2014-2015 regular season!

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NBA scouts are asking about the length of Kuzminskas

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Alex Kennedy: I'm told Bucks haven't officially waived Nate Wolters yet. They may be trying to trade him, rather than waive him, to make room for K-Mart. Twitter @AlexKennedyNBA

He played pretty well last year.

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Bulls play-by-play man Chuck Swirsky came away impressed.

"Watching Jazz-Pacers and Rudy Gobert has star written all over him," he posted on Twitter. "This kid has a terrific upside."

As soon as they leash him.

[QUOTE]One person who was already familiar with Gobert before Wednesday night

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[QUOTE]Gobert admitted there

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[QUOTE]Asked if he

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[QUOTE]Quin Snyder

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Derrick Favors went 20-10 for the third straight game. Another accomplishment. His jumper is so good right now from straight away and from the baseline. He is beginning to have spots on the floor where he knows how to knock down a shot. That is what the great players do.

Could we quit calling these guys stars and great until they really prove it?

[QUOTE]Then he is terrific rolling down the middle of the lane on the pick and roll. I talked about this early in the season but I love Favors playing between the 45

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Trevor Booker got a text about his wild tip shot from the Lakers' Jordan Hill after the game. The cousins practiced shots like that as kids.

Didn't know they were cousins.

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What player do the Utah Jazz miss the most?
1. Alec Burks
2. Enes Kanter
3. Rodney Hood

Probably Burks because of their issues on the wing and at guard.

[QUOTE]All over the NBA there are several teams dealing with the loss of key players. Oklahoma City has spent time without Kevin Durant; Cleveland misses LeBron James every time he can

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[QUOTE]Over their past 10 games coming into Friday

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[QUOTE]Utah is 4-4 on the second night of back-to-back sets this season.

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"I think we performed well," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "It just was, we missed some shots at the end. There was nothing about what we did that we fell apart. We didn't turn the ball over late. I think it was more them raising their level."

Pretty much. Sad that the front office put this roster together.


Waiters was 1 for 9 in his Thunder debut Wednesday at Sacramento. He entered this game with 5:37 left in the first quarter, and immediately made an impression. He made 4 of 5 shots in the period, had a nifty assist to Westbrook for a dunk and had two steals in six minutes.

With 1:02 left in the first half, Utah lost the ball out of bounds with 0.2 seconds left on the shot clock and Trevor Booker checked in. Hayward bounced the ball to Booker, and he tipped it over his head, two-handed, into the basket from just outside the paint. Booker jogged down court with arms out and palms toward the ceiling, perhaps as surprised as the crowd.

"Well, I didn't know the play," he said. "At first, I just went to the rim for the lob. It wasn't there, so I just tried to give G (Gordon Hayward) an outlet. I knew I couldn't catch the ball. He bounced it. I know you won't believe me, but I really do practice those shots. I guess you could say the hard work finally paid off."

Booker's circus shot helped Utah take a 50-44 lead at halftime.

An alley-oop dunk by Booker on a lob from Burke from the 3-point line put the Jazz up 81-76 in the fourth quarter, but the Thunder rallied. A baseline fadeaway by Durant tied the score at 90 with 3:18 to play, and he made another fadeaway from nearly the same spot the next time down to give the Thunder the lead.
__

TIP-INS

Jazz: C Enes Kanter missed his fourth straight game with a sprained right ankle. He has started all 33 games he has played in and averages 13.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. ... Hayward scored 10 points in the first quarter. ... G Joe Ingles turned his right ankle in the second quarter after going up for a rebound. He left the game, but returned to start the third quarter.

Wonder if he'll play tonight though?

[QUOTE]Thunder: Oklahoma City made 11 of 18 shots in the first quarter, but just 31 for 73 the rest of the way. ... The Thunder went scoreless for the first 3:48 of the second quarter. ... Oklahoma City improved to 10-4 when Durant plays.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT:

Durant, on Booker's trick shot: "It won't ever happen again."

DYNAMIC DUO

Westbrook and Durant broke out of slumps. Durant, who had made just 11 of 36 shots his previous two games, shot 14 for 21. Westbrook, who had made 27 of 99 his previous five games, was 9 for 17.

UP NEXT

Jazz: At Houston on Saturday.

Thunder: At Houston on Thursday.

___

Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP .

Copyright

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RGV Vipers: NEWS: @RGVVipers have acquired Toure' Murry (@toure_murry). Murry was a member of RGV's 2012-13 Championship squad. Twitter

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Adrian Wojnarowski: Yahoo Sources: LAC working to find third team to help deliver Boston expiring deal to go w/ second rounder that C's want for Austin Rivers. Twitter @WojYahooNBA

Evans?

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Millsap could very well be sticking around a bit longer.

I'd guess he'll be sticking. Be interesting to see what happens when Hood comes back. I'd send Hood to the D-league with Exum. Let Ingles, Millsap and I guess Clark play.

[QUOTE]He

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[QUOTE]"I saw him limping a little," coach Quin Snyder said. "He

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[QUOTE]"He

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[QUOTE]the Jazz coughed the ball up a season-high 31 times, leading to a whopping 38 points for a talented Rockets team that didn

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It will be interesting going forward to see how coach Quin Snyder handles Gobert and Kanter. Will it be a competition, or will Kanter add depth to the Jazz bench?

Why not Favors to the bench? Think it's funny that he's untouchable when the Jazz sucked before Gobert started getting more minutes.

[QUOTE]Jazz make 5-of-17 3-point shots

Houston held a 39-15 advantage on points scored off of 3-point shots, offsetting Utah

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[QUOTE]In the fourth quarter, Utah head coach Quin Snyder went with an interesting lineup of Trey Burke, fresh-from-injury Enes Kanter, Jeremy Evans and two guys currently employed on 10-day contracts in Elijah Millsap and Elliot Williams. They scraped and scrapped their way and managed to severely decrease the Jazz

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Really those outings were pretty remarkable without 3 of the 8 regular rotation players and what it took for the Jazz to fight and compete for those 96 minutes was obvious with how off they were tonight.

The Jazz are deep up front. Hood should be in the D-league. Obviously Burks is missed though.

[QUOTE]Early on the turnovers looked like they were because of the active arms of the Rockets. The rockets are #2 in the NBA in steals. Seemed like they were getting a pieces of passes we thought we could make but couldn

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[QUOTE]

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The Utah Jazz are having an overall productive season in my books. The team is playing better on the road and on defense.

They aren't playing better defense. When Rudy is playing they look better defensively. They suck at home. Last year they were competitive at home.


Younger players are taking that next step from: bench player to rotation player, from rotation player to reliable player, from reliable player to starter, and from starter to star.

Who are these stars? Calling someone a star or a starter or a rotation player or and NBA player doesn't make it so. When the Jazz are putting a team out there to win games get back to me.


The coaching staff has the ear of the kids and they are learning. And the front office and coaches are on the same page for once. And the team is winning more than last year.

another bad job of tanking. Way to go Gobert!


That said, this isn't a perfect roster, and injuries have made that obvious.

It was obvious once they went with the roster they did if anyone was paying attention. The two D-leaguers actually make it a more respectable roster than it was. Hood isn't ready. Gobert got a chance to play more because of injuries.


The inside is approaching log-jam territory with Derrick Favors, Rudy Gobert, Enes Kanter, Trevor Booker, and Jeremy Evans all needing minutes. (Of course, none of them can play small forward) While the wing rotation is more like a wing and a prayer rotation right now.

One guy there has to play. They need to figure out what they are doing with the rest of them. It's a mess.


Utah Jazz upcoming free agency:

The biggest name in Utah Jazz land right now has to be Enes Kanter. The inside/outside scorer is in a contract year and clearly at the age of 22 has a lot of basketball left to play, and plenty to learn. (People keep forgetting in all the Rudy Gobert madness, that I am part of, is that they are only a few months apart in age.) (Also of note, Derrick Favors is only 23. Seriously.)

And Rudy and Enes are the two with the most upside. They get better from game to game to game.


The Jazz have more people to think about as well, from legit Unrestricted Free Agents (UFAs) to people they've already cut, waived, or said "Bye Felicia" to already.

Player Pos FA 2014-2015 2015-2016
1 Enes Kanter 4 5 RFA $5.70 $7.47 QA
2 Trevor Booker 4 NG $5.00 $4.78 NG
(Only $250k on books)
3 Jeremy Evans 4 UFA $1.80
4 Ian Clark 2 1 UFA $0.82 $1.15 QA
5 Joe Ingles 2 3 UFA $0.51 $1.05 QA
6 Elliot Williams 2 10 Day $0.05
7 Elijah Millsap 2 3 10 Day $0.03
8 Carrick Felix 2 3 UFA $0.82 On Books
9 Jordan Hamilton 3 UFA $0.03 On Books
10 Toure' Murry 2 1 UFA $0.42 On Books
11 Patrick Christopher 2 3 UFA $0.09 On Books
12 Kevin Murphy 2 3 UFA $0.07 On Books

Trevor Booker has a very interesting contract where only $250k is on the books for next season (as confirmed by NBA Cap Expert and all-around handsome man Peter J Novak, Esq, CEO, CLO, LLM, JD, BS, AS). I feel as though Dennis Lindsey and crew are really going to have to factor that in for their off-season plan for sure.

Need to factor it in now. I'd guess Booker could bring them a 1st round pick today. I think he might be a nice guy to have going forward but unless they already know what they plan on doing with Favors and Kanter than dealing him probably needs to happen. But again this team wants to lose games so it's hard to guess what they will do. Playing Rudy means more wins.


Cap Space:

If you renounce everything, say goodbye to all the RFAs, and send Booker packing (but pay the $250k he gets) the Jazz will be paying their players $50.08 million next year, with $16.52 million to spread out between (up to) three draft picks, and free agents.

Clark won't get the qualifying offer. Kanter might not but I think they'd be stupid not to. He's a bargain at that price. Don't forget Neto. They won't want more than 2 rookie contracts again I'd imagine though with the higher cap coming after next year maybe that will change? Mills looking like a possible keeper.


Utah Jazz Projected Cap Space 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

As the seasons go on the Jazz (may) have to pay more and more draft picks than normal, but of the legion there are only five fist rounders in the next four seasons. Though, our front office has not shown any hesitation to move parts on draft night. (Keeping the people at this blog busy) But for right now the Jazz have over $16 million to play with, not including any bi-annual or whatever deals. (We're under the cap, so don't expect mid-level anything.)

I expect it! They would be competing for the last playoff spot if they'd spent money this year and tried to win games. 16 million on 5-7 guys. Kanter alone could get close to that much. Which to me makes it a Favors of Kanter issue. They could pay them both next year and have money after that with the bigger cap. Than it would be about keeping one of them happy off the bench. They don't need more young guys. They need some vets to play with the young guys they have.


So who do you think we can get?

Which Free Agents are going to be available / whom everyone is talking about?

This is the "big list" of some of the larger names on the board this upcoming free agency period.

2015 2016 2015 2016
Player Tm Pos FA Sal Max Player Tm Pos FA Sal Max
1 Jeremy Lin HOU 1 2 UFA $14.9 $15.8 1 Reggie Jackson OKC 1 2 RFA $2.4 $15.8
2 Rajon Rondo DAL 1 UFA $12.9 $22.1 2 Patrick Beverly HOU 1 RFA $0.9 $15.8
3 Brandon Knight MIL 1 UFA $3.5 $15.8 3 Kawhi Leonard SAS 2 3 RFA $3.0 $15.8
4 Nate Robinson DEN 1 2 UFA $2.1 $22.1 4 Jimmy Butler CHI 2 3 RFA $2.1 $15.8
5 Cory Joseph SAS 1 2 UFA $2.0 $15.8 5 Enes Kanter UTA 4 5 RFA $6.0 $15.8
6 Tristan Thompson CLE 4 RFA $5.4 $15.8
6 Wesley Matthews POR 2 3 UFA $7.2 $18.9 7 Draymond Green GSW 4 3 RFA $0.9 $15.8
7 Gerald Green PHX 2 3 UFA $3.5 $18.9
8 Marco Belinelli SAS 2 3 UFA $2.8 $18.9 1 Goran Dragic PHX 1 2 PO $7.5 $18.9
9 Danny Green SAS 3 2 UFA $4.0 $18.9 2 Eric Gordon NOP 2 1 PO $14.8 $18.9
10 DeMarre Carroll ATL 3 UFA $2.4 $18.9 3 Monta Ellis DAL 2 1 PO $8.7 $22.1
4 Arron Afflalo DEN 2 3 PO $7.5 $18.9
11 LaMarcus Aldridge POR 4 5 UFA $15.2 $18.9 5 LeBron James CLE 3 2 PO $20.6 $22.1
12 Paul Millsap ATL 4 3 UFA $9.5 $22.1
13 Greg Monroe DET 4 5 UFA $5.3 $15.8 6 Kevin Love CLE 4 PO $15.7 $18.9
14 Brandan Wright PHX 4 3 UFA $5.0 $18.9 7 Jeff Green BOS 4 3 PO $9.2 $18.9
15 Mirza Teletovic BKN 4 3 UFA $3.3 $15.8 8 Thaddeus Young MIN 4 3 PO $9.1 $18.9
9 Brook Lopez BKN 5 PO $15.7 $18.9
16 Marc Gasol MEM 5 UFA $15.8 $18.9 10 Roy Hibbert IND 5 PO $14.9 $18.9
17 Omer Asik NOP 5 UFA $14.8 $15.8
18 Tyson Chandler DAL 5 UFA $14.5 $22.1 1 Wilson Chandler DEN 3 TO $6.7 $18.9
19 DeAndre Jordan LAC 5 UFA $11.4 $18.9 2 Jamal Crawford LAC 2 TO $5.4 $22.1
20 Robin Lopez POR 5 UFA $5.2 $18.9 3 Timofey Mozgov CLE 5 TO $4.6 $15.8
Players and salary data taken from this post by MMiranda over at Posting And Toasting.

Definitely some guys I would love to have(again in a few cases) but not sure how many they'll be able to afford even if they spend money. Need a veteran pg(still! :rant ). Probably a starter unless they think Neto is ready to start. Burke and Exum are not. Might need a veteran big man up front assuming Favors or Kanter are gone. That could be Booker and Novak though. Another young big for the D-league and they might have their front court. Need shooters and role players that fit with Rudy.

[El Kabong]

Was looking around basketball reference and was kinda surprised to see Favors in a few top 20 lists for this year.

12th in Total 2 Point FG's
15th in Total Offensive rebounds
15th in Total Rebounds
13th in Total Blocks
8th in FG%
15th in Rebounds per game
16th in Blocks per game
11th in Player Efficiency Rating
19th in Effective Field Goal%

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Well he is an all-star apparently. :applause:

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Rusty Simmons: Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said it's a strong possibility that Andrew Bogut will start Tuesday vs. Utah. Twitter @Rusty_SFChron

Rusty Simmons: Andrew Bogut might sit once during the four-games-in-five-nights set vs. Utah, Miami, OKC and Houston. Twitter @Rusty_SFChron

another good test for Rudy

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Jody Genessy: Rodney Hood (foot) participated in portions of practice today but will not play Tuesday vs. Warriors. Twitter @DJJazzyJody

Be interesting to see what they do with Ingles and Millsap once he's back. I'd send Hood and Exum to the D-league at least on the weekends when they have their games.

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Chris Mannix: Clippers have engaged a few teams on Jordan Farmar, per sources. Belief is LA looking for an expiring deal to send to BOS for Austin Rivers. Twitter @ChrisMannixSI

Clark, Evans and Williams all work. Says Williams is signed for 3 years. Can't do that on a 10 day can you? Farmar can shoot and is a vet. Evans and Clark don't appear to be part of the future.

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[QUOTE]Jody Genessy: Joe Ingles laughed when asked if he's a trash-talker. "When I score 50, I

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[QUOTE] They

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[QUOTE]All of the above is excellent progress, but it means nothing if the Jazz can

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[QUOTE]Hood participated in portions of the Jazz

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[QUOTE]Ingles admitted the he and veteran Steve Novak are the two most talkative players.

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31 turnovers in an NBA game is way too many.

Be too many for 2 games.

[QUOTE]"We know that we need to get more efficient with our execution," Snyder said. "In the past few games, we

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most observers thought he was here simply because of his Australian roots, and because of his relationship with rookie guard Dante Exum.

Pretty much is I think.

[QUOTE]But as the season has progressed, so has Ingles. He almost immediately established himself as a member of the rotation, regularly coming off the bench. He has became one of the best passers on the team, and a guy who often held Utah

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Tony Jones: Trevor booker is officially OUT for tonight with the flu Twitter @Tjonessltrib

Rudy!

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Eric Pincus: I also hear the Clippers are looking to move Reggie Bullock out in a salary dump, to gain breathing room w/hard cap. No the Lakers cannot use one of their disabled player exceptions on Reggie Bullock - only works for players on 1-yr deals @BBallInsiders Twitter @EricPincus

Jazz have the cap room to get him. He shoots pretty good.

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Derrick Favors was fabulous tonight. This was the best array of offensive moves I have seen from Favors. He hit the jumper, he rolled to the middle, he dropped baseline and this was against one of the best rim protectors in the NBA. Favors has put together 4 20 point 10 rebound games in his last 5 games. He is playing like a beast.

He sure did a hell of a job defensively too. :rolleyes: What caught my eye was when he hit two straight from a few feet further back than I've seen him hit in the past. If he can keep moving back and hitting those shots consistently it will certainly make the decision on him or Kanter a lot more interesting. It's not a Kanter or Gobert question long term. Rudy is the one untouchable on the team right now.

R
udy Gobert came off the bench tonight. When he was on the floor the Warriors shot 26/63 for 41%. However, that is a bit misleading because in the 4th quarter without Curry, Thomspon or Green playing a single minute the Warriors shot 6 of 24 which skewed the numbers. Prior to the 4ththe Warriors were shooting 20 of 39 from the floor. However, the other side of the equation is clear the Warriors shot 71% with Gobert off the floor.

After that article yesterday trying to say they were now good without Rudy defensively. We saw what the best offensive team in the league did to them and how far away they still are.


However, the Jazz offense shot 62% with Gobert off the floor and 40% with him on the floor.

That's why figuring out what players are going to be able to fit best with Rudy is so important. They are a better team with him. Have to figure it out. Gobert, Hayward and who?


Enes Kanter had 13 points and 10 rebounds and continued his assault on the offensive glass with 5 offensive rebounds. However, he had 0 assists and is not doing a lot to make his teammates better. His plus minus tonight was not good.

And other than Rudy no ones was. The praise for Favors and they negativity towards Enes gets old.

[QUOTE]The Jazz defended well in the first half. They kept the ball on one side of the floor most of the time. They generally kept the Warriors in a half court game and they had good pick up points to prevent easy early three

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[QUOTE]Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter, and Rudy Gobert split nearly all 96 big man minutes, save for the final 2:32 when the game was out of reach. Here

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"We played good defense," Derrick Favors said. "They just hit a lot of tough shots."

Said Trey Burke: "They got hot."

They were hitting wide open 3's. Was like shoot around. That's not good D.


