The Gift & The Curse

How does a guy who's team can't win (and often looks content down 20) get any respect when he is having the best year of his career?

I know I'm probably the only one watching tonight as my 17-38 Knicks are down fifteen (in the fourth) to the Raptors. Tonight, Sunday, they are in Toronto and things are not working out. On friday, these two teams played and Jamal Crawford had 43 points in what was an excellent victory for the extremely troubled Knicks.

Granted, Crawford didn't deserve to be an all-star, but he should begin to get credit as being the Knicks best player. If they had ten more wins, he very well should have been in New Oreleans. He's got 23 points so far tonight and he's visibly doing everything he can and can be credited for a good majority of the team's workload.

This link from the New York Newsday had me wanting to defend Crawford, because if I'm the only one watching, I think I owe it to him. I might even say a nice work about Zach Randolph too.

Is Crawford a winner? Yes. Why?

I think if you watch him out there, he is clearly the Knicks most focused player. Deep into this awful season he's the only guy still playing with a playoff-race poker-face and tons of intensity. He's the one player on the Knicks who is staying positive. How does one become a winner in the NBA? Isn't only a testament to the kind of player and kind of character Crawford is that he has helped his team win all of their games in this terrible season while improving, redefining and raising his game to another level?

I'd hate to give Isiah Thomas any credit, but the truth is Crawford beat the system with his help. Many other skinny 2-guards from tough backgrounds with only three years of organized ball behind them upon entering the league have faded into obscurity. Crawford, who only really played two years of high school ball, has really grown as a player in the NBA. It has a lot to do with Thomas because, clearly, Crawford could be his carbon copy. Sometimes, those of us who were alive when Zeke played, will tell you Crawford is a dead ringing for his coach. Fearless and energetic. Possessing an effortless mastery of scoring the basketball. I don't think the Crawford improves as much under Larry Brown and I thought firing him was a least premature, if not totally bad.

Compare him to the other guys who were drafted ahead of him in the 2000 NBA Draft if you need to. Kenyon Martin • Stromile Swift • Darius Miles • Marcus Fizer • Mike Miller • DerMarr Johnson • Chris Mihm • Jamal Crawford. How many of them were better choices than Crawford? How many of them average 20 points? How many times did Marcus Fizer score 52 points in a game?

Crawford also appears to be low-key on and off the court. He wears Reebok's and despite the mild association of Jay-Z and 50 Cent with that brand a few years back, that's a pretty unassuming blue-collar brand that matches his game. His attitude during the games and in post-game chats says a lot about who he is and what kind of player he might be on a team with a few more studs.

The game just ended and the Knicks lost another one. You can't say Crawford didn't show up. He left 26 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds as evidence of his presence in Toronto tonight. Can the same be said for the rest of the guys on what might be the most over-paid group of people in the history of anything?

What's wrong with Knicks is the converse of what's going right for the Raptors. For example the Raptors have a European base that helps them win on and off the court. A formula if you will. You need a formula. The Knicks don't have any kind of formula. It that is not Crawford's fault.