Two Players, Two Personalities, One Number
Lazar Hayward is a 6’6” forward that graduated Marquette following the 2009-10 season. Jae Crowder is a 6’6” forward who is currently playing at Marquette. Both of the players weigh 225 pounds. When Jae Crowder was first being recruited by Buzz Williams, every fan thought that he would be a great replacement for Lazar Hayward. Since Lazar was finishing up his last year at Marquette, the team needed somebody to replace him. The question was, could another player actually substitute Lazar, the star of the Marquette basketball team, or was he irreplaceable? Lazar was so versatile that he was really hard to guard. He could shoot the three, post up, and rebound against the big guys. Once head coach Buzz Williams recruited Jae, there were high hopes for him. The way he played was very similar to Lazar Hayward and there would be a huge spot to fill on the team. This position would not be an easy fill, but if there was any chance of it being complete, it was with Jae. Are these two basketball players really that similar or are they just two guys that love the same game and have the same style of play?
Jae Crowder is a former Junior College player that is in his first season at Marquette. He started his Junior College career at South Georgia Tech where he was named Georgia Junior College Athletic Association Player of the Year as a freshman. Then he transferred to Howard College and helped them to a NJCAA Division 1 national championship. Previously, Jae went to Villa Rica High School. Last year, Jae Crowder was the Junior College Player of the Year. Now he plays for Marquette and maybe will win some awards just like Lazar. Lazar Hayward just recently graduated from Marquette. Now he plays in the NBA for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Right off the bat these guys begin different, one played two years in Junior College and the other spent all four years in Division 1 college basketball. Either way, over their first two years, they both improved and made names for themselves. While Jae helped his team meet a great milestone, Lazar worked with three great players a year older than him so his time to truly shine was his senior year at Marquette.
Any type of stat can show a lot about someone, but in sports it shows a player's strengths and weaknesses. Looking at the basic stats of Jae Crowder this year, and Lazar Hayward’s junior year stats, will say everything about these two players. Their highs and lows are as players on the basketball court will be shown. Crowder is a 62% free throw shooter while Lazar shot 82% from the line. That is a huge difference and can be a game changer, when it comes down to the last minutes of a game. Being able to be so consistent is hard to do with all the people watching, especially when you are at an away game and the opposing fans are waving their hands trying to do anything they can to make you miss. In addition, Hayward averaged 8.6 rebounds for every game and Crowder only has 6.7 per game. Jae is a better shooter than Lazar, since he shoots 5.4% higher in field goals than Hayward. He is also a higher 3-point shooter with a difference of 3.4%. These numbers don’t say much since they could change at any moment (all they have to do is miss or make a few more shots and they could be even). There could be one game when they’re on fire and another when they couldn’t buy a shot. What really sets them apart is that Jae so far has blocked 17 shots, while Lazar blocked only 9 shots. Also he has 32 steals at this point and Hayward finished his season with 35. Lazar was a huge defensive threat in the paint from all of his rebounds, but Crowder is an offensive threat with his 3-point shot and his inside out game. He is also great at getting steals and blocking shots. His blocked shots especially stand out since he’s undersized for his position.
Were the things that make these two guys similar just coincidence? Both Lazar and Jae wore the same number, which made everyone think they were more similar than they really are. There is a reporter who interviewed Jae; they asked him about his number and if he was trying to be like Lazar, he said, "actually I didn’t think about Lazar when I picked it. It was my number in high school. I wanted to wear 24, which was my junior-college number, but it’s retired. I wore 32 in high school and I felt like I need to go back to where I came from. That’s why I picked 32" (Rosiak, Golden Eagles Blog). Lazar had no influence on Jae's choice and the number situation was just happened. Jae also has feelings about the idea of him being compared to Lazar: "I’m going to let it be known that I’m Jae Crowder and not Lazar Hayward. And I talked to him about it. He said, ‘Just play your game. You’re not me; I’m not you.’ It just so happened to be that way, that everything fell into place" (Rosiak, Golden Eagles Blog). Although in a different article, he said, "I understand the role I will be taking at Marquette, and if it’s like Lazar’s then I’m all for it. I feel like I’ll step in, be fine and move on" (Rosiak, Golden Eagles Blog). It seems as though Jae wants to take the challenge of replacing Lazar, but he also wants to play his own way and make himself known as Jae Crowder, not just the replacement.
