LOS ANGELES — Following a turnover with a minute left in the third quarter in the Bucks’ 108-102 loss to the Grizzlies on Tuesday, coach Adrian Griffin yelled across the court to Jae Crowder to ask if the veteran forward wanted to be taken out of the game.
The Bucks were starting to lean into their younger players at the back end of the roster, so it would have been logical to get him off the court. But Crowder, who had played the first 11 minutes of the third quarter, waved the suggestion away to finish the quarter.
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“You saw that,” Crowder asked with a laugh following the game. “Once I get into it, I’m good. I’m in there. I’m taking this very serious. I’m taking these minutes serious. I’m taking this whole process of learning coach and learning a new system and all that very serious. Trying to elevate my game.”
Playing an entire quarter of a preseason game is not some sort of grand accomplishment, nor is it something that needs to be celebrated. But it was unusual to see a 33-year-old forward play 12 straight minutes in the second game of the preseason. Veterans need to get work in during the preseason just like everyone else, but players who have been in the league for a decade tend to be given the opportunity to take it a bit slower.
On Wednesday, during an appearance on ESPN’s NBA Today, Griffin revealed Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard will play for the first time this preseason on Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Bucks’ big three of Antetokounmpo, Lillard and Khris Middleton have yet to see the floor in the preseason.
Without the team’s three best players, Griffin has relied on the middle of his rotation to eat up minutes and lead the young players on the roster. Crowder has been at the front of that charge, averaging 12 points per game on 55.6 percent shooting in 20 minutes per game.
“It’s good to have a veteran presence out there,” Griffin said. “(Crowder) never gets rattled. I think he’s a calming presence for our team and also a good vocal leader. I couldn’t be happier about his contributions as far as his performance and also his leadership.”
“He’s a veteran guy that just knows where his shots are going to come from, knows how to get his shot off. You can’t speed him up. He’s solid. You can tell he’s been around the block once or twice and played in some big time games, so he’s definitely a huge piece for us moving forward.”
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While this might just seem like a veteran doing what he’s supposed to do in the preseason, this is an important preseason for Crowder.
Last season did not go the way he wanted. Crowder sat out to start the season in a contract dispute with the Phoenix Suns, and never played a game for them last season. Crowder and the organization agreed it would be best for him to be away from them during their disagreement and work out on his own. Crowder spent the first five months of the season doing just that before the Bucks finally traded for him shortly before the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 9.
While Crowder worked himself to exhaustion on his own, that individual work just wasn’t the same as NBA practices or games and he never found a rhythm in the final 20 games of the regular season. In the playoffs, Crowder found himself outside of Mike Budenholzer’s rotation during the final two games of the Bucks’ first round series after he played in the first three games, but didn’t impress the Bucks’ former head coach.
This offseason, Crowder signed a veteran minimum deal to return for a second season and he seems determined to prove that last season was a fluke because of unusual circumstances and not the start of the downslope of his career.
“I’m taking this training camp very seriously this year,” Crowder said. “Obviously, knowing that I missed last year. Just trying to blow it out in the terms of both ends, conditioning and learning-wise. Just trying to learn as much as possible before the real games start. So I’m taking this training camp more seriously than I would in the past few years.”
That attitude and emphasis has been clear to his teammates from the moment Crowder arrived back in Milwaukee this season.
“He’s just been incredibly present,” Bucks center Brook Lopez said. “You absolutely notice him in so much that we do, from drills to times in film, just making himself known. Having great energy and you can definitely tell that he wants to have a big impact this year.”
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And while none of his teammates have any interest in making excuses for Crowder, center Bobby Portis feels that joining a team with a culture and roster as established as last season’s Bucks led to some of Crowder’s struggles to acclimate to a new team and organization.
“Obviously, when you’re traded and change teams, you sit out the amount of time he sat out last year and come into a new situation, it’s always difficult, especially midseason,” Portis said. “I think there are some unseen things that people don’t really take into account — coming to a new team, running a new culture, building trust with coaches and teammates — and we only had a couple months to get our camaraderie and chemistry together with new guys that we added. And coach Bud really sticks to his principles, really kind of sticks to the guys that he trusts a lot and it wasn’t enough for him to gain coach’s trust.
