Intensity, loyalty just two of Jae Crowder's attributes

http://www.providencejournal.com/article/20150926/SPORTS/150929412




Intensity, loyalty just two of Jae Crowder's attributes






Boston's Jae Crowder guards Indiana's Luis Scola (4) in Boston on April 1.AP PhotoBoston's Jae Crowder guards Indiana's Luis Scola (4) in Boston on April 1.

By SCOTT SOUZA
@scott_souza

Posted Sep. 26, 2015 at 5:22 PM



WALTHAM, Mass. — Jae Crowder was surrounded by a couple of unhappy passengers on his Dec. 19, 2014, flight to Boston.

He made the trip that night alongside former Dallas Mavericks teammates Jameer Nelson and Brandan Wright one day after his old team swung a blockbuster trade with the Celtics for four-time All-Star Rajon Rondo. Rondo was heralded as the piece to potentially elevate the Mavericks into Western Conference title contention, while the three players on the plane to Boston were being talked about beneath a future first-round draft pick and $12.9-million trade exception in importance to the Celtics in the deal.

Crowder said there was some bitterness among his fellow travelers as the descent to Logan Airport began. But all he could see in the landing strip and surrounding city lights was opportunity.

"I was the guy who accepted it," he said following the first practice of the season on Saturday morning. "A lot of the guys rebelled and were upset with it. I looked at it as a fresh start for me. I needed it. I thank Dallas for letting me go. They knew I was frustrated over there. I came in looking for a fresh slate."

Crowder played 181 games over two-plus seasons in Dallas, but never got the chance to play as much as he thought he deserved. He was averaging 10.6 minutes a game in 25 games for the Mavericks last season where his role was limited to providing a dose of energy off the bench and scavenging for garbage points on broken plays.

In Boston, his passion and relentlessness on the court immediately caught the eye of second-year coach Brad Stevens. Amid a stretch in which Stevens had to urge his increasingly young team to up its compete level, Crowder was the embodiment of how he wanted all of his players to play.

"Jae and Avery [Bradley] were two guys who just bring the intensity every night on the defensive end," second-year guard Marcus Smart said. "They don't let their offensive nights — bad or good — reflect how they are going to play on the defensive end. Those are the type of guys you want on your team."

Crowder thrived during Boston's second-half run to an unlikely playoff berth. With restricted free agency looming, he started 17 of 57 games and played 24.2 minutes a night. He averaged career-highs of 9.5 points and 4.6 rebounds, while also quickly becoming a go-to person for urgency and accountability.

"I am not a rah-rah guy in the locker room," he said. "I am just trying to show up every day and do my job. That's what caught people's eye. That's what got my teammates' attention, that I was serious and I want to win."
That seriousness was never more evident than in the first-round playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers in which Crowder kept the fire burning on the Boston bench even after the team was down, 3-0.

Crowder volunteered to lock in on LeBron James defensively — frustrating the four-time MVP to the point where Cleveland sent in Kendrick Perkins to deal with Crowder during a tense first half of Game Four. While Crowder stood his ground in that encounter, he was knocked out of the series later in the game when J.R. Smith drilled him with a sucker punch to the face and Crowder twisted his knee falling to the parquet.

The man who had become the emotional leader of an underdog story in the NBA watched that story end from a nearby hospital after being diagnosed with a severe sprain.

"Motivated is the correct word to take from that," he said. "I didn't leave the game the way I wanted to. It gave me motivation to get into the summer and get healthy [and] come back bigger and stronger, and ready to play.

"I never went through anything like that before. It was a first for me. But, for sure, it's a chapter left open."

It's a chapter he was eager to continue in Boston as he quickly came to terms on a five-year, $35-million contract in free agency.

"I believe in loyalty," he said. "It's all about what you believe in as a person when it comes to stuff like that. I appreciated the chance they gave me."
Crowder enters this season as one of Boston's veteran leaders. He said during Friday's Media Day that he wants to be the defensive focal point of the squad and vowed to improve his 3-point shooting.

He said on Saturday he also wants to be an example for any young player that hard work and perseverance can get you through tough times early in your career.

"Some things may not go your way early with playing time," he said, "or you might not dress, but you've got to be a professional.

"I try to be living proof for that it can work out for you in the long run."



bob



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gyso wrote:Not too bad for the guy who was considered a throw-in to make the salaries match.  Who knew that Crowder would turn out to be the gem of the trade?

gyso,

Danny did.


bob


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