Atlanta Hawks: Rookie Jordan Crawford can score but . . .
JC2 scored at Xavier and he's scoring in the NBA presason. (John Biever/SI)
The preseason has shown that Hawks rookie Jordan Crawford is, as advertised, a scorer.
After three games, he’s fourth in the league with 21 points per game and the leading scorer among rookies. Yeah, he’s playing crazy minutes–break it down per 48 minutes and he drops down to 64th in preseason scoring– but he’s shooting 48 percent.
That’s nothing but good news for the Hawks, who need to develop young players for a time when their “core” philosophy runs its course. But it’s not so valuable now because of the way Atlanta’s roster is built. As it stands, Crawford actually would be more valuable to the Hawks if he were a stopper rather than a scorer (and better still if he were three inches taller and played small forward).
The Hawks don’t lack for guards who can score. J.J. is an All-Star scorer. Jamal is a Sixth Man Award scorer. Bibby isn’t a dynamic scorer but spot him up at the 3-point line and he will score.
The way Crawford could differentiate himself from those players is to become an effective defender. Then he would have a specific role off the bench this season with the Hawks not losing anything offensively and maybe even realizing a net gain.
That’s going to take some time.
“My challenge with him is defensively,” L.D. said. “He needs to take more of a challenge. Every rookie that comes in the league, that is where they have to establish themselves first so they can send out the message that they are not going to be a liability on the defensive end. He can score the ball. We all know we can do that.”
JC2 already has gotten a taste of what it’s like to defend the perimeter in the NBA. He’s banged against hard screens set by big men while chasing the likes of O.J. Mayo, Rip Hamilton, Ben Gordon, Nick Young, and Kirk Hinrich.
The constant motion and contact is a physical challenge.
“More importantly, good defensive players anticipate the action before it happens,” L.D. said. “His tendency if he is away from the ball is to relax. He has to get better at being ready to defend. If I am watching our last two games, if I’m the opponent, that would be a glaring thing I would see right off the bat. His tendency on the weak side is to relax, therefore he becomes an easy target to screen.
“What I am trying to work with him on is, first of all, the mindset. You can’t relax on defense. Your mindset has to be to defend for 18, 19, 20 seconds. The minute you relax, you get popped with a screen and now the separation takes place and now you are scrambling.”
L.D. showed JC2 clips of times that’s happened to him in the preseason and he said the rookie was receptive. For Crawford to get better on defense, L.D. said “the instincts have to kick in and the basketball savvy has to kick in” but he also has to see situations more often so he can anticipate them.
As an example, L.D. said a point guard should know that when his man dribbles to the wing, there’s a high probability the play is a pick-and-roll. The defender should be prepared to execute his defensive coverage before the play happens but (understandably) JC2 isn’t to that point yet.
“I kid around with him and tell him at Xavier they just wanted him to score and defense became secondary,” L.D. said. “Whereas here it’s got to be the flip side. He has got to be thinking defense. I know he can score. He’s got to get better defensively.”
Injury report
Bibby (back) didn’t practice today and is questionable to play tomorrow vs. the Hornets. Teague is out. Jamal, Twin, Mo and Marvin all practiced and are expected to play. Al said his ankle is getting stronger and he plans to play more minutes . . .
Word is the return of more regulars has meant spirited practices the last two days. The second team won today’s scrimmage 18-6 with Jamal leading the way.
“Intense,” Al said. “The two best practices this year, really. Guys are really getting after it. It’s been getting heated out there but that’s what it’s all about. That is showing signs of us getting better and caring, and that’s encouraging to me.” . . .
No news on extension negotiations between Al’s reps and the Hawks.
“We are still talking to the team,” he said. “I just hope it gets done.”
They’ve got until Nov. 1.
MC
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187 comments Add your comment
Big Ray
October 16th, 2010
9:46 pm
But what is with our free throw shooting? I think Mark Price has a collection of voodoo dolls, and all of them are wearing Hawks jerseys…
Ramon
October 16th, 2010
9:48 pm
Big Ray, I don’t think Hornets could win an NCAA March Madness tournament without Chris Paul, lol. And I’m being serious.