Up until that period, the Jazz had made a game of it, falling behind early, climbing back to take a lead, then getting tied at the half at 53. Utah was hitting nearly 50 percent of its shots. Problem was, the Warriors were making 59 percent. It was an entertaining affair.

good D? :facepalm

[QUOTE]After the break, it became less fun for the home fans, what with Curry getting his 27 points on 10-for-16 shooting and 11 assists, aided by five teammates in double figures and another three who were within a point or two of that. The Jazz simply could not keep up.

Snyder

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[QUOTE]According to Snyder, he encouraged Utah

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[QUOTE]Utah

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"I thought we played solid defense," Utah point guard Trey Burke said. "But they got hot. We obviously wanted to get stops, and we tried to control what we could. But that was a good team, and they know how to play with each other."


The defense sucked all game not just that stretch when it was horrible.

[QUOTE]There were bright spots. Rudy Gobert

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Deron Williams led the Jazz to the Western Conference Finals alongside Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur in his first playoff run. It was the Jazz's best postseason run since the days of John Stockton and Karl Malone.

Four years later, Jazz vice president of basketball operations Kevin O’Connor sent the All-Star point guard to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Devin Harris and unproven rookie Derrick Favors.

Favors had appeared in 56 games for the Nets before they decided to give up on the promising young big man in favor of the already proven point guard from Utah. Harris had reached his peak in New Jersey, and was included in the deal to make salaries match.

In addition to Harris and Favors, the Nets shipped out two future first round draft picks, one used to select Enes Kanter and another the Jazz packaged with an existing first round pick to acquire Trey Burke.

In total, the haul is impressive, as four years since the deal, the Jazz have ended up with three starting-caliber NBA players in place of Williams.

All 3 have a lot to prove and considering it looks like they got raped in the Burke deal and we have no idea what the true value of Deron Williams was since they took the 2nd offer from the one team that knew he was available impressive is not the word I'd use. Obviously Deron has fell off a cliff since so it was a good trade. How much better could it have been though is the question?


However, three starters in the NBA don’t add up to one All-Star level player, especially one that at the time of the trade was a top five player at his position in the league.

Exactly. Deron is their best player between Stockton/Malone and Gobert.


Until recently, the winner of this deal seemed to hinge on the health of Williams, now in Brooklyn with the Nets. The point guard missed 11 games in his initial season with the team, four the following year, and 18 last season. This year, Williams has been forced to sit out five games for the Nets.

The further the Jazz get from the trade, the clearer the picture gets. O’Connor made the right trade.

Trading Deron was right. Hard for me to believe it was the best trade though.


While Kanter and Burks have contributed mixed results, Favors' growth has given the Jazz the most promising young piece in the deal, if not the best player overall.

Favors hasn't contributed mixed results? Remains to be seen if Favors will be better than Kanter.


For the season, Williams is averaging 13.9 points per game, 6.3 assists and 3 rebounds — solid, albeit unspectacular, numbers for the guard in his 10th year.

Favors is contributing 16 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game for the Jazz in only his fifth career season. Most impressively for Favors is the growth he’s continued to show from one season to the next. Favors is currently experiencing career highs in points per game, assists and field goal percentage. Favors’ scoring has grown over six points during his past two seasons as a full-time starter, with more room to grow.

Before this season he hadn't shown much growth though. Not sure he's better this year really. They are using him better anyway.


While Williams proved to be a valuable recruiting piece for the Nets, landing both Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce in a trade with the Boston Celtics, the results for Brooklyn have been disappointing.

Though Favors is yet to provide the Jazz with a postseason victory, his recent play hints at an enormously high ceiling. Over his last four games, Favors is averaging 21 points and 10 rebounds per outing. Before this stretch, the power forward had never strung together back-to-back 20-point, 10-rebound performances. He’s now done it three times in his last four games, including a 20-point win on the road in Chicago.

Now if he was only the great defensive player he was made out to be.


While Favors has yet to achieve the personal accomplishments, or lead the Jazz to similar postseason success that fans saw from Williams during his six-season career in Utah, his future looks bright. If Favors can continue his recent high scoring outings, not only will he make an All-Star appearance of his own, he can take the Jazz back to postseason success.

About the Author: Ben Anderson

First he has to show he is worthy of being on the court with Rudy. Than the Jazz have to win games.

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[QUOTE]Normally, a 27-point quarter

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[QUOTE]Gobert

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[QUOTE]As for Kanter's health, the 6-11 big man said his sprained ankle is getting better, but admitted it's not fully healed. He said it's "not going to be 100 percent for a long time," so he just has to forge forward.

"I

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David 'Dubi' Pick: Asked Ante Tomic of his NBA aspirations: "I'd like to make the NBA, the window isn't closed." Twitter @IAmDPick

David 'Dubi' Pick: Ante Tomic said Barcelona "has a team-option for next season" and that "anything (Re: Europe/NBA) is possible." Twitter @IAmDPick

Contrary to recent reports. Gobert's back-up?

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The Utah Jazz, in conjunction with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), will present the Larry H. Miller Youth Scholarship on Monday, Jan. 19 at its annual memorial luncheon held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. A reception begins at 11:30 a.m. followed by the luncheon at noon in the Grand Ballroom at Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City. NBA.com

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http://www.nba.com/jazz/news/jazz-sign-elijah-millsap-second-10-day-contract

not much of a surprise. Looks like he'll stick for the year. Elliot Williams might be gone before his second.

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https://mtc.cdn.vine.co/r/videos/BC82F273E41167599284552609792_2a2852e3aec.5.1.1341 4507776389537046.mp4?versionId=Yged8yjakMRcMpxrQ42 dkHrvKAVHNO_U

Rudy!

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In 4 of the last 5 games Derrick Favors has notched a 20 point, 10 rebound game. He has scored 20 points or more in more games this year than he did the entire year last year. He is shooting a career high 55.5%. His scoring jump over the last three years is 9.4 to 13.3 to 16.2. The list continues, career high in assists, free throws attempts, offensive rebounds and lowest turnover per game since his rookie year.

Shouldn't he be getting better finally?

[QUOTE]Numerous factors have come together for Favors to make this step. He is a starter for the 2ndyearbuilding off last year

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Hayward is blossoming with career-high averages, but is the fifth-year swingman finally ready to seize the franchise's reins?

He was and than Rudy emerged.


Standing 5'11 and 155 pounds of skin and bones, Hayward wasn't his team's first option as a freshman at Indiana's Brownsburg High School. He wasn't the second, third or fourth option, either.

He wasn't as a freshman? :facepalm


Instead he zealously played StarCraft video games. He sat with his parents and twin sister rather than his teammates at varsity football games. He smoked his teammates at ping pong, foosball and pool.

But on the court? No one expected much.

"I didn't even notice him until he started raining threes on us," said Grantland's Mark Titus, a former high-school teammate. "Just a tiny, tiny dude who could shoot."

He was more fit for tennis than hoops. With his slight frame and superb agility, Hayward spent hours training with a private tennis coach in hopes of succeeding long-term in that sport. But a sudden growth spurt altered his plans, skyrocketing him to 6'8 and 185 pounds by his senior year. The combination of Hayward's ball-handling, outside shooting and athleticism allowed him to dominate along the perimeter and in the post, leading Brownsburg to the state title.

shooting certainly isn't a strength.


A FEW YEARS BEFORE, HE ALMOST TRADED IN HIS HIGH-TOPS FOR A RACQUET. ON THAT NIGHT, HIS HALF-COURT HURL AT THE BUZZER ALMOST MADE HIM AN INSTANT LEGEND.

He also morphed into one of the top tennis players in Indiana, reaching the state singles quarterfinals. But as college basketball coaches began to watch him play, it became clear Hayward's future lied on the hardwood.

"If he played tennis year round, he had a strong chance of probably playing professional tennis," former Brownsburg tennis coach Eric Esterline said.

Still, Hayward wasn't a five-star basketball recruit and garnered three scholarship offers before deciding on Butler. Not one to seek attention, he made the right plays at the right times, quietly coming into his own as a lead-by-example kind of player for Brad Stevens' club.

"Whether it was him getting a big-time block, a steal against Murray State, he wasn't somebody who needed to say a whole lot," former Butler teammate Willie Veasley said. "Just somebody who went on the court and did what coach asked for when we needed it."

He wasn't the one anyone imagined would lead a Cinderella Butler team all the way to the title game against Duke in 2010. But there Hayward found himself, an unlikely star thrust into the ring with the highest of stakes. A few years before, he almost traded in his high-tops for a racquet. On that night, his half-court hurl at the buzzer almost broke the Blue Devils and almost made him an instant legend.

gordon haywood college

Photo credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

It's three days before the New Year and the Jazz are warming up against the Clippers in Los Angeles. Hayward shoots jumper after jumper, one of the last Jazz players to return to the locker room while his teammates ate, joked around, rode the bike and listened to music.

This is mostly how Hayward spent the offseason: shooting by himself from every spot on the floor until his mind could erase the percentages that haunted him. Forty-one percent from the field. Thirty percent from three-point range. Both were career-lows, down from 43 and 41 percent the previous season.

Both were the effect of having to shoulder the entire scoring load instead of leaning on veterans Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap. The court was still 94 by 50. The rim was still 10-feet high. But the spots he used to weave through to the cup? Closed up. The daylight he used to enjoy on the perimeter? Not there. The teammates he depended on for easy buckets? Gone to other teams.

Utah still matched the Hornets' four-year, $63 million offer to keep Hayward, but the move was mocked: Unbelievable. Nowhere near a max player. Not ready to lead a franchise.

an he's still not regardless of what articles like this try to say.


Hayward zoned out the talk, bulking up in the weight room at St. Vincent Sports Performance in Indianapolis all summer. He lifted weights five days a week, completing a near two-hour strength, conditioning and speed workout.

As a result, he added five to seven pounds of muscle by the start of training camp, weighing in at 230 pounds (up from 220 the previous season).

"He got a lot stronger, a lot more confident than last year," Jazz teammate Derrick Favors said. "I think the strength has helped him out a lot."

He almost landed a spot on Team USA, among the final cuts to the FIBA World Cup roster. Next to him were guys who were No. 1 options on their own teams. Guys he could measure himself against. Guys who challenged him.

Maybe it was all of those off-season jumpers. Maybe it was the arrival of Jazz coach Quin Snyder's motion offense. Or maybe it was being humbled by last season's failures.

In any case, Hayward is now playing the most efficient ball of his career. He's averaging a career-high 19 points, five rebounds and four assists a night while shooting 45 percent from the field and 37 percent from three. He's scored 25 or more eight times, including four 30-plus games.

those %'s contunue to drop.


But it's not just his shooting, the way he twists in the air for off-balance jumpers or the way he bobs up and down for a hesitation move to beat his defender to the basket.

It's his passing out of pick-and-roll situations that has made his teammates better. Hayward's size allows him to see over the defense and instantly whip a thread-the-needle bounce pass to his roller.

"He's unique in that regard," Snyder said. "There's less really good [small forwards] that play pick-and-roll as there are point guards. So to have him at that position, oftentimes he's got an advantage."

Hayward's versatility is most apparent on defense, as his arms extend like tentacles in the passing lane, snagging the ball out of the air for the steal. Opponents still aren't safe on the fast break with Hayward trailing; not even LeBron James, who fell victim to a Hayward chase-down block earlier this season.

"He makes energy plays," said Utah rookie Rodney Hood. "Not all the star players do that."

Losing was not in his bones. Not as a senior when his high school state championship team finished 22-5. Not when national runner-up Butler finished 33-5 in 2010.

And not in practice, either. Whether it was a five-on-five scrimmage or a defensive drill that required a certain number of stops, there was always a winner and a loser to Hayward, and he couldn't be the latter.

remains to be seen rather he is a winner or loser


"When the second team or the scout team would play really well and beat the first team, it drove him crazy," said former Butler assistant coach Matthew Graves, now head coach at South Alabama. "He absolutely hated to lose."

Cue the Jazz, who are 13th in the Western Conference with a 13-26 record. Plagued by injuries, first-half deficits and poor shooting, the Jazz are also one of the NBA's youngest teams. What's more, Hayward is expected to lead the group at 24, when he too is still developing.

SLC DUNK

Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward is ready to lead

AllThatAmar

Gordon Hayward's play is All-Star level

AllThatAmar

"I haven't experienced everything," Hayward said. "I think that's what makes it more difficult for us, is that our leaders are still young, still trying to work things out for themselves."

But as a max-contract player, Hayward is held to a higher standard. Those players are viewed as superheroes who have the power to melt the numbers on the scoreboard into a victorious outcome, regardless of circumstance.

Hayward has indeed willed his team to victory at times this year, like nailing a buzzer-beater step-back jumper over the Cavs or scoring 11 of his 26 points in the final four minutes to beat the Timberwolves by six.

But other times he's less aggressive in close games, waiting for something to happen rather than making something happen.

In a 119-111 loss to the Pelicans where the Jazz gave up 41 points in the fourth quarter, Hayward scored just two points in the period. And in the fourth quarter of a 101-97 loss to the Clippers, he was held scoreless with two attempts, often deferring to teammates.

Don't think he has to score. He needs to get his teammates the ball too. He's going to have bad shooting nights. Still needs to fill the box score.


"For Gordon to take that next step, he has to learn to be selfish in certain situations," said former Jazz teammate Earl Watson, who calls himself Hayward's big brother.

"Gordon's going to go out there and he's going to make his teammates better, which is what every player should do," Watson said. "But it comes to a point during the game where it's critical and he has to take over and be aggressive offensively and kind of be selfish."

Disagree. The iso plays he's been running usually suck.


The Jazz are up by three against the Grizzlies on the road with less than three minutes to go in the back-and-forth game.

Hounded by three Memphis players, Hayward misses a runner, but doesn't pout. Mike Conley rebounds the ball and jets the other way. Hayward sprints back as if he's the one being chased, beating everyone down.

As Conley tosses up a layup, Hayward stretches his arms to the sky and smacks the ball down to the ground, preventing the easy bucket. The Jazz eventually win by six.

Hayward could have stayed back and watched two points slip away, tally another loss in the books.

But he didn't. The spotlight enveloped him, and this time, he embraced its glow.

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]The problem with it going forward is (that) we would

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]The consistency in Dennis Lindsey

[Xiao Yao You]

"Usually you’re complaining about something and the game is going on at the same time," Snyder replied. "We’re not a team … we don’t walk on the court and expect the respect that teams that are perennially contending for titles [get]. We need to earn what we get, particularly guys that are in their first year. You haven’t been in the NBA and you’re going to argue with a referee? You’ve got to be smarter than that. It’s the wrong approach philosophically. You’re going to [complain] about a call instead of doing what you need to do better? It’s pretty simple to me."

So what did you think of Favors walking up the court pouting while his guy was dunking at the other end earlier this year? I thought it was bullshit that our supposed leader was doing that and he should have been benched. Why wasn't he?


Minute matters

After a flu bug kept him out of action against the Warriors, Jazz forward Trevor Booker was back at practice Thursday. With Booker’s return, the Jazz will be at full strength at the 4- and 5-spots, leaving Snyder with some decisions to make about his rotations.

And it will all come down to matchups and production.

"We’re going to play the guys that are playing good," Snyder said. "… There’s no magic where I sit down and divvy up the minutes before the game."
It's hard to lke this guy. He's got to see that with Rudy they are a different team. Unless they've decided on Kanter and Favors future Booker needs to be traded.


Injury update

Rookie Rodney Hood was a partial participant in practice Thursday. After missing seven games with a left foot injury, Hood was "getting his timing back, but he’s not there yet," Snyder said. The rookie is officially listed as out against the Lakers, though his status could be reassessed Friday.

afalk@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tribjazz

D-league for rehab assignment with Millsap here now?

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]The Jazz coach needs to decide what

[Xiao Yao You]

Do you remember the days when the Utah Jazz were a horrible defensive team? It wasn't that long ago.

No it was their last game actually.


Take the first 10 games of the season: The Jazz surrendered 100 or more points in six of them.

Now, fast-forward three months, and it's becoming clear that Utah is a different team defensively. The Jazz started to turn the corner in December on the pre-Christmas trip. That's when Gordon Hayward remembers the team beginning to grasp Snyder's concepts. The intricate schemes began to make sense. The effort elevated a notch.

It was Snyder's concepts not Rudy? :coleman: Let me guess Jerry made John and Jerry two of the all-time greats too?


And the results started to come: a win over Miami, a win over Memphis, surrendering an average of 89 points in the two victories.

Finally, the light turned on.

"That's when we started to figure it all out a little bit," Hayward said. "We figured out how to play on the road a little bit. And Rudy [Gobert] started to get a few more minutes around that time. I think we just started to get better."

So, what are the technical factors in the turnaround?

A lot of the scheme is personnel-driven. There are games when Snyder has his guards go under screens, in order to better stay in front of quick and penetrating point guards. On Tuesday against the Warriors, the Jazz went over every screen, because Golden State features one of the best shooting teams in the league.

Meanwhile, when Gobert is on the floor, Utah funnels much of the traffic his way, confident that he can erase many shots close to the rim. And another key factor in the team's defensive development has been rebounding. On Tuesday, three Jazz players recorded double figures in that category.

"It's basically a feel from game to game," Burke said. "A lot of it just depends on who we're playing more than anything. We've tried to guard different teams in different ways."

The past 10 games have told the story of a team with considerable defensive potential.

Or at least a player.

[QUOTE]Excluding the 116 points it surrendered to Golden State, Utah is giving up 92.4 points a game over the past two weeks

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]

[Xiao Yao You]

Is he best using his quickness and athleticism against the game's behemoths?

Or is he best suited to outmuscle smaller forwards?

Ask the man himself and he shrugs it off.

"It doesn't matter," Favors said. "Whatever they want me to play, I'll play."
3rd Big? He better hope it's not center because there is a new center in town.

[QUOTE]This season, Favors is playing at a higher level than before. He's averaging career highs in points, minutes and field goal percentage. Favors has nine games of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds this season; in his previous four seasons combined, he had 10. He's one of eight players

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]The task of sussing out which of the current 15 Jazz players will be vital pieces to a hypothetical future title run is a central theme in this stage of Dennis Lindsey and Quin Snyder

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]The most Exum had played before in a basketball year was in the 25-30 range, he said. Considering he

[Xiao Yao You]

Marc J. Spears: Jazz still hasn't decided whether to give Elliot Williams a 2nd 10-day. If no, Williams could play for @DLeagueWarriors Saturday at Showcase Twitter

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]Jody Genessy: Alec Burks said he hasn't had a fully healthy shoulder since he was in his teens. He first hurt it in college at Colorado. Twitter @DJJazzyJody

Jody Genessy: Alec Burks: "I had a really bad shoulder and they fixed it. This will repair everything. I

[Xiao Yao You]

The Utah Jazz are expected to offer Elliot Williams a second 10-day contract, a source told Sea Dubs Central Friday night. In three games with the Jazz, Williams is averaging 2.7 points and 0.7 rebounds in 8.7 minutes per contest. seadubscentral.com

I'd guess he's gone after the 2nd one if they don't see something more from him and with Hood back he might not get a chance in a game. Got to have some flexibility.

[Xiao Yao You]

The Lakers have been a better team without Kobe all year and they put up a solid fight.

Better without a 37% shooter taking most of the shots? :facepalm

[QUOTE] Coach Phil Johnson had a great point during the 4thquarter of the broadcast. Don

[Xiao Yao You]

Enes Kanter is a restricted free agent who is playing the last year of his rookie deal with the team that drafted him, the Utah Jazz. He looks to get a raise this off-season because he is a) a talented player, b) 22 years old, and c) GMs always overpay for bigs. The #3 draft pick hasn't dominated regularly, and is looking to become more of an Inside / Outside offensive player, with rebounding coming second, and defense not even finishing the race.

