Joe Crawford

[Basketball1234]

Do anyone think the Lakers 58th pick of Joe Crawford was a good pick??

I live in Kentucky and my favorite College team is the University of Kentucky so I think it is a great pick!!

[banners]

I really don't know anything about this guy. Can you give some reasoning why you like him?

[leakbrewergator]

Crawford is vastly overrated. My Gators shut him down everytime they played.

I've seen him disappear in crunch time on more than one occassion.
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[Radner]

[strikemode14]

58 is pretty much irrevelant.

At best case he will get a few minutes behind kobe.
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Strikemode14 is the greatest.

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[Basketball1234]

Kentucky Beat Florida one out of the two times!!

In Joe Crawford last year of College he averaged 17.9 Points, 3.6 Rebounds, and 2.1 Assist!!

[leakbrewergator]

[Basketball1234]

At least Kentucky made the NCAA Tournatment last year

While ur Gators made the NIT

[Chicano]

Regardless of the criticisms, I still wish we would've gotten' Davon Jefferson from USC instead. More talent, more athleticism, more upside all around.

[BLAZINLAKERFAN]

[leakbrewergator]

[Chicano]

[BLAZINLAKERFAN]

[rydjorker121]

He's an okay pick relative to my expectations; for starters, my first reaction upon us drafting him wasn't "Who?", because nearing draft day he was considered a 2nd round bubble pick. He was a McDonald's All-American at high school, but really floundered in college and didn't stand out until he racheted things up in terms of scoring in his senior year. Jay Bilas may have said it best, in that he's essentially a shorter Keith Bogans for his best-case scenario...but in terms of body, I tend to think a poor man's Fred Jones is a more apt comparison.

Crawford's the type who does a little bit of everything offensively--three point shots, solid slashing to the basket, dribble drives, mid-range game, etc. at the college level but he lacks a true bread and butter offensive move for the next level--he could obviously develop it however. But he's pretty polished offensively, although he's not great any one thing--slightly above average three point shooter probably for the next level, and his slow footspeed hinders him from being able to get to the basket as well--so honestly, there are some doubts. There are questions about his motivation and consistency--and that is why I compare his case to that of a poor man's Fred Jones. He obviously doesn't possess the world class athleticism Jones has, although he's actually underrated athletically (36' inch, but just slow), but Jones's career has floundered ever since winning that Dunk contest--seems like he borders on passive at times and just doesn't get involved enough. Crawford's just been getting by his first three years essentially under the draft radar, so that does leave questions about his motivation level.

Crawford actually has a tough body--6'4" 213 lbs. he's obviously quite well developed--but he definitely seems to be a tweener. He does have a scorer's mentality and lacks point guard skills to the nth degree--seems like he has none whatsoever, although he can handle the ball. But whereas many guard tweeners are either high octane scorers or explosive athletically, I don't think Crawford fits the bill for either--he's just the type of guy who gets by with his statistics and his physical tools at an average to slightly above average scale. He just doesn't have any one great defining trait. Great body yes, but that hinders his speed and one aspect that may be reflective of that is how few steals he gets--I think that's a big red flag, considering that he was only an average defender at the college level he may get even more exposed at the NBA level considering his inability to strip. But what worries me even more, besides his very "average" and commonplace game, is that he seems to have a SF's game in a PG's body, he's really, really poor in passing--he jacks up six shots for every one assist he makes, and he averages more turnovers than assists to begin with, which makes him a very questionable passer at the NBA level. He's obviously got two-guard traits in his offensive game, but that passing ability is glaring.

That's why I like the a poor man's Fred Jones (w/out the freak athleticism), Antonio Daniels (w/out the passing skills), and Greg Buckner (w/out the defense) as apt comparisons, and unfortunately, considering that the athleticism, passing, and defense are major staples of both Jones's, Daniels's, and Buckner's games, I really think that would prove to be a severe hindrance for Crawford's chances to stick in the NBA.

I think Mitch Kupchak drafted him after seeing the improvements he made in his college career--yes, he really showed great consistency scoring in his senior year, but I think he turned it on a bit too late in terms of his capabilities. He's obviously, seems to me, pretty much a one-dimensional scorer who was quite average in everything else in college, and that sort of gameface is commonplace in the NBA., especially for undersized guard tweeners. He doesn't seem to have much potential, pretty much what you see now is probably what you get for the next five years or so. He doesn't have the best physical tools, and even when strength and athleticism are okay assets, his lack of speed hinders them down. I don't see that Jay Bilas comparison of a smaller Keith Bogans for him--he's not as great a three point shooter, obviously, and is not even the defender Bogans is--at least Bogans had a defensive rep coming into the league even if he developed his offense. I see a steeper learning curve for Crawford if he's ever going to establish any traction in this league.

The reason I'm not in full consensus with this pick is that we could've went with several other guys, such as Jamont Gordon and Davon Jefferson, both of whom dropped severely in the draft--thank goodness they were not picked after us, allowing us to pick them for our summer league team. Other options include Triangle favorite homeless man's Mike Dunleavy-type Pat Calathes, Bryce Taylor, who actually has a similar game to Joe Crawford but possesses less strength but a 41' inch vertical, and quite frankly, Orlando predraft camp superstud Gary Forbes was still available. All of these would've been greater options IMO, and considering we're championship contenders we could've stashed athletic combo guard Mantas Kalnietis or mobile poor man's Zaza Semih Erden at Europe too.

However, Kentucky players have a reputation for playing better in the NBA than at Kentucky--Rajon Rondo, Tayshaun Prince, Chuck Hayes, to a name a few--and hopefully Crawford joins them in the list.
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[Chicano]

rydjorker121, I've always wondered, is that you in yoru avi?

& oh yeah, I think your sig REALLY needs to be updated to say the least.

[Weezy]

I honestly don't even think he's going to make the team. There's no room, I see him not being kept on just like Danillo Pinnock. Then again if Coby Karl can make our team who knows.
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[Warriors&Lakers]

would u rather have crawford or demarcus nelson?
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[Chicano]

^ I haven't really had a chance to see Demarcus so far in this SPL, but based on what I know of the both of them outside of the SPL, yes, I'd rather have Demarcus over him.