Jordan Crawford

[DCZards]

he'll get better if he figures out his limitations and narrows his repertoire. he's trying to do too much out there. but the kid is talented, and he works hard.

+1

I want to choke Jordan everytime he immediately chucks up one of those shots he has no business taking as soon as the ball touches his hands...and then he hits 2-3 shots in a row (often at crunch time) and you realize the kid can shoot and you might want to have a little patience and see if he figures it out, especially once the Zards surround him and Wall with more options, like better shooters.

[payitforward]

What chance does Jordan Crawford have to be good?

At Xavier, as a Hawk, and in his 2 seasons w/ the Wizards, he's averaged the same number of FGAs per 40 minutes. I don't think this is situational; I think it's how he sees the game; surely this is the biggest problem w/ Crawford.

Now, at Xavier, his TS% was .57 -- that's extremely good for a guard. It wasn't a stretch to draft him #28, as the Hawks did. And it wasn't a stretch to target him in the trade w/ Atlanta. His numbers there weren't good, but he only played 160 minutes, so the sample size was too small for the numbers to mean anything. Unfortunately, the numbers stayed bad with us.

Here's the (somewhat) good news: he did improve from year 1 to year 2, and in the last 1/3 of year 2, he put up significantly his best numbers as a pro. Not to say they were "good" or even "average" -- but a lot better all the same.

That trajectory has to continue for him to work out in this league, even as a backup SG. Jordan is below average for a 2 guard in both 2pt% and 3pt%, yet he takes 39% more shots than an average 2 guard in the same minutes. That's a lot of missed shots! most of which are rebounded by the other team. And he's also below average as a rebounding guard and turns it over more than average for a 2 guard.

In other words, Crawford's activities on offense usually result in the ball going over to the other team. And he has to improve in multiple areas to change that. It's a challenge, and I'm not confident.

But at least the trajectory is in a good direction -- that's where hope has to lie -- but it hasn't been a steep trajectory, and it'll have to accelerate or else continue for longer than it's reasonable to hope. He'll be 24 in 3 weeks; most players start to peak at that age, and I can't think of any guards who improved much past 26.

I'd trade him in a minute. For a round 2 pick. And if I couldn't find a trade, and unless "the trajectory" continues this year, I wouldn't pick up his option.

[tontoz]

I think some people might have written his obituary too soon. He did improve in his second season even though it was a lockout year with a compressed schedule.

It is certainly possible that he will never be anything more than a relentless, inefficient chucker. But i think it is too early to make that call.

[Higga]

Absolute best case scenario for him is that he develops into a decent 6th man. But it likely won't be here. He shoots us out of games more often then he keeps us in them. I hope Beal replaces him as starter sooner rather than later.

[LyricalRico]

With Wall sidelined for eight weeks with a stress injury in his left patella, last year’s leading scorer, Nick Young, playing elsewhere and starting center Nene out indefinitely with plantar fasciitis, the Wizards figure to lean on Crawford for scoring, particularly in the early portion of the season.

He’s taken that responsibility to heart in the first few days of training camp at George Mason University, so much so that Coach Randy Wittman made sure to mention how much the third-year player has stood out in practice.

“It’s the three best in a row [from Crawford] that I’ve ever seen,” Wittman said. “So that’s a testament to him. Like I said, he had I think probably one of the better summers of anyone on our team in terms of his growth and understanding of me and the things that he’s going to have to do to take that next step.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wiz ... t-in-camp/

Sounds like he's off to a good start. Let's see what happens.

[nate33]

With Wall sidelined for eight weeks with a stress injury in his left patella, last year’s leading scorer, Nick Young, playing elsewhere and starting center Nene out indefinitely with plantar fasciitis, the Wizards figure to lean on Crawford for scoring, particularly in the early portion of the season.

He’s taken that responsibility to heart in the first few days of training camp at George Mason University, so much so that Coach Randy Wittman made sure to mention how much the third-year player has stood out in practice.

“It’s the three best in a row [from Crawford] that I’ve ever seen,” Wittman said. “So that’s a testament to him. Like I said, he had I think probably one of the better summers of anyone on our team in terms of his growth and understanding of me and the things that he’s going to have to do to take that next step.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wiz ... t-in-camp/

Sounds like he's off to a good start. Let's see what happens.

