Crawford makes a great first impression
Hawks fans are going to get a full dose of Jamal Crawford this season and if first impressions count for anything, it should be an exciting show.
HAWKSVILLE – From the minute Jamal Crawford hit the door Monday all eyes were on the Hawks’ newest addition (well, so to speak).
And he didn’t disappoint, not that anything he could have done would have disappointed the crowd of players, many of them his new teammates, hoping to get a glimpse of him in Hawks’ practice duds.
“They’re going to be (expletive) good this year,” said a visiting pro from another NBA team. “You throw JC and Joe Smith and this kid [Jeff] Teague, and they’ve got some wrinkles now that they didn’t have last season. They were already a dangerous team and now they’re really dangerous. And knowing these fans down here and what they like, they’re going to love the style this team can play. They’re going to love JC.”
Crawford loves the idea of what this Hawks team could be. He was all smiles after playing a few pickup games with guys like Marvin Williams, Al Horford, Mike Bibby and others, for the very first time.
“If you look at us on paper, you know we should be pretty good,” Williams said, “but so far I’d have to say it looks even better than I thought. It’s impressive. It’s different. Everybody knows what Jamal is capable of. And Jeff can play, man. I don’t know any other way of saying it, he can just play. And it’ll be exciting when we get everybody in here and see how the pieces fit. I truly believe we are going to be one of the most explosive teams in the league.”
Crawford wasn’t even in scoring mode on his first day (training camp starts in one week but most of the main faces have already made it back to town or are on the way). He played the role of set-up man. “Everybody knows I can score a little bit,” Crawford said modestly. “I’m a good passer, too. I love to set guys up. I always have.”
A nasty no-look pass here, another wicked dish there and his teammates, not to mention everyone else in attendance, had seen enough.
Horford couldn’t contain his glee while watching Crawford break down a defender in the lane on one play. He let out a loud yelp when Crawford’s crossover dribble whipped from one side to the other. Horford calmed down just in time to catch the pass (yup, he was on the floor and playing in the game but clearly enjoying the spectacle) of Crawford shredding yet another ill-fated attempt to slow him down.
“I couldn’t help it,” a smiling Horford would say later. “It’s fun to watch him got o work on somebody. I’m just excited, man. Training camp is going to be so competitive and it’s because we have some of these [new] guys coming in that will stir it up. I can’t wait to get going.”
OTHER NEW FACES
Crawford wasn’t the only new face to open a few eyes Monday. Training camp invitee Courtney Sims made his first appearance at the John “Beans” Beckett Invitational and did not disappoint.
Sims is a solid 6-11, 240-pounder that didn’t seem at all out of place banging against the likes of Horford, Randolph Morris, Othello Hunter and Garrett Siler – the other true bigs on the floor for most of Monday’s action. Sims finished with authority around the rim and was as active as any big running the floor and getting his hands dirty in the rebounding battles on both ends of the floor.
“We’re going to have so many bigs now that things will change dramatically for us,” Horford said of he, Josh Smith and Zaza Pachulia, the men who shouldered the bulk of the low-post burden for the Hawks last season. “You go from playing three or four guys, with Solomon Jones, to having five or six quality guys that can play and that has to make a big difference for us.”
THE WAFER RULE
Day after day veteran free agent Jerry Stackhouse turns heads during these informal workouts.
I haven’t found a player yet that isn’t convinced that he could help this Hawks team this season as versatile specialists off the bench.
Whether or not that connection ever comes to fruition is obviously not up to said players or any of us around here.
But let me offer up a cautionary tale about watching a free agent dazzle on the practice court all summer only to find work elsewhere once training camp rolls around. Von Wafer [breakout season in Houston last year and ow a teammate of former Hawks swingman Josh Childress in Greece] put on a somewhat similar type of show last summer, wowing everyone with his shooting stroke from deep and his ability to finish at the rim without any regard for whoever and whatever might be in his way.
Wafer would have helped this Hawks team tremendously last year but a decision was made to go in a different direction (one that, it should be pointed out, helped net 47 wins). It’ll be interesting to see if the Hawks look past Stackhouse (for whatever reasons) and break the Wafer Rule.
