FanPost

Can Jordan Crawford Be The Celtic Version Of J.R. Smith?

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This can be interpreted in so many different ways, both positive and negative. I think the Crawford signing was an essential one, and I think he can be compared to Sixth-Man of the Year Candidate, J.R. Smith.

Right off the bat, as soon as I saw that Jordan Crawford had been traded to the Celtics I was actually excited. Barbosa was one of my favorite Celtics, but unfortunately, you can't play on two bad knees (also the fact that his contract was expiring didn't help either). Smith's and Crawford's stats are surprisingly similar. I compare the two, because I personally think that Crawford can give the Celtics what Smith gives to the Knicks. Whether you think that's a good thing or a bad thing is up to you. Here are the season stats for these two players:

Smith: 15.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.8 assists, shooting 39.7% from the field, and 38.8% from 3-point range.

Crawford: 13.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists, shooting 41.5% from the field, and 34.5% from 3-point range.

Both players are streaky, and have short-memory (meaning that they'll forget all of their previous misses, and keep letting the ball fly), which is not their fault at all. Shooters have to keep shooting, and if the coach leaves you in the game, then you have to assume that he's willing to accept the misses that his players are making in the hopes that he breaks out of whatever slump that he's in.

One of the many complaints that I've seen Wizard fans make is the "ball stopping" aspect of Jordan Crawford. They say that the Wizards are a team that likes to emphasize ball movement to try and find the open man, but once it gets to Crawford, he shoots it. This can be linked to attitude. I believe that Jordan felt he was the best player on the Wizards while Wall was hurt, and while Beal was struggling, and so he tried to take it upon himself to shoot more.

This is something that can be remedied simply by placing the player on a winning team. Crawford will not be the go-to guy on the Celtics, and he will not be held as responsible for this team's mistakes, (although he will not be completely exempt). Attitudes can change once you're in a winning locker room.

One of Jordan's best and personal achievements of the year seemed to be his overall stats for the month of December which he tweeted out if I'm not mistaken. This is when Jordan averaged 19.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 6.1 assists shooting 41% from the field, and 34.2% from 3-point range in 35.8 minutes. Many Wizard fans downplayed the performance because it only led to a 3-11 record for the month of December, but I must point out that even though the record wasn't great, it was better than the months of October and November, when the Wizards had a record of 1-13.

As far as J.R. Smith goes, he hasn't had a month as good as Crawford's December. J.R's highest scoring month was January, in which he averaged 18.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.8 assists, shooting 39.5% from the field, and 30% from 3-point range, in 33.3 minutes.

Jordan, like J.R, has attitude, he has "steeze" (I won't be using that word often, apparently it's real old school, no disrespect to the old timers), and he'll get playing time. The only thing that I feel that will truly separate J.R. Smith, and Jordan Crawford is the playing time. I doubt Crawford will be seeing 33.1 minutes a game on the Celtics, like Smith is with the Knicks.

One advantage though, is that Crawford can grow under the leadership of Doc Rivers, Rajon Rondo, and Jason Terry. Crawford is only 24 years old, and could be an integral part of the Celtics if he buys into the system 100%.

What are your thoughts? Does Jordan Crawford have a future in Boston? Can he be better than J.R. Smith? Can Crawford have an immediate positive, or negative impact?

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