Truth se rum
October 16th, 2010
9:52 pm
Teague suck JC 2 is a better point guard than teague will ever be.
Truth se rum
October 16th, 2010
9:54 pm
“He seems to get as many fouls as he does rebound” reminds me of Horford
KevinM
October 16th, 2010
9:54 pm
79-70-Hawks with 2 min left…looks like they are going to get rid of the goose egg. They needed a win.
Marvin sounds like he had a all around game tonight…..the starters look like they needed major minutes together.
Still a thin bench at this point…..lots of banged up players.
westga
October 16th, 2010
9:55 pm
I wonder who the color guy is for NO radio?
KevinM
October 16th, 2010
9:57 pm
I agree, that J Crawford and J Crawford box score thing is going to be annoying if someone doesn’t correct this.
Is it me or is our backup SF going to be Joe? Looks like he and Al are interchanging tonight.
Big Ray
October 16th, 2010
10:01 pm
I see Big Al and J Powell picked it up some on the glass, making it more of a competition in rebounding. Still, we’re lacking in that area.
And, we closed the game out.
Truth se rum
October 16th, 2010
10:02 pm
Bulls are impressive l, the pundits have them ahead of us in the
Power Rankings
Seems like the experts are more often right than wrong. The hawks were really a middle of the pack team that woody took to the next level. They did nothing to get better over the summer and lost ground in coaching, center and the point guard position. The only area they improved in was a slight improvement from the bench. The experts are right. This team will do well to win 44-47 games.
Fire Sund. Hawks went backwards!
O'Brien
October 16th, 2010
10:03 pm
Ramon,
I suggested the Hawks get Chris Douglas Roberts from the Nets to be our backup SF. And I would be ok with Terrence Williams too.
Big Ray,
I hope we wont have to hear about Josh Powell dumping pop-corn in JC2’s ride.
Big Ray
October 16th, 2010
10:05 pm
Kevin M ,
They’ll probably change the box score to Jo.Crawford and Ja.Crawford at some point. Heh…besides, it won’t be a problem for long. Jamal will be the guy with more playing time, assuming he remains a Hawk.
KevinM
October 16th, 2010
10:05 pm
Very interesting, win by 10 despite missing 11 FTs and only 20 of 84 points in the paint tonight.
Looks like Powell finished the game with the starters…..was JC1 or JC2 in the lineup at the end?
Big Ray
October 16th, 2010
10:08 pm
O’brien ,
I’d have taken either one, but we moved slow (or not at all) on that front, as we did on many others. Bucks got CDR, and the Nets aren’t likely to part with Terrence Williams. He’s a young draft pick, and they like his talent.
Lol…Powell doesn’t strike me as a trickster.
KevinM
October 16th, 2010
10:08 pm
Chicago playing tonight on the end of a back to back…..they could have won that Dallas game last night…the starters for Dallas were getting big minutes and DRose played throughout.
Big Ray, that makes sense, but you would think it was in place already? Looking at the play by play stats, you see Crawford with a missed shot….that’s even more vague.
Big Ray
October 16th, 2010
10:09 pm
Kevin M ,
Hold your cursor/pointer over the name in the boxscore, and the full name comes up at the bottom of the screen, where the web page is described. That’s how you tell who is who.
KevinM
October 16th, 2010
10:11 pm
Big Ray, to the rescue!! Kudos, but it doesn’t work on the play-by-play tab.
KevinM
October 16th, 2010
10:13 pm
Ken, I saw your prediction for the Hawks to end up 3rd in the East.
I gotta know who you see being left as the 4 seed…….I got the Hawks possibly being 3rd in their own division, so that won’t get them the 3 seed.
Big Ray
October 16th, 2010
10:15 pm
Kevin ,
I guess it’s because they figure it’s preseason, so they’re being lazy. Who knows.
Bulls look like crap. Yeah, they could have beaten that schizophrenic Mavs squad, but without Boozer and Gibson, they aren’t going to get anything done. Gibson will be back soon, but Boozer is out for a while. They aren’t going anywhere without a decent front line, and the front line they had last year wasn’t enough to do much against us, so nothing changes without Boozer. Even then, Boozer hasn’t consistently done well against Josh Smith.