It’s not my decision, my team, my money or my main concern right now. But I don’t know that I’d be able to rationalize not trying to sign Stackhouse up if he goes anywhere this season and plays half as well as he’s played since I’ve been watching this summer.
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483 comments Add your comment
vava74
September 22nd, 2009
7:36 pm
I’m completely against Sekou’s commentaries here in the blog and at foxsports:
http://msn.foxsports.com/video/NBA?vid=69f29939-87df-43c1-96e0-b68230d1ca81
I don’t think it is wise for us to make ANY move in February. Our evolution will not come with a new trade.
It will come with time and organic growth.
Next year, the Celtics will be a bunch of pre-retired stars, Orlando will not evolve this year and the Vince experiment will be aborted.
Lebron will be rebuilding, either elsewhere or in Cleveland since Shaq and Ziggy will be both too old to contribute at the level they need.
Also, I don’t see Miami progressing as much as we can, and beyond Miami, I can’t see anyone else close to us. Maybe Philly or Toronto can make a move up, however, it will not be at our same pace.
The rest are dead meat in comparison to us.
Joe Daddy
September 22nd, 2009
7:41 pm
“What did he do LAST YEAR? Dont violate the statistic abuse law by telling me how good ZaZa was When he was starter. What did he do last year? Thats where hes at. Have you ever did the cyber date thing where women show you pictures of what they looked like 2 or 3 years ago only to meet them and she how huge they become? You are only as good as your most recent performances.”
Woodson’s most recent performance?
0-4 against Cleveland. OOPS! Careful what you wish for.
KevinA
September 22nd, 2009
7:49 pm
Worlds longest basketball shot
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Video-World-s-longest-basketball-shot?urn=nba,191193
niremetal
September 22nd, 2009
7:50 pm
vava,
So you’re saying we should avoid making a trade just for the sake of continuity? How does that make any more sense than the people who say we should make a trade just for the sake of continuity?
If a trade would improve the team for this year and not hurt us down the road, we should make it. If it wouldn’t, we shouldn’t. That fits with what the Hawks did in trading for Crawford and Bibby and it fits with what Sekou was saying – if we are in the hunt come February and a deal that would improve us comes up, we should consider it. I don’t think Sund should shut off his phone just for the sake of continuity.
KevinA
September 22nd, 2009
8:02 pm
Joe Daddy,
Against big teams. I would like to see ZaZA start and Al at the #4. Maybe even Josh at the #3 to add some size. At least as an experment. Sund thinks ZaZa could start for other teams. I take it you disagree.
vava74
September 22nd, 2009
8:34 pm
Nire,
There are no viable trades around which make any sense to me.
Any trade would either mean the loss of young and still evolving talent or bringing in veteran being dump for salary purposes.
I don’t believe in relenting possession over JJ, Al, Josh or Marvin. I also don’t believe that we can jeopardize the re-signing of JJ by pushing our salary limit up.
Any of the two routes would mortgage our future for very limited (if any) results.
The above four guys are our only significant trade assets, and sincerely, unless you could bring Dwight Howard, Chris Paul or Deron Williams without losing more than 2 of the 4, I can’t see any trade which w/could benefit us.
And pleeeease don’t bring up any Amar’e or Bosh suggestions.
Even if we are, by mid season, a bit below our initial expectations, I don’t think we should do any roster moves.
Sometimes, it is better to have a less positive regular season in order to finish strong and have a good rotation and incorporation of all the new pieces entering into the playoffs.
vava74
September 22nd, 2009
8:42 pm
Big Ray,
I don’t want to annoy you, but could you please watch this top to bottom?
Pretty please with sugar on top?
)
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-august-18-2009/the-gun-show—barrel-fever
JerryWest
September 22nd, 2009
8:47 pm
Sekou,
Did the Sixers ask for JoshSmith+Marvin for Iverson 2 years ago? Did we offer only one?
JJ’s organic growth will happen this year when he won’t be double/triple teamed as often.
