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J-Craw Returns

by Tommy Dee on November 11th, 2009 at 7:58 pm

Jamal Crawford. Nice guy, low IQ basketball player. Flashy, and skilled, but weak and flawed.

That said, I always thought he’d be a good bench guard for 25 minutes per, sometimes more. But as far as looking back on his tenure, Zags caught up with him and here’s his take on the current Knicks and 2010:

“…NEW YORK — Jamal Crawford says the Knicks would have made the playoffs last season had he not been traded to clear salary cap space.

“Yes, we would’ve made the playoffs last year. I think 37, 38 wins is the playoffs last year. We would’ve got there,” Crawford said Wednesday before his Atlanta Hawks met the Knicks at MSG.

The Knicks haven’t made the playoffs since the 2003-04 season.

Crawford was traded Nov. 18 to Golden State for Al Harrington and subsequently dealt to Atlanta in a draft-day deal.

“It was the best start in the last 10 years for the Knicks,” he said of last year’s 6-3 start. “My only regret was that I was here through the roughest times. I just wanted to be hear when things turned around. And that was the thing that bothered me the most.”

Crawford is in touch with LeBron James and said it will be “tough” for a guy like James or Dwyane Wade to choose the Knicks next summer via free agency if the Knicks continue to struggle.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t say they [the Knicks] have to make the playoffs. They just have to compete. Both those guys are on really good teams right now so who knows what the future holds?”  Crawford said. “It would be tough for them to leave that.” More.
  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    crawford’s rite
    i’m pretty sure the knicks would of ended up 1 2 games over 500 or rite at 500
    him an zach would of teared it up.
    as for 2010 plan money talks 9times outta 10 so we will see
    4get all that he say she say..

    as for tonites game if they win with that line up an rotation don’t fix it if it’s not broke…

  • jaknicksfan

    I don’t really care much about Crawford. T.doug is really playing Good tonight and Hughes also they should start in the backcourt for us. Duhon is brutal and needs to be benched. That shot at the end of 1st half was idiotic. Well let’s win this game we are finally up at the half. Let’s Go Knicks!!!!

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    if darko got some minutes horford wouldn’t be doing what he is doing..

  • Mucha

    What a great 3rd quarter.

  • Mucha

    Harrington and Duhon need to sit on the bench. Duhon is unbelievably useless on both ends of the floor, it’s pathetic.

    Douglas
    Hughes
    Gallinari
    Lee/Chandler
    Milicic/Jeffries

  • jaknicksfan

    Its Crazy why did they trade for Darko? He soesnt play and he wouldve helped us tonight even Hill mightve helped against Horford and Gallo just doesn’t get shots at all. And Duhon shouldn’t even play on this team anymore he’s a disgrace. Hopefully the 4th is better.

  • Mucha

    We’ll have to trade 10 unprotected first-round draft picks to dump Jared Jeffries.

  • dino2008

    why dont wait play Jordan Hill? We are horrible, yet our 8th pick doesnt play. there is something wrong

  • HaS

    1-8.

  • Mucha

    The Knicks are the laughing stock of the NBA.

    Jeffries, Harrington and then Gallinari… the 4th quarter is a joke.

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    AGREE

  • bartnyk

    CD must be embarrassed to get beat out by a rookie for the starting job.

  • Mucha

    One word : Knicks.

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    all i’m going to do now i give props to the player that plays the best everynite

    so DOUG GETS props for the second straight game

    keep doing your THING DOUG

    it is what it is…

  • jaknicksfan

    Your Not Kidding, Jeffries is garbage. And Harrington and Duhon need to go also. And Jordan Hill Needs to play its obvious this team is Terrible Start Hill, Chandler, Gallo, Douglas and Hughes. Bring Darko and Lee off the bench and if I never See Duhon or Jeffries again it will be Too Soon!

  • dino2008

    darko is 10 times better than jj, yet darko continues to ride the bench and jeffries plays? WHY! playing jared is only making his value go down because teams r continuing to see that hes one of the top 5 worst players in the league.

  • dino2008

    why al? the problem is that al harrington shouldnt be a go to guy… thats not the type of player he is, he isnt good enough. its not als fault that this is a young and developing team. al harrington is a 6th man, thats all he is…. i dont think al is 2 blame here. yeah he does bone head things sometimes, but thats always been al. why would anyone expect him to change? hes been in the league for quite a while. with the exception of hill, gallinari, chandler, and douglas this team is horrendous.

  • dino2008

    wow, al harrington needs to stop getting the blame. he is what he is….. you cant expect al to become a star because this team sucks. al harrington is a nice 6th man folks…. he isnt a go to guy on any other team. lets be realistic here, this team is young and developing and we arent going to win 30 games.