Big Ray
October 16th, 2010
10:16 pm
LOL…sorry bro’…NBA.com is lazy like that sometimes. Like when they don’t always have the video highlights up, or their in-game boxscore doesn’t keep up. Maybe it’s a software problem, but methinks the monkeys in the tech room are the issue.
Big Ray
October 16th, 2010
10:19 pm
I’m out…catch y’all later…
KevinM
October 16th, 2010
10:21 pm
Ray, while Chicago might not have a strong backline, and very similar to ours, They have an advantage at PG at this point. They will need Korver to have his best pro year though.
I don’t necessarily annoint Chicago as a big threat to a higher playoff slot than us, but they easily could split the games we play with them…they are not without talent on that team.
O'Brien
October 16th, 2010
10:29 pm
Ray,
And the bad part is the Bucks got CDR for a second round pick.
I know the Hawks have injured players, but once again, they struggle at the FT line. 23-34 (68% tonight).
I will also look up their 3pt FG% so far this season, and I am guessing it is not going to be good.
Grandad
October 16th, 2010
10:49 pm
As for who gets how many touches;
the defense kind of dictates that a bit.
The offense is reading whose open & not
calling plays for predetermined players.
truthspitter
October 16th, 2010
11:19 pm
Happy to see a win tonite but Paul and Ariza played 12 minutes and Okafor and David West did not play. On the other hand, we played our starters all over half of the game and still only won by 10 and turned the ball over 16 times. Not so encouraging if you look in depth.
kwooden1
October 16th, 2010
11:31 pm
Its good to get a win, and good to see some defensive, but Orlando’s coming Monday. I think Monday’s game is one we should try and win. Either Powell, Etan or Collins needs to get a tech. fouling Howard. We need to send a message that we’re not scared or even intimidated. I hope Teague is ready to go, because were going to need his speed.
Grandad
October 16th, 2010
11:45 pm
The win tonight should foster some positive appraisal
and perhaps galvanize the blog in some measure.
There will always be naysayers but:
38% from the field, 13% from 3, and 74 points, by N.O.
was impressive def.
Even w/o two key players [N.O.], we still had to defend someone.
Surely the half empty folks can @ least see improvement.
drmaryb (*_*)
October 17th, 2010
1:25 am
Ripped Van Winkle!
Just saw Marvin’s game photo on Hawks website.
Man, Marvin looks ripped up! Chest and Arms looks very lean.
I guess with age, he is filling out his huge frame and is looking
stronger. Wow! I hope he stays away from cheesburgers and
fries, because at SF, Marvin should be unstoppable size-wise.
No one league wide should be able to match him up, not even
an older Lamar Odom. We still got to get by Bynum (when
healthy and the finesse guy Gasol.
Buþ, I really hope Marvin finds his inner-dog and make it fight
hard this season. Joe Johnson stated he loves playing with
Marvin after tonight’s game.
Let’s Go Marvin Gaye Williams!
I think that’s his middle name? He was named after the singer?
lewis
October 17th, 2010
2:20 am
i listened to the game while watching dallas/la on nbatv. didn’t sound great. their commentators were like, “holy shi*, their spacing on the fast break looks horrific. no passing lanes whatsoever. hope the hawks get that taken care of for their sake before the season starts”
Is bibby really starting to get on anyone else’s nerves? I’d rather see Jamal or Jordan start at PG Bibby is a complete failure @ defense.
I’ve never missed Marvin so much. I hate his attitude at times but you can’t lie, he’s a solid defender and good FT shooter an seems to be maturing a bit.
Joe Johnson looks great, nothing to worry about there hope he stays injury free.
Wished something was televised so I could tell if Powell was decent, can’t make up my mind about him. With Collins injuerd and Etan kinda sucky, it looks like we have 2 useless players again who won’t be stopping Dwight.
Zaza is doing well. His play is dependent on those around him for the most part. He seems to be in good shape tho and motivated.