Not sure rebounding comes in 2nd with him. He hasn't been as dominating on the boards as it appeared he might be as a rookie but punding the offensive glass is certainly a big part of his offensive game. Kind of depends on who you're playing with. Gobert and Favors also rebound as well so he might not have to concentrate on it as much as he might next year on a different team. Defense is improving.


At times his ability to finish plays on offense, and penchant for turning up with contested rebounds reminds me of Karl Malone. Other times he reminds me of the worst of the worst of one-way bigmen. Tonight the Jazz face off against the Los Angeles Lakers -- a team that claimed Carlos Boozer off of waivers, as the Chicago Bulls felt the need to amnesty him. This was the obvious consequence of Boozer's pay raise, regardless, free agency. Booz was a screen door on defense who rebounded, and developed a nice jumper to compliment his inside scoring.

So, clearly you see where I'm going with this. Are there similarities between the two, and who would you rather have today?

Vital Information:

Worldly: Boozer was born in Germany, as a Military brat. He grew up in the D.C. area as a kid before his family moved to Alaska where he went to high school. He then went to college at Duke. Kanter was born in Switzerland, his parents were academics, and then grew up in Turkey. Enes would then go to high school in California, spend a year in Kentucky, and then enter the draft.
NBA Draft Combine Info: Carlos measured 6'7.75" without shoes. Enes was 6'9.75" by comparison. Kanter's wingspan is 7'1.50", while Boozer is a superior 7'2.25". Their standing reaches were 9'0.50" and 9'1.50" in favor of the Turk. Boozer's bench reps were 13, while Kanter's was 14. Both players have gotten stronger as the years went on. Kanter jumps better, but that's not saying much, but it is nice to see a 6'11 guy (in shoes) get up for 32.50".

That's pretty good isn't it? Hadn't thought of him as much of a jumper. I'd take Kanter any day. Jefferson is a better comp and I'd still take Kanter. The question that needs to be addressed that hasn't is Favors or Kanter.


Kanter is faster North/South (has a better sprint), while Boozer (back then, when he was in pre-draft form) was quick East/West (lane agility).
Not sure I've seen Kanter sprint. His agility offensively is impressive always though.


Draft: Boozer played three seasons a Duke, and was picked in the second round #34 back in 2002. Kanter was ineligible to play for Kentucky, but spent a year there. He was picked #3 in the 2011 Draft.

Age: Carlos is 33, and Enes is 22 -- Kanter is 11 years younger, which is almost three presidential terms, or alternatively, about as long as it takes to read one of my posts

Experience: Boozer is playing in his 13th season in the league, and has amassed over 26,000+ minutes over 800+ games. If you add his playoff sojourns, that's another 3,000 minutes and 80+ games. He has played all the way up to the Conference Finals, but hasn't really seen a lot of success. With the Jazz he got bounced by the Lakers three years in a row, and now joins that team. Kanter was mothballed for years and has played 5000+ minutes over four seasons, and 250+ games.

He wasn't mothballed. He was their 4th big on a deep roster. All this shit about guys having to play is bull. Would he have been better off playing huge minutes or being mentored by Big Al?


Kanter has remained mostly healthy over his career, unlike Boozer. But there is no comparison to their NBA experience. It's almost as if Boozer was playing for those 11 years he has on Kanter, or something . . .

He's had two pretty sinificant i njures that hurt him more in the off-season than the regular season.


Awards: Boozer was a McDonald's All-American (1999), and NCAA AP All-American 3rd team (2001-02) member. In the NBA he was on the All-Rookie 2nd team (2002-03), and was selected as an All-Star twice (2007, 2008). In addition to that he was once an All-NBA 3rd team (2007-08) member. He was Rookie of the month once, Player of the Week six times, and Player of the Month twice. Enes Kanter, despite being a Muslim, had gained entrance to various clubs and the playboy mansion before the age of 21, somehow.

:cheers:


Contract: In addition to his amnesty money, $13.55 million, Booz is making $3.25 million from the Lakers right now.

Doesn't that $3.25 come off of what Chicago has to pay?


Enes is being paid $5.69 million from the Jazz due to this being the 4th year of his #3 draft pick contract. Both players are free agents at the end of this season. Carlos will be unrestricted (UFA), while Enes will be restricted (RFA).
Enes is two inches (at least) taller than Booz, while both are not gifted with outstanding length there is no question to who is bigger.

Boozer has outstanding length for an undersized 4 doesn't he? Probably why he used to get steals.


Kanter uses his body almost as well as Booz, and both are stellar rebounders when healthy.

Now he's a stellar rebounder! :facepalm


Boozer is post-"physical peak" and on his way down. His game didn't rely on athletic ability but on craftiness. So that is nice for him, but he is not quite what he used to be. Kanter is still on his way up to his best years in the league. He also doesn't rely on physical ability that much. Both guys can't jump. Both guys rarely need to, because their beefy bodies create space for them.

2014-2015 Stats:

Carlos Boozer vs. Enes Kanter | FindTheBest
Of course, that's not where the story ends for these two players. Boozer, now relegated to the bench, is averaging 25.2 mpg, Kanter (still a starter) playing 26.8 mpg. That is close enough for me not to have to fiddle with Per 36 stats, or any other rates. Furthermore, neither of them are the primary option when they are on the floor. Boozer is a more willing and capable passer, averaging 1.3 apg, with a 1.14 to 1.00 assist to turn over ratio. Kanter, on the other hand averages 0.6 apg, and is a dreadful 0.32 to 1.00 on his A:TO. Yikes. But it's not all in Boozer's favor beyond points and rebounds. Kanter blocks more shots (duh, it's 4x as many), and has three point range. Boozer doesn't take threes, but Kanter is shooting 34.4% from downtown this year. For a point of reference, that's better than how Trey Burke, Dante Exum, Joe Ingles, and Rodney Hood are shooting from outside this year.

And getting better all the time. Unlike those guys he's always shown he can shoot. Just a matter of confidence now and that seems to be growing. Going to make him a lot of money and make the Jazz decision as to keep him or not a lot tougher.


Shot Charts:

N.B. If you are viewing this in Chrome these charts are DYNAMIC, so move your mouse around. Sorry people in other browsers.

Carlos:

Carlos Boozer 2014-15 Shot Chart | FindTheBest
Enes:

Enes Kanter 2014-15 Shot Chart | FindTheBest
It's kind of clear that Booz is really good from the spots Jerry Sloan wanted shots from. It's also clear that Kanter is working on being good enough to Quin Snyder's offense. This is the difference between a mid-2000s PF and a mid-2010s PF in this ever evolving game of NBA Basketball.

Enes shots a better percentage from at the rim than Carlos, and shoots a greater percentage of his shots from there. Boozer is a much more proficient midrange jump shooter (esp from that 90 degree angle range (+45 degrees, 0, -45 degrees) facing the basket. This is the shot for Derrick Favors (and maybe Rudy Gobert) within the offense. Kanter needs to get better from all over, but I think going forward he's going to have to spend more time on the 4.6% of the shots he is taking from the baseline corner three range instead. That will help open up the floor for dribble penetration / pick and rolls for Gordon Hayward (and the rest of the gang: Trey Burke, Alec Burks, and Dante Exum).

Need to work on pick and pops with him more.

[Xiao Yao You]

Right now for this Jazz team Boozer would be a great offensive addition, but he's really great at only a few things. Snyder is looking for people who show a more varied skill set with the shots they can take (and make).
They need a 5th big? :coleman:


Defense:

Carlos Boozer is horrible on defense, despite showing what he could be back as a member of the Cavaliers. In Utah he was the first option on offense and was entirely useless in pick and roll defense. His major contribution was finishing a defensive play by hogging up all the defensive rebounds. Boozer's poor defense was hidden in Chicago when he was paired up with better defenders like Joakim Noah. With the Lakers he is entirely exposed because their skeleton crew has no clue what they are doing. Now that he is 33 I think it's clear that whatever defensive potential or possibility for Boozer has been extinguished. He figured out that scoring bigs get paid, and he did both of those things over the last decade. He scored. And he got paid.

Enes Kanter may have learned a little too much for Big Al, because he has a ton of moves on offense, but is not an effective defender. He can block shots, and at least be somewhere between Mehmet Okur and Greg Ostertag upon that continuum.

I'd take him ove Okur too. He's got a better overall game.


For his career he averages 0.8 blocks per 36 minutes. Kanter gets rebounds too. And at times he looks okay as a team defender. But, c'mon. He's only 22 years old. To suggest that he is as good as he can be on defense at this point would be a little premature.

Of course, this was precisely what people said about Boozer when he was 22 and heading into free agency as a Cavs player. Hopefully Kanter doesn't go to a team that wants him to be the #1 offensive option, and makes it okay for him to stop trying on defense.

History and the Future:

Boozer avoiding being a restricted free agent years ago by having some sort of 'deal' with the Cleveland Cavaliers. After two years with the Cavs he became a UFA, and signed with the Jazz. He had his best seasons professionally in Utah, where he played for six seasons. He then went to find a pay raise, regardless. He was to sign with the Bulls, but Boozer managed to turn that into a sign and trade where he got paid more and the Jazz received a trade exception back. The Jazz would then use that to help get Al Jefferson in a Jazz uniform in a trade they would later make with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Don't remind me. :cry:


Carlos is a UFA this off-season and past his prime. He has a few more seasons left of being a rotation player before he moves into "Kenyon Martin -- is he still in the league?" mode. His utility to teams will come as a bench scorer who is polished but not capable of being a 1st option anymore.

Kanter, now the same age as Boozer was when he was a Cavs player, has played four years with the Jazz. He was an absolute afterthought with his former coach

No he wasn't! There were times I thought he should have gooten the call over Favors when he was playing better but other than that I dont see that. I didn't expect anything from him as a rookie. He was a nice surprise.


-- and faced the slings and arrows of the Jazz' own media personalities saying bad things about him. Having had his social media presence muted after being on the verge of being a viral star I just don't know how much fun he's had. Under a strict father basketball was the only fun he would have, and he was even coerced to stop playing because he wasn't serious enough about school. If the game becomes less fun then he may (as a kid) wish to go to a place that will make it fun again. I don't know.

Not just the media. It's the fanbase as a whole who seem to follow along with what the media is pushing.


Sadly, we still do not have a better idea of how good Kanter is going to be.

We do now that he's starting to hit 3's. Love is the only guy I can think of at the moment with a similar skill set. Inside/outside/rebounding. That makes him a rare commodity. Not one to easily let go because of the Favors love.


He came to the Jazz with the potential to be one of the best players on that roster, and in a few months he may be leaving. I find it absurd that the Jazz didn't think of going into development mode sooner, you know, they had back to back #3 draft picks on their roster and kept them both on the bench for years. What other team in the universe would do that?

A team that is trying to compete and not lose. This shit gets old! There was a time when you had to earn your way. Favors and Kanter have had to. That's a good thing. There is a D-league that can be used as well. Millsap is a star. The idea that Favors and Kanter should have been playing ahead of him because of where they were drafted is ridiculous. Guys can develop in many ways. Burke having no competetion hasn't helped him at all. This season is a great indicator of that.


Some team will sign Boozer, and he can now afford to take some paycuts.

Yeah the NBA minimum is hard to live on. :rolleyes:


For his career he has made more than $130 million. Kanter may never get another contract worth as much as he can get right now. I feel like he has a bunch of handlers and hangers-on. They are all working to get Enes the most he can get right now, and I wouldn't expect him to take a pay cut to stay in Utah. Not unless Quin Snyder can really get into his head and make him feel like it's in his best interest.

I can see it. The qualifying offer might be is best move in the long run.


Other Stuff:

Boozer is really good at yelling. So, this has to factor somewhere into this analysis.

My Take:

All things being equal, I feel like Kanter will be a better return on whatever investment you give him over his next contract.

Hard to say. Not sure I'd want to pay him max either and I wouldn' be surprised if he got it.


Boozer is more polished right now, but is injury prone, filthy rich, and may not care about anything anymore. Kanter appears to be a team player who is REALLY happy when he's on a team that's winning. Again, basketball was his only outlet for 'fun'. He's happy when his team mates are successful. Though, I think his first coach really rubbed him the wrong way and took fun away from him. (Remember all the excessive blinking?)

No I don't. The Ty hate gets really old too.


Kanter has skills and probably knows that teams out there would love to feature him. How Kanter 'grows up' in his personality (be the kid who loves the game and wants to have fun vs. the guy who wants to be a star and get the shine) will really determine how the rest of his career progresses.

He works. He'll reach his potential whatever that happens to be.


Boozer had way better stats with the Jazz, and really helped our team win a lot of games. But that guy doesn't exist anymore. I'd rather have Kanter on my team going forward. Both players will probably start asking for eight digits per year on their next contract. I wouldn't want to overpay for either of them, but I could make myself like it more if the Jazz overpaid for Enes.
I never liked Boozer.

[Xiao Yao You]

Both Enes Kanter and Jingles had career-highs in steals with 3 a piece, which gave the Jazz some easy baskets on the other end as well. But beyond that, I saw a lot of poor Laker execution that the Jazz stopped relatively easily.
Ingles does a surprising job getting after people defensively. He appears to have nice length.

[QUOTE]2. Gordon Hayward is such a difference maker for the Jazz.

That being said, Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors both put up excellent games, and, quite frankly, they

[Xiao Yao You]

The line is thin for Trey Burke.

On one hand, Utah's point guard has to keep his teammates happy. He's charged with the task of running the Jazz offense, getting the ball to Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors. Simply put, he's been given the keys to the ignition.

He has? I'd say Hayward is their main playmaker. Ingles, Hood, Exum, Burks and even recently Millsap also take some of the load.

On the other, Burke is a scorer, has been his entire career. It's his instinct, and he's always believed that he can break down a defense and squeeze off a good shot.

[QUOTE]On Friday night, the Utah Jazz defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, 94-85, at EnergySolutions Arena. Gordon Hayward served as the headliner

[Xiao Yao You]

The rookie forward started feeling pain in his left foot on Dec. 30 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"As time went on, it just got worse," Hood said before tipoff Friday. "I just wanted to take care of it before it got even worse like it did the first time."

That first time was earlier this year, when Hood had to miss 10 games because of a injury to his right foot.

"Just bad luck, I guess," Hood said.

With his foot feeling better after a couple practices this week, Friday was Hood's first game action since Dec. 30.

"He's practiced a couple times now," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "I think his timing, to be expected, wasn't there. I'd like to see him right now just get comfortable, take his shot when he's open even if maybe it doesn't feel perfect right now. Just play the right way. Even though he's been out, I think defensively he can throw himself into that and play good team defense."

Hood came off the bench and was restricted to five-minute stretches in his return. Given the team's rotations, Snyder expected the rookie to log fewer than 20 minutes.

"It's tough," Hood said, "but I just got to be patient and understand I can't make it worse by trying to be tough and playing on it [when it hurts]. I've just got to listen to the trainers."

I thought it was something else other than us foot this time. Hopefully it's not a long term issue. He has a chance to be something special with his size and skill.


Getting comfortable

Elliot Williams got a hotel crash course in the Jazz's offense before he made his debut with the team last week. After a week and a half with the team, the D-League call-up is starting to get comfortable.

"Just now, I'm finally getting a good grip of what's going on," he said Friday.

But Williams, who was inactive against the Lakers with Hood's return, is also facing a tough situation. His 10-day contract is set to expire Saturday, and his status is up in the air.

"You can't control it," he said. "There are some things you just can't control. What I can control is just coming out, playing hard and in practice giving it my all."

That's why Snyder says the 6-foot-5 guard has done.

"It's hard to make kind of a sweeping assessment or evaluation on such limited minutes," Snyder said. "But he's practiced well and done the things we've asked him to do."

Price of toughness

Before Friday's game, Lakers coach Byron Scott extolled the toughness of starting point guard Ronnie Price. But the former Jazzman has his limits; already donning a mask to protect his broken nose, Price was dealing with an elbow injury that kept the Utah Valley product from playing in a homecoming game at EnergySolutions Arena.

afalk@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tribjazz

sure Jerry liked his toughness too. He's not a rotation player though.

[Xiao Yao You]

OK, so they're still a long way off from achieving status as the Utah franchise's latest version of the "Big Three."

When did they have a big 3?

[QUOTE]And, who knows? Maybe they never will.

But Friday night against the Los Angeles Lakers, Utah's young trio of 20-something stars in the making

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"It's no different for us," Snyder said. "I try to keep Gordon (Hayward) and all our starters' minutes between 30 and 35. I just believe that's the best way to help our team and to help them. We want guys to be fresh when the game's on the line; we also want them to be fresh at the end of the year, and we want them to be healthy two years from now. And I think all of those minutes over a period of time add up."

So why did Rudy only play 25?

[QUOTE]Asked how he'd feel about not having to play on back-to-back nights, Jazz big man Derrick Favors said, "Naw, I'm too young for that. ... I mean, he deserves it."

Bryant had 19 points and a season-high 17 assists along with six rebounds in nearly 32 minutes on the court of Thursday night's 109-102 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

And although Bryant still ranks among the NBA's leading scorers this season with 22.6 points per game, this has not been a banner season for the five-time NBA champion and 2008 league MVP. He is shooting barely over 37 percent from the field, far below his career average, and less than 30 percent from 3-point range.

So a few more nights off might benefit Bryant's aging legs

[Xiao Yao You]

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Quin Snyder got very good performances from Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Trey Burke. Hayward come out hitting shots and was excellent all evening en route to a game-high 31 points and seven assists. Utah was hitting from the perimeter and passed the ball well. The Lakers definitely missed Bryant.

How is 7-19 very good?

[QUOTE]Turning point: With just less than five minutes remaining, Lakers guard Nick Young was fouled on a 3-point attempt. After converting all three free throws, the Jazz

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Favors was rolling to the basket and the interior of the Spurs defense was shutting everything down. The Jazz would run a play and get what they think they wanted and the Spurs would take it away immediately.

Looked like he missed shots he can make to me.


The Jazz defense was really very good all night. It is hard to have a good defensive night when your offense is as bad as the Jazz offense was tonight but the Jazz were able to do it. For most of the night they kept the Spurs under 40% shooting and without many three pointers (4 in the first three quarters). This slipped a little in the 4thquarter but overall the defense was super impressive.

Rudy!


Rudy Gobert was at the center of the defense again. It is undeniable what a huge impact he has on games for the Jazz on the offensive end. He had a career high 18 rebounds. Many early came on failed tip in attempts but the 11 defensive rebounds is awesome. Rudy finished the night with 13 points, the Jazz leading scorer, he also had 18 rebounds, another 2 assists and 4 blocks. Plus, he altered the Spurs activity around the basket all night. He is tremendous.

typical performance


The offense struggled all night but it really struggled with Rudy on the floor. This is going to be a work in progress. That is all part of the development of the team.

Gobert looks fine on offense. Hit the first shot from the post I've seen with a hook. They need to start building around him and they'll do great.


Gobert started the 2nd half instead of Kanter. Quin said after the game their were no long term implications. He said Rudy was playing better.

