Last night is the perfect example of why Crawford starts for us and is a crucial piece of the back court as a senior. 12 pts on 4/7 shootings from 3; 5 defensive rebounds.

(01-30-2014 09:46 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  Last night is the perfect example of why Crawford starts for us and is a crucial piece of the back court as a senior. 12 pts on 4/7 shootings from 3; 5 defensive rebounds.

His defense seems best suited for a active zone.

(01-30-2014 09:55 AM)midtowncowboy Wrote:  

(01-30-2014 09:46 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  Last night is the perfect example of why Crawford starts for us and is a crucial piece of the back court as a senior. 12 pts on 4/7 shootings from 3; 5 defensive rebounds.

His defense seems best suited for a active zone.

He can play tight man defense when he wants to. I saw him do it against LeDay from USF. Seems like he has trouble getting up for the throw away games at home. He loves it on the road, though.

(01-30-2014 09:46 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  Last night is the perfect example of why Crawford starts for us and is a crucial piece of the back court as a senior. 12 pts on 4/7 shootings from 3; 5 defensive rebounds.

Isaiah Sykes: 6-6 SF/G

24 pts
12 rebs
5 assists


Defensively, which is the original point of the thread, Crawford was not good at all. Lucky for him, neither was UCF and he got wide open shots. Against teams like Louisville, Cincy, Uconn, and better teams in the tourney, he will have to hit those shots under heavy defensive pressure. And to be honest, he hasn't been able to do that in the past.

We would be much better off if we had developed a true small forward who gives us size to match up against real teams. Crawford should be coming off the bench as a 2. But it's too late now. We are what we are. Which is a team that could possibly make a sweet 16 and would need a minor miracle to make it any further.

(01-30-2014 10:07 AM)Bluebeard Wrote:  

(01-30-2014 09:46 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  Last night is the perfect example of why Crawford starts for us and is a crucial piece of the back court as a senior. 12 pts on 4/7 shootings from 3; 5 defensive rebounds.

Isaiah Sykes: 6-6 SF/G

24 pts
12 rebs
5 assists


Defensively, which is the original point of the thread, Crawford was not good at all. Lucky for him, neither was UCF and he got wide open shots. Against teams like Louisville, Cincy, Uconn, and better teams in the tourney, he will have to hit those shots under heavy defensive pressure. And to be honest, he hasn't been able to do that in the past.

We would be much better off if we had developed a true small forward who gives us size to match up against real teams. Crawford should be coming off the bench as a 2. But it's too late now. We are what we are. Which is a team that could possibly make a sweet 16 and would need a minor miracle to make it any further.

Crawford didn't guard Sykes very much, if at all. He guarded Kasey Wilson and Matt Williams almost all game. We had Geron/Dixon (and Shaq at weird times) guarding Sykes.

As for making shots against our better conference teams, He went 3/3 against Louisiville an 2/5 against UConn.

Crawford is strictly better than any other option we've got at SF, I'm afraid. Nothing we really could've done about it after May or so of 2013. Gotta play your hand.

I think Crawford playing the one so much hurts his scoring. When he is on the wing with Joe, Geron or Dixon creating he shoots much better. But he is also our best interior passer of the FoKingz. I just wish when he is playing the one he learns to get back on D. And for Pete's sake quit giving up the baseline drives.

(01-30-2014 10:11 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  

(01-30-2014 10:07 AM)Bluebeard Wrote:  

(01-30-2014 09:46 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  Last night is the perfect example of why Crawford starts for us and is a crucial piece of the back court as a senior. 12 pts on 4/7 shootings from 3; 5 defensive rebounds.

Isaiah Sykes: 6-6 SF/G

24 pts
12 rebs
5 assists


Defensively, which is the original point of the thread, Crawford was not good at all. Lucky for him, neither was UCF and he got wide open shots. Against teams like Louisville, Cincy, Uconn, and better teams in the tourney, he will have to hit those shots under heavy defensive pressure. And to be honest, he hasn't been able to do that in the past.

We would be much better off if we had developed a true small forward who gives us size to match up against real teams. Crawford should be coming off the bench as a 2. But it's too late now. We are what we are. Which is a team that could possibly make a sweet 16 and would need a minor miracle to make it any further.

Crawford didn't guard Sykes very much, if at all. He guarded Kasey Wilson and Matt Williams almost all game. We had Geron/Dixon (and Shaq at weird times) guarding Sykes.

As for making shots against our better conference teams, He went 3/3 against Louisiville an 2/5 against UConn.

Crawford is strictly better than any other option we've got at SF, I'm afraid. Nothing we really could've done about it after May or so of 2013. Gotta play your hand.

don't you know according to BB Crawford should guard everyone all night and no one should score or else Crawford sucks at D?

