Should Jamal Crawford Start Over Mike Bibby?

With his second straight game of scoring in the upper twenties in back-to-back nights, Jamal Crawford has put the Atlanta Hawks at 4-1; good for a tie with the Miami Heat for second place in the Eastern Conference’s Southeast division.

After leading the team in points scored with 27 and seven assists against the Blazers on Tuesday, his 26 points last night against the Sacramento Kings tied for the team-high with Joe Johnson.

In Atlanta’s five games this season, Crawford has outplayed the Hawks’ starting point guard Mike Bibby, except for the first and third games of the season. Currently, Crawford has outscored, outshot, and is running the offense better than Bibby during the Hawks three-game road trip. Crawford is averaging four assists a game and Bibby is getting just 2.6.

Crawford played more minutes than Bibby did in two of three West Coast games for the Hawks, who went 2-1; their only loss was an eight-point defeat at the hands of the defending champions. In this game, Crawford had his worst shooting night. He went 6-of-14 from the field and was 0-for-5 from the three-pointer.

However, in the Hawks’ next two games, Crawford got over his bad shooting night and emerged as Atlanta’s player of the game in both, while Bibby disappeared.

In the next two games, Crawford went a combined 18-of-31, including 5-of-9 from the three-pointer, and a near perfect 12-of-13 from the foul line. In the game against Portland, he and Bibby each played 34 minutes, and Crawford finished with his best game as a Hawk.

Bibby went just 3-of-10 from the field and had just five assists against the Trailblazers. Last night against the Kings, Bibby continued to struggle from the field, but did knock down two three-pointers; however, he finished with just two assists.

Crawford actually played 50 more seconds than Bibby did last night. After having his best game as a Hawk, Crawford went right back to work only to have an even better game.

Crawford finished tied with Johnson for the team-high in points and led the team with four assists. He also had the game’s highest shooting percentage, knocking down 10-of-15, and had a game-high three makes from downtown.

Crawford only has two years less experience in the NBA than Bibby, and if anyone was going to replace Bibby as the leader of the Hawks, he definitely appears to be the ideal candidate.

The Hawks still have 77 games left to go. I mean, November just got here. So, predicting how the team will play with Crawford getting the start over Bibby is hard to do at this point.

But, one thing is clear; Crawford seems pretty comfortable playing with the Atlanta Hawks. If he keeps continuing to give the Hawks and Johnson another scorer, his minutes will continue to equal or exceed Bibby’s.

Also, in Atlanta’s five games, they have only led after the first quarter twice. They were down by 10 points after the first quarter against Portland, before Crawford came in and put some life into the Hawks’ offense.