So if Kanter and Rudy are playing better than Favors the same will happen?:confusedshrug:


Kanter was disengaged tonight. He has to be active and he has to be better than he has been. Kanter is seriously lacking effort plays right now. Kanter finished with 20 minutes, 4 points, 2 rebounds.

Kanter has stopped passing or at least stopped passing for assists. In the first 28 games this year Kanter had 21 assists. Not great but at least showing some improvement. He has 1 in his last 9 games. He has 1 assist in his last 224 minutes.

Out of sync since the injury. Might be thinking too much with all the Gobert talk.


Rodney Hood hurt his left foot again. It is really sad. I was in a good deal of pain in the locker-room after the game. Hope Rodney is out. Feet issues are scary and clearly his are not in good shape so far this season. He was playing with great aggressiveness today and was making progress then boom.

Tough night was a tough offensive night all the way around. The Spurs plugged in and locked down. I was really impressed with the Jazz holding the Spurs to 43 1st half points and keeping the Spurs under 90 for the game. The Jazz dictated tempo. The Spurs had just 2 fast break points and just 32 points in the paint. The game plan n Tony Parker was executed very well he was a non factor. The Spurs are the world champs and better than the Jazz in every facet of the game but the Jazz were able to make themselves felt on half the floor tonight. That is a big deal.

Posted in Emptying the Noggin

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The second-year Frenchman got the nod, and his strong third quarter contributed to his career-high 18 rebound-night. Gobert added 13 points, four rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes. He was active and had a few stops that had the AT&T Center crowd oohing and aahing a bit.

He's always active though even when tired.

[QUOTE]Kanter struggled, going 2 of 6 for four points and two rebounds in 21 minutes, including the final six minutes after San Antonio had built up a 26-point lead. It was a tough night for him, perhaps he is still feeling the after effects of his recent injury. It should be noted that Gobert was -15 on plus/minus, while Kanter was -10 (included is the 11-3 finish to the game for Utah).

Could this slight change signal a change in the starting lineup? It will certainly be something to watch. I, for one, think the trio of Kanter, Gobert and Favors can not only co-exist, but can thrive. But that

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"There are no longterm implications here," Snyder said. "We just thought Rudy could give us a spark."

But he always gives a spark. How many degrees do you have? I have a hard time getting behind you when Rudy isn't the focus of the team.


Snyder was referring to his second year center Rudy Gobert, and his fourth year center Enes Kanter.

Gobert - on Sunday night - finished with 13 points, 18 rebounds and four blocked shots against the Spurs. Kanter played 20 minutes, scored four points and grabbed two rebounds. Gobert - who came off the bench at the beginning of the game - started the second half. Given the disparity of the play between the two, many Jazz fans have recently been calling for Gobert to become the full-time starter, instead of Kanter.

Regardless he needs to play more. Booker needs to go if they don't know what they're going to do with Enes or Favors yet.


"Rudy starting the second half was not a longterm decision," Snyder said. "He's been playing very well and he competed tonight. He's a unique player, and he needs to keep getting better."

Gobert started and played very well when Kanter missed a string of games with a sprained ankle a few weeks ago. Kanter - who will be a restricted free agent this coming summer - came back last week agains the Houston Rockets. Snyder gave him his job back against the Golden State Warriors, his reason being a starter doesn't lose his spot to injury.

At his best, Kanter is an offensive force, capable of scoring in the paint and from the mid-range.

and long range which has complicated things furthur


He can back guys down, go around them and finish at the hoop. Never was this more apparent than a month ago, when he lit Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans up for 29 points.

But there are times when Kanter doesn't play well defensively. This has been well talked about. Still, the organization has said they will stick by Kanter, his ability to score, his upside at 22 years of age and his potential to improve.

Gobert - however - has come on strong of late. He's established himself as a defender, and is improving on the offensive end as well.

"I'm trying to get better and I'm trying to be better offensively," Gobert said. "If I'm more aggressive on offense I hope that can help the team win more games."

Gobert and Kanter represent two different kinds of players. They play two different styles, and affect the Utah Jazz in two different ways.

But the time may be coming for the Jazz to choose which one to build around.

Tony Jones

Are you serious? Really? Is there any doubt who the Jazz have to build around? The question is what players to put around Gobert. :coleman:

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From the beginning, you could tell the Utah Jazz were in for a difficult night offensively.

How could you tell it was different than most nights when they suck in the beginning? :confusedshrug:


The San Antonio Spurs challenged every pass. Every shot came with a hand directly in the face. There were no cracks in the defense to exploit, no lanes towards the basket to creep through.

On Sunday night, the Utah Jazz were exposed in almost every way offensively by the world champions. And in a bit of irony, the Jazz were themselves very good defensively. They just weren't as good as the Spurs.

Or much worse defensively.

[QUOTE]The 89-69 final

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As an emerging high school star in Mississippi, Rodney Hood never dealt with injury issues.

He never had that worry at Mississippi State or at Duke University.


That's good to hear. Hopefully he'll get past this stuff eventually.


And there lies the frustration with Hood during his rookie season with the Utah Jazz. He's always been healthy, always been durable. He's never had to deal with multiple missed games, until now.

And now, he has another one. Hood appeared to re-aggravate his left foot on Sunday night against the San Antonio Spurs. He drove hard to the basket, landed on it, and lay down, pounding the AT&T Center floor with his fist. He had already missed the better part of three weeks with foot inflammation.

"It's all God's plan," Hood said before the game. "I just have to deal with it. The coaching staff has done a great job in trying to keep me healthy."


Good to hear it's God and not the tougher workload he has now.


Hood had just returned to the Jazz' active roster on Friday against the Los Angeles Lakers. In the first half of Sunday's loss to the San Antonio Spurs, Hood scored four points and grabbed four rebounds, showing some of the flashes that made him a first-round draft pick.

For now, Hood is on a minutes restriction. He played in four-minute stints in the win over Los Angeles. He played five minutes at a time on Sunday night. The idea is to monitor his foot, see if he has any pain or general soreness.

"It's an everyday process," Hood said. "I feel better all the time."

This is supposed to be Hood's time, with Alec Burks out for the season after shoulder surgery. He is supposed to be the starter, receiving the needed experience to hit the 2015-2016 season running.

Why not see what he can do in the D-league a couple times a week first instead?


But he's been in and out of the lineup for most of the year. And it's been difficult for Hood to gain any continuity while he's been dealing with injury problems. He can only hope they don't persist.

Coming back

On Saturday, the Jazz re-signed guard Elliott Williams to a second 10-day contract, keeping him with the team through at least the remainder of this road trip.

Williams was originally acquired out of the NBA Development League, where he was playing with Santa Cruz.

"It's a blessing to have another opportunity," Williams said. "I feel like I have a really good grasp of what we're trying to do on both ends. I feel comfortable now that I've been with the team for a week."

A standout

Jazz center Rudy Gobert continued his strong play, scoring 13 points, grabbing 18 rebounds and blocking four shots against the Spurs in 28 minutes.

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Jazz organization and its fans will be left to wonder how a fully healthy squad might look after a full season together with Snyder.

As long as it's a team built around Gobert playing for a playoff spot and not another tank.


Short of that, the Jazz feel it is important to keep the 23-year-old Burks, who was signed to a four-year extension in the fall, in the fold to help lessen the struggles of reintegrating him next year.

"I'm sure he wishes he could be out there with us," point guard Trey Burke said. "We're just ready for him to get back as quick as possible."

afalk@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tribjazz

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Rudy Gobert, who had still another solid effort with a team-high 13 points and 18 rebounds, the latter, a career high. The only other Jazz player in double figures was Gordon Hayward, who had 10, while Derrick Favors had nine points and 13 rebounds.


He was great as always. Been a long time since he was merely solid.

[QUOTE]Everyone had a tough night shooting except for Gobert, who was 5-of-10 from the field. Both Hayward and Burke went 4-for-15, both reserve guards Dante Exum and Rodney Hood went 1-for-5, while Favors was 4-for-11.

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[QUOTE]

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Gordon is playing All-Star-ish. He's not there yet. And while there's a chance that he gets in.

There's no chance unless the commish ends up picking because many guys are hurt than there's always a chance. See Okur.


But right now I think the All-Stars for the West break down as:

Bigmen: Anthony Davis, Blake Griffin, Marc Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge

Point Guards: Stephen Curry, Chris Paul, Damian Lillard

Wings: Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, James Harden

Util: Klay Thompson, and either Tim Duncan (and he shouldn't get named, because if 15 and 10 gets you an All-Star spot in the west then Michael Cage was robbed all those years), or DeMarcus Cousins, or Russell Westbrook. There's no perfect guy, either they haven't played a lot of games, or won a lot of games. Or aren't having an All-Star season (Duncan).

15 and 10 is an all-star for a center especially when they do so much not in the box score.


I'd go with Westbrook, despite the Thunder being 9th in the West right now. Dallas is 5th in the west (higher than the 7th Spurs), so maybe Dirk Nowitzki deserves it? Or maybe they'll go with Dwight Howard to give Houston two stars? I don't know. It's not my job to figure it out though.

I think Gordon is playing well, but after looking at how well the other players are doing this season, I don't think I can argue for Gordon's inclusion unless I'm wearing my Jazz homer hat. He has improved quite a bit from last year (and I have the Synergy Stats to support that idea, and that post is dropping tomorrow). But what do you think?

I think you need to stop dropping things and watch a game instead.

[Xiao Yao You]

let's take a look at some of the recent injuries of Rodney Hood, and let's be real here. Some of it is bad luck for the Utah Jazz rookie. Some of it is, well, really bad luck.

June, 2013: Right foot, Torn Achilles Tendon (originally identified as a sprain) [Back at Duke]

I thought he hadn't been hurt in college? Torn achilles is serious stuff!


November, 2014: Right foot, inflammation (plantar fasciitis)

January, 2015 (I): Left foot, inflammation (also plantar fasciitis)

January, 2015 (II): Left foot, aggravation of previous injury (plantar fasciitis) [LAST NIGHT landed with left foot on Tiago Splitter 's foot and had to leave the game.]

both feet. A bit worrisome.


Via: U.S. National Library of Medicine

So some of it is bad luck, some of it is a force multiplier by a) his job (running and jumping), b) the locations of his previous injuries, and c) the fact that all of these injuries have affected the same part of the body, and area that cooperates.So he's had this combined heel problem on both feet now, but I would suggest that he's had more problems with his right foot. (Oh, by the way, guess which leg a left handed player plants on lay-ups?)

The body is designed in a way where different parts give structure or flexibility to other parts. I love how one of the reasons for plantar fasciitis could be because of a tight Achilles tendon. All of these heel problems can make for a very painful experience for young Rodney. He's not going to need surgery, he just needs rest.

Having Rudy Gobert and Enes Kanter (and Trevor Booker) around helps Derrick Favors avoid big minutes, and helps him better manage potential plantar fasciitis flare ups. Having more wing guys around will allow for Rodney to stay healthy and avoid big minutes as well.

He hasn't played big minutes and Ingles and now Millsap should send him to the D-league where he'd only play a couple times a week.


Of course, he still has to recover fully before that happens. Hood missed 10 games for his right foot, and seven for his left foot already this season.

Ultimately, I guess, you blame Alec Burks for this. Or mother nature. Or crazy uncle luck. It's a less than perfect rookie year for Hood. But it's better to have these injuries NOW and then learn about them, and adjust his training and behavior going forward so he has a long and non-ignorant professional career.

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]In a broad sense, there was perhaps no better candidate for a collision with a rookie wall than Dante Exum. Unlike the majority of his peers in the 2014 Draft class who either attended a Division I college program or played a professional season in one of Europe

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[QUOTE]It was only 3 seasons ago that the Jazz took only 12 three point shots a game, good for the 2nd fewest in the league. The Jazz have never been in love with the 3 pointer, and I

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the Jazz are 14-27 at the halfway point of the 2014-2015 NBA schedule. They held the exact same record midway through last year as well.

But that's just the surface.

Dig a little deeper, and it's clear progress is being made. The Utah Jazz of last year were marked by frustration and little direction. They had a coaching staff in disarray. They played the season out with veterans in the rotation who had little hope or even desire of being with the team long term.

I guess. They took a step back this year with their increased tanking effort. Rudy is the only reason they are winning as much as they are. They had direction and the coaching staff wasn't in disarray and Jefferson and Marvin could have been back if the Jazz weren't tanking.


In that sense, the biggest win for the Jazz this year has been a change of culture. This team enters games expecting to win, expecting to be competitive.

Do these guys work for the Jazz? In NY the sportswriters wouldn't write this crap. They were much more competitive last year. They' ve absolutely sucked this year without Rudy and that was the plan. The roster tells the whole story.


"I think we're a lot farther along than people thought we'd be at this point," Utah forward Gordon Hayward said. "I think we've made steps forward, and I think we've gotten to the point where people can see progress. We're young, but we're learning."

If the future was murky following last year, it's a lot more defined now. General manager Dennis Lindsey and coach Quin Snyder wanted to see players step up and claim roles, and that's happening. Guys are starting to separate themselves.

Rudy Gobert, in his second season, is the biggest example. He's become the big man of the future, a defensive ace with improving offensive skill. He's improved at a rate unforeseen by even those within the Jazz organization, particularly over the last 15 games. His play is now screaming for a starting role, although Utah has shown commitment to Enes Kanter, and feels like it now has three young big men it can play in the rotation.

He's the man now! Tanking is the only thing holding him back.


Much of it has added up to a mixed bag. A challenging early schedule led to a long losing streak at the beginning of the season. But the Jazz have played well since the beginning of December. They went 3-3 on their long pre-Christmas road trip. They've played .500 basketball over the last 16 games. They've claimed victories this season over good teams like San Antonio, Memphis, Cleveland and Chicago.

"I think we've had tangible signs of growth, individually and collectively," Lindsey said. "As a young team, we've taken some time to find ourselves. We've had defensive improvement over the last month, but we have ability. We have smart players, and we have guys who have shown that they want to get better."

Hayward and Derrick Favors have established themselves as pieces for the future.

Hayward probably though his contract could change that. They both have to prove they fit with Rudy. He is the one piece they have to keep no matter what.


After signing a max contract, Hayward has been one of the better small forwards in the league, leading the team at 19 points per game. More impressively, Hayward has done this as one of the lone perimeter guys capable of creating his own shot. He's scored 30 or more points five times this season despite defenses loading up to stop him every night.

Favors has been almost as productive, especially at power forward. He's averaging 16 points and nine rebounds per night, including 17 and 10 over his last five games. As much as anyone, Gobert's emergence has helped Favors. Their play together is swiftly answering questions as to whether the two could co-exist in the same frontcourt.

Is it? Where's the stretch big? Is Favors playing D now?


"I think we've taken a lot of steps forward," Jazz guard Trey Burke said. "There were times where we weren't confident that we could win games, but now we think we go into every night thinking we can win. We have to be more consistent in our efforts, but once that happens we have a chance to do some good things."

You've taken a few steps back it would seem.


The beauty of this team - even with the losing - lies in how many younger players they are trying to develop. There's rookie point guard Dante Exum, who is attempting to navigate the NBA as a teenager.

When he'd be better off developing in Idaho but that wouldn't be as many losses for the Jazz.


Burke is the starter, still learning, still young and improving. He's had difficult moments, an awful game against the Atlanta Hawks at the top of the list. But lately he's been better, averaging 16 points over his last five games.
Until the next slump anyway. What did he shoot? He shot horrible last game certainly.


There has been disappointment, injuries at the top of the list. Alec Burks is out for the season, robbing the Jazz of a second consistent perimeter scorer and a guy who can help out with ball-handling chores. His back-up Rodney Hood has been oft-injured, his latest setback coming on Sunday against the Spurs.

Still, there has been a lot to like about the Utah Jazz this season. Will that translate to wins? Players and coaches sure hope so.

"I think we've improved," Snyder said. "I think we've been consistent in what we're trying to do. We have more understanding of how we want to play, and I think this team has done a good job in trying to overcome adversity. The big thing is I think the players have individually improved."

tjones@sltrib.com

twitter: @tjonessltrib

But they just don't have the pieces. Next year better be different is all I can say!:rant

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I'm saying that if they reach my original forecast of 30 wins, their season should be viewed as successful.

I bet the front office doesn't think so. This team should be fighting for the last playoff spot so either you lose more than anyone or you play to win. In between is not successful.

[QUOTE]This season already is much more fun, because the Jazz are more competitive, individual players are showing signs of growth and there's far less discussion of draft positioning. The Jazz have the sixth-worst record in the league, and probably will remain in that range. The part I like is nobody's suggesting that's not bad enough

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]the Utah Jazz have hit the halfway point of the season with a 14-27 record. It isn

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Hood had been pretty much injury-free his whole life until hurting his foot earlier this season and missing 10 games. Then after playing in 16 games in late November and December, Hood missed the next seven games after reaggravating his injury. Now he is out again.

A torn achilles isn't injury free. Not close. It might be related to his current problems in fact.

[QUOTE]Jazz coaches and players felt bad for Hood, who has been one of the team

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Aaron Falk: Rodney Hood's left foot is back in a walking boot for about a week after his latest MRI showed "a recurrence of inflammation," the Jazz say. Twitter @tribjazz

Aaron Falk: Rodney Hood will be out through the All-Star break

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Trevor Booker: I've been seeing videos of people across the country,and other NBA players attempting my shot. So let's have a trick shot contest for prizes Twitter @35_Fitz

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http://saltcityhoops.com/6-guards-that-could-be-utahs-next-d-league-call-up/

I'd guess we could be seeing someone new once Williams 2nd 10 day is done.

[Xiao Yao You]

Joe Ingles has been cut twice by the Golden State Warriors.

He's been let go by the Los Angeles Clippers.

Didn't know about the GS cuts.


They say the ability to stick in the NBA requires time. It requires patience, being in the right situation at the right time and maybe even a little luck.

All of this applies to Joe Ingles, the "veteran" rookie of the Utah Jazz. With Alec Burks hurt for the season and Rodney Hood down for the immediate future, Joe Ingles is the man at shooting guard, the proverbial "next man up".

For now anyway. I think Millsap might make more sense with Ingles leading the 2nd unit again.


He's got the opportunity to show Utah brass that he can be a long term piece for the future, and that he belongs in the league. He's played well to this point, but if the Jazz are to improve upon a 14-27 record, he's got to show consistency and the ability to produce on both ends.

Joe Ingles is a passer first, second and perhaps third, which isn't a bad thing. He's what you call the consummate "glue" guy. Still, the Jazz could use a little bit more scoring from him. Right now, the bulk of the perimeter points lies at the feet of Gordon Hayward and Trey Burke. For the Jazz to be successful going forward, Ingles has to make a dent there as well.

He has to at least be able to hit open shots consistently and he hasn't.


The good news? He's been much less hesitant to take open shots than he was at the beginning of the season. He's crafty off the dribble, able to get into the lane and find open guys.

For the last month, Ingles was seen as a stopgap, a place-holder until Hood came back. Now - with his foot issues - Ingles has to be seen as more of a fixture.

Tony Jones

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Hood's left foot is back in all too familiar territory.

"It's unfortunate for him and for us as a team." Jazz swingman Gordon Hayward said. "He's a huge part of what we do."