The easiest way for Josh Smith to become an all star – Just become the best offensive rebounder in the league. With that kind of hop he should be playing volley-ball with the board.
Ariose
September 22nd, 2009
8:50 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-28Z8yRUZw
vava74
September 22nd, 2009
8:51 pm
Jerry,
I am with you on that one. If Josh does realize that he will become an all star faster by rebounding rather than by shooting the rock, we will be heading the right direction.
Ariose
September 22nd, 2009
9:04 pm
72 reasons to be excited about the Atlanta Hawks: #39 the Boston Celtics http://sbnation.com/e/814752
truly1
September 22nd, 2009
9:06 pm
I dont understand why anyone could think that adding a starter to a team as a 6th man one who put up 50 point games is not a good thing. Crawford is a great addition we needed offense off the bench and if he does do all the bad things some of you are talking about which I dont think he is going to do. Sit him on the bench. He is a 6th man I repeat. Crawford is a win win situation.
niremetal
September 22nd, 2009
9:17 pm
Vava,
Then you totally missed Sekou’s (and my) point, man. I agree that there’s probably no viable trades NOW that could add us an All-Star caliber player (well, unless you count my Josh-for-Biedrins-or-Bosh pipe dream). But trades that sound impossible now could start looking a lot more viable in January/February when the playoff picture starts shaping up. Teams out of the playoff hunt may start trying to unload their stars with heavy contracts. Happens all the time. It’s impossible to predict what trades will be “viable” 4 months and 40 regular season games from now. You missed one rather obvious trade asset – Jamal Crawford, whose contract expires in 2011. A team looking to unload someone with an even longer-term deal might be willing to take his contract on for a year and a half…not unlike the Warriors did with us in the Crawford trade.
You also seem to forget that we couldn’t possibly be adding THAT much payroll with any trade thanks to the 125% rule. So since we don’t have any huge expiring contracts, no trade that we could make would make a real dent into our ability to re-sign JJ.
It’s clear you’re pretty set against this. But again, I’ll just say that the attitude of “continuity for the sake of continuity” is no more sensible an approach than “change for the sake of change.” The view should be towards whether a trade improves the team, not whether we simply need a change or simply need to stay the course.
Ariose
September 22nd, 2009
9:30 pm
http://www.sporcle.com/games/nba_team_3points.php
ILL-logical
September 22nd, 2009
9:52 pm
I would like to suggest to those who believe that leaping ability equals rebounding in the NBA that your opinions do not comport with reality. Rebounding at the NBA level is more about strength and heft than anything else and that is why the Hawks suffer . Their “bigs” are undersized and overmatched in most matchups. Woodson has sought to off set this disadvantage with speed but ironically doesn’t run enough to capitalize on that advantage.
When the Hawks find a center who fits into Woodon’s “system” and has the strength and heft to bang with the big boys THEN they may be able to compete for the Larry O’ Brien trophy consistently.
Me, I would start Jason Collins and give him 20 minutes a game at center- he has been a starter on an NBA finals team and has demonstrated the low error rate that Woodson likes; Al at power forward -20 minutes ; Josh at the 3 for 20 minutes with Bibby and Joe in the backcourt. Marvin would be my 6th man and my scoring threat off of the bench at 2,3 or 4. ZaZa ; Joe Smith, JT 2 and Jamal round out a second unit that would be second to none. Plus on any given night you could mix and match to go big, small-Al at the 5 and Josh at the 4- or any number of permutations and combinations.Whatever anyone threw at them, the Hawks could match and trump. And don’t throw Stack in the mix because you then could have 5 former NBA starters on your “second team” that would not be plussed by hostile crowds or home cooking. Just a few things to think about.
Hoops
September 22nd, 2009
10:00 pm
deep,
I like your line up. One problem though. Sund has said that the Hawks are not going to sign 15 players. You’re going to have to let somebody go. Hunter?
Big Ray
September 22nd, 2009
10:20 pm
Vava74 ,
I checked out the link you sent. I’ve generally liked John Stewart, he’s a pretty funny guy. As to the subject matter, I have one thing to say: No freedom or privilege given, no matter how big or small, is proof against a fool, who will find a way to abuse or pervert it. Problem is, this world has no shortage of fools.
