Crank

This is a game where you have to make sure you take advantage of matchups when they come your way . Who will the magic start at PF Barnes or Bass against Smoove Jason williams vs teague Crawford vs JJ redick Marvin vs Pietrus I think the one thing I am looking forward to is how well we rebound against this team as it will also be a good indicator for games against Clevland Boston too.

Yeah I see him starting out with 15 mpg and then having it go up or down from there depending on how well hes playing .I think first we have to remember that its only preseason and that when the regular season starts he may not get a call at all.I think he will be allowed to play more of a scoring role beside Crawford the first couple of games and if he does well Woody will give him a shot on the road trip .However if he struggles against The pacers and Wizards I think Woody increases Crawfords and Evans minutes on that road trip. Preseason to regular season for rookie scoring guards is always tricky .

But that is how Crawford has played the past few years. He tried to play the same way at GS and I posted an article about it where Nelson is basically forcing him to shoot. He hasnt been on a team in quite a while where his top priority wasnt looking to score. Even on GS with all those scorers nelson was still pushing him to shoot more . I even read something where Crawford and Corey Maggette got into argument while Crawford was playing pg because someone on the Warriors was having a great start to the game (Jackson I think) and they were getting him the ball and in control of the game and then Maggette comes in and immediately starts shooting with no regard for who was hot when he came in the game. From talking with a couple of knicks fans they say Crawford is notorious for not having his shooting stroke in the preseason but then comes out on fire when the season starts . I think Crawford really is gonna help Teague because when he's on the floor with Crawford he doesnt have to run the club as much which will take a lot of pressure off of him . This will allow Teague to get more minutes than he would normally get if Woody was dependent upon him solely running the club.

I would say this is all by design , its the best way to get Teague,Siler and a few other some quality evaluation time . I guarantee that Crawford and Joe get plenty of minutes the final 3-4 games . That is when you start putting together your rotation for the regular season. You almost never see 30+ yr old bigmen playing a ton in the preseason unless they are out of shape as well. .

Nice to hear but as Ive said before from his background this is Crawfords first team that hes been on that isnt in absolute chaos .From nutty players (Marbury and Stephen jackson) to coaches and management issues (Isiah and Nelson) . Just to be able to come in and fill in the blanks and not have the teams goals be anything other than winning games. After being in NY and GS I wouldnt be surprised if the guy cried after he found out he was traded to us . This is his chance to shutup Hollinger and a whole bunch of people and not only that work on that final contract and he doesnt have to do any of that with scoring .Thats not a bad position to be in .

Glad to hear Crawfords ready to do what it takes now lets hope for a healthy and productive camp and preseason for everyone to get the meshing underway.

This is why stat geeks should only use stats and stop trying to give actual basketball analysis Flip 24.7 mpg 12 ppg 2 apg 1 rpg 44% fg 36% 3fg all I gotta say is lol

That was just a season or so ago. Think about it do you really think that if Stack was visiting all these teams and saying he doesnt care how many minutes he plays that he is willing to work with the younger guys etc that he wouldnt have already have been locked up by a contender for the minimum ? Stack is looking for big minutes and I doubt the offseason has changed his mind . Just last year at the start of camp he was saying he wasnt a bit player and he f could still start and play big minutes so he was gonna go and find a situation to do just that . Mo is not even gonna play 20 mpg on most nights and I just dont think Stack is ready for that . If he said he was willing to accept that I would be all for adding him but hes given no indication of that. As for an extra scorer we already have picked up Crawford and I feel we need the defense and intangibles of Mo off that bench more than the scoring of Stack Crawford,MO,Joe Smith,Zaza will anchor that second unit and I havent even mentioned Teague because hes a rookie who didnt even have SL so Im in a wait and see approach with him .