Mo Evans, Zaza, Jamal, Powell, Whos the SF off the bench?
lewis
October 17th, 2010
2:54 am
*Denver
Truth se rum
October 17th, 2010
9:43 am
As for who gets how many touches;
the defense kind of dictates that a bit.
The offense is reading whose open & not
calling plays for predetermined players.
and they are still losing regularly because nothing was done to address problem areas of the Hawks. LMAO!
This team marginally makes the play offs and is done in the 1st round. Trade sund to any of the 3 or 4 teams in our “division” who are better than us, so the can Fk them up like he did this team!
Lottery in 3!
Truth se rum
October 17th, 2010
9:48 am
Trade sund to any of the 3 or 4 teams in our “division” who are better than us, so that he can Fk them up like he did this team!
Theres is less and less excitement about the Hawks because Its clear that they arent as good as last years team and Woody lite is showing why he was a assistant and understudy to the real Woody. It tired of rooting for scrubs. Poot butts, wantabees
Go LAKERS!!
Dezz nuttz
October 17th, 2010
9:50 am
galvanize and measure Dezz Nuttz!
i_am_soulstar
October 17th, 2010
1:16 pm
“This is a huge season for me personally, huge. Every other guy on this team has had that season where it all comes together and they take that proverbial next step. I think my time is now.”
—F Marvin Williams, on his grand expectations for this season.
drmaryb (*_*)
October 17th, 2010
3:01 pm
Now is The Time!
I_am_soulstar … Great Job! On finding that qoute.
That’s what we fans need to hear from Marvin.
He is what, 24 years old now? His physique looks impeccable
this year. Looks like Marvin ate his: MJ – Wheaties!
Let’s Go Marvin!
Grandad
October 17th, 2010
5:21 pm
I’m fixin’ to open another can o’ worms.
Here we are ten days until opening of the season.
(I understand this is a blog)
AJC, no write-up on N.O. game. It’s pre-season you say!
Okay, If it were spring training or exhibition fb,
would that matter?
Perhaps it was in the [paper] paper, which I cancelled
for obvious reasons.
Is it any wonder why the Hawks are a stepchild in Atl.
Heaven forbid I criticize Mr. Cunningham.
We on the blog should be so happy for the scraps that he
throws us that we only throw bouquets in his direction.
Yet he’s still the beat writer…no story that I can find.
Oh yeah, they played on the weekend.(as did the Falcons today)
Someone said, well “he’e better than Mb & JS the columnnists”.
I agree, in that cobwebs are growing on their columns.
Still, what a comparison.
Well it’s fb season.
I say it was baseball season when everyone (AJC) was covering
the Falcons, Dawgs, & Tech [fb practice] in August.
Someone else said; “It’s the same in other cities”.
No, that is not true.
I’ve been in Washington DC, Dallas, Indy, and even Nashville
and seen better coverage from their newspapers than the AJC.
Once again it’s no wonder the Hawks don’t draw.
“Indy Star” covers HS basketball better than AJC covers the Hawks.
Who knows, MC may be writing movie reviews, covering HS fb,
and ghost writing for the Georgia Tech “WarCraft” team IDK.
He may be so busy @ the short staffed AJC that we are lucky
to even have a beat writer.
All I know is, It’s Basketball Season !
And by the way, where the heck is Pape Sy?
Do we need to call the “Macon Telegraph”
& have them send a reporter in to check on PS?
Well it’s been nice knowin’ yawl.
They’ll probably send me off with the “Hatter” now.
G-dad.
i_am_soulstar
October 17th, 2010
6:48 pm
yeah Dr Mary B,
It’s just good to hear him have that kind of attitude this season. I feel like Josh was talking the same way at the beginning of last season. Of course, I’ll reserve judgment until he shows and proves. But still, great to hear that come out of Marvin’s mouth.
Tune-ups and Statements | Atlanta Hawks: Fan Nest
October 18th, 2010
7:32 pm
[...] how contract extension negotiations go for center Al Horford. Hawks beat writer currently reports no movement, but there is time yet. There isn’t much else to be heard on the subject, other than opinion. [...]