It's unfortunate that he's a huge part of what you do because he's obviously not ready.


p class="TEXT_w_Indent">Hood was sent back to Salt Lake City following Sunday's game and his latest MRI revealed a "recurrence of inflammation," according to the Jazz, that will keep him out of action through the all-star break in mid-February.

That means the rookie, who missed 10 games with an injured right foot and seven more because of a left foot injury, will miss at least 12 more games before he is reevaluated.

According to the Jazz, Hood will wear the boot for about one week while continuing to get treatment. Once the boot is off, Hood will be limited in his training as he tries to make a recovery.

Hood, the No. 23 pick in last year's draft, has appeared in 24 games this season for the Jazz, averaging 5.3 points and 2.5 rebounds in about 18 minutes of action.

Play with force

For most of the season, it has been a catch-phrase defensively for Quin Snyder and the Jazz. Matching the opponent's physical play has always been a priority, as well as boxing out, finishing defensive possessions and generally stopping the opposition from scoring points.

But this applies to offense as well. And this is something that Snyder doesn't mention very much. Playing with force offensively very much exists, because doing the big and little things lead to good shots. When it doesn't happen, the Jazz have nights where they score 69 points against the San Antonio Spurs.

"There are a lot of things our guys can still get better at," Snyder said Tuesday. "We see some windows where guys are trying to make plays that they aren't ready to make yet. But they'll make them eventually. We can talk about it as much as we want, but we have to play with more determination offensively."

The Jazz's offensive margin of error offensively is. This is a team dealing with multiple injuries at the shooting guard spot, relying on rookies and second year guys to generate a significant chunk of offense.

They went into the season counting on guys that weren't ready for the roles given. They actually have more experience now with Ingles and Millsap playing instead of Hood.


While the defense has been better, it's clear the offense is becoming a bigger work in progress.

For the Jazz, that may not bode well for Wednesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers. While Utah defeated LeBron James and company early in November on Gordon Hayward's buzzer-beater, this is a different Cavs team. There was no J.R. Smith the first time around, no Timofey Mozgov. Both are now a part of the starting lineup, and James is healthy again after taking a two week hiatus to rest his knee and back. In the three games since his return, James is averaging 31.8 points per game.

That puts more emphasis on the Jazz to play better on the offensive end. If they don't a second defeat on this road trip could be well in reach.

"I thought we got good looks against the Spurs, but we didn't make shots," Utah point guard Trey Burke said. "We didn't put the ball in the basket, and that's got to change."

Not going to change until you get some better shooters.


Extended break

The Jazz stayed in San Antonio until Tuesday afternoon before flying out to Cleveland. They took most of Monday off to enjoy the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, save a short film session. Burke spent some free time visiting his grandmother and other family members who live in the San Antonio area.

tjones@sltrib.com

[Xiao Yao You]

It's time for Rudy Gobert to start and finish for the Jazz.

Yes obviously.


It's time for Enes Kanter to spend more time on the pine.

Not unless they've decided he won't be back next year. He also needs more minutes. Booker has to go unless they've made a decision on Enes' future. The decison comes down to Enes and Favors. Stop this Gobert/Enes bull. Gobert is the centerpiece of the team.


We've all thought it. We've skirted around the edges of it. Gobert wants it. Jazz teammates see it. Now, it's time to come right out and say it, time for Quin Snyder to do it.

Enough of the fiddle-faddling around.

Make room on the floor for the big Frenchman, give him the symbolic nod as a starter, the minutes he needs to become what he can be. Play him as much as Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors. Maybe more.

Maybe?


Be patient through his mistakes and look past his limitations, especially at the offensive end. And watch him continue to grow into one of the most valuable pieces in the Jazz's rebuild.

One of? He's unquestionably the most important piece right now.

[QUOTE]Snyder started Gobert in the second half against San Antonio the other night instead of Kanter

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]Hayward knows for his team to have a chance of winning, it can

[Xiao Yao You]

Desperate for a point guard, the Utah Jazz traded for Trey Burke, the No. 9 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.

To get him, they gave the Minnesota Timberwolves the Nos. 14 and 21 selections, Shabazz Muhammad and Gorgui Dieng.

Was it the right move?

Doesn't look like it especially since both of those guys look better not to mention others drafted after Trey including Neto and also Exum this last draft.

Let

[Xiao Yao You]

What you see here is an almost linear relationship between players getting 'touches' and players deserving touches. There are a few outliers, like Trey Burke being below where he should be (but Synergy is a great tool, Trey makes up for some of it by being a great distributor

great? :rolleyes:


who rarely turns the ball over . . . but it's still not as awesome as if he was as good as he should be at making buckets). Someone like Rudy Gobert obviously needs to finish more plays, he is way ahead (or above) of the curve (or line).

I know what you are thinking right now, "Hmmm, this is awesome Amar. You are so awesome, thank you. It's a shame you don't win any fake internet points award thingy for being the best Utah Jazz blogger. You do so much, you write, do stats, do photoshop, you're really the triple threat."

You're also thinking that this is what an effective, efficient offense looks like. Players (for the most part) are playing well and producing on offense where they need to.

Excellent Tier: Derrick Favors, Rudy Gobert

Favors is a best, and he is getting the third most offensive possessions on the team. He deserves it. He is in the 89th percentile of PPP in the league, and is an excellent finisher in transition; very good on put backs, and broken plays; good in the pick and roll, and off of cuts. He is merely average on post ups, isolations, and spot ups. But overall he gets the job done.


He is average on post ups? I'd say he sucks!


Rudy Gobert is only a step behind in the 88th percentile, though he is a much more simple player. He is better on put backs than Favors, and shoots in a fewer number of different ways. But he is also an excellent transition finisher (#EUROOOO) but underwhelming when posting up. It's hard to get him the ball more because he is the anchor of the defense..

A step behind! :cheers:


Very Good Tier: Gordon Hayward, Steve Novak

G-Time is amazing, and expect a full post on his offensive breakdown in Synergy soon. But he ranks "excellent" or "very good" in most of the categories. I am really impressed with his play and even as the #1 option he is doing better than a linear relationship would suggest.

Steve Novak is in the line between Very Good and Good here, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt with his total 25 possessions. We know he kills it on spot ups and pick and pops. He doesn't need to do much else in our offense, nor will he be asked to.

But sucks at everything else. The guy taking the rebound right over the top of him was hilarious!


Good Tier: Enes Kanter, Alec Burks, Trevor Booker, Jeremy Evans

Three PFs and Alec Burks. Having these guys, three of which all attempt threes regularly, still rank this highly despite not being "natural shooters" is amazing to me and a product of a well running offense, and a group of players who are individually playing well.

Enes is a natural shooter. Supposedly that was his game when he was drafted. They made him play in the post. It was a smart move. I thought Ty didn't develop anyone?


Enes Kanter may be in a shooting slump right now since coming back from injury, but has shown quite a bit this season. He is excellent in transition, very good off of cuts, good on the glass for put backs, and average on post ups.

He and Favors are not both average on post ups I can tell you that much!


There are a few areas we'd like to see him improve, one is on spot ups (which he is working on), and the other is as the screen outlet man in pick and rolls. He was great at the pick and pop to start the season but has cooled off.
Don't think they run it with him much. Could be a huge weapon as he gets more confidence from deep.


Trevor Booker scores in many of the same ways, but is also below average on the pick and pop, but average on spot ups.

Alec Burks is better than his stats show, and while he doesn't win a lot of fans in the advanced stat lodges, he's still good at the things that took him to the NBA. He is solidly somewhere between average and good, but great in specific situations, particularly in transition, dribble hand offs, and on the offensive glass. Is being average on spot ups and isolations good enough to start? I don't know. But I do know that our offense sorely misses him.

Once he is healthy we'll see if he's a starter or not. As good as he was off the bench I'd say he's a starter just maybe not with Maxi G at the 3.


Average Tier: Ian Clark

He's not hurting the team on offense when he's in the game. He's not helping them that much, but can space the floor, hit threes, and dribble penetrate.
I keep hearing that but haven't seen much out of him besides the summer league and pre-season.


Below Average Tier: Trey Burke, Dante Exum, Joe Ingles, Rodney Hood

This is where you can complain if you want to complain. Three of our rookies are below average, and one of our second year players is as well. I'm going to break these guys down in a separate post as well, so more on this later. But it's not the end of the world. Not everyone can be Gobert-like on offense.

At least 2 of those guys belong in the D-league if not 3. Not sure any are even rotations players at this stage.


Poor Tier: Elijah Millsap, Elliot Williams, Patrick Christopher, Toure' Murry

Well, it's nice that they are in the NBA. Millsap is a better defender, Williams is insurance, and Christopher and Murry are both off the team now.

Wouldn't be suprised to see Christopher back when healthy.


I think this is a fun team, and as you can tell from these tiers the players who are taking the most shots deserve it. (That is a departure from previous seasons where Josh Howard will be allowed to take the most shots in the beginning of a playoff game.)

I liked Josh! :rockon:


This team is going to get better, but at least it's nice to know that there's some level of 'fairness' involved in how the offense is run. And man, G-Time, D-Fav, and Gobert are really good on offense even if we think of two of those guys are defensive players.

And really only one is a defensive player.

[Xiao Yao You]

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pgl_finder.cgi?request=1&player_id=&match=game&year_min=&year_max=&age_min=0&age_max=99&team_id=&opp_id=&is_playoffs=N&round_id=&game_num_type=&game_num_min=&game_num_max=&game_month=&game_location=&game_result=&is_starter=&is_active=&is_hof=&pos_is_g=Y&pos_is_gf=Y&pos_is_f=Y&pos_is_fg=Y&pos_is_fc=Y&pos_is_c=Y&pos_is_cf=Y&c1stat=mp&c1comp=lt&c1val=29&c2stat=pts&c2comp=gt&c2val=13&c3stat=trb&c3comp=gt&c3val=18&c4stat=blk&c4comp=gt&c4val=4&order_by=pts

Rudy joins Ewing at the end of his career as the only players with at least 29 minutes 18 boards 4 blocks and 13 points since '85

[Xiao Yao You]

It seems so long ago when there were questions about how others would play offensively with Gobert in the game. Now it appears, they need him as David Locke points out.

As many have pointed out, Rudy was the only one who didn't look overmatched against the Spurs. He looked ready and prepared. And the national media is noticing.

When will Jazz nation notice?


Gordon Hayward's improvement is amazing to see. The unfortunate thing is he most likely won't be in the All-Star game. Sad but true. The Utah Jazz are a lottery team that gets little to no national attention and they don't have a single spotlight shining bright on the team. Players like Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors won't get a national audience unless you beat the Knicks or Cavaliers as they did early in the season (when beating the Knicks or Cavaliers meant something). Amar brought up Gordon Hayward's All-Star-ish play here:

Theyll get noticed if they win.


I think Gordon is playing well, but after looking at how well the other players are doing this season, I don't think I can argue for Gordon's inclusion unless I'm wearing my Jazz homer hat. He has improved quite a bit from last year (and I have the Synergy Stats to support that idea, and that post is dropping tomorrow).

Wally Price, long-time usher of the Utah Jazz, passed away last night at the age of 98 years old. If you have gone to a Jazz game in the last 34 years there's a good chance you've had your ticket inspected by Wally Price. Doug Robinson of the Deseret News wrote this of Wally Price 8 years ago:

David Robinson and Pat Ewing used to visit him every time they were in the building. Charles Barkley hugged him. Thurl Bailey gives him a kiss on his bald head at every home game. Coaches, players, team execs, season-ticket holders all go out of their way to chat him up and pump the little man's hand. He calls them all his friends. And the ladies? Let's just say that this guy has collected more hugs than Bert Parks and Richard Dawson combined.
...
Sometimes he dispenses advice. He told one couple that he wanted to see them holding hands whenever they entered the arena, and sure enough, as they entered the building one night last week, they were complying with his request. He asked one unnamed Jazz player if he told his wife he loved her every day. When the wife shook her head, Wally told the player he would ask him the same question every time he showed up for a game. When the player retired, his wife thanked Wally and said the advice had helped their marriage. Old Wally's eyes welled with tears.

Wally would say about his ushering, "If I didn't do this, I'd be dead."

Wally will be missed. He was an icon around the arena. My father would point him out when we would go to Jazz games. He was part of the visit to the Delta Center. He was uniquely special.

On game nights, he [Wally] arrives at the arena two hours before tip-off and reports immediately to the Jazz locker room to visit the troops (years ago Jazz players would seek him out if they missed his visit, as if he were a good-luck charm). Then he grabs a Coke and walks slowly to his station, which is known as Wally's Wall.

The Utah Jazz are in Cleveland currently. If you are one of the special few who get to go to the Jazz's next home game, please, go visit Wally's wall. Go pay tribute to a man who spent his golden years around us whom he called his friends. Take his advice. Be good to your significant others. Be good to everyone. Be good to yourself. Be happy.

[Xiao Yao You]

The team gives up 98.9 ppg, which is greatly influenced by playing at the 28th slowest pace in the league.

What happened to playing with pace.


According to the harder data the Jazz surrender 10.9.4 points per 100 possessions, which is "good" enough for 27th out of 30 teams in the NBA this year. While Utah does not foul a lot

The Jerry era is certainly over.


and send teams to the line endlessly it's almost as if they do not need to. Players are out of position in their defensive sets in the half court, and poorer basketball IQ leaves opponents open for good looks.

The Jazz allow other teams to shoot .510 eFG% against them, which is 24th in the league. A significant portion of that is poor three point defense. This year the other team is making .378% of their shots from downtown against Utah. Only two teams get lit up from outside more. However, the poor shot discipline isn't the largest sin. It would appear as those there is a general level of non-hustle out there on the court. Utah doesn't pressure the ball or force turn overs that frequently. Utah only forces 12.3 turn overs a game (29th), and cause one 12.0% of the time (27th). It's not all about taking risks to get steals, but an active defense that harries the other team into bad shots and pressured ball movement is preferable to one that allows open shots and doesn't appear to be physical enough to make it hard on the other team.

Yep outside Rudy, Booker and now Millsap I don't think anyone lays it all out there.


Of course, the Jazz have not been great on defense before, this isn't the only year where we've had to worry about that side of the court.

Season Opp PPG RK Pace RK DRTG RK Opp eFG% RK TOV% RK DRB% RK Opp FT/FGA RK
1 1995 1996 95.9 6 90.0 25 106.1 8 48.9% 9 15.1% 9 71.7% 4 29.5% 27
2 1996 1997 94.3 8 90.0 17 104.0 9 48.0% 8 15.5% 5 71.6% 4 29.0% 29
3 1997 1998 94.4 13 89.2 21 105.4 17 47.1% 11 13.5% 22 71.0% 5 27.1% 25
4 1998 1999 86.8 5 87.0 23 98.4 7 44.1% 5 14.4% 17 70.4% 9 24.2% 15
5 1999 2000 92.0 5 89.6 27 102.3 11 47.7% 12 15.0% 9 73.2% 2 25.6% 25
6 2000 2001 92.4 8 89.8 21 102.4 12 47.3% 17 15.3% 3 73.2% 6 30.1% 29
7 2001 2002 95.1 13 90.3 16 104.6 14 48.4% 17 15.9% 1 71.7% 12 28.6% 29
8 2002 2003 92.3 7 89.3 24 102.8 15 46.8% 8 15.2% 4 70.2% 24 25.6% 25
9 2003 2004 89.9 9 86.6 28 103.3 14 46.8% 12 15.4% 7 72.4% 10 31.9% 29
10 2004 2005 97.3 16 88.4 26 109.5 26 49.9% 26 14.2% 10 72.3% 8 34.0% 30
11 2005 2006 95.0 9 87.8 26 107.0 21 49.0% 14 14.0% 10 73.2% 12 30.3% 30
12 2006 2007 98.6 17 91.6 15 107.0 18 49.6% 13 14.4% 14 75.1% 4 31.4% 30
13 2007 2008 99.3 13 93.2 10 106.5 12 50.1% 16 15.0% 3 74.1% 9 29.4% 30
14 2008 2009 100.9 19 93.1 9 107.3 10 50.5% 18 15.0% 2 72.7% 20 26.2% 26
15 2009 2010 98.9 12 93.8 9 105.0 10 49.2% 13 14.2% 5 75.6% 5 26.9% 30
16 2010 2011 101.3 19 91.0 19 110.1 23 50.5% 20 13.8% 8 71.7% 27 27.5% 30
17 2011 2012 99.0 23 91.4 12 106.1 19 49.3% 22 13.8% 16 73.8% 11 24.5% 28
18 2012 2013 98.1 16 90.9 21 106.8 21 50.1% 18 14.0% 12 73.2% 21 22.6% 26
19 2013 2014 102.2 18 81.4 26 111.3 29 51.8% 26 12.1% 29 74.5% 14 22.7% 20
20 2014 2015 98.9 14 90.4 28 109.4 27 51.0% 24 12.0% 27 75.8% 10 19.6% 8
Average 96.1 12.5 89.7 20.2 105.8 16.2 48.8% 15.5 14.4% 10.7 72.9% 10.9 27.3% 26.1
Data from Basketball-Reference.com

I cannot stress enough how cool it is to NOT having a foul prone team for once on defense (which allows our best defenders to actually stay out on the court, I see ya Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert!).

Why don't we let Derrick actually play good D before we put him in there with Rudy? :confusedshrug:


But that may or may not have influenced how "up in your grill" our defense is. But the general picture hear over the last two decades is that the Utah Jazz defense hasn't been all that, especially not over the Tyrone Corbin era.

Hasn't been good in close to 20 years vbut why not another shot at Ty anyway!


But people keep telling me to "Let it go." So let's break down what the Utah Jazz have done this season in Synergy Sports Tech's massive database.

Ummmm.

Anyway, according to SST (not to be confused with this) the Utah Jazz are not a good defensive club. On a per possession basis they rank 27th. (N.B. The data I pulled and processed was for the Jazz after 40 games. So there is no influence upon these numbers from the San Antonio Spurs game; though I am sure you would agree that the defense was lacking there too.) At the time of data collection (harvesting?) the Jazz were on defense 4,079 times in 40 games. Teams shot 46.5 fg% against the Jazz, had an aFG% (a SST metric) of 51.2%, punched in 1.22 PPS, and had a PPP of 0.97. Put it all together and the Jazz ranked "poor" against the rest of the NBA.

The other team didn't turn the ball over that much, and while they didn't get to the free throw line much, overall they still managed to put some points on the board 45.3% of the time they had the ball.

That's not so great.

So where are the Jazz getting toasted from?

Time spent on defense:

2014 2015 40 Games Synergy Utah Jazz Defense - Time Pie

So the gameplan (or the other team exerts their control) calls for the team playing a lot of defense against Spot ups, the pick and roll (ball handler), transition plays, post ups, and isolation. So that's 8 or more possessions of each type per game, from 7.9 isolations all the way up to 19.1 spot up attempts against Utah on any given night.

2014 2015 40 Games Synergy Utah Jazz Defense - Time Table

Miscellaneous plays are broken plays, like someone saves the ball and it goes to his team, or there is a deflection somewhere and no one knows what's happening. I'm not worried about the team there, so I will mostly disregard it (despite the fact that the Jazz are actually the 11th best team at defending these plays).

Personally, I think with the bigs the Jazz have teams have been de-incentivized from trying to score in the paint on drives or pick and rolls. Letting teams do their thing from outside of the mollestive influence of our rim protectors, probably not so good.

No one is afraid of Favors. Sorry man!