And no, you are NOT annoying me.
loyalhawktillidie
September 22nd, 2009
10:21 pm
keep dreaming guys, you are banking your whole season in that vince carter does not work in orlando even if does not work orlando is still a better team than us so is cleveland and boston plus we dont know for a fact that crawford will fit are team so how can you dis vince carter when we also have new players i like to bank on are season from the talent we have on are team not on what ifs like what if all the other 29 teams failed to score a single point this season or what if every team when on stike except us thats a bunch of garbage and i feel we are going to make it to the second round and loose come on guys we cant be homers here we act like stackhouse is gonna be kevin durant or dwayne wade hes gonna get 10 minutes and 4 points at the best, while orlando and boston are getting their front line beefed up and cleveland is stacking up on wing players we are depending on a ball hog of crawford an unproven rookie and old players like stackhouse and joe smith give me a break…..
Jody
September 22nd, 2009
10:34 pm
ILL-logical,
I think you make a VERY valid point about the sucess or lack there of when it comes to rebounding and at some point in the future, the Hawks will have to address this if they are to reach the next level. If people stop and notice, the teams ahead of the hawks just in the East don’t have the problem the Hawks have up front and that’s a reason why they’re ahead.
Big Ray
September 22nd, 2009
10:44 pm
Jerrywest ,
I really wish that offensive rebounding was the simple trick to Josh becoming an all-star. But I really don’t think it is. Yes, he has great hops, but being a human pogo stick is not all there is to it, or guys like Tyrus Thomas would be there already. And it hasn’t worked for the best offensive rebounder on the team (Zaza and Horford are tied at 2.2 a game).
Besides, I heard somewhere that Zaza only gets so many offensive rebounds because he’s lazy …..
Not sure how that fits a reasonable argument, but….
Anyway, your idea does have some merit that cannot be ignored. Josh averaged 1.9 offensive rebounds per game last year. If he doubles that (not an easy feat), then he ends up with 3.8 per game. Now if his defensive rebounds stay the same (5.3 per game), then the two added together ends up being a total of 9.1 rpg. None too shabby, but added to 15.6 ppg average? Not all-star level.
I wouldn’t complain if his offensive rebounding went up. But I’d rather it go up slightly, while his defensive rebounds took a good spike. So, he could get say, 1 more offensive board per game, but raise his defensive rebounds about 1.8 per game. That would be 7.1 def rpg and 2.9 off rpg for a total of……10 rebounds per game. Now for the second part.
A lot of people want Josh to just stay in the paint and shoot no jumpers. I don’t think this is a good idea. Why? Because Josh is not a “post player” by any traditional definition. He lacks the fundamentals, instinct, and skill set. Oh, he can score in the paint, but he is not a low post scorer along the lines of Duncan, O’Neal, Howard, Jefferson, Yao, not even Stoudamire or Bosh, J O’Neal, or the lighter weight guys. He can learn some fundamentals/skills, but let’s be honest, the guy is a slasher.
And only the best/biggest post scorers like Howard and Shaq can excel without a jumper. Even then, Howard is working on one…
If being athletic and being able to jump out of the gym makes a guy a sure thing down low, then Tyrus Thomas should be an all-star already, and Harold Miner should have never faded from the league like he did. Josh needs a decent midrange jumper and better handles so that he is not limited to being in one specific area on the floor. An area that he can’t dominate against teams with big enough bodies and better coaches. Why? Because there are bigger players out there than can be used to push him off the block (he’s not weak, but he ain’t a pure physical force either) and frustrate him.
He has to be able to use that quickness, and for that to be possible, he must have space. There ain’t much of it in the paint. I’m not saying he should be out jacking up 15-18 footers all day. Far from it. He still needs to do the bulk of his scoring by attacking the rim. But to continue to be a threat, he also needs to be able to make teams respect him outside of the paint. The only way to do that is to be able to hit a mid-range jumper consistently enough, and to be able to draw opposing forwards away from the paint, and use his speed/first step to get past them when they seek to keep him from shooting the 15-footer.