because training camp starts next week and hes not signed . Hes had workouts with quite a few teams but still is not signed stackhouse unhappy with playing time I dont where you got this information that Stack knows the deal . Go ask Mavs fans and they will tell you that Stack whined to Avery Johnson for minutes and it then didnt deliver . Carlisle then took over and made Terry the sixth man and Stacks minutes were gone but it didnt matter because for the second year in a row he was plagued with nagging injuries. He is on the decline but still thinks hes has it but when you factor in his nagging injuries that he always seems to suffer . You just cant offer him big minutes and thats what he wants . I loved Stacks game and I saw someone post his scoring average from that year with the Pistons but people forget that he was considered the most selfish player in the league because of his play at the time . Hes not ready to accept the role that a 34yr old guard accepts on a young playoff team . He is not better than Marvin and he wont be satisfied with the <20 minutes or so Mo would receive.

The downside is does he still think its 2001 ? Again its all about where his head because he basically didnt play last year . If he was willing to play a role no matter how small he would be on a contender like Cleveland for the min but they know Stack has a rep when it comes to his minutes and his shots and most teams have passed.the fact that hes still out there this late in the summer should b raising all types of flags . Hes given no indication that hes ready to be a Derrick Fisher,Michael Finley or a Joe Smith and thats why hes still out there .

I like Stack but Im not sure how he would handle the dnp-cd . Is he ready to handle it ? I think that plays a big part in why no contenders have been all over him . If he is still expecting his 30 minutes a night than I would pass.

I agree totally I just thought it odd that they skipped over the higher paid players who failed them and then blame Crawford not saving their franchises. With us his role will be established and that can only help him as he doesnt have to carry us, just do his part.

But even on those teams he was never the main guy . Each of those organizations had guys that designated as the man who just never lived up to the billing . Crawford was never the main guy for GS or NY each of those teams chose players over the years that never lived upto the status they were given NY- Marbury and Eddy Curry , Steve Francis , Zach Randolph The warriors signed monta Ellis and Biedrens sp? to over 60 million ,then signed Maggette to a 5 year 50 million deal and then extended jackson . I dont think Crawford was ever regarded as the man on any of those teams he just happened to be the only guy that isnt feuding with the coach or falling to pieces. they are basically trying to give him more credit for more juice than what he had instead of just admitting to mistakes in who they chose to build around . Its like the Spurs you know they live and die with TD and you expect Parker and Manu to help Duncan but you know going in that without Duncan that either of those guys by themselves would not be able to take the team far .

I saw Marbury who was making 20 million and was the FRANCHISE player crying on youtube last week and eating vaseline . They should be paying Crawford punitive damages for playing there

Yep I loved the speech it shows exactly why he was the best . He took things that most people would be perfectly fine with and used it as motivation. I think MJ holds everyone he mentioned besides Krause in the highest regard . The average joe got a glimpse of what created MJ and they turned away shocked as they still think of the smile and the gatorade commercial. The one thing I did notice that kinda shocked me ws that he didnt mention his ex wife. She was at home with the kids taking care of the house while he was out winning titles and gave him great kids I thought he would at least say thanks . Also I think people forget that MJ's been a HOF player for over 15 years .This is the end of the road so it has to be hard being the alpha male of your generation basically in sports and seeing the book officially closed .

Pretty interesting take. One interesting tidbit that he left out from that Bulls team he had #3 why didnt he mention that team already had Brand and Artest as well. Also that Clippers team had Lamar Odom on it.

Why are so many so hung on on if Marv starts or not .I didnt say anything about him getting fewer minutes . How is Josh at SF dumb considering we start out with bigger lineup much more capable of banging with the other team starters and then we open the game up with Crawford and Marvin off the bench . This isnt only about the regular season only its about creating a solid halfcourt offense that doesnt involve only Iso Joe . The funny part is I said Zaza would play under 20 minutes so in essence no starter would be losing their minutes ,its just rearranging the lineup to help balance out the overall team . Early on basically the first month we play a ton of size I think this would be a great opportunity to slide AL to PF and check out his development on the block. We cant go into the playoffs with the same philosophy as last year and we have to be able to tryout and test different lineups while the games are for real to better prepare the team for the playoffs