[Xiao Yao You]

Are they good at defending what they see the most?

Well, let's go over it step by step:

Type Time Rating PPG PPS PPP NBA RK
1 Spot Up 18.7% Poor 20.2 1.13 1.05 27
2 P&R Ball 16.2% Average 13.3 1.02 0.81 21
3 Transition 12.2% Poor 14.6 1.53 1.17 26
4 Post Up 9.4% Poor 9.2 1.19 0.96 29
5 Isolation 7.7% Poor 7.5 1.20 0.95 29
6 Cut 7.4% Below Average 9.4 1.50 1.25 24
7 P&R Screener 7.1% Very Good 6.6 1.05 0.90 8
8 Off Screen 5.8% Poor 5.7 1.13 0.97 27
9 Put Backs 5.0% Average 5.6 1.24 1.10 17
10 Hand Off 4.2% Average 3.9 1.11 0.91 20
Okay, so the things the Jazz face the most on defense this season are all pretty much the things they are really poor at. So do you re-train the defense to a) get better at the things you are bad at, b) install a defense that forces the other team into doing the things you are good at defending, c) both, or d) recognize that there is a push and pull on defense, and being extra careful about one thing can leave gaps in other parts of the floor?

Rudy alone should improve everything. After that yiu have to get better players that fit with Rudy. Simple fix.


One thing people may be upset about -- that can be fixed -- is the post up defense. It's poor. Even with Rudy Gobert on the floor I've seen players bump him with their greater upper body strength, get him out of position, and then benefit from making this space by taking a short fall away.
They have but ouside Hibbert not many had success and even than Rudy was working hard unlike his teammates.


No one challenges him like how a Shaquille O'Neal would challenge a Dikembe Mutombo. They go at him by getting him off balance, and then finessing their way around him. The isolation defense isn't going to get better until our players are allowed to foul guys on defense -- and that comes with refs respecting you. (Like how Chris Paul is allowed to be super hands-y on defense and foul a lot before the player tries a shot.)

more excuses


System issues will always persist. A player scores on a cut when there is a defensive breakdown. We do it. They do it. Most of the time it's a good shot, or at least the guy gets to the line. The Jazz give up at least one point on 62.5% of these plays.The alternative is to commit to the guy cutting sooner, leaving someone ELSE open. If you are at a situation where you can be defeated by a cut on a play the chances are that someone else on the offensive side of the ball can ALSO cut to somewhere else and get open too.

But the main problem appears to be spot ups:

Yes, the Jazz defense right now tries to protect the paint -- and right now the main problem is dribble penetration. Dribble penetration means that other defenders have to help and commit to the ball handler. (Either from an Iso, pick, or something else). When the defense collapses this leaves guys open on the outside. This is how Dion Waiters got so open on that Kevin Durant pass a few games ago. And this is how the Jazz get wrecked by the Spurs almost every time they play.

That all starts with Trey. Neto and Exum should improve things there.


They give up the open jumper because they HAVE to protect the paint. Today you can't leave guys open (the skill set is much different than it was in the 70s and 80s), and the best defensive teams are the ones that can keep playing five on five, man on man, as much as possible.

When Rudy is in the game he can protect his man and than some. No reason for them to be leaving guys wide open anymore.


The Jazz offense is built around the same thing, moving the defense around and getting guys open shots. Which is why it is upsetting that this is something they know so well on offense, but don't know how to counter it on defense.

At the end of the day you need strong perimeter defense if you are going to allow players to stay 'home' on outside shooters. In the vacuum of the Spot Up defense vs. Pick and Roll ball handler defense we see that the Jazz are average on the ball handler because they commit to him. Letting that guy go one on one more (our iso defense is horrible) could result in more scores, or worse, fouls on our bigmen in the paint off of drives.

The % play then is to let guys shoot from outside, and hope for a miss, vs. giving up the sure thing.

It is going to be interesting to see how Quin Snyder and crew combat this over the second half of the season. Elijah Millsap and Dante Exum project to be better defenders with their length, ability, and hustle. But can you run an offense with those guys out there right now?

Perhaps the Jazz need to be a little more strategic in how they play defense? If they can influence the ball handler to pass the ball to the screen setter instead of finding an open man spotting up the team would be in perfect position to defend the play. But that is specifically what teams today avoid doing. The Spurs are a perfect example of this, instead of going to Tim Duncan or Boris Diaw at the top of the key they penetrate and find a guy like Danny Green open outside. It's how they beat us in the playoffs last time we were there. And it's pretty much how they beat us every time we play them.

For the Jazz to move from being a poor defensive team to an average defensive team will require an adjustment to the strategy and performance of our players and coaches both. But at the end of the day, better defense comes from within. Needing to help less will mean less players are open. And in year one of the Snyder House Rules, we see that most of our players need to play better defense. Or knock some people on their butts. That's what Jerry Sloan would advise.

Need better talent first. More minutes from Gobert will certainly help and has.

[Xiao Yao You]

under the direction of Frank Layden and Jerry Sloan the team used to have one of the best offenses in the land.

Stockton to Malone not Frank and Jerry.


Quin Snyder seems to be making strikes with the team, and the team game may not be as immediately impressive as an isolation based game that Tyrone Corbin ran, the dividends are paying off. What are the Jazz doing today that is different from the previous decade? How has the Jazz offense changed? We can take a close look at this because of Synergy Sports Tech data. And we should.

Overall:

I have data from the 2004-2005 season (somehow only 73 of 82 games), but all the data from every season since then. I did strip mine all of this info from their database before the Spurs game, so this is for 40 games. The one thing you see is that while the team has changed over time, the constant is that the team has been effective on offense.

2014 2015 40 Games Synergy Utah Jazz Offense - OVERALL

The last few seasons under Tyrone Corbin were not that great, but anything is a far cry from Jerry Sloan running a team on offense that boasts Deron Williams, Kyle Korver, Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer, and Mehmet Okur. Snyder has the team running with a higher PPS (points per shot) and PPP (points per possession) value this season (2014-15) than the previous three seasons. So there is immediate improvement in the overall performance. But the team is still an average offensive team. What has changed with the plays run?

1. Following NBA Trends:

Quin's playbook runs in the same direction as the rest of the NBA. Players (all players, from point guards to bigmen) are better shooters today. His playbook allows for more players to get open via spot up attempts. Also, more different types of players are spotting up. This also goes with the shift in offense from a point guard dominated club to one run from the wings.

Too bad the Jazz can't shoot!


2014 2015 40 Games Synergy Utah Jazz Offense - SPOT UP

Spot Up performance is very important. Sadly, the Jazz of today are below average in completing this necessary part of the game plan. Spot ups are almost 1/4th of what the Jazz do on offense. So the sooner this gets fixed the better.

Furthermore, transition attempts seem to be swinging back towards higher pace across the league. We're out of the dirty 90s of Ugly Ball where the Cavs would try to win games 86-83, and teams like the Pistons and Knicks would foul you three times every play.

2014 2015 40 Games Synergy Utah Jazz Offense - TRANSITION

Sadly, transition play is not happening with Utah as much as it should. By performance no team is better than the Jazz at scoring in transition. There are great athletes on the team now, a number of solid finishers at the rim, and a handful of players who can trail for an open three. The team just isn't getting in transition enough because their defense does not yet cause turn overs or, well, stop the other team. One foot before the other, though, Jazz. Once the D gets better the transition game will explode. (And for the record, every single player on the Jazz who qualifies is average or better in transition aside from Trey Burke. Three of our players are excellent, and four are very good.)

Another check against Trey.


I feel like these two parts of the offense are organic. The playbook tries to get guys open for spot up shots, which is what most teams run by former Spurs assistants run. Running the break makes a lot of sense too. It's how the game is played again. The Miami Heat used to destroy teams with great defense leading to easy buckets.

2. Reduction of Flex Elements:

The offense the Jazz ran for years was a strange remix of an offense Dick Motta popularized years ago, that was heavily put into rotation by Frank Layden and Phil Johnson -- and then remixed again by Jerry Sloan.

I thought Jerry brought in Phil? Jerry brought the offense to Frank I guess but in the '88 playoffs they were at their best running instead of settling into the flex.


A team without super stars could compete with it by passing the ball, setting screens, moving, and getting layups. That was the point of the game, get close shots. Quin's playbook is about getting open shots. The movement is by passing, yes, but more on progressive dribble penetration. In the Flex you moved your players around and got a shot. Snyder is trying to move the defense around, and get an open shot.

Flex was about open shots too just not 3's. Quin is the modern version of the same thing. Spurs adapted what the Jazz were doing.


To parts of the flex offense are cuts and off-screen motion.

2014 2015 40 Games Synergy Utah Jazz Offense - CUT

The Cut has made a small come-back, and the Jazz are very good at it this season. However, it has been De-emphasized for a while now in Utah.

2014 2015 40 Games Synergy Utah Jazz Offense - OFF SCREEN

There are almost no plays on offense that finish off-screen. In fact, the progressive ball movement offense uses players getting the ball off-screens on almost every play, but then they become parts of other offensive elements.

No more Matt Harpring - curl. No more Ronnie Brewer cut. And as a result, this is a brand new offense -- though, please, bring back the cut. The team is really good at scoring off of them. (9th best in the NBA) The Off-screen as a terminal part of an offense play can keep moving, the Jazz are 29th at it.

I've seen the curl.

[Xiao Yao You]

3. One on one Play is reduced:

Do you remember the Alfense? Do you remember #MOLO ? Of course you do. Those were never efficient offenses. You need star ability to get it done, and while Gordon Hayward is becoming one, he does not rely on it. It's not a one trick pony.

But he's not very good at it so they do it way too much.


The Jazz never moved Al Jefferson around without the ball (he would have been great in the P&R or off of cuts if he could move). While the Jazz had a recognizable offense with the one on one play or post ups, it was predictable, and easy to stop when the games matter -- and they mattered in the playoffs. I am glad Snyder has thrown these out, like the money-lenders, from the Jazz playbook.

2014 2015 40 Games Synergy Utah Jazz Offense - POST UP

It was okay with a Karl Malone. It's much less effective when you're using anyone else. The team isn't good at it right now, the players can't do it by themselves with their back to the basket -- and it's simpler and easier to score moving to the basket. Which is what Corbin never did with Jefferson. (Oh, by the way -- the one year in Minny when BIg Al was amazing . . . he did.)
pre knee surgery Al sure


The one on one play through face up isolations are something I wasn't crazy for; but Synergy tells me that Gordon Hayward is excellent at it, and Alec Burks is average. And the Jazz, as a team, are average at it.

2014 2015 40 Games Synergy Utah Jazz Offense - ISOLATION

It's happening more, but mostly by Hayward; and this is a natural progression of his own offense suit of abilities. But overall, less one on one play means the defense can't easily focus on one player. And thus, an engaged team is a harder team to stop.

4. A return of the Pick and Roll

Remember that we have the All-Time leader in assists, and the #2 All-Time leader in points? And John Stockton and Karl Malone used to use this thing called the pick and roll. Deron Williams used it well with Carlos Boozer, but today with so many ball handlers and a variety of men to set screens there are so many variations of what the team can do with this most simple of fundamental plays.

And you know what? The Jazz are doing it again.

Not enough or not well enough anyway.


2014 2015 40 Games Synergy Utah Jazz Offense - PNR BALL

2014 2015 40 Games Synergy Utah Jazz Offense - PNR SCREEN

The P&R Ball handler + P&R Screen, as a cumulative proportion of the plays the Jazz run this season is at an 11 season (well, 10.5 season) high this year at 24.1%. Thank you. This is how you get good off-ball action for spot up shooters and a great way to use the fact that this team actually DOES have very good athletes now.

Early this season Alec Burks was getting Enes Kanter lots of open baseline jumpers. Trey Burke continues to find Derrick Favors where he can score from. Gordon Hayward knows when to call his own number or squeeze a good pass in. And, well, Rudy Gobert is such a great roll target that you just need to throw it up in his vicinity sometimes. Making Dante Exum play pick and roll from day one will help him in so many ways. And I'd rather this than iso / #MOLO / Alefense any day.

5. Woah, what is this thing?

Dribble what now? Dribble hand off.

2014 2015 40 Games Synergy Utah Jazz Offense - HAND OFF

This looks specifically like the type of play that would get Jerry Sloan to fire Gordan Giricek out of a cannon into the Atlantic Ocean. But Snyder understands the game in a little different way than Jer did. No Jazz team in the history of this decade plus data set shows the Jazz using this at all. This team is running these at a 3x rate than the 11 season average. It's not paying off yet, but used as a 'set up' move that you have to run enough to make the defense commit to the receiver on the dribble hand off frees EVERY ELSE up. If you never punt a fake punt play isn't going to work. If you don't try to score off of a dribble hand off, setting up a complex play that is a double dribble hand off weave to a guy coming off of an off-ball screen, who then gets into a pick and roll with a big, only to pass to a cutter, who then passes it to a guy who is spotting up will never work.

And really, that's where this offense is heading. The Dick Motta offense worked for centuries because it made sense and got the job done. Like the catapult. Snyder's offense is like an orbital weapons platform that can destroy things from space. And while the offense doesn't look great every day, it's getting there.

Need better players before you can say. Better have the players next year is all I can say.


Handy Table that illustrates the change:

2014 2015 40 Games Synergy Utah Jazz Offense - Change in Play

Other junk:

I didn't talk about the Jazz dominance on offensive rebound plays / put backs. There's no need. The team is great, and always has been great at it since getting a Paul Millsap / Enes Kanter on the team. I also didn't talk about Misc plays, broken plays, where the Jazz score anyway.

They don't matter. What matters are the big pieces of the puzzle. The large building blocks for this offense either run with the rest of the league, remove parts that were bad from our previous offenses, or bring back the bread and butter that countless playoff games have been won with.

You need to build a team and system around Rudy. Anything else is just stupid.

[Xiao Yao You]

David Locke: Derrick Favors will not play tonight for the Utah Jazz. He will not be with the team for personal reasons #UTAatMIL Twitter @Lockedonsports

Explains his shitty game last nite?

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the Jazz were outscored 54-40 in the paint with Cleveland forward Kevin Love registering 19 points and 13 rebounds.

Favors scored only 12 points, which is well below his season average of 16 points a game, but it was his lone rebound that was the largest outlier. On the season, Favors is grabbing 8.8 rebounds a game.

But Enes needs to be benched?


Trey Burke struggles

Burke scored only two points on the night, making just 1 of 10 shots from the field. Compare that to his Cleveland counterpart Kyrie Irving, who scored 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting. This is the second consecutive game scoring in single digits for Burke, who scored only eight points against the Spurs in a Jazz loss Sunday. Burke and Jazz small forward Joe Ingles combined for five points.
nothing new here

[QUOTE]10-day contractors shine

Elijah Millsap scored 12 points, while Elliot Williams finished with 10 points. Williams was 3-for-3 from behind the 3-point arc, and Millsap played more minutes (21) than starter Burke (19). Millsap

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The combination of Derrick Favors, Rudy Gobert and Enes Kanter gets rolling, and Booker's minutes get squeezed. He's the odd man out.

Needs to be traded unless they know what they're doing with Enes/Favors going forward. Probably get a 1st for him with his extended range.

[QUOTE]This is where Booker's maturity comes to play, his professionalism. He knows that he's the guy in the frontcourt rotation with the role most likely to fluctuate. But Booker came to the Utah Jazz with his eyes open.

And even when he doesn't see as much time as he likes, he's better equipped to handle it emotionally.

"It's definitely important to be a team guy," Booker said. "You can't come in with a bad attitude. People take notice of that, and that's a good way to get kicked out of the league really quick. I just know I have to keep working, keep working on my perimeter jumper and keep bringing leadership."

Booker has played in three of the four games since Kanter returned from an ankle injury. Just once

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it's tough to think the Jazz have not taken at least a small step backwards in the past four days.

What's changed is Rudy not playing much again. Tonight expect a much better performance with Rudy getting big minutes.


This was the second consecutive night the game was basically over after three quarters. This was the second consecutive night in which Snyder has played the end of his bench significant time in the last five minutes.

That speaks to a team that has not been competitive over the past two games, and even against great competition, that's a concern.

"We know that we have to stay confident in ourselves," Jazz forward Gordon Hayward said. "We have to find easier looks offensively, and we have to play better defensively as well."

On Wednesday night at Quicken Loans Arena, James had his way, scoring 26 points, handing out nine assists and grabbing seven rebounds. He ran Cleveland's offense with aplomb, consistently finding open men, or getting to the basket for scores or trips to the free-throw line.

The Cavaliers shot 51 percent from the field and generated 25 foul shots. As a result, they took the game over by the end of the first quarter. There were four lead changes, but the Jazz' biggest advantage was only a bucket. Utah trailed by as many as 28 points as the deficit ballooned after halftime. By the fourth quarter, the outcome was never in doubt.

"We have to get back to doing what we're doing," Jazz forward Derrick Favors said. "We have to get back to sharing the ball and playing good defense."
That might mean you not playing like tonight! :cheers:


So what went wrong for Utah? There's plenty to talk about. Point guard Trey Burke shot 1-10 and scored two points in 19 minutes. Favors and Hayward combined for 26 points, when the team needs them to combine for over 40 points on a given night to be successful.

The Jazz' second unit didn't score for the first five minutes of the second period, and Rudy Gobert looked mortal, scoring six points and grabbing seven rebounds in 20 minutes. With one blocked shot, it's the first time this month he has not swatted at least three in a game.

His numbers look typical to me. Just not enough minutes.


Mainly, the Jazz didn't play with energy, and didn't defend nearly as well as they did against the Spurs on Sunday. At least defense kept Utah within contact for the first half of that contest.

"We aren't a great offensive team," Snyder said. "But tonight we didn't play with enough toughness and focus on the defensive end. We have to generate offense from defense and we have to make a couple of shots."

It is good news that Enes Kanter played very well Wednesday, scoring a team-high 24 points and grabbing a game-high 17 rebounds. From the beginning he was aggressive offensively, scoring on jumpers, or strong drives towards the basket. He went 9-20 from the field and looked like the player he was in spurts before his sprained ankle.

But that wasn't nearly enough for the Jazz on Wednesday night. Utah falls to 14-28 with the defeat, and will face Milwaukee on Thursday evening.

tjones@sltrib.com

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It cost Larry H. Miller about $22 million to buy the Utah Jazz in the mid-1980s

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Coach Quin Snyder said having two players on 10-day contracts is a challenge in and of itself. But he

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[QUOTE]we

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Kanter said his ankle is much better, although he

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It certainly did not help that Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Burke had quiet evenings.

Their big 3? :facepalm

[QUOTE]The Jazz need to circle the wagons and work really hard to run when they can, hopefully getting some early offensive opportunities in doing so.

Grading the performance: The Jazz came out flat and looked a bit overwhelmed in the first half. The injuries are starting to take their toll on Utah

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[QUOTE]Millsap is averaging 5.0 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 1.0 APG, 1.0 SPG and 0.7 BPG in 21.1 MPG. He has been crashing the boards, has showed some deft passing and is active defensively. His shooting has been rough, though. Millsap has hit just 12 of 40 shots (30.0 percent). While he

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[QUOTE]In last week

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[QUOTE]3. Elliot Williams solidifies his spot with the Jazz?

