nyk_nyk
All Star
Jamal has improved every year since he's been here. If you've watched Jamal from his chicago days up until this season, he has stopped playing reckless and passes more. I know he is still inconsistent as far as shooting but he is not the same player he was on the Bulls.Why are there two threads devoted to JC this week? I've been really critical of Jamal this off season for some reason so I went to NBA.com and just watched some of his highlights last night. The thing that impresses me about Jamal is his ability to hit tough shots...the thing that pisses me off about Jamal is that he often causes shots to be difficult shots. I mean I want to say he has potential but, like it was stated earlier, can we really be saying that about a seven year player who still makes rookie mistakes. I mean we still say Eddy has "potential" to be this or that, but it almost seems more realistic to think Eddy's game will evolve. To Jamal's credit there have been times when he has stepped up for us, like in the home game against Pheonix this past season, we were undermanned playing an elite team, and he kept us in it, and like was also stated he has a positive attitude both on and off the court. But I think he may be better suited for another team, what can we get from him if he is not scoring is the question I often pose on this site. A player like Kobe, D- Wade, Rip, or Joe Johnson will take advantage of him on defense. Again to his credit he can light them up too when he's hot, but it is a real hit or miss with Jamal either his is lighting up D-Wade or getting burned by Willie Green. I remember the game against the Bulls this year when we were mounting a comeback and, he was in a 1 on 3 fast break, and he forces the shot I think gets called for a charge, then the Bulls come down a bury a 3 the next possesion breaking our momentum. And that is the problem after 7 years he's still making those mistakes, seriously Mardy Collins a rookie wouldn't have made that mistake, I don't think Nate as a sophomore would've either (and that's saying something). I like his handle on the ball, and he's as quick a guard in the NBA, but these are offensive traits ! Our interior D is the worst in the League! So we need solid defenders on the perimeter, not the type who can play D at times. If what I read was true that he just started playing less than 10 years ago, then that would explain his lack of knowledge of the game, I just don't think he knows anything other than put the ball in the hoop. Can he come back with a new understanding after this off season?....yeah in fact I think all the talk of compettion in the backcourt may mean that all of our guards are going to be working hard this offseason on their weaknesses, so I am in no way saying he's a lost cause. But what he shows us this year is who he's going to be for the rest of his NBA career. So the potential tag has been lifted, Steve is gone so there is no question as to who is starting and who's coming off the bench at the 2, and now let's see what we have here, another Rip, or another Ricky Davis, Ray Allen or J.R. Smith.
A lot of this had to do with L. Brown and Jamal is better because of it. Defensively, Jamal isn't the worst defender and does a good job of using those long arms to poke the ball away. I guess it would help him to move his feet a bit more instead of relying on his wingspan to cover area.
I'm not worried about Crawford's game because as bad as people want to make him out to be, he was one of our best players and you can make an argument that with him in the lineup at the end we would have made the playoffs.