Crawford v Jakubowski

[Globetrotter]

I watched the second half of this game and I don't see many games but is it possible that Crawford should be seeing more pt than Jaku? He seems more active, more aggressive and a much better athlete. I am not sure that Jaku does anything that is above average. He has not been scoring much lately from the boxes and I saw guys just blow by him all game. Wondered what others who watch more games think. I am glad we have Jaku but I am not sure that Craw doesnt give us more.

[Rollo83]

Neither one is difference-maker for us. But I do think that Jakubowski gives us a better chance than Crawford right now. I am sorry but a 5' 6" Crawford is just a liability right now. I sat through the David Greer years at BG and still think he was the best point guard I've seen wear the brown & orange...even at 5'9". But Greer was so strong from the waist down for a small guy. His thighs were enormus. Crawford is just getting manhandled by every guard he meets right now. He can't match-up physically. Not sure if he will ever be able to?

[JimmyZ11381]

I think that there are definitely things that Crawford can provide that JoeJak can't. But, I really like Crawford right now as a spark off the bench, rather than a starter. It seems like he comes off the bench and can use his quickness to spark a run every now and then. I like him in that role.

[nastynatti]

As of right now I believe that Crawford is a good spark off the bench but I also believe that Crawford and Jaku should be spliting time to get crawford ready for next season. Crawford is a true point guard who has a good shot, great dribble ability and great on court awarness to know where the open man is and make a great pass to get it there. Jaku only has a left hand and can't go right and teams know that. Crawford may be shorter then the norm but his game will make up for that.

[BGhoops23]

Crawford should be seeing close to equal time as Jak. He brings an energy to the court that nobody else seems to provide. It also seems to me like in many cases when he does get into the game bg starts to get up or make a comeback but then orr pulls him and the game goes back downhill. I think Jak is also a good pg and the two play well together but either way crawford should be seeing more PT hes a natural leader and he may be small but the boy is fast.

[VDub26Falcon]

In the couple games that I've been able to see, I view things just the opposite. Yes, I see the spark that Crawford produces but I also feel that JoJak controls the floor a little bit better. Sometimes Crawford has a little too much energy and gets himself out of control. However, when it's all said and done I think Crawford's BG career will be a bit more successful than JoJak's.

[BGGrad01]

I've only seen a couple games this year so I could be way off base here, but my concern at the guard position in general is not on the offensive end, but on the defensive end. Coach Orr is a 100% zone guy and the guards simply don't have the height/quickness combo at the top of the zone to cause enough disruption IMO (sorry if that sounded like a falconboy statement). Just looking at the stats over the last few years and our opponents are shooting 36% on 3's this year versus 30/31% each of the last two years. Maybe we have played against a group of hot shooters this year, but it seems like it is really easy to move the ball against our guards and easier to shoot over the top of them because they don't have the height/length to disrupt guards from shooting out top and on the wing.

As far as Crawford/Joe Jak specifically, it's Jakubowski. He's a better shooter and has a better A/TO ratio. Bring Crawford in as a spark like they're doing right now.

[Globetrotter]

Some great points here.

The one about zone D is really telling considering what we lost last year in Clements on the outside.

Also I think that the point that Craw is better now in his role but has a hight long term ceiling is well taken....ps maybe he will grow. He is just 18.

[hammb]

One thing I think we'll have to do in the future to better utilize Crawford's ability is to keep the inside a little cleaner for him. His best asset is his quickness, and a number of times he's used that to beat his man off the dribble, or make a good cut to the basket. The problem has been once he gets inside he still cannot get a shot off because he's too small of stature, the big guys rotate over and could easily block it.

I think if we're going to have Crawford be an effective scoring option we'll probably have to have our big guys move around more to keep the inside cleaner for him. This may be less of an issue next year as our 3 best post players are graduating.

At this point I don't believe either of them are a difference maker. Crawford being just a true Freshman probably has some upside, but JoJak is definitely a better shooter.

Whether it's one of these guys or some future recruit we need to find better guard play if we're ever going to get to the Tournament.

[Matty B]

Agreed with the Zone D point. However, when we played UWM earlier this year in the game that went to OT, we played man to man nearly the whole game. In that particular game, Crawford played a lot more minutes than he has in any other contest and played easily his best game of his young career.

Offensively, crawford is a freshman and thus will make freshman mistakes. His minutes get cut because he does try to force the issue at times on offense. Those aspects will come around with time and experience though, don't you worry. I expect great things from Crawford, and he and Scott Thomas are going to develop into players that opposing teams just HATE to play against

For now though, JJ is more consistent, and that's reflected in his minutes.

[LowryFalcon]

Crawford reminds me of the squirrel in the movie over the hedge. The basketball is like his nut and he just goes crazy over it and has about as much energy as the squirrel. During the BG Akron game last week I watched as Crawford almost did a face plant on the court but in the same second he was falling down he was right back up again and had possession of the ball the whole time. He is super fast and can make some fantastic moves to the basket but he sometimes gets out of control and makes mistakes. By the way did anyone get to witness that short kid from Akron trying to make a dunk last week and get denied by the rim? That was the funniest thing Ive seen in awhile. He had a chance to pass it off to one of his teammates that was double his size to take it to the hoop but he had to show boat and I witnessed an epic fail.

[TG1996]

By the way did anyone get to witness that short kid from Akron trying to make a dunk last week and get denied by the rim? That was the funniest thing Ive seen in awhile.

It was hilarious until his teammate got the board, layup and the foul.

And until Crawford can throw a no-look pass like OP, I'll be unimpressed.

[VDub26Falcon]

Yeah, that play by Otis should have been a Top 10 play...that was simply sick...and Dustin was being totally extreme at the game as well...as for Crawford needing a clean lane to score, why does he have to score? Why can't he just draw the defenders and then give off to a big for a layup? And when the start defending the pass, then he can go for the layup.