“Now having a fresh start, a fresh training camp, a fresh coaching staff, it’s just a new opportunity for everybody to grow. With Jae, he’s grown for our team. He’s gotten better. Obviously, he’s a 12-year NBA veteran, savvy pro that’s seen a lot now and we know what we can have from him, but I think everybody this year is just taking accountability of themselves to be ready for whatever’s thrown at us this year. I think failure opens you up and makes you lock in even more, especially with being a first round exit last year, and a lot of us … just sometimes the opportunity wasn’t there for certain guys. It’s a new year and it’s fun to see everybody come back locked in.”
One of the overwhelming themes of training camp has been Griffin’s focus on the competitive spirit and trying to get the Bucks to really get after it against each other each day of training camp. Crowder has been right in the middle of those efforts.
“It’s awesome,” Lopez said. “I was just talking to our security guy and he was saying how much different camp felt this year, how the energy was so much different, seeing guys go at it in scrimmages and five-on-five drills and stuff like that, how different it is from last year and having a mentality like Jae’s absolutely contributes to that.”
Crowder’s approach has led to him putting together a strong start to training camp and that has been apparent in the action thus far. Offensively, he has looked good in the first two games, knocking down some triples as a spot-up threat, but also attacking the basket and hurting defenses with floaters and finishes closer to the rim.
But while Crowder has been in a good rhythm offensively, his work on the defensive end has been far more important and it helped during the game in Memphis.
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Watch Crowder’s effort in denying the entry pass to David Roddy to start this first-quarter possession and then his subsequent ball pressure once he forced Roddy to catch the ball well beyond the 3-point line.
Crowder’s pressure set the tone for the possession and Lopez followed his lead with an aggressive switch, which Crowder and Pat Connaughton helped make possible by covering the roll man.
The possession wasn’t perfect, but it appeared to show the Bucks getting closer to the aggressive, pressure-based defense Griffin has been installing in his first season as Bucks head coach.
“Sometimes, basketball isn’t just about the glitz and glamor and the highlight plays, hitting 20 3s to win the game. Sometimes you gotta get your hands dirty, man,” Portis said. “It’s about who wants it more, the 50-50 balls, the toughness plays, taking a charge, getting a big defensive stop, whatever it is, the things that contribute and impact winning and he does a lot of those things that can help impact winning for our basketball team.
“We’re going to need him. We’re going to need everybody, but just to speak on him in particular, I like what I’ve seen from big bro over the last 10, 12 days that we’ve been here. And it’s fun to see a guy who did not get the time, like he did last year, or an opportunity didn’t really present itself, but he’s not sitting and moping, and he came back the next year and he’s hungry for more. That’s what our game is all about. It’s all about testing you, testing yourself and how you’re going to respond and how you’re going to answer the adversity that you face.”
Taking a closer look at the film, the Bucks might have left people open by being a bit too aggressive at times. But that aggressiveness kept the Grizzlies from taking advantage and there appeared to be a few moments in the first quarter with Crowder on the floor where the vision of Griffin’s new defensive plan seemed to be taking shape.
The possession started with consistent pressure from Cam Payne and Crowder denying Desmond Bane the ball on the first pass. After Crowder chased Bane around the initial screen, he let Payne know that he should leave the ball and switch onto Bane. It’s unorthodox, but it worked because Grizzlies guard Luke Kennard is so far from the 3-point line.
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When Kennard went to screen for Bane, Crowder switched right back and Lopez pressured Grizzlies big man Xavier Tillman Jr. on the ball. Lopez used drop coverage to cover for Crowder, who chased Bane around the high pick-and-roll, but both Payne and Portis helped aggressively and smothered Bane’s drive with Lopez.
It was a bit unusual, but with Crowder communicating throughout the play, the Bucks created a chaotic environment for the Grizzlies’ offense and forced Bane to kick the ball out to the 3-point line.
“He’s a consummate pro,” Griffin said. “One thing about veterans, they know what they need to do. You don’t necessarily have to tell them, they know what level of conditioning, what level of preparation they need and they embrace it. He’s been not only great with just buying in, but getting others to buy in, so it’s certainly been a treat to have someone like Jae with his experience and his professionalism on the team.”
The Bucks are still working toward perfecting Griffin’s new schemes on both ends of the floor, but they will only get better if they have players committed to improving like Crowder. Getting more of their top players on the floor will help, but veteran leadership, like what they have received thus far from Crowder, will be invaluable going forward.
(Photo of Jae Crowder: Petre Thomas / USA Today)
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