As Jay Williams limped to the trainer’s room Sunday at the Bulls’ Berto Center, Jamal Crawford stayed late on the practice floor, receiving extra instruction from veteran Rick Brunson.
Williams didn’t practice, and athletic trainer Fred Tedeschi said the rookie point guard is questionable for Monday night’s game against Utah with a mild to moderately sprained left ankle.
Williams is a competitor with a high pain tolerance. But whether his ankle heals in time or whether Crawford receives his first start of the season, coach Bill Cartwright hopes for one thing–that both young guards watch and learn from their opponent, John Stockton.
“He’s the ultimate orchestrator,” Cartwright said. “He’s a great guy for our guys to watch run a team. He’s unselfish. He knows when to shoot. He knows how to get the ball to guys. He’s a tremendous role model.”
Cartwright demands more from his point guards than any other position. He asks them to initiate the offense, pressure all over the court defensively and think pass first. He has said consistently that a perfect line in the box score for his point guard would be six points and 12 assists.
In other words, the kind of line that Stockton, still sixth in the league in assists at age 40, produces consistently.
Crawford’s line from Saturday night’s victory over Cleveland had the pass-first mentality that Cartwright desires. Crawford took eight shots and finished with seven assists. But he negated that effectiveness with seven turnovers, including three in the fourth quarter.
Cartwright pulled Crawford and Eddie Robinson, who had two fourth-quarter turnovers, with four minutes to play and used Fred Hoiberg and Jalen Rose at point guard down the stretch.
“If things aren’t going well, then you make a change,” Cartwright said. “You have to go with who you feel is doing the job that night.”
Crawford clearly wasn’t.
“But today’s a new day,” Cartwright said. “You get an opportunity to play. So here it is.”
Indeed, Saturday’s was the kind of game Crawford had pined for all season, save for the injury to Williams, which no teammate roots for. He played a career-high 40 minutes and finished 2-for-8, including 0-for-3 on three-point attempts.
Once Williams went out, Crawford played without looking over his shoulder. He knows he didn’t take full advantage of his chance but is satisfied the Bulls won and is eager for Monday.
“I expect to play better,” Crawford said. “Jason Kidd leads the league in turnovers [actually, he’s seventh]. Magic [Johnson] is up there [on the career list] and he’s the best point guard ever. I still have confidence.
“It’s more mental than anything. I didn’t go into the game expecting to play 40 minutes. I’ll be more prepared this game.”
That preparation included practicing with the first unit Sunday and then going for additional film work on Stockton. Crawford knows that if Williams doesn’t play, he has to handle the pressure he’s putting on himself to take advantage of the opportunity and lead the Bulls.
The Bulls need a strong outing. Monday is their last home game before a brutal stretch of 12 road games in 15 starts leading to the All-Star break. They are a league-worst 1-14 on the road.
“If there’s a team that we want to emulate in terms of how tough they are and how they execute their offense, it’s these guys,” Cartwright said of Utah.
