<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Jamal Crawford leaned against the fence at Rucker Park on Wednesday, shaking hands with players and fans and tugging at his oversized T-shirt. A fan walked past him, cautioning him not to play too hard. "Don't forget, Jamal," the man said. "You play for the New York Knicks." Not in Rucker Park he doesn't. As Crawford and fellow Knick and streetball mate Nate Robinson know, Rucker ball is a different brand of basketball. "This is where you work on your game," Crawford said. "You get better, break out some new stuff." That's what Crawford and Robinson did while playing for their Seattle team in Rucker's EBC America Classic. After a trying NBA season, both were happy to play Rucker's looser game. Here, nobody takes issue with their shot selection. And they can't get benched. "Here," said Crawford. "I sub myself out." Rucker is about hype and highlights, not coaches and boxscores. Crawford and Robinson are fan favorites. Seattle was loaded with stars ? unflappable McDonald's All-America Spencer Hawes, Portland Trail Blazers' first-round swingman Brandon Roy and former Washington Huskie point guard Will Conroy ? but the local guys garnered the bulk of the attention. And it wasn't just because they're Knicks. Both respect the history of Rucker. Crawford calls it "the true essence of basketball," and rattles off the names of former Rucker stars - Dr. J, Kobe, Pearl Washington. And Robinson constantly mentions that Rucker Park has "so much history." The pair left their own impressions, too. In Rucker, Robinson is "Nate the Great," and Crawford is "True Essence." And, freed from Larry Brown's restrictive offense, both showed what they can do. "Here, it's just outside basketball," said Robinson. "It's just plain basketball." So against Los Angeles in the semis, Robinson launched seven treys - including two airballs - without fear of getting pulled. Twice, he isolated from his teammates and dribbled the entire shot clock away, trying to break down a double team. Even though he didn't score either time, he drew cheers.</div> Source
