We check back in with Drew Crawford and John Shurna as the Las Vegas Summer League wraps up

Drew Crawford

Well I wrote last week that Crawford’s shooting percentage would straighten itself out, and in Las Vegas it did.  Kinda sorta.  Playing with the Toronto Raptors’ squad in Vegas, Crawford upped his shooting numbers across the board.  After shooting a shade under 37% from the floor and just 1/7 from three, Crawford went 3/9 from deep and 44% from the floor en route to averaging 9.6 points per game.  Drew also averaged about .5 steals and blocks per game over the 5 game run in Las Vegas and averaged 1.6 rebounds.

He got more run in Las Vegas too, playing between 15-20 minutes for the first four games before playing starters’ minute in game 5, when he played 33 minutes.  Not coincidentally, it was his best game, scoring 11 and grabbing 5 rebounds.

Game-by-Game Breakdown

It was a definite step forward for Drew in Vegas.  He might not have been as active on the glass consistently, but his shooting numbers were closer to where they have to be if he wants to get out of the D-League.  Did he do enough?  Probably not.  Not many people go from the D-League to the Association.  Making it tougher, Crawford doesn’t really have a specialized skill set that could appeal to a coach who would want some spot minutes from a deep reserve player.  He’s an alright deep-threat, he has an alright handle, and he has alright size.  Crawford didn’t bring his A+ game to summer league, but overall it was a solid B or B+.  We’ll see where Crawford chooses to play ball next year, if it’s back in the D-League or overseas.

John Shurna

Mr. Shurna got his first Summer League work in, also in Las Vegas, with the Cleveland Cavaliers squad.  He played awfully well.  In a shade under 20 minutes a game, Shurna averaged 8.8 points, 4 rebounds, didn’t miss a foul shot, and, somewhat surprisingly, came away with 4 steals over 5 games.  Shurna was not a great defender in Evanston, so to see him step in some passing lanes and pick up some forced turnovers is somewhat suprising.

Game-by-Game Breakdown

If you want to break down Shurna’s week in one stat, it’s this: there was only one game where he shot more than 1 2-point field goal.  Of his 36 field goal attempts, 28 of them were threes, and he shot 39% from beyond the arc.  If Shurna cracks the league, it’s as a player who can camp in the corner or around the arc and knock down triples.  He did that impressively well with the Cavs (a team that could actually use some shooters on the wing).  It would still be a pretty big surprise if the Cavaliers brought Shurna to the big show, but he showed exactly what his skill-set is.  Against Minnesota, Shurna led his team in scoring with 14 and grabbed 6 rebounds.  Shurna had a great week.  There wasn’t a whole lot else he could do to show that he deserves to be in the league.  We’ll have to wait and see.