dandridge 10 wrote:nate33 wrote:Wow. Lots of Crawford apologists.
Crawford was permitted to be a no-D chucker for the first year-and-a-half because we had no other options. Crawford earned heavy minutes in only two instances: last year when Young was hurt, and this year when Beal and Wall were hurt. It's hard to be a disciplinarian and bench players for playing the wrong way when there is literally nobody else to put on the floor. Wittman had to choose between permitting Crawford's no-D chucking, or going with Jannero freaking Pargo.
If you want to blame EG for not acquiring the proper amount of depth, fine. Whatever. But don't blame Wittman. He probably never wanted to permit Crawford's chucking but was forced to because of circumstances. Once we finally had the depth to discipline Crawford, he made an attempt to reel him in. Crawford reacted like a brat.
I can't believe people are defending Crawford for his shenanigans while on the bench. He's a professional athlete getting paid millions of dollars. If the coach tells you not to play, you don't play. You sit, pay attention, cheer your teammates, and stay ready for when you are called. Period.
I don't see any Crawford apologists on this board. I certainly am not defending Crawford for what he did the last game. I simply said that I understood why he was mad. He went from getting minutes every game to getting none despite really no change in the quality of his play.
And I disagree that the Wizards had no other options. The Wizards certainly had other options if they didn't want to play a "no D, chucker". They had Martin they could have played over Crawford. They could have played Webster at the 2 like they are now on occasion. Heck, if Crawford was as bad as some people are now claiming he was, then they certainly could have called up a D-leaguer for him. I mean, its not like that the Wizards should have been worried that they would be worse without Crawford. After all, as Nivek points out, the Wizards were epically bad with Crawford.
In any event, this isn't about Crawford at all. This is about the Wizards management and how they just find ways to unnecessarily devalue players they have on their roster when they don't have too. They did it with regard to Gilbert and how they handled the gun gate situation. They also did it when they listed Blatche out as "poor conditioning." I don't have a problem with the Wizards wanting to move Crawford, or any of these other players. I have a problem with the Wizards handling situations in a way that causes players to be further devalued at the same time they are trying to move them. It is just poor management.
Again, there was no reason to bench Crawford just before the trade deadline. If they wanted to move him, they should have kept playing him minutes to further bolster his value or at least show to the rest of the league that they valued him, even if they didnt. Indeed, just on January 5, you wrote the following:
"I wonder if his value is reaching the point where he might be a key component of an upcoming Cousins trade?...Crawford has definitely improved to the point where he can be a useful addition to many rosters."
Yet, instead of trying to build on that success to further bolster his value, they basically turned around and said to the rest of the NBA, "this guy is not even good enough to play on one of the worst basketball teams in the NBA." No wonder why no one was willing to give anything up for him than an injured/old expiring vets.
With that said, its not even worth my time arguing this point. I think there is already enough evidence on the table to support that the Wizards management sucks. I don't need this issue for more evidence.
Dude. You are apologizing for him.
Read what you just said. "they basically turned around and said to the rest of the NBA, "this guy is not even good enough to play on one of the worst basketball teams in the NBA." Really? So you think Randy said, well, we are finally playing the way I want the team to play and I can finally use minutes as a discipline tool to get Crawford to play defense. But you know what? We suck -- I'll just ignore our record over the last two months and give Crawford minutes he doesn't deserve.
They tried going public with their "hustle stats" showing Crawford was one of the two worst defenders on the team. Crawford ignored them. So Wittman benched him. Instead of taking it like a man, like, say, Singleton did, he has a public sulking tantrum.
I don't see Jan sulking. I don't see Singleton sulking. Singleton, Jan, Booker, and Seraphin all seem to appreciate that minutes are a privilege that have to be earned. JC doesn't. It's not like Wittman all of a sudden benched JC, without ever doing anything like that before. He benched Singleton, who took it like a man, took the message to heart and worked in practice until he earned minutes again. Next it's JC's turn to get benched.
Now at this point JC could have quietly gone to EG and asked for a trade. "I see I'm not a part of the equation here, could you try and find a place for me where I might have a chance to earn more minutes?" He could have not telegraphed his desire to be traded to all the other GMs in the league by keeping his damn jersey on. He could have behaved like a goddamn professional on the sidelines. Yes, he was benched, but before his public insubordinate behavior there was still a chance EG could have gotten something for him. Maybe only a second round pick, but damn it, SOMETHING. JC is DIRECTLY responsible for the lousy trade return EG got for him.
And this is true regardless of what else was going on behind the scenes. It doesn't really matter if he was undermining Beal or pooping in Wall's shoes or whatever. Jesus "Christ!" Crawford screwed EG and the Wizards with his idiotic public behavior, and that is 100% HIS FAULT.
Kudos to EG for not coming out publicly and saying "JC approached me and asked for a trade. While I was shopping him around, his public behavior undermined his trade value. I was only offered expiring contracts or low-value players like Fab Melo for JC because all the other GMs in the league knew I had no choice but to get rid of him. I knew I would be criticized for receiving essentially nothing in return for a player who averaged almost 20 points a game in December, but I decided it would be better for our team to resolve the situation sooner rather than later." I would guess that he at least said something like this to Ted and that making the trade was a decision they made together.
I've been taught all my life to value service to the weak and powerless.