With only five days remaining until the end of his final 10-day contract, Elliot Williams only has a limited number of chances to showcase himself before Utah decides whether or not to keep him for the rest of the season. And in Wednesday

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[QUOTE]Tonight Cleveland didn

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the Jazz are a team mixing and matching seemingly by the game. They are one of the more injured teams in the league, one dealing with different maladies with frequency.

Hard to feel sorry for them at all when they went into the season with the roster they had. The roster overall is better with Ingles, Millsap and Williams though Burks can't be replaced obviously.


"It does become a bit more difficult as the season wears on because you don't have continuity," Utah forward Gordon Hayward said. "When that stuff happens, it's challenging, but the one thing that it does is give everyone the chance to step up."

The injuries have been both chronic and well-chronicled. Alec Burks is gone for the season with a shoulder injury. Rookie swingman Rodney Hood is out for a month with a bum foot. Reserve guard Patrick Christopher, dreshly signed out of the D-League, dislocated his knee and tore a ligament in his first career start. Enes Kanter was out a week with an ankle injury. And, on Thursday night, Derrick Favors missed the 101-99 win over the Milwaukee Bucks with a family emergency. On varying evenings, the Jazz have played as few as eight guys in the rotation.

In their place are two NBA developmental 10-day contract signings, Elijah Millsap and Elliot Williams. Joe Ingles has started the last few weeks at shooting guard, and he was without a team coming out of the preseason.

It's made for a challenging first year for Snyder. The Jazz entered the schedule wanting to play their core five together, develop chemistry, see what works and what doesn't, and get ready to make a run at the playoffs next season.
Should have been going for the playoff spot this year. The core 5 had already played together last year.


And while that still can happen, Utah will enter next year with its franchise group having to catch up on lost time, even if only slightly so.

"It gives us the chance to put guys into spots they normally wouldn't be in," Snyder said. "I think we have to see the injuries for what they are. We have to take stock and then make adjustments. We have guys who are filling roles, and you can get growth like that."

Specifically, Snyder is speaking of Rudy Gobert, who has emerged out of nowhere as one of the best defensive big men in the league. Also, on Thursday night, Snyder made a major lineup change, promoting Dante Exum to starting point guard and bringing Trey Burke off the bench.

It's not out of nowhere. He defended and rebounded last year. His offensive game keep him on the floor now.

[QUOTE]Because of the injuries, Snyder said he made the move out of necessity. His second unit was anemic in losses against the San Antonio Spurs and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Having Burke with the reserves against the Bucks proved to be a stabilizer. Burke

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the world team will play against the U.S. team, putting Burke and Gobert potentially on opposing teams.

Hard to imagine Burke being one of the best sophs. :wtf:


"It's a good idea," Gobert said. "Especially this year. The international team has a lot of talent, a lot of guys who can play. So it will be interesting."
It's a good idea if the international players have enough guards to play. Lots of bigs internationally. othe rpositions are a lot thinnner.


Between the rookies and sophomores, the Jazz have four guys who can potentially make the game: Gobert, Burke, Dante Exum and Joe Ingles. All have played significant roles this season.

Gobert I'd think is the only one. Trey shouldn't make it just because he gets minutes.


Gobert and Burke seem to be good bets to make it, as both have put up good numbers. Exum is one of the glamour draft picks of a ballyhooed rookie class, and his ascent into a starting role on Thursday could propel him into the mix over the next few weeks. Ingles seems like the one who could have the most difficult time making the team.

good numbers? :rolleyes:


"I think this is definitely a good idea," Exum said. "It's exciting. The international scene is way bigger than it used to be, and it's a good idea by the NBA to get all of the talent in one game."

Playing well

The past two games have showed a side of Enes Kanter that the Jazz want to see consistently. The fourth-year forward out of Turkey scored 24 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in Wednesday's loss to Cleveland. In Thursday's first half against Milwaukee, Kanter scored 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Kanter finished with 23 points. He scored in the paint at will, was a factor on the backboard on both ends and was a positive force throughout.

"I don't like losing, so whatever I score, it doesn't matter if we don't win," Kanter said on Wednesday night.

Dropping dimes

Ingles was the only starter on either team to not score in the first half on Wednesday, but he did have six assists, two rebounds and two steals, further cementing his growing reputation as a glue guy.

tjones@sltrib.com

twitter: @tjonessltrib

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Dante Exum is not physically ready to be a starter in the NBA. But on this team, he's the best defender at point guard by a significant margin. And if this move does last, you've just seen a changing of the guard much earlier than expected.

When the Jazz drafted Exum with the No. 5 pick in June, fans wondered when the day would come. But it was likely that day wouldn't come for at least a year, maybe two and possibly even three.

But one thing with injuries: It makes coaches do a lot of tinkering, a lot of adjusting. And with Alec Burks down for the season and Rodney Hood down for at least a month, this Jazz team desperately needs scoring off the bench. Simply put, Trey Burke is the best candidate at this time to fill that role.

"It's something we've been looking at, generally speaking," Snyder said. "We've had trouble scoring with our second unit, and I think Trey can give us a little more pop in that respect."

So how will it all work out? For Thursday night at least, that will be answered soon enough.

Tony Jones

They could both start eventually with Dante's size. Both have to prove they're roation players first though.

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On a normal night, we'd be talking about Gordon Hayward scoring 13 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter.

You mean Maxi G finally waking up before it was too late.


Or Enes Kanter scoring 23 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, and becoming the first Jazz player since Al Jefferson to score 20 and grab at least 15 rebounds in consecutive games. Or Utah's resiliency in the second half, things like that.

Favors has not done that? :confusedshrug:

[QUOTE]But on Thursday night, everyone's talking about the teenage lottery pick starting at point guard.

Dante Exum received the nod at point guard from coach Quin Snyder, significant because the man he replaced

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Rudy Gobert, who had still another solid game with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

He led the way yet again from what I saw. Did you even watch the game?

[QUOTE]It didn

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Jazz swingman Gordon Hayward was simply the best player on the court.

Besides Rudy anyway.

[QUOTE]He was aggressive getting to the basket, either for his own score or to set up his teammates. His energy was contagious, as his teammates seemed to pick up their games on both ends. While it got a bit tense in the end, Hayward

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[QUOTE]Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder has been questioned about his starting lineup, whether Enes Kanter or Rudy Gobert should start at one of the inside positions.

At least for tonight, Snyder won

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Various media reports this week reiterated a report from November that the Jazz will bring back the Rocky Mountain Revue this July with a half dozen or so teams. The Jazz hosted the Revue from 1984-2008.

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The Jazz have beat the Milwaukee Bucks, the Detroit Pistons and the Charlotte Hornets all on their floors. Those teams are going to be the 6, 7 and 8 seeds in the East this year. The Jazz would be an Eastern Conference playoff team. I have no doubt. Think about how different everything would feel if we could play in the East and have the confidence of winning half your games and making the playoffs.

They'd be fighting for the last spot in the west if the front office wasn't tanking I have no doubt.

[QUOTE]Good win tonight by the Jazz. Solid fourth quarter performance taking care of the ball. Turnovers were the story of the night. The Bucks are long, active and physical. They are committed on the defensive end. They are long and able to switch all over the floor. This caused the Jazz major issues. The Jazz, who are having an issue taking care of the ball right now, turned it over 22 times leading to 32 Bucks points. But in the fourth quarter, the Jazz only turned it over three times and when the Bucks don

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Burke contributed from the bench about what he was as a starter: 10 points on 11 shots, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 turnovers. Nothing to write home about, but also a much more respectable line for a bench player getting 24 minutes rather than a starter getting 30+. Frankly, the 11 shots were possibly the key stat for a player with a painful .459 TS% on the season.

Yep nice game off the bench. They need a starter. Maybe Neto.

[QUOTE]As for Exum, as has become the norm, it

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The Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls are among four NBA teams that have shown an interest in swingman D.J. Kennedy, a leading candidate for the Most Valuable Player in the top German league, sources told RealGM. RealGM

The Utah Jazz and Detroit Pistons have also reached out to Kennedy, a source said. With a deal for the remainder of the German season, Kennedy is a potential option for the summer and next season. RealGM

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[QUOTE]Elijah Millsap has reached an agreement to sign a three-year contract with the Utah Jazz, his agent Daniel Hazan told RealGM. RealGM

Millsap

[El Kabong]

no surprise. Bring back Paul! :cheers:
Nice to see Elijah finally get a shot. Hopefully he turns out to be a useful player. Wouldn't mind them giving the same sort of deal to Ingles either, i'm sure the Clippers could probably use him more than a few guys they've got on their team, especially if he can start hitting his shots.

I'm fully aboard the Gobert train right now. If him and Exum pan out + having Hayward as well, that could be a very nice trio in a few years. That's not including what you do with Burkes, Burks, Favors and Kanter as well.

Hopefully they keep Exum as the starter for the foreseeable future. If Burkes can continue to hit a decent amount of shots than he's a nice option to keep the offense ticking over when Hayward is out since they generally have troubles putting the ball in the hoop when he's on. Not the worst thing for him to be the "microwave" guy off the bench, but would still like to see them bring in another legit PG to ease the load on Exum.

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Nice to see Elijah finally get a shot. Hopefully he turns out to be a useful player. Wouldn't mind them giving the same sort of deal to Ingles either, i'm sure the Clippers could probably use him more than a few guys they've got on their team, especially if he can start hitting his shots.

Ingles has to show he can hit some shots to remain a rotation guy. The scouting report says to leave him open right now.


I'm fully aboard the Gobert train right now.

What took so long? :D


If him and Exum pan out + having Hayward as well, that could be a very nice trio in a few years. That's not including what you do with Burkes, Burks, Favors and Kanter as well.

You forgot Hood, Neto and their upcoming lottery pick. :cheers:


Hopefully they keep Exum as the starter for the foreseeable future. If Burkes can continue to hit a decent amount of shots than he's a nice option to keep the offense ticking over when Hayward is out since they generally have troubles putting the ball in the hoop when he's on. Not the worst thing for him to be the "microwave" guy off the bench, but would still like to see them bring in another legit PG to ease the load on Exum.

The line-up makes sense at the moment. Exum is obviously a role player right now and fits better around good players. Jazz bench sucked too much for him to be on it. Burke can lead the bench. A veteran pg or combo guard would still be nice even with Neto's arrival next year(hopefully).

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Turnovers have been a major issue for the Jazz recently. They are 30th in the NBA at taking care of the ball over the last 10 games. Tonight they turned it over 6 times in the 1stquarter, then reduced it down and ran away from the Nets. They ended with 17 which is still high.

Ingles had a career high 16 points the night after he had a career high 7 assists. Not sure why having Dante playing as the starting point guard is helping Joe but it seems to have ignited something in his game and his opportunities to make plays.

Jazz defensive game plan was built to deal with the Johnson/Lopez pick and roll low on the left block and they completely eliminated that. In addition, the Nets never got the Johnson/Jack pick and roll going. Joe Johnson only had 6 points on 3 of 7 shooting and Lopez was 2 of 9. Those are the Nets two threats.

I thought Enes Kanter moved the ball better tonight than I ever seen from him. They were creative passes makingplays but they were passes in the offense that kept the tempo and the flow. This has not always been a strength.

When the Jazz used both sides of the floor they got good looks and the offense was very effective.

Posted in Emptying the Noggin

Yes some nice passes from Enes. Only 22! :bowdown:

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with Derrick Favors out for personal reasons, the starting lineup was down one of their leading scorers. Moving a scorer in Trey to the bench limited the offense to just Gordon Hayward and Enes Kanter. For as dominant as Rudy Gobert has been, the team has still struggled on offense when he's been on the court.

I don't see that. Gobert is a nice offensive player. He does a lot of good things and is starting to get his hook shot going. Watch out! Ingles and Exum also do a lot of good things other than shoot. Burke shoots a lot doesn't make him a better offensive player.


So what does this mean for Trey Burke? Is this a permanent move? On one side, I don't think Quin Snyder makes this change if Burke had been playing better. He has been playing much better lately and is almost back up to his rookie numbers after a terrible start. If Exum continues to play well in the starter's role, I think he keeps the spot. We'll still see a lot of Burke and Exum in the back court going forward. It's a bit of a risk to the team and Trey's psyche to make a switch like this.

Trey should have never been starting the past two years. That's a big part of the problem. He should have earned it not been given it. If his psyche can't handle it than he probably belongs in China throwing up shots.


Of course I'm likely completely wrong and Snyder goes back to Burke in a couple of games after testing and teaching. Tell me that you can predict what the coach is going to do. You can't.

He's going to continue to underutilize Gobert that much is obvious.


An interesting comparison for Burke is Brandon Knight coincidentally. He had similar numbers to Burke in his first two years before turning it on last season and being even better this season. I don't think there's any reason to give up on Burke. There's still a decision to be made going forward, but I could see the Utah Jazz keeping both and having an good point guard coming off the bench.

Obviously there is not reason to give up on him at his age. With Exum's size there's no reason they can't play Burke, Neto and Exum all plenty of minutes going forward. Right now the Jazz have one definite keeper on the team as far as I'm concerned. The rest all have plenty to prove to earn a role on Rudy's team.


2 small

A big call late last against the Jazz could have cost them the game and should be something that gets added to the calls that get reviewed late in games.

I'm talking about the ball going out of bounds off Rudy Gobert of course. It was clearly off him when watching the replay. The problem of course is that the only reason they reviewed the play is that Gobert lost the ball due to getting fouled by two Bucks. One hit his left, rebounding arm once he had the ball and the other grabbed his right arm, preventing him from going after the ball.

While reviewing out-of-bounds calls, refs can already review "any unsportsmanlike acts or [if] unnecessary contact occurred."

In some cases fouls can be reviewed, but the foul has to be called first. The current rules don't allow for a foul to be called after the fact. And perhaps that opens a Pandora's box it fouls are allowed to be called on reviews. But in this case, a foul affected an out-of-bounds call, perhaps that should be looked at.

8 small

The All-star voting results are in and the top vote getter for the Jazz was *scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, scrolling*...

Well, we don't know because nobody placed high enough in the total vote count to register. These are your starters:

2015 all stars

I've come to take the All-star game for what it is: A voting popularity contest which the fans get mostly right. Only a couple of things bug me about the All-star selection process. One, I think there should be a minimum set of requirements for being selected like games played/available and/or stat thresholds. The NBA won't make any changes though because it doesn't matter to them who gets in, so long as the fans follow up the voting by watching and following the league.

Of course the biggest name that shouldn't be on the All-star roster, let alone starting, is Kobe Bryant. Not only has he had a terrible season, the Lakers are terrible. He's injured now, so he won't play, and someone will take his place.

The second thing I don't like about the AS selection process is that why the game itself means jack, the selection does. When contract negotiations are held and HOF decisions are made, or when talking about who's a better player, All-star appearances are a part of that. So either we should treat it like the exhibition that it is, or tweak the selection process.

Fans should pick the starters after the coaches/players/front office picks the players. Today they could do that with twitter and what not. Rudy will get voting love in the future I'm sure.


The coaches will pick the reserves and while guys like Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors have a case

No they won't! :rolleyes:


, it's so loaded in the West, they won't get in this season. It will take several All-star type seasons, more wins, and some retirements to make the squad in the West.

We should see Rudy Gobert though in New York this season for the Rising Stars Challenge. We could also see Exum and Burke. So the Jazz won't be entirely shut out.

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Why ya gotta be so Rudy Gobert? Don't you the Bucks are human too?

If Rudy has a bigger name, this lands him in the NBA's top five of last night or on SportsCenter. He also gets the and-1 when Giannis Antetokounmpo fouls him.

My favorite part of the whole thing though might be Enes Kanter 's reaction.

Kanter huh

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Friday open poll...

Who makes the All-star team first for the Jazz? Hayward? Favors? Kanter? Some future draft pick? Never?

Rudy will be an all-star and maybe DPOTY next season. Lead the lead in blocks and possibly rebounds as well. If he doesn't it's time to get a new front office and coach. Maxi G's got a chance. Not sure he's going to put up big numbers on a good team though. Be tough to get two front court guys.

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[QUOTE]Joe Ingles, the team

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[QUOTE]Jingles posted 16 points for a new career high, but it was his continued aggression that really raised eyebrows. After developing an early impression as a teammate who was perhaps unselfish to the point of detriment to his team, refusing to take all but the most open shots and actively slowing the offense, Ingles has come out of his shell in a recent stretch of strong play. He

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[QUOTE]Millsap has been a big part of the Jazz

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[QUOTE]

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[QUOTE] they also have some up-and-comers, which is better than once-upon-a-timers like Richard Jefferson and Marvin Williams, both of whom were on last year

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It seemed like the Nets were going to be the long-term winner of the trade.

But sports has a funny way of surprising.

They were the short time winner. Jazz made the deal for the long term.

[QUOTE]Williams had a strong first few seasons with the Nets, but his stats have dropped significantly since 2011-12, going from averaging 21 points per game to 13.9 points per game

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[QUOTE]Hood was already out of a boot, but said he

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The Jazz have won the trade. Anyone would make that call at this point. But here's the problem: It will remain a hollow victory until the Jazz win a playoff game without D-Will. Not a playoff series, just a game.

Pretty much. Stars win. Until Gobert's emergence they haven't had that.


Even without assuming they could have re-signed Williams, as the Nets did, I'll keep saying the Jazz have to do something in the playoffs to fully capitalize on the trade. They're a long way from that level, even if a night like this offers evidence that the Jazz (16-28) are making progress. Gordon Hayward's 24 points, Joe Ingles' 16 and a combined 35 from Dante Exum and Burke served as signs of hope. That's not even factoring in Rudy Gobert's development.

Favors, who immediately came to Utah in the trade, and Kanter, drafted the following summer with the Nets' first-round pick, were only ordinary Saturday. Burke, whose arrival came via a trade-up package that included another Nets pick, was brilliant in his new reserve role.

The Jazz also landed Devin Harris in the deal. They later traded him for Marvin Williams, who departed via free agency. Even so, the Jazz got a lot in return for Deron Williams. The reality is they've lost a lot of games since he left. That trend will change, eventually, but the Jazz are 128-171 (.428) since the trade. They were 206-122 (.628) in Williams' last four full seasons in town.

A long ways to go to be a .600 team.


The moment when the Nets determined Favors would never fulfill his promise as a No. 3 draft pick came in the middle of his rookie season. His failure to grab even one of his team's 45 rebounds in a 17-minute appearance in the Rising Stars Challenge during the NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles and his excuses afterward convinced team officials that he would never have the drive to maximize his ability.

Not sure about that. They wanted Deron at any cost. Who knows what else the Jazz could have gotten.


If that sounds like an apocryphal story, it is just as plausible as the Jazz's deciding they could do without second-player Dell Curry, after he gave up a game-winning shot to retired NBA player Jeff Judkins in a Pro-Am Summer League game at Westminster College in 1987. The team traded Curry to Cleveland, and he went on to play another 15 seasons in the league.

The fact that he was already better than Hansen made that a complete joke. I did love Turpin the year they had him before blaming him for their playoff loss in his 2 minutes a half.


Favors may not last that long, but he's improving in his fifth season at age 23. Jazz coach Quin Snyder dodged any evaluation of the trade. "I will say this: I love Derrick Favors," he said before the game. "I want to see him continue to grow as a player. I feel like he's done that since the beginning of the season."

