“No Excuses” for Crawford and Bulls

"When the Cubs won that first series against the Braves, the city was really buzzing and alive as ever," says Jamal Crawford. "Our fans deserve that and when we go to the playoffs this year, I hope they go just as crazy."

Jamal Crawford checks in as he begins his fourth NBA season and the Bulls push for a return to the playoffs.

Closing out last season like we did was huge for all of us. It was a growing process for our core of young guys and I think our vets got to re-learn what their games are all about. We played really well from the All-Star break on and that is something positive that we plan to build on going into this year. This will be a totally different season for us. Our young guys are more experienced and our vets are ready to lead us. We’re all going to be in this together.

This is going to be my best year in the league. In my first year, I don’t think our coach really believed in playing young players. My next year, I was hurt. And last year, everyone knows about the controversy on whether Jay Williams or I should play. In some ways that helped me, but in other ways it kind of took away from my growth as a player. Now I’m going to get a chance to show everyone what my game is really all about.

This summer, my teammates and I had too much off time. We wanted our season to keep going. But now it’s over and we were all excited for training camp. The season is almost here and guys are doing really well. We have some new coaches and new players and we were all mixed in together that first week of camp. It’s been a really good thing so far because of some of the new vets. Scottie Pippen has really helped a lot of the young guys and I know how excited the city of Chicago is to have him back. Our young guys have also really stepped up. It’s been hard at times but we keep learning and working hard and I know we’re headed in the right direction.

This year training camp had more of an emphasis on teaching. Our coaches do a great job of that and they have been very clear with what they’ve wanted on the court. If we have a question, they have an answer and they point us in the right direction. If I’m not sure about something, the coaches are out there to tell me exactly how it should be. The new coaches, Coach Bach and Coach Adams, haven’t held back at all. It’s been good, because they aren’t afraid to get after us. They want the best for our team and I know they go home pulling their hair out sometimes. They tell us how much potential they see in us, but that’s a word we don’t want to use anymore around here. It’s time for us all to step up and get it done. Our motto this season is “No Excuses.” No matter what, we don’t want to use any excuses. We’ll take the tough times like men and keep plugging away at getting better.

Training camp was a different atmosphere for me this year because I know that I’m going to be the starting point guard. So that was different. Kirk [Hinrich] is going to play a lot, though. We’ve had some good battles in practice and he always plays hard. He doesn’t back down and that’s good for both of us. Last year there was a lot of pressure on Jay, but this year, with all of us expecting to go to the playoffs and have a great year, there may not be that same kind of pressure on Kirk. But I think he’ll come in and play well and help us out when we need it.

"Success in the preseason isn’t really based on wins, it’s based on learning and understanding some of the team’s new philosophies," Crawford explains. "Then it all really starts in the regular season. It’s another level then."

“No Excuses” is John Paxson's thing. We had said it as a team in different ways at different times, but it’s a team motto now and we’re all in it together. We’re family and we have each other and we decided that there won’t be any excuses no matter what. We are going to play our hearts out every night for us and for the city of Chicago. We haven’t been to the playoffs in five years and our fans deserve better than that. The end of the season last year was great. Even though we weren’t going to the playoffs, we finished well and our fans acted as if we were going to the playoffs.

We see how everyone has treated the Cubs—they won that first series against Atlanta and it was like they won the World Series. That kind of support just goes to show you how great of a sports town Chicago is. I honestly hadn’t watched that much baseball this summer but when the Cubs won that first series against the Braves, the city was really buzzing and alive as ever. Our fans deserve that and when we go to the playoffs this year, I hope they go just as crazy. I’m going to be really excited for that and it gives us even more motivation to get it done.

Everybody knows that Michael Jordan was recently out at one of our practices. It was cool for me and I had heard that he was going to come. We were stretching out that morning when all of a sudden he poked his bald head in and we saw he was there. I think it was good for all of us, especially all of the young guys. Some of them hadn’t seen him before in person. He sat through the whole practice and a lot of us talked to him in the training room afterwards. It was good just to interact with him and I think he’ll be around a lot more to show his support. This organization is one that he really helped build in a lot of ways.

I see him a little bit more often than some of the other guys, so I think of him as a regular guy now. I really look at him as more of a friend than as Michael Jordan. Before I had surgery to repair my ACL, I called him and he kind of calmed me down about the whole thing. So he’s a friend but I still sometimes think about the fact that he’s the best player ever and he’ll always be one of my heroes. People ask me if they think he’ll ever get out on the court and play with us in practice. I honestly think that he’s competitive enough that he just might. Especially if someone starts talking trash… he’ll get out there then.

One other thing people ask me about is my contract. I could have gotten extended this year before the season but that isn’t going to happen. The issue came up and my agent and Pax talked about it, but they weren’t exactly on the same page. That’s not a problem, though. Back when it was being discussed, no one from my draft class had been extended. Kenyon Martin hadn’t and neither had Morris Peterson, Desmond Mason or Jamaal Magloire. Mike Miller just signed a deal but he is about the only guy in our class that has. So that’s not a big deal for me, it was just an option.

"[Kirk and I] have had some good battles in practice and he always plays hard," Crawford says. "He doesn’t back down and that’s good for both of us."

Now, I’m just looking forward to playing this year out and see how things fall into place. I’m not too worried about it because I know I’ll have a home somewhere in the NBA next year. My first choice is to be here but I understand that basketball is also a business so that’s how I look at it. I’ve talked about it with Pax and we’re both fine with it. It doesn’t mean that they don’t want me because they didn’t extend me. We’ll just wait until next year to figure things out.

Pax has been cool. He’s always been positive and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him down. He’s straight up and he’s honest with us. If you aren’t doing something that you should be, he’ll let you know. If you are doing the right stuff that you should be doing, he’ll let you know that, too. I think he’s a great person to lead us and all of the guys really like him.

Right now, I can’t wait for the regular season. The preseason is good for all of us, even for the veterans so they can get out there and run. Some of the guys haven’t played in an organized set for a few months so it’s good for them to get out there and it’s always good for the young guys to be on the court. Success in the preseason isn’t really based on wins, it’s based on learning and understanding some of the team’s new philosophies. Then it all really starts in the regular season. It’s another level then.

All we can think about is the playoffs. If we don’t make them, it will be a disappointment for everybody in this organization and for the fans, too, because they deserve it. But we’ll get there. It’s no secret we want to get there and we aren’t going to sugar coat it. “No Excuses,” that’s our whole motto. We aren’t going to talk about being young anymore; we’re going to talk about making the playoffs. Our young guys are a year older and our vets trust our young guys more because they know we’re able to help them out. We’ve got Pip, Kendall Gill and other guys who are all experienced players that have been around and know how to win. They’ve been on winning teams and that, along with our young talent, is going to push us through. Not to mention that we’ve got a great coaching staff.

All of these things are what will help us make it to the playoffs and I can’t wait.