Jae Crowder versus Lazar Hayward

[NersEllenson]

Maybe not "fair" to compare...but is it possible Jae will be a better player from this point forward in his career at MU, than was Lazar from middle of Junior year until graduation as a Senior?

I'm amazed at how similar Jae's game (and maybe even personality/leadership traits) are to Lazar.  It is almost peculiar, for a team to find a guy that can replace someone who brought so much to his team like Lazar did.  Both are great kids.  Both have unique skill sets - inside out combination, toughness, etc. 

So glad Jae chose Marquette - think he will have some unbelievable games between now and the end of his MU career.

[bilsu]

It is certainly possible, but right now I do not think he draws the other teams defensive pressure as much as Lazar did.

[brewcity77]

This thread reminds me of something I wrote back in April...

I think that Crowder could come in and immediately prove to be a solid near-clone of Hayward. A guy who can get us 15 and 7 a night, taking the pressure off Butler down low.

Crowder hasn't yet matched what Lazar did as a senior, averaging 18.1 ppg and 7.5 rpg, but he has certainly made the transition a lot easier. He's averaging 13 ppg and 6.7 rpg currently, though since BEast play started he's putting up 15.8 ppg and 7.2 rpg, which is pretty darn close to what I was hoping for back then. He's been a fantastic addition who has added not just his talent but the leadership and personality that you want on the court. I really think that if his current conference production is what we can expect for the rest of the year, there's no reason he couldn't put up numbers about on par with Lazar in his senior season.

Crowder, along with Butler, DJO, and Buycks, are great examples of why Buzz should keep culling the JUCO ranks. It seems like at least three of those guys could end up playing in the NBA, and they have been fantastic supplementing our roster during these couple of depleted years.

[Markusquette]

I think Jae might be even a bit more physical than Lazar, and Zar was a little more finesse around the hoop posting up, etc.  Pretty much the same player in terms of their role, though.  All I can say is we are very fortunate to even be comparing Jae to Lazar.  I did expect Jae to contribute quite a bit, but his performance has exceeded my personal expectations.  Didn't seem like there was much of a learning curve jumping from Juco to BE play either.