Every way you look at this story, these guys are different from each other. They both have their strengths and they both have their weaknesses, but each one is different from the other. No matter what people may say about these two players, they don’t know much until they dig deeper. All they are based off of is their same number and same position style. Jae Crowder and Lazar Hayward are similar, but different in their own unique way. I now know that Jae wants to be the best he is capable of being and he will do anything he can to make it there. He wants to be himself but he also wants to follow in the footsteps of Lazar Hayward, since he is such a good player and he’s accomplished some great things. Such as being in the NBA, which is an achievement all in its own. A life full of achievements made and ready to be made. Each one of these players is playing for success, for a win, for their team.
Bibliography
Jim Ganzer, "IWB". "Marquette Lands Jae Crowder." 3 February 2010. MarquetteHoops.com. 15 February 2011 <http://marquette.scout.com/2/943944.html>.
Marquette Basketball 2008-09 Media Guide. 2008-09.
"Marquette Season Statistics ." 29 January 2011. GoMarquette. 4 February 2011 <http://www.gomarquette.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2010-2011/teamcume.html>.
—. "Golden Eagles Blog." 7 September 2010. JSOnline. 22 2 2011 <http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/102406609.html?sort=first+to+last&page=2>.
—. "Golden Eagles Blog." 14 April 2010. JSOnline. 22 2 2011 <http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/90816919.html>.
Strotman, Mark. "Crowder Looks To Fill Void." 26 October 2010. MarquetteHoops.com. 17 February 2011 <http://marquette.scout.com/2/1015826.html>.
Man vs. Nature
The cold frigid air is all around, thrusting itself at you left and right. It's so freezing that it nips at any visible skin causing a tremendous pain. You're numb as could be, there's no feeling left from your face to your toes. You can’t stand the cold much longer, so you begin to run as fast as you can, but you keep falling and then you realize you will never make it back to camp. No man should venture out alone in the Yukon, no matter how brave he thinks he is, since nature is much more powerful than man.
Forced to stop and make a fire so he could warm up and defrost his frozen feet, he pulled sticks off the tree. He set up his fire right underneath it, and then “high up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow. This fell on the boughs beneath, capsizing them. This process continued, spreading out and involving the whole tree. It grew like an avalanche and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire, and the fire was blotted out! Where it had burned was mantle of fresh and disordered snow.” Even though the man caused this incident, nature had made all of that snow pile up on top of the tree, so he was set up. With this fire being put out, the man was sentenced to his own death, since he had to redo everything he just did. This time he would be much colder and he’d have more trouble lighting his match. At the end of the story, the man dies. Nature won over man, because the man was stupid for going out into the cold in the first place, but he was also being human.
Nature doesn’t only control the story; it also dominates in real life. During our current winter we had a huge snow storm with over a foot of snow. During the night nature took over and in the morning, it was nearly impossible to leave the house. Due to the snow storm, many businesses and schools were closed. All the roads were deserted and not many people dared to venture out into the snow. Most stayed safely in their homes and relaxed for the night. Those who had to be out risked getting stuck in piles of snow. Plows were out trying to restore the cities roads and get them ready for the next day, when everyone was back to their normal lives. Fortunately we have homes to keep us safe.
When it comes to nature, you shouldn’t risk your life, because it will usually be much stronger than you. If you get the option of whether or not to go our when the weather isn’t good, stay put. Don’t risk your life when you could be safe and alive. Your life is much more important than whatever else you would be doing. Wherever you are trying to get can wait until you can make a safe journey there. Don't let nature take its wrath out on you.