(01-30-2014 12:16 PM)Willie Becton Wrote:  don't you know according to BB Crawford should guard everyone all night and no one should score or else Crawford sucks at D?

Well, I never meant my post to be taken as me saying that Crawford is great on D and never has lapses. He does. But he plays despite this because he distributes the ball well, rebounds well and can shoot lights out from 3.

But when we're dogging him for his defense, let's at least be correct about who he guarded during the game.

(01-30-2014 12:20 PM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  

(01-30-2014 12:16 PM)Willie Becton Wrote:  don't you know according to BB Crawford should guard everyone all night and no one should score or else Crawford sucks at D?

Well, I never meant my post to be taken as me saying that Crawford is great on D and never has lapses. He does. But he plays despite this because he distributes the ball well, rebounds well and can shoot lights out from 3.

But when we're dogging him for his defense, let's at least be correct about who he guarded during the game.

I thought we went mostly zone.

(01-30-2014 12:21 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(01-30-2014 12:20 PM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  

(01-30-2014 12:16 PM)Willie Becton Wrote:  don't you know according to BB Crawford should guard everyone all night and no one should score or else Crawford sucks at D?

Well, I never meant my post to be taken as me saying that Crawford is great on D and never has lapses. He does. But he plays despite this because he distributes the ball well, rebounds well and can shoot lights out from 3.

But when we're dogging him for his defense, let's at least be correct about who he guarded during the game.

I thought we went mostly zone.

We played a lot of zone last night, but when we were in man, Geron and Dixon were trying to stick Sykes, and Crawford was following their 3 pt shooter (Williams/Wilson) around the floor. Pretty shrewd gameplan by Pastner, but we can't guard the pick and roll for isht.

(01-30-2014 12:16 PM)Willie Becton Wrote:  

(01-30-2014 10:11 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  

(01-30-2014 10:07 AM)Bluebeard Wrote:  

(01-30-2014 09:46 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  Last night is the perfect example of why Crawford starts for us and is a crucial piece of the back court as a senior. 12 pts on 4/7 shootings from 3; 5 defensive rebounds.

Isaiah Sykes: 6-6 SF/G

24 pts
12 rebs
5 assists


Defensively, which is the original point of the thread, Crawford was not good at all. Lucky for him, neither was UCF and he got wide open shots. Against teams like Louisville, Cincy, Uconn, and better teams in the tourney, he will have to hit those shots under heavy defensive pressure. And to be honest, he hasn't been able to do that in the past.

We would be much better off if we had developed a true small forward who gives us size to match up against real teams. Crawford should be coming off the bench as a 2. But it's too late now. We are what we are. Which is a team that could possibly make a sweet 16 and would need a minor miracle to make it any further.

Crawford didn't guard Sykes very much, if at all. He guarded Kasey Wilson and Matt Williams almost all game. We had Geron/Dixon (and Shaq at weird times) guarding Sykes.

As for making shots against our better conference teams, He went 3/3 against Louisiville an 2/5 against UConn.

Crawford is strictly better than any other option we've got at SF, I'm afraid. Nothing we really could've done about it after May or so of 2013. Gotta play your hand.

don't you know according to BB Crawford should guard everyone all night and no one should score or else Crawford sucks at D?

Says the guy that bashed Antonio Barton on a regular basis.


#boothim

Ole Antonio got his starting spot taken by a true freshman last night. He's really Tarik'ing up this opportunity.

(01-30-2014 12:20 PM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  

(01-30-2014 12:16 PM)Willie Becton Wrote:  don't you know according to BB Crawford should guard everyone all night and no one should score or else Crawford sucks at D?

Well, I never meant my post to be taken as me saying that Crawford is great on D and never has lapses. He does. But he plays despite this because he distributes the ball well, rebounds well and can shoot lights out from 3.

But when we're dogging him for his defense, let's at least be correct about who he guarded during the game.

I never said he guarded Sykes. When I talk about his D, I'm talking about his body of work. He gives up way too man baseline drives and fast breaks the other way when he jogs back when he is supposed to be the point man. I think a certain poster here must be his relative.

Here's another point about defense. When Johnson is out of the game our defense and defensive rebounding suffer. You can basically set your watch by it. He's basically our Tony Allen.

(01-30-2014 09:59 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  

(01-30-2014 09:55 AM)midtowncowboy Wrote:  

(01-30-2014 09:46 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  Last night is the perfect example of why Crawford starts for us and is a crucial piece of the back court as a senior. 12 pts on 4/7 shootings from 3; 5 defensive rebounds.

His defense seems best suited for a active zone.

He can play tight man defense when he wants to. I saw him do it against LeDay from USF. Seems like he has trouble getting up for the throw away games at home. He loves it on the road, though.

I wonder if he doesn't like the NBA rims at the Forum.