  • dino2008

    hes out of shape and sucks…….. what the hell does he expect. wow im fuming right now. how the hell do u go 1-8… the nets at 0 and 8 are ATLEAST PUTTING UP A FIGHT EVERY NIGHT WITHOUT HARRIS AND CDR. why do we continue to get blown out…. this game was over after the 3rd quarter. absolute disgrace that this crap team plays in the mecca… disgrace to the ground that guys like ewing, starks, oakley, houston, and spreewell played on. this team is only tolerable to watch because of douglas and gallinari. thank god for rooster.

  • dino2008

    meant to say but the nets r

  • Mucha

    Tripucka’s totally right, the Knicks found a way to blow a comfortable lead at the end of the second quarter ONCE AGAIN and that was the turning point. Chris Duhon is really the worst starting point guard in the NBA, he’s just terrible.

  • dino2008

    he is not a starter anymore, thank god. he shouldnt even be a bench player. get him out of here. i would rather see some kid from d league play anyone besides this moron. if you r going to TALK ATLEAST PRODUCE RESULTS! DUHON is horrible, absolutly horrible. i said all offseason he was out of shape and people told me that anyone would break done if they played as many minutes as he did. now everyone sees what a pathetic piece of crap he was. he knew we needed him to play big this year, and he clearly did not do any work in the off season.

  • Mucha

    Tripucka’s totally right, the Knicks found a way to blow a comfortable lead at the end of the second quarter ONCE AGAIN and that was the turning point. Chris Duhon is really the worst starting point guard in the NBA, he’s just terrible – seriously he’d wouldn’t even start for the Liberty.

    Toney Douglas had a great game though, he’s really playing well.

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    DOUG is more of a go to guy than AL

  • Mucha

    ROTFL thank God we’re not alone (Nets, Wolves, Grizzlies).

  • dino2008

    thats not als fault. we shouldnt be THAT BAD that he has to be one of the go to guys. he is a sixth man.

  • dino2008

    i wish we were in the same position the nets are. they will be probably land a top 5 pick, have money for a max fa or even 2 have an all star pg, an all star center this year, a nice sg……… the nets r going in the right direction.

  • Mucha

    I agree but why shouldn’t we blame Al Harrington?

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    danni boy needs to start experimenting
    with line ups an rotation

    give DARKO an HILL or even landry some burn they can’t be as bad as JEFFRIES OR DUHON

  • dino2008

    i love how this blog talked about jeffries and his NEW SHOT…. where the hell is it? Honestly, this blog constantly gets my hopes up and the reality is that this team is HORRIBLE. we SUCK! Our only hope is that curry comes back and some dumb team, like the mavs will take him for expiring players. Not calling out the blog, hahn was saying the same thing as was everyone i love this blog great work tommy always.

  • itzyung1

    Ok since the Nets are playing worse than us. I say we trade for Devin Harris allowing the Nets to draft John Wall.
    Give them Lee and Chandler.

  • dino2008

    you cant just blame one guy. a team doesnt go 1-8 because of one guy. this is a collective lackadasical effort that is offered by most players on a consistent basis. al harrington has not played well, but he sure as hell aint the only one. the coaching staff, donnie, and most of the players need 2 be blamed. it isnt right to blame al harrington who at least plays with heart and fire, although he is a bonehead, but he has always been a bone head….. why would he change?

  • Mucha

    Well it means that Jeffries couldn’t hit open shots in practice before the summer.

    Practice perfomances are misleading, even Thabeet was hitting mid-range jumpers in a pre-draft video.

  • bartnyk

    The Only reason the Knicks are looked at in such a bad light by the League is because everyone knows how good we can be its gonna get better soon.

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    your rite

  • dino2008

    good call mucha. sorry i am just frustrated.

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    that’s what i tell people 4get what u see in practice the only way to findout what a player can be or become is to play them in real time action against other teams..

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    some side notes

    how about B.JENNINGS 32 an 9 in a W
    now his bucks are 4-2

  • CircleLimit4

    Honestly, I was expecting the whole game to be more like the second half so I’m not 100% displeased. They were still playing a lot better than they were last week.

    Love him or hate him, Nate could have been the difference tonight and the Utah game

  • Mucha

    How about Scott Skiles?

    This is NOT Mike D’Antoni-related (not a shot) but Skiles is doing an INCREDIBLE job in Milwaukee. The fact that they were in the playoff race last year was amazing, and this year they are 4-2 with a rookie point guard???

    WOW.

  • Mucha

    Of course! I’ve never been a hater! Remember, I was his biggest supporter last year.

