. But in case you haven't noticed, for most of the season, JC has been playing very tentatively. Why do you think that is?

the rest of the stuff you posted is you opinion, so I will leave the rest alone, to avoid a waste of time discussion on who's opinion is right. The above isnt. Take another look.
Thats a perfect shot. He's 5 feet from a defender thats falling down and he lets go of a jumper with PERFECT form. There was nothing off balance about it. The shot was flawless

The above isn't what? So you pick one arbitrary shot to prove your point: "See oohah, JC made a good move the other day, my point is proven, JC is a new player!" Why didn't you post a gif of Crawford taking a terrible shot instead? What would be proved then? C'mon Fish you can do better than that.

oohah

Harping? I brought it up once. You are the one who fixated on it. As far as who was yelling what, that is pure speculation. For that matter so is whether or not JC has been playing while looking over his shoulder. But in case you haven't noticed, for most of the season, JC has been playing very tentatively. Why do you think that is?

Same reason Marbury and most of the others have. New coach, new system, lots of adjustments. They are adjusting their style of play from something they are used to to some thats got them thinking what to do

The above isn't what? So you pick one arbitrary shot to prove your point: "See oohah, JC made a good move the other day, my point is proven, JC is a new player!" Why didn't you post a gif of Crawford taking a terrible shot instead? What would be proved then? C'mon Fish you can do better than that.

never said JC is a "new" player, just that he's trying to make adjustments and there are tangible results.
Its not an arbitrary point. You said it was a bad shot and typical Jamal. I'm saying the exact opposite. A year ago that shot is from 20 feet away. Thats bad. This year its from mid range and when you get that kind of shot off its a GOOD shot.

That problem with JC last year is all he did was hang around the perimeter and launch. This year he's focused more in the mid range and also getting to the line. Thats marked, tangible and easy to prove. That shot is just one example, but it fits the point.

hey RV... want my address? It seems you have something so personal that you really need to get it out of your system. If thats the case we can set up a time and a place, but until then try to act like an adult.

here you go oohaah... right from the horses mouth:

Brown was also delighted when Crawford came down on a fast break late in the game and pulled the ball out to milk the clock as opposed to jacking up a quick shot. Crawford replied after the game, "It's nice to rise to the occasion when coach is on you. You want to make coach proud."

are we still talking about this?

Guys calling names, and each other out to fight on this board? That ain't no good.

yup... totally sucks. I'm embarrassed to be involved.

I see your point about not wanting to be yanked, but for some reason the way you say it makes JC sound selfish. I think everyone knows they will get yanked, JC is no exception. These guys just want to win and play ball. They know how good LB is and they all want to do well here. Crawford looks like he's learning to put his skills into a winning style, but thats just me. I'm biased... I like the kid.

JC's
FG% is up
3 FG% is up
# of 3's taken are WAY down
FT attempts are up

This is one thing I noticed about JC. I always thought he played hard. He did last year, he does this year. But in terms of his bad shots, I noticed he DOES still take some. However, these are bad shots you can live with. For example, he took a bad one with a defender smotherting him from 10 feet away the basket. But that wasn't at some random point. That was when he was red hot against the Bulls and he felt like he could hit any shot. I can live with that, b/c it's sooo much better than when he was jacking up 3s with 2 guys smothering him. He's playing smarter though. Getting others involved, moving without the ball, penetrating and hitting the mid range Js. It seems like he's almost unstoppable taking that 12---18 footer.