(01-30-2014 12:32 PM)Brother Bluto Wrote:  

(01-30-2014 12:20 PM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  

(01-30-2014 12:16 PM)Willie Becton Wrote:  don't you know according to BB Crawford should guard everyone all night and no one should score or else Crawford sucks at D?

Well, I never meant my post to be taken as me saying that Crawford is great on D and never has lapses. He does. But he plays despite this because he distributes the ball well, rebounds well and can shoot lights out from 3.

But when we're dogging him for his defense, let's at least be correct about who he guarded during the game.

I never said he guarded Sykes. When I talk about his D, I'm talking about his body of work. He gives up way too man baseline drives and fast breaks the other way when he jogs back when he is supposed to be the point man. I think a certain poster here must be his relative.

Here's another point about defense. When Johnson is out of the game our defense and defensive rebounding suffer. You can basically set your watch by it. He's basically our Tony Allen.

No, BB did. I was just clarifying who he actually guarded last night.

Johnson and Crawford have both really upped their defensive rebounding game tremendously. Both are averaging 3.5 per game at the 2/3 spot.

UCF had 63 shots last night to our 45. Strange stat considering we beat them by 10.

I guess the 24 - 7 advantage we enjoyed at the FT line was the difference.

(01-30-2014 01:09 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  UCF had 63 shots last night to our 45. Strange stat considering we beat them by 10.

I guess the 24 - 7 advantage we enjoyed at the FT line was the difference.

We let them grab a lot of offensive boards.

Any fan that really focuses on watching Crawford will see that he takes plays off, lazily walks to the sideline when it's his turn to throw the ball in, doesn't hustle back sometimes on defense, cheats to go for the steal and leaves his man which in turn hurts our defense, especially the big men in the paint or along the baseline. He also seems to stand in one place on offense when he's off the ball more than any time in the past.

Now all that being said, he leads the team in steals, when he gets hot, he's streaky and can hit multiple 3s in a row to create a run on offense. He gets rebounds when he puts forth the effort and can stabilize a fast break. It's like playing basketball with your brother, you love him, you hate him, he pisses you off and makes you happy all within the same game. In Memphis Tiger basketball history, these inconsistent guys usually brick it in the NCAA tourney games. He's had some awesome Conf USA runs when he turns it on...my memory of his play in NCAA is non-ironically forgetful (anyone got the stats?).

His 3 pt % is over 40% for the season now, but after improving each of his first 3 years, he seems to have plateaued this season. His point avg is slightly lower, assists a little lower, his Free Throw attempts are much lower (most of the reason for lower points) even though his minutes are same or better than last season. It could be the adjustment to starting and playing with GJ & MD. Most of us hope with these past few games, he's finding his groove and will end the season on a higher note, as he usually has in the past.

Basically his legacy as a 4 year three point specialist, all-time Tiger is in Jeopardy. He can either become a player that helps us make a deep run like Billy Smith, Rodney Newsome, Jeremy Hunt, Doneal Mack type, or just a good overall role player like Shyrone Chapman, Mingo Johnson, Scooter McFagdon and Anthony Rice. These last four were good players, don't get me wrong, and so is CC, but most will admit with me that the connotation of winning in the tourney vs. just getting there leaves a strong lasting impression.

(01-30-2014 12:16 PM)Willie Becton Wrote:  

(01-30-2014 10:11 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  

(01-30-2014 10:07 AM)Bluebeard Wrote:  

(01-30-2014 09:46 AM)MemphisCanes Wrote:  Last night is the perfect example of why Crawford starts for us and is a crucial piece of the back court as a senior. 12 pts on 4/7 shootings from 3; 5 defensive rebounds.

Isaiah Sykes: 6-6 SF/G

24 pts
12 rebs
5 assists


Defensively, which is the original point of the thread, Crawford was not good at all. Lucky for him, neither was UCF and he got wide open shots. Against teams like Louisville, Cincy, Uconn, and better teams in the tourney, he will have to hit those shots under heavy defensive pressure. And to be honest, he hasn't been able to do that in the past.

We would be much better off if we had developed a true small forward who gives us size to match up against real teams. Crawford should be coming off the bench as a 2. But it's too late now. We are what we are. Which is a team that could possibly make a sweet 16 and would need a minor miracle to make it any further.

Crawford didn't guard Sykes very much, if at all. He guarded Kasey Wilson and Matt Williams almost all game. We had Geron/Dixon (and Shaq at weird times) guarding Sykes.

As for making shots against our better conference teams, He went 3/3 against Louisiville an 2/5 against UConn.

Crawford is strictly better than any other option we've got at SF, I'm afraid. Nothing we really could've done about it after May or so of 2013. Gotta play your hand.

don't you know according to BB Crawford should guard everyone all night and no one should score or else Crawford sucks at D?

Well duhhh!