    But Duhon and Harrington (do I even have to mention Jeffries) were the worst Knicks on the floor in the second-half! I mean that’s it.

    And I don’t have the energy to talk about Mike D’Antoni’s coaching tonight.

  • bartnyk

    Is it even close anymore BJ is taking ROY what a shame hes not a knick.

  • BiggieSmalls

    you’re just reading the wrong comments.

  • itzyung1

    What about Tyreke Evans and Jonny Flynn who are doing just as good as BJ but they aren’t getting mentioned a lot because we didn’t pick J Hill over them.

  • HaS

    huh?

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    an tonite wasn’t just a win for them
    they beat an elite team the nuggets.

    but coaching is the key
    we do have some really bad players
    but the coaching isn’t that much better than the players..

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    evans hasn’t lost a game since MARTIN went out..

  • HaS

    Skiles is winning because he demands defense from his players.

    I think Jennings will win ROY.

    Flynn is putting up numbers, but he’s playing for a 1-8 team.

    Evans is playing well, but he isn’t shooting as well as BJ.

    People keep mentioning BJ because he could have been starting here for years to come and there would be no question who the point guard would be going forward.

    Instead there’s a 6’10″ guy picked ahead of him collecting dust on the bench ON A BAD TEAM.

    They really need to start playing this dude at least 15 mins a game.

  • HaS

    Do you think Hill soaks in moth balls instead of ice after games?

  • Knicks4life

    Man I was with you this whole thread until you said an 0-8 team that plays in NJ is going in the right direction.

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    your rite about NATE
    that thought is always in the back of my mind
    saying if NATE was playing he could provide some O that they need

  • Knicks4life

    That would be an absolute steal for the Knicks. No way Rod Thorn is that dumb.

  • DeBusscherescorner

    Good point. I was thinking the same thing.

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    lmao

    i’ll say both

  • Knicks4life

    Shhhh. You know how insane TD goes when you bring up Jennings . . .Seriously though every year we miss on a PG and every year people say water under the bridge. Good game by TD but he is not a PG, should have drafted a PG. Man this makes me insane.

  • HaS

    He sure is, because I was the voice of doom ever since I found this blog. I’ve been fooled by the Knicks’ marketing department for long enough to know when there pissing on me and then telling me “it’s raining”.

  • HaS

    they’re > there

    lol

  • Knicks4life

    I don’t care if we go 10-72 so long as we trade for a 1st round pick and draft a PG next year. This team needs a PG and we can talk about FAs and draft space all we want. Until we start building a team with a QB we will continue to be exactly what we’ve been the past ten years . . . Just a pet peave, but pease stop talking about Gallo being untradeable until he can at the very least create his own shot. Seriously, some of you wouldn’t trade Gallo for Chris Paul? Pure madness.

  • HaS

    They’re playing without their primary playmaker/all-star point guard Devin Harris and Keyon Dooling, who played significant minutes for their team last year.

    Not to mention the more they lose they may have another high lottery pick to go along with the all-star (Harris) potential future all-star (Lopez) and money to pay 2 max FA’s.

    I was at the Celtics game and they played them close the whole way until midway through the 4th. They haven’t been getting embarrassed the way the Knicks have been.

    I’d say they were going in the right direction long term. At least better than this organization.

  • LJohnson2k8

    Hey Jennings was off the hook and here is why he is better than Tony Doug he scored 30 plus points with 9 assists. Tony scores 23 and has, you ready for this? 1 assist the previous game scored great and he had less than 3 assists. He is a shooting guard in a pg body ala nate the only difference is defense and maturity. TD brings a tempo to the game but he doesnt help the offense its 1 on 5 and he is strictly looking for his shot first and pass if he has no choice, not good. Now I may get killed but I am not impressed with Gallo. No D, really no handle or move to the basket and he seems to be chained to the 3 pt line. One move he jab steps and then pulls back for a 3 albeit he missed it but at first teams backed off and let him shoot.When they saw he can bury the open 3 they sent defenders on him tight at the 3pt line but he chooses to stay up top then drive to the hole to make the defense back off so he can not get the ball when he is so tightly covered. IMO he is at this present time a 6’10″ Jason Kapono. No D Lee I did not like him before and even moreso now. Did I see another 4 not 5 abuse Lee down low and took him out of the game all the way around? Its Al freakin Horford who looked like Shaq in his prime on the Knicks. How do you let a player feel so comfortable to back you down and dunk on you? Lee I know is mr double double but his doubles dont impact the game whatsoever while I would take a Al Horford for Lee anyday becuase he plays defense and has an inside game with a little jumpshot to boot. I am so fed up with this team it dont make sense. And can someone tell Wilson to play like he is in an NBA game and not that he just rolled out of bed for real. uugh hey its the NY Knicks folks.