But that’s just what I think.
niremetal
September 22nd, 2009
10:44 pm
Doc,
I never thought I’d see someone more allergic to punctuation than you…until now
Big Ray
September 22nd, 2009
10:45 pm
Loyalhawktillidie,
Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t cheer our team on. By the way, all those periods you left at the end of the post? I think some of them were supposed to be scattered throughout the post.
Big Ray
September 22nd, 2009
10:46 pm
LOL@ Nire ….
Big Ray
September 22nd, 2009
10:48 pm
That and I think Josh and Al can play a bit of hi-low sometimes. If Josh can hit a midrange jumper (Al already can, seen it a few times and it was nice) then he can draw a defender off of Al. And Josh DOES know how to pass.
loyalhawktillidie
September 22nd, 2009
10:56 pm
yea big ray i dont need a english lesson from you…….. lol yea but there is a line between supporting your team and being ablivious to reality i love are team but hate when we make excuses or dumb reasons to explain how we can beat teams the fact is we have to base are input on facts not if’s because we make a lot of ifs for other teams but have no ifs about are team like we are fast to say what bad things are going to happen to other teams but avoid doing the same for our team like what if the hawks loose a key player or there chemistry is not good
Israel's dad
September 22nd, 2009
11:26 pm
I always appreciate your articles when I get a chance to read them. I can’t tell you how excited I am to get this season started. New additions, new draft picks, solid nucleus…. watch out Boston, I think we got youz this year.
Tony
September 22nd, 2009
11:36 pm
I am going to say this again, I do not care (no offense) about anyone on this team except JOSH SMITH. If we go or do anything this year Josh (along with horford and Marvin) will get it done. Period!!!!
niremetal
September 22nd, 2009
11:48 pm
Tony,
Your parenthetical kinda contradicted the rest of your post, no?
The Truth
September 22nd, 2009
11:52 pm
I notice from reading some blog comments that Crawford got Warriors and Knicks haters following him all the way to the AJC Blog. You would think true haters would rejoice in him gone and move on. Why would they continue to follow him here and dump past bad memories on us about him is something beyond me? It appears strange and a rather obsessive agenda if you asked me. To those Crawford Haters: Let the man make a fresh start and wish him well. Let it go!!
doc
September 23rd, 2009
12:45 am
ok nire, be kind. heh heh or scroll.
Hawks Fan In New Orleans
September 23rd, 2009
3:04 am
wow! Training camp can’t start soon enough. This is first time Woodson will be playing with hot hand. It will be interstimng to see is he can play his cards right…You know what – it will be impossible not to succeed with a roster this deep. Much success to all involved this year, and here’s too Sund potentially signing Stackhouse and Coach woodson effectively using a 9-10 deep roster.
vava74
September 23rd, 2009
6:03 am
Big Ray,
I glad that you took it well. I could dwell on the subject reminding you of another guy in New Hampshire who… wait… I am dwelling on it!
Let’s get back to business, namely the discussion on Josh’s potential to become a good rebounder:
Rebounding effectively is not necessarily a direct result of size: Dennis Rodman is the best contrary example and the Knick’s Curry the opposite.
Rodman was 6′9” and about 230lbs which is exactly what J-Smoove has.
Rodman used in his rebounding technique a specific physical ability which J-Smoove also has: he could jump repeatedly keeping almost the same bounce.
Allied with that, he perfected the art of tipping the ball his way (also repeatedly) until he managed to get it to fall when he was the only guy still jumping.
Big guys may jump well and bump bodies around, however, they can’t jump repeatedly at the same level.
Rodman did it and J-Smoove also does it.
What is missing in Josh are three things, of which the first two should be easy to accomplish:
1. The desire to clean the glass;
2. Him learning to tip the ball instead of trying to grab it immediately;
And the last and most difficult (where Rodman was a master)
3. Him learning to read the bounce of the ball out of the rim before it hits it.
I would also like to say a last word on Rodman: there is NO WAY that a credible Hall of Fame can leave this guy out.
