BOSTON - Jae Crowder is going to win a championship or two before it's all said and done.
No, it's not gonna happen this year, sorry. The Celtics aren't there yet. But Crowder seems to be.
Some players are built for the playoffs, and Crowder is one of those players. If you've watched him play for the Celtics since being traded over from the Mavericks, this shouldn't come as a surprise to you.
Crowder does everything you want a player to do: he hustles hard, he plays physical, he shows emotion. He hits the occasional big shot, too.
In the playoffs, those things need to be done tenfold. Some players are able to flip the switch, while others shrink. Crowder's switch is flipped, and it's those types of players - even in bench roles - who become extremely valuable to good teams.
He's been compared to James Posey, which I tend to agree with (though Posey was a better shooter). I also see a little bit of Tony Allen in him (though Allen's defense is and was better). But Crowder's the energy/defense guy in the same mold, and if the Celtics had a couple stars on their team, Crowder's role would be just as important and probably not change.
Good teams need players like Crowder. If only the Mavericks knew that a few months ago, before they traded Crowder in a package deal for Rajon Rondo, a player who right now looks like the anti-Crowder.
Through the first two games, I didn't think Boston was physical enough. In Game 3, they made a point to be. Crowder led the way in that department, and forced Stevens to start him in the second half based on his play.
The day before Game 3, Crowder spoke of the confidence he had in himself and his teammates to win Game 3, and that he wasn't intimidated by anybody on the Cavs. Nothing he did on the court the next night showed he was lying.
“I know a lot was made out of what [Crowder] said yesterday, but the bottom line is, Jae’s not scared. He’s not scared," Stevens said after Game 3. "He’s not going to play – he’s not going to play in a way that he’s going to back down from anybody, which I really appreciate about him. He plays really hard, he is a very good defender, he’s a very versatile defender, and he made huge shots and made huge plays at the rim for us. He’s been a great addition. Just a great addition. It’s been fun to coach him.”
Crowder finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals, two blocks, and four turnovers over 31 minutes. He was tasked with guarding LeBron James for parts of the game, no small task. James dropped 31 points on the Celtics, but on 26 shots. Crowder and the rest of the team tried to make him work for those points, and put him on his butt on a number of occasions.
"It's physical. It's the playoffs," Crowder said. "Those guys are going to give us their best punch. We're just fighting. So it's gonna be like that. I just felt like the game was physical, but that's what I expect it to be. That's what I expect it to be Sunday as well moving forward. It's going to be part of it."
Whether or not the Celtics win on Sunday won't change what Crowder has shown everybody. As he enters free agency in the offseason, it'll be interesting to see what his market is. The Celtics would love to have him back for the right price, but you have to imagine there will be a number of teams - good teams, too - looking for his services.
The same won't be said for the "other" player in that deal.