Posted by nixluva:

Posted by Bippity10:

Posted by nixluva:

I'm not arguing that Jamal is gonna be great, I only have expectation that he can accomplish his goal of improving his game under this regime. I think there are many examples of guys who have fair to middling careers until they got with the right team, coach or system.

Look some guys are self driven to be great and most are not. It's not Jamal's fault that he's one of the best players on this bad team. He's miscast as a team leader in the absence of any real leader or star player. I'm not speaking in absolutes about what he can do and should do, cuz he's not a superstar or even an All Star player. He's just thrust into that role on this team cuz we don't have anyone better.

We haven't had a floor leader the whole time he's been on the team cuz Steph was also miscast as the supposed superstar on this team. He should never be the best player on any team, cuz if he is then you don't really have a great player as most teams hope to have. This is the whole reason we're looking at 2010.

I think it's good for Jamal to want to be better and I hope he is more successful this time than he's been in the past, in particular on D, but also in term so his efficiency on offense. I think it will help him if we can put him on the floor with guys like Duhon and Chandler who I think will be better team defenders who can help. This way when he does play some D, it won't be wasted cuz no one came over to help as they should.

So in summary you don't mind hearing guys talk about improving D etc. and then never doing it. That's fine. The rest of us can't stand it

No I'm still waiting for not just Jamal but the starting 5 to be a group that defends like they really mean it. Jamal at his best is still gonna get beat more often than not IMO. The key is going to be putting a lineup out there that can defend as a team. Looking at PHX they won a ton of games with not much of a defensive group. If you look at what kind of defenders Nash and Amare really are. Marion doesn't have great lateral movement, but he's got length and athletic ability. Raja Bell plays with passion on D, but I wouldn't say he's a Bruce Bowen type of defender either. Still as a unit they at least defended enough to be one of the top teams in terms of Point Differential. Regardless of those who think that stat is about offense, it's really about both offense and defense. If you score a lot but never stop anyone, then you're the Nuggets, Wizards or Warriors. PHX was a league leader in Point Diff which is why they wound up winning so many games. Last year adding Shaq and taking Marion out of the mix clearly hurt their "team" defense. That's why their point diff dropped.

My hope is that as a team we can be more like PHX in terms of team defense,.

Posted by nixluva:

Posted by Bippity10:

Jamal is one of the most liked players on this team. So stop acting like he's getting abused here. Outside of MS, he has a very good rep.

Why are you getting hostile about this. I'm not missing what you're saying, i'm merely coming at this from a different angle than you. We agree on his chances of improving on offense and the only issue we disagree on is that I don't really think he's going to get any better as a man defender and don't see it as a big deal if he doesn't improve. I'm not interested in a minor improvement that doesn't appreciably make any difference as if he should get brownie points for trying harder.

This is why I mention his improving as a team defender in a team defensive scheme. That is realistic for him IMO. Don't try to tell me that's invalid just cuz you say it is. That's my opinion. You have yours and so be it, but I don't see him really being able to show any appreciable improvement as a man defender. that's the only issue you have left since you're choosing not to discuss how he can improve within a team concept defensively. I bring up Nash only as an example of a guard who isn't any good as a man defender, but does OK in the team concept. If he's out on his own and has to stop his man by himself he's not any good and jamal is the same way.

I'm not dense nor some idiot that can't get a simple point, so stop talking to me as if I am. I haven't insulted you in like manner so just make your damn point and keep it there. This is how things get ugly between us. Show me respect and I'll continue to do the same to you.

Posted by Bippity10:

Dude you are clearly missing the point. This whole post is about the blog and his own words. Again, he is the one that brought up all this stuff about improving. People are commenting on what he said. This isn't a situation where someone came out of no where and said Craw sucks he needs to improve his defense. No, Jamal started a blog and listed his weaknesses and said how he is going to work on them and improve them and become Crawesome. People took issue with him because we heard this before and want him to just shut it. Either get better or stop talking about it. Now, by you saying that you don't think he will get better on the defensive end, you are agreeing with the very people you are arguing with.

Posted by nixluva:

Posted by Bippity10:

Dude you are clearly missing the point. This whole post is about the blog and his own words. Again, he is the one that brought up all this stuff about improving. People are commenting on what he said. This isn't a situation where someone came out of no where and said Craw sucks he needs to improve his defense. No, Jamal started a blog and listed his weaknesses and said how he is going to work on them and improve them and become Crawesome. People took issue with him because we heard this before and want him to just shut it. Either get better or stop talking about it. Now, by you saying that you don't think he will get better on the defensive end, you are agreeing with the very people you are arguing with.

I've been following the thread since it's beginning. Some of the 1st comments in this thread had to do with peoples opinions of whether they thought he could really make the improvements he recognizes he needs to make. Some complained that they had heard these statements before and that he didn't seem to make any changes and others noted that he tried to give some excuses or "reason" for why he hasn't been successful in the past at improving in the areas he needs to. Still others commented on what he needed to do to be successful. In other words the commenting has been varied and not just relegated to his words being a repeated refrain and whether he should just shut up or not.