He could be a loony, but on the court he was the ultimate professional, an unbelievable on the ball defender with the ability to cover any player from SG to C, an outstanding team defender, and an ultra talented and relentless rebounder.
BBall cannot be seen only about scoring, dunking or dishing out assists.
With a different set of tools, I would also like to endorse our former Hawk Sydney Moncrief which is another name which has been overlooked unfairly: he was as complete as one can get (due to my age, I saw very little of him, however, if you look at his career and read about it, you can immediately determine that he is deserving of this honor).
Sekou Smith
September 23rd, 2009
7:31 am
Never heard about any trade between the Sixers and Hawks Jerry. I would have waged a vigorous campaign against such a deal (if it had ever come to light). There is absolutely no way that deal would have made the Hawks a better team. NONE!
JSS
September 23rd, 2009
8:02 am
Vava, check around the net and see if you can come across some footage of the 1977/1978 Arkansas Basketball team with Moncrief, Marvin Delph, and the older Brewer. They put that program on the block. When he was in his prime with Junior Bridgeman and Marques Johnson, that was special… Unfortunately, they had Boston and Phildelphia teams that were stocked in front of them… And having Tree Rollins North (Alton Lister) did not help the cause..
All World
September 23rd, 2009
8:10 am
Flip Murry, period!
Ray S
September 23rd, 2009
8:44 am
Sekou,
Do you know when the training camp roster will be announced?? Thanks..
Daniel
September 23rd, 2009
8:46 am
All World- Tyrone Corbin, question mark:
Manute Bol, backslash”
World B. Free, asterik ^
Von Wafer, bracket &
Cherokee Parks, exclamation point #
Chris Jackson, comma $
Tree Rollins, quotation mark %
Pluto, period,……
top that
Daniel
September 23rd, 2009
8:48 am
vava- nice post on Rodman
Samuel
September 23rd, 2009
8:49 am
Vava,
I totally agree with you on Rodman. While I believe there are plenty of guys in the league with the athleticism to do what he did, there are zero with the desire to do it.
How many rebound highlights do you see on ESPN or EA sports?
Like you said, Rodman may not even make the HOF even though he was clearly one of the best in his era.
Josh said some good things in his recent interview, maybe he “has seen the light” and will become the Rodman of this era. If he does, the Hawks make another move upward. If he falls back into his old ways, we are having this conversation over and over i’m afraid.
On the guns: It’s funny how when certain people are gun owners if becomes a national emergency while with others it’s very “sexy”. Just sayn.
Daniel
September 23rd, 2009
8:52 am
That last post makes me wonder who is the most unattractive person in the NBA?
Sam Cassell?
Scottie Pippen?
George Muresan(sp)?
I actually vote for Tyrone Corbin…
now, there is a topic that will stir controversy
jerrywest
September 23rd, 2009
8:57 am
I am sure there is at least one team that has told JJ’s agent that a max offer will be extended in 2010.
Dennis Rodman guarded and frustrated Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul Jabbar in the same game. He guarded and pissed off Mark Jackson and Patrick Ewing in the same game. He would have been a great basketball player in any era. 100 years from now when the current players would look slow and small, Dennis Rodman could have played well. Basketball IQ off the chart. Undoubtedly first ballot hall of famer.
Andy
September 23rd, 2009
9:42 am
The Truth,
Following him to the AJC blog? The AJC blog is on the internet, just like all the rest. It’s not like one has to get on a plane to Atlanta to post an opinion here. I think those who have watched Crawford play a lot were just offering some insight on what might be coming there.
Not sure where the hate stuff is coming from. It’s just a basketball discussion. Nothing more.
jerrywest
September 23rd, 2009
10:02 am
Sekou’s blog is national news now. The links are posted in many NBA related sites like hoopshype etc. Any NBA followers could stumble into this blog.
rainman
September 23rd, 2009
10:02 am
Hey Sekou — If you had to choose between Mo and Stack to backup Marvin. who would you pick?
The news on Teague is very encouraging. In a previous blog, you said that he should get at least 14 or 15 minutes a game. I’m hoping, that as the season goes on, he proves good enough to warrant even more. The Hawks future would look pretty good if we could finally score on an impact PG, ala Rose or CP3.
vava74
September 23rd, 2009
10:18 am
JSS,
Thank you, I will take a look.