This is troubling. A confident Crawford is a disaster waiting to happen. Wittman needs to say stuff like: "his offensive game looks improved but he's got to improve his shot selection if he is ever going to make something of himself in this league".

[MJG]

I have no hope whatsoever that Crawford will ever be a good player, and I suspect he'll never even be a useful utility player for us. It's not so much an ability issue as it is a mindset issue. He thinks that he's a superstar talent, but he's not, and guys like tend to do more harm than good for you. I'm fine with dealing him for whatever we can get, or just letting him go next summer.

[popper]

I don't want to deal Crawford yet. If he starts chucking again Wittman will bench him. If he doesn't return from the bench with a renewed respect for shot selection then he will be a lost cause at that point. Give him another chance - he's on a cheap contract.

[dandridge 10]

I think some people might have written his obituary too soon. He did improve in his second season even though it was a lockout year with a compressed schedule.

It is certainly possible that he will never be anything more than a relentless, inefficient chucker. But i think it is too early to make that call.

Agreed. I can't believe so many people are willing to give up on Crawford so soon, when so many other people were willing to give guys like Young, Blatche, McGee multiple years to prove themselves. He is still very young. His main problem is his mental approach to the game not necessarily his skill set. With the right coach, that is easier to change. I'm not saying Crawford will be a superstar, but he does have the potential to be a useful player and he's not breaking the bank or likely to be a distraction in the locker room. I'd rather be patient with an ultra competitive confident guy like Crawford, than be patient with goofballs like Young, Blatche or McGee. If Crawford continues jacking shots this season, its the coach's responsibility to rein him in. If it can't be done, sit him and then dump him. To me, keeping him on this roster, at least this season, is a high reward, low risk type of move.

[hands11]

bump

Clean up on isle five.

[DCZards]

This is troubling. A confident Crawford is a disaster waiting to happen. Wittman needs to say stuff like: "his offensive game looks improved but he's got to improve his shot selection if he is ever going to make something of himself in this league".

I have no doubt that Witt gets on Crawford about his shot selection. He doesn't need to do it publicly. Count me among those who continue to believe in Crawford's potential as a player. I still like his toughness and willingness to take (and often make) the clutch shot. I'm banking on Jordan maturing as a player and person, and being an important part of the Zards future.

[nate33]

Guards rarely improve their shooting percentage by much once they get to the league. I think Crawford can improve as a player by avoiding so many bad shots, but even if you eliminate his bad shots, he's still only a marginal player.

If Crawford ever becomes anything more than a volume scorer with below average efficiency, I'd be shocked. That's not to say he has no role in this league. A modestly below-average scorer can help a bad team. I don't think he can help a good team though.

[payitforward]

Guards rarely improve their shooting percentage by much once they get to the league. I think Crawford can improve as a player by avoiding so many bad shots, but even if you eliminate his bad shots, he's still only a marginal player.

If Crawford ever becomes anything more than a volume scorer with below average efficiency, I'd be shocked. That's not to say he has no role in this league. A modestly below-average scorer can help a bad team. I don't think he can help a good team though.

Nate -- the observation about FG%? Is that an impression thing, or did you research it? I would guess you are right, but it'd be interesting to know more about this empirically.

Yup, a bad player can help a bad team -- if the team's other players are even worse!

But you can (or should be able to!) improve a bad team much more quickly than you can improve a bad player.* So, as the Wizards improve, Crawford is likely to become more of a problem not less. Even if he improves some.

You have to apply the same perspective to Wittman's remark about Crawford's 3 good practices. How bad were his practices last year I wonder?


*One way to make a bad team better quickly? Replace its bad players with good players. Actually, that's not "one way," it's the only way!

[tontoz]

In his rookie year i thought Jordan was a chucker who couldn't shoot. Now i still think he is a huge chucker but i am not so sure about him being unable to shoot.

He shot 39% from 16-23 feet which is below average obviously but if you make a "degree of difficulty" adjustment it isn't bad at all. He took some really tough shots in that range. He also took a lot of forced 3s which really hurt his efficiency.