In regard my feelings on his defense, I do believe he could get better as a team defender, but I don't have much faith in him improving much as a man defender. I'm more optimistic in his chances to make bigger improvements on the offensive end. Players making these kinds of statements doesn't bother me. It's done by many players in all sports and is nothing new.

So in summary, you agree with me. Jamal says he will improve his D and we all know he probably won't. The only place where we differ is that you are okay with the constant talking of all our players and not backing it up, and I am not. That's fine, we all have different tolerance levels.

Posted by Allanfan20:

http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/basketball/knicks/blog/crawford/2008/09/look_whos_on_the_cover.html

What's up?!

I'm back in New York and before I even get started, let me tell you about something that made me feel good coming in at the airport. I was looking at the magazine stand (always look at the preseason mags to see how low they have us picked…lol), BUT this time I was on the COVER of two different magazines! Athlon Sports and Lindy’s.


I'm very humble, but to say the least I was very excited! That started the trip back the right way....

Before I get into what it's like to be back in New York, I have to say good-bye to my hometown of Seattle. The guys at SLAM Online came out to my house recently and we hung out. Matt Caputo wrote a blog about it, so check it out.

It feels good to be here in NY with the guys again. We've been working out real hard and getting up and down the court. Some guys are looking really good and in shape. We’re all still getting use to the new style of play but it will be fun and exciting for you guys to watch....

Just doing some of the things that we work on in drills, it will be tough to stop us once we start playing because the floor is so spaced and there so many different options....

So let me give you guys an update on what I’ve seen so far out of the guys who have been involved in the workouts:

Wilson Chandler: Wilson has gotten a lot better from last year! His range has improved -- his ball handling and his athleticism was always there…I think he's just more confident then anything now and it's showing. I think he'll have a really good year for us!

Danilo Gallinari: “Gallo” is still banged up a little bit,..so he's just been shooting and riding the bike...but this kid is very VERY confident!! He listens, works hard and wants to get better. Some of you guys may have booed him when we drafted him, but he is going to be a big time player for us one day!

Allan Houston: He’s back and looks a lot healthier than he did in his last comeback attempt last season...I think he may have rushed that one a little bit, but he looks a lot better this time! AND of course we all know his jumper is razor sharp!!!!!!! I can learn a lot watching him.

David Lee: We all know David's game by now - all out hustle, rebounds. The thing that will surprise you most is his jumper! He shooting it with so much confidence, I mean even three pointers! He shot one and I said to myself, "No way." And it went straight in.

Chris Duhon: Very solid, very unselfish. Can run a team. Makes good decisions, I'm going to like playing with him!

Nate Robinson: Still a blur. Shooting great and should be a great fit in this system, a la Barbosa! His athleticism still amazes me...

Pat Ewing Jr: Very athletic. Working on his jumper but has been shooting it pretty good. Can block shots, something we really need!

Jared Jeffries: Jared really knows how to play, He's a smart player. He does all the little things to help teams win. I think he'll go back to the Jared he was in Washington.

Q Rich: He’s really stepping up as one of the leaders. Seems rejuvenated. Working on his handle, He'll play like he did in Phoenix.

Mardy: Lost some weight, so he's moving better. Very smart, really good defender!

Anthony Roberson: Has been a lil banged up, but when he shoots he rarely misses! One of the best shooters on the team. He plays like Eddie House but with a better handle!

Eddy Curry: It will be a transition for him at first because he's used to posting up. But he'll be on the perimeter a lil bit more....he'll get better adapted to the system the more he does it...but we need him...

Zach Randolph: Zach loves to play and he's been scoring and rebounding, doing his thing. Him and Eddy have had some nice match-ups. They look better on opposite teams…(hahahah, just playing! I knew that would get a rise outta you guys!) I don't know what's gonna happen with all the trade talk and everything, but its good to see that, either way, he's not letting it affect him.

Danny Grunfeld: Ernie’s son. To be respectfully honest, he doesn't look like he can really play -- until you give him some space and he's hitting a jumper on you! But it's the quiet ones that get you...

Me: This will be very fun for me, This system is so wide open, so spaced! First day, I was aggressive offensively and making things happen. The next day I shot only three times in eight games, just to work on something different that day. I didn't play today, just rode the bike and did core. My back is a little sore (nothing serious!). I’ll be back on the court tomorrow.


That's all I got for now, but you guys keep leaving the comments and I’ll try to get some answers to your questions so we can keep the communication going!

JC

This blog was empty. Of course everyone is great and things will be different, blah, blah, blah. I'm more curious about the questions people have and how he will respond. I'm assuming NYer's will have some tough ones.