Jamal Crawford - 6th Man of the Year

[Sievers81]

  Jamal Crawford was just named 6th Man of the Year for the third time. Is this a joke? He has deserved it in the past but this year he's been brutal.

Is this a case of voters just seeing his name and defined role and going with what they know and not really figuring out where the other candidates actually fit in relation to the category?

[D Dub]

Huh.   Maybe this was more of a Lifetime Achievement Award ?

[bdm860]

Full voting here. Evan Turner finished fifth, with 3 first place votes, 7 second place votes, and 10 third place votes.

[kozlodoev]

Jamal Crawford was just named 6th Man of the Year for the third time. Is this a joke? He has deserved it in the past but this year he's been brutal.

Is this a case of voters just seeing his name and defined role and going with what they know and not really figuring out where the other candidates actually fit in relation to the category?

He hasn't been any more brutal than in 2014 when he also won, and he was clearly better than all of the other candidates this season.

[Roy H.]

The best sixth man is unquestionably Andre Iguodala, in my opinion. He brings the Warriors to another level when he's in there.

Jrue Holiday would have been a better choice than Crawford, too.

[jambr380]

Seems like one of those times they should have 'spread the love' rather than just giving it to Crawford again. He wasn't clearly the best 6th man, rather he was in a grouping of other good players and voters went on reputation.

IT would have destroyed Crawford in the voting if his last season were this season.

[Who]

Undeserved

[Denis998]

solid pick

[Who]

Feels like the options were weaker this year than in the past. Less strong bench players on show this year. More teams adapting their starting lineups to fit their best 5 guys on the floor. Fewer teams keeping a top player like Ginobili (in the past) on the bench or starting caliber bigs like Varejao (in the past) than there was.

[LooseCannon]

Voting for this award traditionally overrates scorers, even if they are inefficient on offense and bad at defense.  I have never viewed Crawford as a particularly desirable player at any point in his career.

[Neurotic Guy]

This award has always bothered me.  John Havlicek and Kevin McHale were great sixth men -- but they were also among the best in the league at their positions!  The team had the flexibility to bring them in against the other team's bench players giving the C's a clear advantage. ANY top-level starter if put in the "6th man" role would make a huge impact.  Paul Pierce got no MVP awards, but would have won a half-dozen SMOY awards if he had come in 4 minutes into the game and played his 35 minutes from that point on.

If you look at most 6th man winners, you see many starter quality players (and a number of all-stars) who, because of team circumstances, were able to play off the bench in the 1st quarter.  Most if not all of these guys were always on the floor at the end of games:
McHale, Bobby Jones, Danny Manning, Dell Curry, Detlef Schrempf, Ricky Pierce, Eddie Johnson, Rodney Rodgers, Ben Gordon, Manu, Lamar Odom, James Harden.   

This award should be a "spark plug" sub award as opposed to the high-quality starter who just delays his start a few minutes so he can get going against inferior competition.   Arte Williams, Eddie House type players (and their defensive equivalents).  Guys who ARE subs, but make an impact in short minutes.   Maybe they should make a 20 mpg or less requirement.  Walton was actually a great choice in 1986 as he played 19 MPG in 1986 and made a huge impact.  In contrast, McHale won in '84 and '85 playing 31 and 33 mpg respectively.

[mmmmm]

This award has always bothered me.  John Havlicek and Kevin McHale were great sixth men -- but they were also among the best in the league at their positions!  The team had the flexibility to bring them in against the other team's bench players giving the C's a clear advantage. ANY top-level starter if put in the "6th man" role would make a huge impact.  Paul Pierce got no MVP awards, but would have won a half-dozen SMOY awards if he had come in 4 minutes into the game and played his 35 minutes from that point on.

If you look at most 6th man winners, you see many starter quality players (and a number of all-stars) who, because of team circumstances, were able to play off the bench in the 1st quarter.  Most if not all of these guys were always on the floor at the end of games:
McHale, Bobby Jones, Danny Manning, Dell Curry, Detlef Schrempf, Ricky Pierce, Eddie Johnson, Rodney Rodgers, Ben Gordon, Manu, Lamar Odom, James Harden.   

This award should be a "spark plug" sub award as opposed to the high-quality starter who just delays his start a few minutes so he can get going against inferior competition.   Arte Williams, Eddie House type players (and their defensive equivalents).  Guys who ARE subs, but make an impact in short minutes.   Maybe they should make a 20 mpg or less requirement.  Walton was actually a great choice in 1986 as he played 19 MPG in 1986 and made a huge impact.  In contrast, McHale won in '84 and '85 playing 31 and 33 mpg respectively.

Yeah, your point is cemented by the fact that both Havlicek and McHale also were elite, all-star level _starters_ for long stretches in their careers.    This award is more of a roster statement than anything else.

[LooseCannon]

A SMOY award has probably helped some players embrace coming off the bench instead of pouting about not starting.

[KGs Knee]

This award annually goes to the combo guard who scores the most points off the bench for a playoff team.

A very valuable role, but more often than not, not who I would consider the 6th Man of the Year.

[Big333223]

I'll echo those saying the award has just become the "non-starter who shoots the most award." Disappointing when you've got legit candidates like Iggy and ET, who really are the embodiment of the 6th Man.