IN HIS GRASP
Crabbe can put it all together with strong ‘D’ and some consistency
There are all the clichés athletes regurgitate about not feeling the pressure of a big contract. Then there’s the truth.
When the Nets made Allen Crabbe the fifth-highest paid player in team history, and gave him a chance to go from backup in Portland to starter and centerpiece in Brooklyn, it came with a weight he had to grow into. And while it looked too heavy at first, lately the young guard is starting to show signs of being up to the task.
“It’s just being more aggressive, just telling myself to stay aggressive,” Crabbe said. “I have a really great opportunity to do bigger things over here, and I just want to take advantage of that, and prove to them that I’m worthy of it.
“But most importantly, just playing within the team, still making team plays. My teammates are finding me in transition. I give credit to them, playing team basketball. Things are just happening, shots are falling for me now. I think it’s just about being consistent from here on out.”
Inconsistency has always been Crabbe’s bane, often due to waxing and waning aggressiveness. After averaging just 10.6 points on 34.7 percent shooting from beyond the 3-point arc through his first 13 games as a Net, he’s jumped to 19.3 points on 51.9 percent in his last three games.
The 25-year-old wing has always been viewed as a gifted shooter who drifts in and out of games, fluc- tuating from hot to invisible while playing poor defense. With the starting backcourt of Jeremy Lin and D’Angelo Russell both out with knee injuries, the Nets need more from Crabbe. And frankly, they paid for far more.
Brooklyn owes him $56.8 million over the next three years, including $19.3 million this season.
The Nets traded for him in July knowing he’d undergone surgery two months earlier to repair a stress reaction of the fifth metatarsal bone in his left foot. Their own foot/ankle specialist, Dr. Martin O’Malley, performed the operation. But the surgery essentially cost Crabbe the entire summer, and a sprained ankle on the second day of camp cost him half of the preseason.
Crabbe has always been a slow starter — his shooting improving each month through January — and this season has been no different. But not only is his offense finally starting to come around, but so is his much-maligned defense.
“Yes, we’re on him about it. We’re really challenging him to defend better. He’s improving,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “I also think he’s starting to get his rhythm a bit. He missed a ton of time in the sum- mer and he missed time in training camp, so he’s starting to hit his stride, catch his rhythm, understand what we’re doing offensively.
“But [he’s] much-improved defensively. He has all the [necessary traits]. He’s got nice size, he’s got good agility, he’s got a high IQ defensively, so there’s no reason why he can’t be a good wing defender in this league. And now he’s in a starting position, now every night you’re guarding an elite wing, so heck of a challenge for him to improve in that area.”
Atkinson challenged him with guarding former teammate C.J. McCollum on Nov. 10 (McCollum managed 17 points on 6-for-16 shooting in a 101-97 Nets win in Portland), and on Sunday he held Golden State deadeye Klay Thompson without a 3-point attempt until there was 1:29 left. Next up is Cleveland on Wednesday, where he’ll not only get doses of Dwyane Wade and J.R. Smith, but likely some of LeBron James as well.
“That’s what I’m here for. It’s a test to my basketball skills. I’m up for it. That’s what you want to do,” Crabbe said. “If you want to be a starter in this league, you go up against elite players. It’s just about learning, getting stops going back to the film room, taking away tendencies and hoping that I can limit them from having a big night.”