Posted by fishmike:
I hope so... he could really use some strength training. Even if he doesnt gain much weight just so he can get stronger. I've been up and down about Crawford, but he has always seemed willing to work hard and be coached.
Maybe these guys really just need a year of total misery for the message to sink in
jamal had a real good game yesterday. to me, it's always about crawford's NEXT game. he has all the tools to play some nice defense, get in the passing lanes, getting deflections. and on offense, he can beat people off the dribble and he's not afraid to take big shots. again, he looked real good yesterday but it's not about one game with him, it's about a string of good games. something that hasn't happened yet. he is learning under brown, and once he develops the consistency, he will be a very good player.
i understand why many fans are frustrated with him and why many fans want to trade him. you see a game like last night and say to yourself "why can't he do it all the time?" and that's been the major problem with him. maybe he's developing into the guy that CAN do it all the time. maybe lb will bring that out of him. right now, we just have to wait and see.
coming into the season, i wanted to give him a shot at running the point b/c i felt this team was going in another direction and investing the time in steph would be fruitless (and it's not looking too fruitful now). if we invested all that time in jamal, maybe he could've been our pg, who knows? as the season went along, i was getting increasingly frustrated by him b/c he was taking such a subservient role. he was trying to please lb too much and was willing to let things happen in front of him instead of taking control and making things happen. and it hurt his game on the court as he would make some indecisive passes that lead to turnovers and take some ill-advised shots. that personality trait is why i now see him as a 6th man and not a starting pg anymore...and that's ok. a 6th man has just a big a role on a team. he needs to be more aggressive and more confident in his decision making process. if he can grasp that, then he's a keeper. this is what chicago fans dealt with for 3 years and that's why they traded him away. we've seen it for 1 1/2 years now. all we can hope for is that he will do it on a more consistent basis for us.