If he ever reigns in his shot selection i think he could be an effective scorer off the bench. That is a Shaq sized if though.

[Knighthonor]

I get the feeling many Wizards fans underrate this guy.

many dont seem to give him the same chance as John Wall, yet he the leading scorer.

lol.

again I say this, but I get the Feeling that Crawford is like a Gilbert on the Warriors,,,, ironic I know... lol

trade him away and watch a star become born...

[montestewart]

again I say this, but I get the Feeling that Crawford is like a Gilbert on the Warriors,,,, ironic I know... lol

trade him away and watch a star become born...

Gilbert Arenas? C'mon! Compare those two through two seasons:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... 01&y2=2003
I really wouldn't lose any sleep over the possibility of that outcome.

[nate33]

Guards rarely improve their shooting percentage by much once they get to the league. I think Crawford can improve as a player by avoiding so many bad shots, but even if you eliminate his bad shots, he's still only a marginal player.

If Crawford ever becomes anything more than a volume scorer with below average efficiency, I'd be shocked. That's not to say he has no role in this league. A modestly below-average scorer can help a bad team. I don't think he can help a good team though.

Nate -- the observation about FG%? Is that an impression thing, or did you research it? I would guess you are right, but it'd be interesting to know more about this empirically.

Yup, a bad player can help a bad team -- if the team's other players are even worse!

But you can (or should be able to!) improve a bad team much more quickly than you can improve a bad player.* So, as the Wizards improve, Crawford is likely to become more of a problem not less. Even if he improves some.

You have to apply the same perspective to Wittman's remark about Crawford's 3 good practices. How bad were his practices last year I wonder?


*One way to make a bad team better quickly? Replace its bad players with good players. Actually, that's not "one way," it's the only way!

Just an impression thing. The way I see things, guards have been guards all their lives. If they haven't yet learned to shoot, it probably won't happen. Big men (and many NBA small forwards) probably played exclusively in the paint for most of their high school and college years. Learning to knock down a jumper hasn't been a priority for them. It seems plausible that they could improve their perimeter shot by adjusting their priorities when they train.

[REDardWIZskin]

"He's made a concentrated effort to get to that next step so far, there is no question about it," Wittman said. "It's been a positive seeing what he's done. Now he just has to continue to grow. He's going to have nights of frustration. How he handles that, does he regress back or does he move forward... He's been a real positive this camp."

This is about where I am on JC. I don't get how people around here are so apologetic for Wall and so harsh on JC when they went through the same situations for the most part. Neither have had what you would call a "normal" first two seasons in the league so its really doesn't make sense to make predictions about their careers based on the type of teams we have produced the last two seasons. I'm willing to wait this season and see how he is able to adjust to what appears to finally be SOME structure in the Coaching staff as well as with the roster.

[DCZards]

Neither have had what you would call a "normal" first two seasons in the league so its really doesn't make sense to make predictions about their careers based on the type of teams we have produced the last two seasons. I'm willing to wait this season and see how he is able to adjust to what appears to finally be SOME structure in the Coaching staff as well as with the roster.

Totally agree. For better or worse, Crawford was one of the Wizards best offensive weapons last season. There were games last season when I WANTED him to take the shot. Who else were we going to get perimeter shooting from...Wall, C. Singleton? Let's wait and see how Jordan plays now that there are other shooters like Beal, Webster and Pargo on the roster.

[Nivek]

Crawford was one of the Wizards best offensive weapons last season.

No, Crawford was actually among the team's worst offensive weapons last season. The team would have been better off dramatically reducing his shot attempts and distributing those shots to...well...just about anyone else on the floor.

Last season, the Wiz had 16 players get at least 250 minutes. Crawford was #1 in possession usage, 13th in offensive rating, 11th in efg, and 12th in TS%. He was a big reason the Wiz offense was as bad as it was (25th last season).

Now, if you want to argue that Crawford is going to improve this season...cool. He might. Heck, I'm rooting for him to get better. I like his competitiveness and his effort. I'd LOVE for him to be a high-quality player in Washington for the next decade. But, he wasn't a good offensive weapon last season -- even for a team as offensively inept as the Wizards. He was bad, and his poor play on the offensive end hurt the team.