  • CircleLimit4

    Atlanta is looking like a probable 4-6 seed. I wasn’t exactly thinking a W.

  • Bob

    agree again

  • Bob

    D’antoni is the wrong coach for the guys on this roster.if it were p to him(and it is)he wouldnt have a real center on the team,just a roster of 3s and4s

  • Bob

    yes!bad 8th pick

  • Bob

    the only way to get reality,is to not blog,just watch the games ,make your own judgments.and you wont be getting THAT exited over toney doug,youll relize that chandler stinks(you have to read these guys talking how chandler is gonna be good),or when you see gallo getting frozen out,you know it,you wont have to read some half assed reason why hes not getting the ball

  • Bob

    ramon sessions would at least be better and faster than duhon….i woulda went for the extra millions

  • Bob

    true …you dont play deee for skiles and yer on the bench

  • Knicks4life

    I think you are selling Gallo a little bit short by calling him Kapono. Gallo is a pretty great shooter and not just a stand still set shooter like Kapono he can catch and shoot or shoot on the move like when TD sets that (moving) screen for him. Gallo is also a fantastic passer and has a decent enough handle where he can lead a fast break and find the open man. He also attempts to play defense although he just doesn’t have it yet. Effort is there though. But I do agree with you that this blog has oversold Gallo as a combination of Larry Bird with an Isiah Thomas handle and passing ability. I see Peja, which if you remember Peja in his prime was a pretty damn good player.

  • Dave the Rave

    Harrington is a low-I.Q. player.

    No one is to blame. This roster has no center or P.F. Jeffries and Lee are lightweights and jokes at P.F.

    Stop blaming the coach and players, folks! The roster is lame.

    T-Doug is a total stud! We have something to feel good about.

    Why is Gallo so low-energy and such a non-factor???

    DTR

  • http://www.KnicksFanaticsBlog.com IGMKNICKS

    Crawford with a low basketball IQ.

    Tommy, with all due respect, where do you come up with this stuff.

    How in the world is he “basketball stupid?” He was oen of the main reasons that we had a chance of making the playoffs when he was here. First, the year he was hurt and last year when he was traded. And you can attribute his basketball decision making to being the main option ot take desperation shots — a bad habit fostered by coaches.

    Crawford is not basketball dumb and I am surprised to hear that coming from you.

    Additionally, are you guys reserving this basketball dumb evaluation for the black players? I’m just asking? For now, becuase I am tired of the misapplication of the label from people who know less B-Ball than the folks they’re talking about. Usually, that’s reserved for Hahn, but say not you too.

  • NoVaCaInE

    I totally agree. I love Skiles coaching style. He preaches defense. If you don’t defend you don’t play. Keep in mind Walsh wanted him to coach the Knicks 1st but Milwaukee beat us to the punch. The knock on Skiles however is that his players get tired of him after awhile. He looks like he is loosening up though. Jennings is getting a lot of freedom from Skiles. Boy did we whiff on Jennings. I love the fact he spends extra time after practice viewing game film with his coach. Looking at at the bad plays he makes and how he can improve. Skiles also has him look at the good plays. Skiles is doing an excellent job keeping Jennings confidence up. Skiles also adapts to what he has. He allows his team to play fast when he is traditionally a half court coach. We missed out on the right coach and PG.

  • NoVaCaInE

    I totally agree. Gallo reminds me more of Toni Kukoc. I’ll take that. Need players like that on the team.

  • HaS

    Er… didn’t Duhon start with Douglas?

  • bockersORbriefs

    Thank you IGMKNICKS … I’m glad that someone called Tommy on the low “basketball IQ” diss of Crawford. While he was here, he was the best feeder into the post of all the guards … Curry played his most effective streches with Craw. He also was the only guy who wanted to take (and many time make) last second shots. He has defensive flaws & a thin frame but I would’nt say that makes him weak ! Check out Rubio whenever NBA TV shows the Euroleague games & tell me if he’s “weak” or not. Of course, he’ll be touted as having an Einstein Basketball IQ !!! But let’s see what happens when the hype meets reality once Rubio decides to come into this league !

    Also, great description of Gallo’s flaws by LJohnson2k8. Everyone who wants to blame every other player for what Gallo DOSEN”T do right now needs to really watch & see how quickly Gallo gets bottled up (pun intended) when a defender gets in his grill. Gallo’s own limitations & D’Ant’ pulling him out of the line-up play more of a major role in his getting less shots than anyone “freezing” him out. Check the “Hype” (best shooter D’ant’s ever seen) vs. the reality (currently shooting 43%) … PS, right now Crawford’s shooting 49% in the ATL …