I actually still have somewhere a Hawks – Lakers game in VHS where Moncrief had his best game as a Hawk.
One could see that his knees were hurting like hell but he put on a great game coming off the bench scoring 14 (or something like that) points and filling in the stat sheet.
The Truth
September 23rd, 2009
10:28 am
Andy
This is just an example:
Wally
September 22nd, 2009
3:02 pm
Hawk Fans, Please, for your own good, wake up and listen to Andy. My opinion (like that of most Warriors fans), is exactly the same as Andy’s. He is a nice guy and has a world class cross over. But the good ends there. As Andy says, he can’t catch and shoot. His normal offensive set is dribble, dribble and launch… but he can’t shoot the trey consistently. He is incredibly streaky. But most importantly, he may be the WORST defensive player in the entire NBA. He just doesn’t care. Despite his sweet, ‘I am all for the team’ mantra that he repeats everytime he gets dumped, he won’t play D. He won’t. For your own good Hawk fans, drastically lower your expectations. I like the Hawks and think they are a fun team to watch. But Crawford is bad.
What may be unsolicited insight to some may come-across as a hater to others. I would also wager that there are no Hawks Fans on the Warrior’s website bad-mouthing AC Law for his past Hawks performances. If so, prove me wrong.
GeeMack
September 23rd, 2009
10:34 am
Ken,
I agree with you the Hawks are a very deep team, but so are the Celtics Cavs and Magic. As Hawks fans we have to recognize the teams ahead of us did not stand pat and what the Hawks. They improved their starting line ups as well as their bench.
Boston added Wallace and Daniels to a bench that already featured Big Baby and Eddie House. Rondo and Perkins don’t need a lot of rest they are under 25 yrs old. The Celtics top 8 player all have championship experience. I think Daniels was still with the Mavs when they made their championship run.
The Cavs added Shaq as a starter. Moon & A Parker potential reserves. More than likely Parker will start and West will go to the bench. That means your reserves are West, Moon, Big Z, Powe, Gibson. That’s a solid bench
The Magic added Vince & Bass as starter. With Gortat, Barnes, AJ, Petrius as reserves that’s a solid bench.
I think the Hawks got better adding the veteran depth & size, but so did the teams we are chasing. Those guys improved their bench and starting line up.
Andy
September 23rd, 2009
10:52 am
The Truth,
What would be the purpose of “hating” Crawford? If someone who watched him play thinks folks in Atlanta might be in for a rude awakening, what’s wrong with expressing it? I don’t think very much of Crawford either, but I also stated that with proper coaching, you might get something more than we got here, where there was no coaching.
As for Acie Law, I don’t think folks in Oakland are exactly celebrating the fact that they got him, whereas Crawford is expected to be a major part of ther Hawks’ rotation.
It’s just a basketball discussion.
Now if we were talking about Kobe Bryant and someone chimed in and said, “I wouldn’t get so excited about this guy,” then I could see your point.
The Truth
September 23rd, 2009
11:21 am
Andy
I asked that same question, what would be the purpose? I couldn’t think of an answer either. That’s why I posted my thoughts. Incidentally, I make no reference to your comment since yours appeared a bit more objective and open minded. But I will say this; just because a player performs poorly on one team doesn’t automatically means that will be his NBA history. There are too many factors to list them all here that could cause an alteration to past performances both good and bad. As I often tell my daughter when she is faced with challenges, I will not deny the right to a creative struggle. My point is, let us determine Crawford abilities for ourselves without carry-over baggage from the past.
Andy
September 23rd, 2009
11:40 am
The truth,
I agree that players can adapt, and as I referenced earlier, he was hurt by playing so many years for an Isiah Thomas run “organization” which was basically glorified streetball, though I did see some signs of coachability when Larry Brown was there.
My only point was that he’d be perfect for the Flip Murray minutes – if he’s hot, you ride him. If he’s too wild, nail him to the bench. Too much reliance might be dangerous.