Jamal Crawford = The Difference.

[Diesel]

If we can get near the 50 win plateau, it will be because of he play of Jamal Crawford adding to Joe and Josh.

Jamal is truly the difference and I hope we run through the East in the playoffs.

The question.

If we were forced to SNT Joe to Chicago for Hinrich...

Could we be as good with Jamal's Leadership?

[Dexmethylphenidate]

JJ for Hinrich? Ok... Sund should be fire if he makes this trade.

[Colin]

If we can get near the 50 win plateau, it will be because of he play of Jamal Crawford adding to Joe and Josh.

Jamal is truly the difference and I hope we run through the East in the playoffs.

The question.

If we were forced to SNT Joe to Chicago for Hinrich...

Could we be as good with Jamal's Leadership?

Nowhere near.

And I think people need to realize this. Jamal is great when he is called upon most of the time. But those of you who say that a team with Joe Johnson as it's leader will never win a championship... A team with Jamal Crawford as it's leader might not even get out of the first round.

[DJlaysitup]

Could we be as good with Jamal's Leadership?

LOL....Jamal's leadership!

Then again...that's a fairly good question. If we were to SNT JJ for a top quality PG/Center? Craw has demonstrated that he can shoot as well as JJ and also is a far better driver of the basketball. I'm not sure how old Craw is but he looks to be healthy...does he have another 4 years at this level?

Maybe we should build around Smoove/Horford/Craw.

I would love to see this team for a couple years:

Billups. Craw, Marvin/Chillz, Smoove, Horford....with Zaza and Teague

Edited March 12, 2010 by DJlaysitup

[jhay610]

There is a reason Craw has never made the playoffs prior to this year.

We could see it firsthand next year if Joe walks.

[Diesel]

There is a reason Craw has never made the playoffs prior to this year.

We could see it firsthand next year if Joe walks.

You mean the fact that he has been on losing teams for his career?

When we had 13, 26, and 30 wins... I didn't hear much talk about Joe being a loser. I think you have to consider the players surrounding any one guy as it pertains to winning. Craw's NY teams sucked. Craw's GS team was injured. Craw's Chicago team was the same team that selected Marcus Fizer. Then traded Elton Brand for Tyson Chandler. And Had Chandler, Curry, Fizer and Jay Williams as lottery picks with Bill Cartwright coaching. That's a recipe for Losing.

In NY he had 4 coaches in 4 years and a starting PG named Marbury. That team was laced in friction.

I'm not saying that we should SNT Joe. However, if it looks like we will lose Joe, we should get back something for him. All things perfect, we resign Joe for the rest of his career.

[Diesel]

JJ for Hinrich? Ok... Sund should be fire if he makes this trade.

With the cap room that Chicago has created, they can take JJ and give us back a Hinrich and probably go after Wade. I don't see it going down that way. They would be in need of a big.. but I think we have to be open to the possibility that Joe's agent possibly already has a deal in place. IN not to Chicago then Maybe Cleveland or LAL?

[drzachary]

JJ for Hinrich? Ok... Sund should be fire if he makes this trade.

HInrich as part of a package in a SNT for Joe I'd love.... straight-up, not so much.

[HawkRock1123]

Maybe it's just because he's a white guy playing for the Chicago Bulls, but I look at Hinrich and I see John Paxson/Steve Kerr: a very effective role player who thrives when on a team with a superstar (as role players tend to do).

That being said, I don't think Hinrich thrives on the Hawks. We're not that kind of team (especially if we lose JJ).

Then again, it's totally possible that I'm viewing Hinrich wrong. I can't pretend like I watch a lot of Bulls games.

Edited March 12, 2010 by HawkRock1123

[exodus]

Judging from last night i think we can assume Crawford's shoulder is ok now.

[AtLaS]

Hinrich has been an overrated player for a WHILE now. Chicago fans hate him. He's averaging 10.5 and 4.5 in 33 minutes. He's one of the most anti-clutch players in the NBA, he literally doesn't score in the 4th quarter. And he's nowhere near the defender he was. Plus he's almost 30. He's still not a PG at all.

No thanks.

[Diesel]

[DJlaysitup]

Thanks D...Crawford is an amazing offensive player. He is definitely top 50 all-time if it's for offense - perimeter shooting-wise top 25. I'd love to watch the guy just shooting around before practice.

Edited March 13, 2010 by DJlaysitup

[jhay610]

No doubt he has made the difference for us but I still don't want to see JJ walk if the thinking is that Crawford can replace him.

[HawkWeisErrr]

No doubt he has made the difference for us but I still don't want to see JJ walk if the thinking is that Crawford can replace him.

Crawford is the better scorer of the 2. Crawford is the guy you want with the ball in his hands at the buzzer. Crawford gets to the line way more than Joe. Yeah, I think Crawford could easily score 20 per game as the go to guy.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Scoring 20 ppg isn't the issue with Crawford. We know that he's talented enough to score 20 a game. It's if he could be an efficient player that scored 20 pgg, that is the question.

With JJ, gone, Crawford would be the ONLY legit threat we'd have as a long range shooter, along with Bibby. If you add Hinrich, that would give you another shooter ( although he's having the worst shooting year of his career at barely over 40% FG ).

Marvin would have to significantly elevate his game offensively for us to not feel a tremendous impact from losing JJ. One of the "luxuries" we have right now with Crawford, is that if he's cold in a game, we can take him out and go with Marvin ( as a defensive substitution ), and simply go with JJ's and Bibby's shotmaking, along with Smoove and Horford doing their thing on the interior. This is simply to prevent Crawford from completely shooting us out of a game, even if Marvin isn't an offensive upgrade.

Take away JJ, and he's going to have to take 18 - 20 shots a game. This increases the chances of having him having those real horrible shooting games like he's had in the past. He's only taken more than 20 shots in a game one time this year. So while you may see those monster scoring games like he's had in the past, you'll also see an increase in those horrible games that he's known for.

Crawford is shooting 45% FG right now. Without JJ here, I think it's no way he shoots 45%. He'd be doubled more and have more pressure on him to score the basketball.

[TransitionOffense]

God I love that video. If I could be anyone in the NBA, I would be him.

[HAWKSFAN89]

Good video, Crawford is definitely one of the most underrated players in basketball.

[niremetal]

Crawford is the better scorer of the 2. Crawford is the guy you want with the ball in his hands at the buzzer. Crawford gets to the line way more than Joe. Yeah, I think Crawford could easily score 20 per game as the go to guy.

That's funny. Because Jamal has always scored fewer points while shooting a lower percentage from the field and with a worse Ast:TO ratio while playing for worse teams. Oh, and he only cracked 20ppg once, and then just barely. And Jamal shoots a lower percentage than JJ on game-winning shots and in the clutch.

[HawkWeisErrr]

That's funny. Because Jamal has always scored fewer points while shooting a lower percentage from the field and with a worse Ast:TO ratio ]while playing for worse teams. Oh, and he only cracked 20ppg once, and then just barely. And Jamal shoots a lower percentage than JJ on game-winning shots and in the clutch.

Excellent point. This would explain the rest of your post. While playing for the same team, Jamal scores more points per minute than Joe does. Jamal plays with the 2nd team more than Joe does. Jamal is a better scorer than Joe is. Oh, and he shoots a higher percentage 3 than Joe does.

Edited March 15, 2010 by HawkWeisErrr