Utah Jazz teammates Jae Crowder, Jonas Jerebko bring Boston friendship to Salt Lake City

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/865697197/Utah-Jazz-teammates-Jae-Crowder-Jonas-Jerebko-bring-Boston-friendship-to-Salt-Lake-City.html



Utah Jazz teammates Jae Crowder, Jonas Jerebko bring Boston friendship to Salt Lake City



By Eric Woodyard
@E_Woodyard


Published: March 27, 2018 8:00 pm




Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Utah Jazz forward Jae Crowder (99) and forward Jonas Jerebko (eight) celebrate a point over the Detroit Pistons at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, March 13, 2018.




We know we can beat any team in this league. We’ve got to make the playoffs first but in the playoffs you’ve got to lose four times out of seven and I don’t see a lot of teams beating us four out of seven, so we’re going to come in with confidence and take it game by game.
—Jazz forward Jonas Jerebko



SALT LAKE CITY — Jonas Jerebko was on the road with the Utah Jazz at a local Nike store with Jae Crowder when his wife, Johanna, called him with some cool news in early February.

“Jae’s wife just hit me up and I think they’re moving in next door,” Johanna told Jonas.

Jerebko then turned to Crowder to confirm it with the new Jazz member.

“Jae, did you just check out a house over there?” he asked Crowder.

“Yeah,” Crowder said.

“That’s my neighbor’s house, you better get it,” Jerebko urged him.

“Yeah, I’m going to get it,” he said.

And that’s how the former Boston Celtics teammates learned they would become next-door neighbors as Jazz players in the beautiful mountains of Salt Lake City.

“He helped me get acclimated with the city a little bit, helped me find a place, so I knew I could depend on him once I got out here,” Crowder said of Jerebko.

Jerebko and Crowder spent three seasons together in Boston from 2014-17 and will team up again to face their former franchise at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in Vivint Arena.

Both were members of the Celtics team that lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals and are trying to make another deep run like that in these playoffs. Crowder was acquired in a three-team deal before the trade deadline while Jerebko signed on as a free agent in July and is making an impact on the squad as a solid role player.

“I think we can. We’ve got confidence in ourselves,” Jerebko said. “We know we can beat any team in this league. We’ve got to make the playoffs first but in the playoffs you’ve got to lose four times out of seven and I don’t see a lot of teams beating us four out of seven, so we’re going to come in with confidence and take it game by game.”

Utah (42-32) is currently No. 7 in the Western Conference standings while Boston sits in the East’s No. 2 spot but won't be playing with All-Star guard Kyrie Irving (knee) and Marcus Smart (right thumb).

Wednesday’s game will feature a showdown of some of the league’s best defensive teams. Boston enters the game with the top defensive rating (101.2) while the Jazz hold the third-best defensive rating (102.0) anchored by center Rudy Gobert.

“It’s an important game for the playoff picture, with what this team wants to accomplish, and this is an important game for that reason,” said Jazz coach Quin Snyder. “And I think our fans understand that. They want us to win so that we can keep playing."



Eric Woodyard

@E_Woodyard
Jazz forward Jae Crowder talks about facing his former Boston Celtics team tomorrow. “We want to get this win,” Crowder said.

5:34 PM - Mar 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/978792324703518720


Win or lose, the outcome won’t affect the bond shared between Crowder and Jerebko. They do everything from meeting for dinner to playing cards and even throw in some friendly bets here and there.

“I even told him before when I was talking to him when he was in Cleveland and they were playing some rough basketball to watch, I was like ‘man, we could use you over here. We need a guy like you,’” Jerebko said. “It started off there and soon as he got traded, I texted him ‘great to have you’ and he was like ‘I’m on my way.’”

The rest is history as Crowder continues to prove him right while averaging 12.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in his first 19 games with the Jazz as a solid reserve off the bench.

When he looks over his shoulder during games, he knows he has a guy he can depend on, which gives him even more confidence.

“No doubt. His level of engagement as a friend has never wavered,” Crowder said of Jerebko. “It’s always been the same whether we win, lose, play a lot of minutes, doesn’t play a lot of minutes, it’s just his friendship never wavers, and that’s pretty big at this level.”



bob
MY NOTE: Always liked both of these guys. Didn't know much about Crowder before he came to Boston in the Rondo trade but I was aware of Jerebko in Detroit and liked him. I'm glad this is working out for them, both personally and professionally, and wish them well. Just not tonight.


.

Yeah, I also hope that both guys don't score a point, get a rebound and play bad defense tonight.

But, they were both quality guys when in Boston helping the team to get better during their time with the Cs.

Tonight I totally lost respect for Jae Crowder, he is on my shitlist

cowens/oldschool wrote:Tonight I totally lost respect for Jae Crowder, he is on my shitlist

Nothing new, trash talk happens all the time. Larry Bird, Antoine Walker, and Reggie Miller, to name just a few, were the biggest trash talkers in their time. It's a double edged sword though - instead of intimidating, the taunts can backfire and motivate your opponent instead, like tonight where Tatum played through the challenge. It's just a part of some players' game plans.