Nice low flash high substance signing . I think this opens up the door for us to move Zaza back to the starting lineup Zaza Al Josh Joe Mike second unit Collins Smith Marvin Evans Crawford everyone in red I expect to play 20 mpg or less and will be in a rotation that revolves around the core 6

After Lebrons interview where he talks about loyalty to Akron I expect the Cavs to bomb and fall out of the top 3 . I just dont see how he is gonna keep his team focused when hes talking about maybe leaving. If they struggle coming out of the gate I expect a collapse . The Celts are gonna regroup Im just not sure that at this stage of their careers that the Big 3 can maintain the pace and make it through full season. All of them are 30+ and were major minute players for years its gonna start to take its toll. The Magic are gonna be good but theyve changed a lot about their team .Im always leery about teams with new found success changing their core so soon. With the moves teams in the east have made its gonna be an interesting year and I wouldnt be surprised to see a conference where not a lot of games separate teams 1-8 in the win column

I think everyone is waay too focused on Crawfords scoring . Hes a better scorer,playmaker , and player than Flip PERIOD though and there really is no comparison. However I think he will be big for us because he gives us another playmaker a guy that can create his own shot but also has the ability to create a shot for others . Every player has their strengths and weaknesses and Crawford is no different but hes been at the top of other teams scouting reports throughout his career so his role is gonna be as pseudo starter moreso than limited minute 6th man . He has a proven ability to close out games ,gets to the line in the 4th quarter a ton and can create ,take ,and make the big shot so I think he will definitely help us in close ball games. I think the bigger area of concern is the countering the slow starts when we are turning the ball over and chucking like crazy and someone manage to be down by a basket or two at the end of first. If we take better care of the ball and come out a little bit sharper we havea chance to have some nice leads which will lead to easier wins and fewer close games and more rest for the starters overall.

I chose Al although I think Crawford will deliver as expected but AL will take that next step and that we end up with 3 all stars JJ,AL ,and Crawford

contaminate the locker room ? Jamal Crawford ? Those larry brown comments are pretty telling its pretty high praise coming from him . I posted an article awhile back in which Nelson said similar things in terms of how he wanted the team to share the ball more so Crawford was passing up shots top get others involved and they ended up begging him to shoot more. I think Crawford is fine with a good team defense like Brown stresses but a team like the Warriors he would look horrible because Don nelson switches everything even guards and centers in hopes of creating that mismatch.

Im still waiting on any actual evidence that these two are all about stats . I know smoove has always been a team player although a little temperamental at times and Ive yet to find anything about Crawford that says he wasnt a team player .I even read some warriors stuff where they were surprised that when Crawford went back to-play the knicks for the first time that the knicks played a video tribute to him. he seems to be a stand up likable guy who does whatever the coaches ask. he seems to be a pretty well respected player around the league to me.

Whoever did those rankings needs to be pencil whipped . No WAY there is NO WAY that a 19 win team overtakes a 47 win team in the rankings without adding an all star or two . They question our leadership but somehow forget what happened to the Wizards the last time they made the playoffs and faced Lebron ? and the ultimate WTH is this guy thinking slap in the face to the Hawks is that a team who in their own poll they have as 29th defensive somehow overtake a team they have 13th in defense without adding one good defensive player ?

So wait why Rondo and Big bay are much better but none of the Hawks players have improved ? Why do we have to say we are gonna be that them in 6 ? why cant it be 7 ? Im sure the Cavs thought they would beat Orlando with homecourt didnt they but they lost in 6 . Its a reason why they play the games . To admit defeat before even playing game is a losers mentality . Any of the top 4 seeds can beat each other in a 7 game series it really becomes a matter of who is playing there best ball at the time the series occurs .If we are playing our best ball we can beat any of those teams . Its no different in the west with Por,La,SA,and Den any of those teams can beat each when they are playing their best ball and thats not hoping vs reality thats just the reality. You are talking as though we are an 8th seed who made it in on a tie breaker or something . Our expectations of growth are in no way abnormal and should be expected of a young team growing while making the playoffs .