Posted by Allanfan20:

Posted by Bippity10:

The one thing LB did right was motivate Craw. He was becoming a leader. I think last year he went back to being what he has always been. A chucker, that plays no defense. It's not all bad with him because despite his flaws he still had a major say in some wins. But to help us to become a big time winner, with his role on the team he has to become a defender. The offense is great but he has to become a defender. You can live with the erratic offense as long as he defends. If he doesn't defend his off days are a killer. Man, this sounds like half our roster.

I don't agree with you. I think you missed some key points Bip. First off, the main thing is that Crawford just needs to consistently play defense. If he can do that, then his inconsistent offense wont look as bad. Secondly, he's shown the ability to improve under Larry Brown, but that's just about it. That's not good, but he's still great for the offense, but only with the defense though. He needs to improve his defense.

Bip, you were wrong in your post, and I'm right.

Posted by RemBee76:

I have yet to see any demonstration that Jamal played better under Larry Brown defensively. Under LB Jamal was net -90 points, under Isiah he was +2. FG% allowed went down by 1.8% under LB when he came off the floor, 0.4% under Isiah (and just so you know, the on-court defense was better under Isiah, 51.8% allowed versus %50.6).

I think we all expected LB to make everyone better, so every steal or block we got from Jamal were amplified in our minds. But he had fewer steals, and blocks, under LB than he did the year before.

As for his going back to being a "chucker" he was one under Brown as well. We all remember that month of great play, once the season was decided, but that doesn't erase what he did before.

This is so true. Every time I read someone say how well Jamal played under LB I scratch my head. He was more conservative with his shots, but he was LOST for much of the year. People forget how badly he played and why LB didn't want Steph to play off guard. No one else Jamal included ran the point well. It wasn't until the last month that Jamal had that nice stretch where he played well. You can't make it seem like he was good all year just because of that last month. I'd like for us to stop trying to compare Jamal's PG skills to Stephs, cuz there's been no comparison. Jamal has had his moments, but there's a reason why he hasn't been given a more prominent role in running the team. He hasn't been good enough at doing it. Just because he shows flashes of great passing, can't make up for the many times he's lost for what to do. Did you guys forget the stretch of games he was throwing the ball into the STANDS? If he was able to do it, then LB wouldn't have hesitated to use him. He wouldn't have said that there's no one who can run the team.

Anyway. Jamal can be a big part of this team succeeding, but he has to play well for more than one month. Last year just before he went down, he was starting to do things that I like to see. He seemed to have figured out how to be more effective in the flow of the offense. He wasn't just relying on jumpers. He was driving more and KILLING teams with his penetration. If he plays like that this year, we're gonna be one of the best teams in the East. We have so much talent on this team. It's really about finding a balance and everyone knowing how they fit into the scheme. I get the sense that Jamal is close to finding that niche on this team. It happens late for some guys. Like Billups, who was drifting for a while until he found his game in Detroit.

Posted by RemBee76:

I have yet to see any demonstration that Jamal played better under Larry Brown defensively. Under LB Jamal was net -90 points, under Isiah he was +2. FG% allowed went down by 1.8% under LB when he came off the floor, 0.4% under Isiah (and just so you know, the on-court defense was better under Isiah, 51.8% allowed versus %50.6).

I think we all expected LB to make everyone better, so every steal or block we got from Jamal were amplified in our minds. But he had fewer steals, and blocks, under LB than he did the year before.

As for his going back to being a "chucker" he was one under Brown as well. We all remember that month of great play, once the season was decided, but that doesn't erase what he did before.

I pretty much agree. However, the one thing Craw did do well in 05-06, was he didn't jack up as many 3's. I would like to see Craw concentrate on the mid range game more.

Other than that, Craw was no better defensively and was just as inconsistant as he has been for most of his career.

Posted by COSSUCKS:

Guys like playing with Crawford in my opinion. The team had to work much harder with out his creative passing and late game leadership

Posted by RemBee76:

I have yet to see any demonstration that Jamal played better under Larry Brown defensively. Under LB Jamal was net -90 points, under Isiah he was +2. FG% allowed went down by 1.8% under LB when he came off the floor, 0.4% under Isiah (and just so you know, the on-court defense was better under Isiah, 51.8% allowed versus %50.6).

I think we all expected LB to make everyone better, so every steal or block we got from Jamal were amplified in our minds. But he had fewer steals, and blocks, under LB than he did the year before.

As for his going back to being a "chucker" he was one under Brown as well. We all remember that month of great play, once the season was decided, but that doesn't erase what he did before.

no one is gonna take that good month away from me! I don't have much to go with so the one month with Larry and the team won, and Steph was a "mench" and Craw was the man, and eddy was in shape catching the ball while moving, and and and and.............