In New Jersey and Brooklyn, the reviews of Williams' play have been mixed, at best. His five-year contract for nearly $100 million has created huge expectations, and Williams has not lived up to them.

Favors, Kanter and (half of) Burke are increasing in value. Someday, they just might take the Jazz where D-Will once took them.

kkragthorpe@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tribkurt

They may ride Rudy coattails there anyhow.

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Trey Burke showed how much a change of role could help him individually, scoring 19 points in 25 minutes, and leading the second unit.

Not as many will focus on that.

They should. It could be Burke's permanent role moving forward.


Still, Burke coming off the bench as a sixth man is looking like a good move for all, if returns from the last two games are to be believed. The second-year guard out of Michigan became an alpha scorer off the bench. And for one of the few times this season, the Jazz didn't struggle to find offense when Gordon Hayward left the floor.

"Coach told me to be more aggressive with the second unit," Burke said. "This role is new to me, so I'm trying to get used to it, but I know that I have to be ready to play basketball regardless. This is a different view, but I was just trying to get into the paint, find my teammates and finish plays."

How good was Burke in that second quarter? He scored 15 points on a variety of jumpers from the perimeter, floaters in the lane and forays into the paint for baskets. He carried the second unit offensively, and by the time the starters returned, the Jazz had a comfortable lead.

Gobert led them in my mind.

[QUOTE]Burke shot 7-13 from the field and made four shots from beyond the 3-point line. He also played well defensively when on the floor, something that drew praise from Snyder. As a result, you have a switch at the point that's worked for two games. Yes, Exum has played quite well since his promotion. But for this to thrive, Burke has to accept

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"Those are two of our more athletic and physical wing players," Snyder said. "Elijah and [D-League call-up Elliot Williams] have both provided some of that quickness and physicality, and I think our team needs that."

Also some veteran experience which is much needed. I'm guessing Williams is gone.

[QUOTE]Millsap averaged 5.8 points and 2.2 rebounds per game over his first nine games with the Jazz.

Hot hand

Even if the Golden State Warriors weren't coming to town later this week, the Utah Jazz would have taken notice of Klay Thompson's game against the Sacramento Kings.

Thompson scored 52 points. More impressively, the Warriors guard went 13 for 13, including 9 of 9 from 3-point territory, during a record-setting 37-point third quarter.

"Unbelievable," Jazz forward Gordon Hayward said. "It's almost something you don't think is possible."

"It's just a spectacular performance," Snyder said. "He's as diverse and as gifted a scorer as there is in the league."

And the Jazz will have to try to slow him on Friday night.

"It's amazing," rookie Dante Exum said. "I watched the highlights, and there's nothing you can do about it. We play them this week, and I'm sure we're going to make sure we get a hand up and do what we can to stop that from happening [again]."

Homecoming

Deron Williams was back at EnergySolutions Arena on Saturday night with the Brooklyn Nets, but a fractured rib kept the former Jazz point guard from playing.

Williams has played in 32 games this season for the Nets, averaging 13.9 points and 6.3 assists per game.

Asked by a Tribune reporter if he would grant an interview

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the Jazz notched their 16th victory on the year, a number that would have them hanging around the playoff picture in the East but instead has them lottery bound and focused out West.

They'd be in the hunt in the west if they weren't tanking.

[QUOTE]But as Utah plays out this second half of the season with an eye on the future, it seems other things have started to fall into place.

"I think from the start of the year, we've known what we've wanted to do and we've gotten better and better as the year's gone on," said Ingles. "

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One of the issues at the heart of Jazz coach Quin Snyder's surprise change to his starting lineup Thursday night in Milwaukee, interesting Exum for usual starter Trey Burke, is the coach's desire to pick up the pace. Right now, the Jazz are the third slowest team in the NBA, averaging 92.86 possessions per 48 minutes. Only the Heat and Knicks are slower.

That's aa Trey!

[QUOTE]Ultimately, it doesn't matter as much to Snyder if the Jazz take more shots early in the clock as it does his players push the ball for the chance to get early shots, even if things eventually settle down into a half-court set.

"I still want the ball to come up the court quickly, and if we get something then good," Snyder said recently. "The whole point of pace is if you shoot quickly the assumption is it's a good shot.

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[QUOTE]Jody Genessy: Hayward on being underrated: "I see myself as one of the elite players in the league. Whether you

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Adrian Wojnarowski: After Elliot Williams' second 10-day contract expires tonight, Jazz will not re-sign him for rest of the season, league sources tell Yahoo. Twitter @WojYahooNBA

Not surprising. Have to keep some flexibility ideally. Get a pg so you can send Exum to Idaho where he belongs.

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Down 24 at halftime and the game is virtually over. Very little chance you are coming back to win.

Especially with your best player on the bench half of the game. Obviously winning isn't something they are trying to do.

[QUOTE] It is nice the Jazz had some fight and brought the game back and gave us some entertainment but the reality of the final outcome is they got beat in the 1sthalf that is it.

Jazz rallied to within 4 but never got to the top of the mountain. The Celtics made a quick surge to get it back to 11 and that was it. Tayshaun Prince and Tyler Zeller were terrific for the Celtics. Zeller is a nice NBA player. They got him for free in a salary dump by Cleveland. He is a solid rotation player.

Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart are probably the toughest most physical defensive combo in the NBA and they dominated the Jazz guard. Dante Exum was physically overwhelmed tonight and finished with 0 field goals. Trey Burke who made some shots in the 2ndhalf after a poor first half had 0 assists.

Trey Burke

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[QUOTE] In the 2nd quarter, on offense:

Trey Burke went 0-5. 1 of these was a long-range huck at the buzzer, so let

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[QUOTE] process and experience is the name of the game for Dante Exum right now, and he got a stern reminder of that tonight in Utah

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[QUOTE]Favors maintains what

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[QUOTE]Stevens, who recruited Hayward out of Brownsburg High School, said his collegiate pupil has become a respected player in the league.

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Burke put up points in bunches for the second consecutive game after scoring 19 against the Nets on Saturday. He played the fourth-quarter, crunch-time minutes Monday.

"I see him as a sixth starter," Snyder said before the game.

if only you had 5 starters. You got 3 or 4 anyway. Too bad 3 of them are bigs.

[QUOTE]"That group has struggled to score and I think he gives us that. I'm going to keep on him about defending the position and continuing to improve in that area, too. ... There's probably more opportunities that come to him because there's a little more need to create."

TIP-INS

Jazz: Forward Jeremy Evans did not play due to an illness. ... The Jazz outscored the Celtics 44-36 in the paint. ... The biggest Jazz lead was two points, three times in the first quarter.

Celtics: The Celtics have won two of three, including a narrow three-point loss to Golden State last week. ... All 10 players who saw the floor scored. ... The Celtics are now 4-4 on the second night of back-to-back games.

UP NEXT

Jazz: Host the Clippers on Wednesday.

Celtics: Visit the Timberwolves on Wednesday.

Copyright

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"They're both young guys," Snyder said. "Probably the biggest difference is Dante was either playing in Australia, in essentially an Australian high school league, or was out for an entire year. Marcus played against tougher competition. You can see that in his competitiveness and his ability to play the game at a pretty high level."

Which is it? He was either out for the year or playing high school ball? :confusedshrug:

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There are plenty of teams in the league that show consistency.

At this point, the Jazz aren't one of them.

Your max player is as inconsistent as they get and most of your players aren't in a postion to be consistent. They shouldn't be starting or shouldn't be in the roation or shouldn't be in the league.


Maybe you can chalk up Monday's 99-90 loss to the Boston Celtics as youth, a callow team coming off a big win, digging itself a hole early that it couldn't emerge from. Truthfully, Utah's done this more than a few times over the season, playing well one night and struggling the next.

And that's why the Jazz locker room was so disappointed following the defeat.

"Really, this is just about playing the game the right way," Utah point guard Trey Burke said. "Some night's, shots aren't going to fall and we know that.

You more than anyone should know it. Amazing the quotes that come from this guy! :roll:


But how we maintain and stay in the game tells a lot. And once we start prioritizing defense more, then we can find a way to be more consistent."
:facepalm

[QUOTE]The Jazz fell back into old habits in losing on Monday night at EnergySolutions Arena. They turned the ball over too much. They missed a bunch of wide-open shots. They missed eight free throws, many of them important. Most importantly, the Jazz in the first half wilted under physical pressure.

When Boston pushed underneath, it usually got what it wanted. When the Celtics used their considerable girth inside and strength on the perimeter, they forced Utah out of its offense and scored easy baskets as a result of the giveaways.

"They definitely were real physical with us and we didn't respond," Jazz forward Gordon Hayward said. "We were passive out there at times, and we let them dictate where the ball was going and that's how we got down by so much."

Monday night proved to be a performance Quin Snyder characterized as soft. And it proved to be a performance that highlights Utah's need to find the need to find the needed consistency in order to take the step of winning regularly.

Burke scored 18 points, but missed a lot of contested shots. Dante Exum didn't play well in his third consecutive start, going scoreless in 25 minutes. Joe Ingles played a terrific floor game

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Enes Kanter, whom Snyder said "played with passion" Monday. But the starting backcourt of Ingles and rookie Dante Exum combined for just two points.
bench him!


The loss killed Utah's shot at its first three-game winning streak since last February with difficult games against the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors next on the schedule.

afalk@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tribjazz

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[QUOTE]As for the guard line Monday night against Boston, there was not a lot to talk about

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[QUOTE]Trey Burke, who scored 18 points while excelling in his new reserve role for the third-straight game.

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Marc Stein: With a fresh roster opening, I'm told that the Utah Jazz are lining up a 10-day callup for swingman Chris Johnson of the @rgvvipers Twitter @ESPNSteinLine

I thought he was a center?

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almost 25. Looks decent from deep. Must play D?

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[QUOTE]The NBA's All-Star rosters will be announced this week and, barring a major surprise, Gordon Hayward won't be included.

The Utah Jazz swingman won't see it as a snub.

In the loaded Western Conference, several deserving players will be left out. And even if Hayward could be included among them, the 24-year-old knows he won't win too many accolades until he and his teammates start winning more games.

"That's a goal of mine, to be an All-Star," Hayward said this week. "I think first and foremost, your team has to start winning. That's the main priority. Usually when your team wins and your team's successful, the individual accolades seem to come after that. That's what I'm focused on."

That's a message his coach appreciates.

"The good thing for Gordon is that the things he needs to continue to do well for his own development as a player are really also the things that we need from him," coach Quin Snyder said. "

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Dante Exum was going to have a bad game as the Jazz's starting point guard. His coach Quin Snyder was already prepared for it. His teammates knew it. Exum himself knew it. He's young, he's learning on the fly and there will be times the rookie will crash and burn.

Most of the time. I don't get it really. He might have been ready to play in the NBA at some point if he'd been in the D-league playing at a level not over his head.

[QUOTE]Like Monday night against Boston. Exum went scoreless in the Jazz's 99-90 home loss to the Boston Celtics. Never has he looked more tired

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[QUOTE]Although Hayward and Favors are both having their best NBA seasons and are playing on an All-Star level, it

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The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has signed forward Chris Johnson of the NBA Development League

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Jessica Camerato: Rising Stars Challenge World Team: Adams, G. Antetokounmpo, Bogdanovic, Dieng, Exum, Gobert, Mirotic, Olynyk, Schroder, Wiggins Twitter @JCameratoNBA

Chris Vivlamore: Hawks assistant Kenny Atkinson will coach World Team at Rising Stars Challenge. #ATLHawks Twitter @CVivlamoreAJC

Jessica Camerato: Rising Stars Challenge US Team: Burke, Caldwell-Pope, Carter-Williams, LaVine, Muhammad, Noel, Oladipo, Payton, Ma. Plumlee, C. Zeller Twitter @JCameratoNBA

Rick Bonnell: Shelby's Alvin Gentry, lead assistant for the Golden State Warriors, will coach the USA team in the rising stars game. Twitter @rick_bonnell - See more at: http://*********.com/rumors.htm#sthash.e3iTIPWj.dpuf

They might want to consider letting other young guys into this not just rookies and sophs. Pretty weak. I'll go with Rudy's team.

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Trey Burke finished 4 of 15 and 1 for 9 in the 4thquarter. In the 4 games off the bench he is shooting 22 of 59 (37%) and 12 of 34 from 3 (35%) almost exactly his season numbers. He has 6 assists in those 4 games, 1 in the last 2.

Better to have those numbers coming off the bench but a bit worrisome that he can't put up better numbers against weaker players and his assists are almost nothing now. Not many people to pass it to I guess. Defense improve at least?


We can over simplify this one a bit that the Clippers made some big shots. Blake hit a tough one over Derrick. Matt Barnes hit a tough 3 and Chris Paul gets to that spot angle right on the floor and it is lights out. That is why they win.

The Clippers are a dominating offensive team. They are #1 in the NBA in offensive efficiency, they are #2 in shooting at 47.5, #3 3 pt field at 38.4%.

Amazing what a great playmaker can do for ya.


Tonight the Jazz held them to 94 points which is great. The Clipper shot 45% and 36%. This is terrific. To hold the best offensive team in the NBA below their league averages is a clear sign the Jazz are moving toward a top 10 defensive team.

or that the Clipps had an off night. They were on the road so maybe not even an off-night.


More impressive is the defensive improvement of this team has not been exclusively Rudy. Tonight he was a non factor. He played 10 minutes and the Clippers were more successful offensively when he was on the floor. For the Jazz to have this type of defensive night with Gobert playing just 10 minutes is a big deal.

It's a big deal because if he plays another 25 minutes it's hard to imagine them losing.


This was an incredibly slow paced game. I have the possession count around 85 for the game.

Which plays into the Jazz game.

[QUOTE]The Jazz got 14 offensive rebounds on 40 chances

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[QUOTE]In his first 114 games since he entered the league after being drafted 9th overall in the 2013 NBA draft, Trey Burke has been, well, underwhelming to say the least. The Jazz point guard is shooting 37.7 percent from the field and 32.6 percent from 3 over his career while regressing in both those categories (37.3, 31.8) in his second season. His performance has validated some concerns I had about him before entering his league; namely an inability to pass up a questionable shot for himself in order to make simple plays for his teammates.

Burke

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[QUOTE]The Jazz have had real trouble with top NBA offenses this year, getting blown out by Dallas, Toronto, and Golden State. So when the Clippers came in for their 4th matchup for the Jazz as the league

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Utah Jazz fans cannot snooze when it comes to the end-of-the-bench roster spots; there seems to be a constant flux.

There should be. The Spurs do it better than anyone. They always have flexibility and look at a lot of guys both in the lague and the D-leage.

[QUOTE] Following Monday

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After missing out on an invite last year, Gobert is being recognized for a standout sophomore campaign in which he's become one of the league's top shot-blockers.

"It's exciting," he said. "It was part of my goals to achieve this season."

The 7-foot-1 Gobert grinned when asked if he thought Burke would test his luck with a shot if he saw Gobert in the paint.

"He knows," the Frenchman said. "He'll probably shoot a floater."

Burke, meanwhile, said he's going to challenge his teammate.

"Definitely," Burke said, shooting Gobert a playful look. "He knows I am."
Rudy should dominate. No way Exum should be there over Ingles.


A new face

The front-office brass continues to mine the D-League in search of immediate help on the wing and the hope of finding a diamond in the rough.

The latest addition to Utah's roster, via the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, is swingman Christapher Johnson, who signed a 10-day contract Wednesday. He averaged 20.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 14 games with the Vipers.

Johnson is a slashing wing who appeared in 40 games with the Celtics last season and said he's anxious to earn his spot back in the NBA.

"You have to take full advantage of the opportunity given to you," he said after his first shootaround in Utah. "You have to work hard and do whatever is asked of you."

Johnson played four years at Dayton and played against Burke growing up in Columbus, Ohio.

"I'm just going to continue to stay in his ear," said Burke, "teach him the plays and fill him in as fast as possible."

afalk@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tribjazz

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Kanter tangled at separate times with Griffin, who had 17 points and one technical foul, and Barnes, who stared down the Jazz big man and had to be restrained.

That's been a good match-up. Griffin can't push Enes around like he can most guys.


The Jazz kept cool heads, but could have used hotter hands, as fourth quarter shooting struggles ultimately doomed them. Utah went 6-for-24 in the final frame and was outscored 26-17.

A Kanter tip-in tied the game at 85 with 4:21 to play in the game. From there, the Clippers outscored the Jazz 9-4 to earn the victory. Utah went 1-for-10 over that stretch and didn't make a shot in the games final two minutes and 15 seconds.

But the struggles won't bother Snyder for long.

"If we keep banging on the door like this, one of these nights we're going to go 15-of-24 and have a breakthrough game like that," he said.

afalk@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tribjazz

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[QUOTE]Gobert is averaging 2.2 blocks per game and sits at 98 for the year.
That puts him at third most in the NBA right now, behind New Orleans

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[QUOTE]Kanter said he

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[QUOTE]In the first start of Synder

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[QUOTE]Griffin and Jordan averaged 35 points and 19 rebounds against Jazz big men Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors, who averaged 27 points and 12 rebounds between them in the three losses.

This time Kanter and Favors had the edge with a combined 39 points and 20 rebounds, compared to Griffin and Jordan

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[QUOTE]Johnson, who played for Dayton, said he intends to make the most of his moment back in the NBA. He was on a Jensen-coached D-League summer league team two years ago.

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Had Alec Burks been healthy, had Rodney Hood not missed significant time to injury, Millsap probably wouldn't be here.

Not sure about that. Regardless they could have used another guy with some experience that plays hard and gets after people on D. Tou're Murry was likely going to be cut regardless.


But Millsap was a rare find for a guy with a 10-day contract: He was ready right away for rotation minutes. And he made the most of them.
Not sure how ready he was. Just a sign of the shitty roster more than anything. I's called tanking!


He's played 12 games with the Jazz, and he scored in 10 of them. He dropped a career-high 12 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers last week, and has proved to be a willing passer and an adequate shooter off the bench.

But it's Millsap's defense that has turned heads. He's already one of the best on the team in that area

Might be the best after Rudy. Ingles has been looking good too.

[QUOTE], and on a young squad that sometimes struggles to contain the ball, Millsap has provided maturity and strength on the perimeter.

"Elijah's journey is one of single-minded persistence," Utah general manager Dennis Lindsey said. "Elijah is a tough and confident competitor, and those two traits have allowed him to grind over a long period of time until the right opportunity came his way."

Millsap is 27, seasoned for a rookie. There was a time when he was close to surrendering the NBA dream, close to playing out the rest of his career overseas and become as financially stable as possible.

He played well last summer for the Philadelphia 76ers and thought this would be his final chance. The NBA doesn't usually pine for first-year players near the threshold of 30. The birth of his son

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Kanter is playing with a "passion" that is forcing his coach to keep him on the floor longer than expected some nights.

His talent should have him out there. He's got a pretty rare skill set.


"We have four bigs, and we like them all," Snyder said after Wednesday's loss to the Clippers. "

Sad to see Jeremy dissed at every turn. I hope he gets traded to someone that might appreciate him. He shoed something last year certainly.

[QUOTE]

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[QUOTE]For Hayward though, the refiner's fire has paid off.

Five years in, he is the unquestioned leader of the Jazz and is putting up all-star quality numbers. The forward has started every game of the season and is averaging 19 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.2 assists a game. He

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[QUOTE]

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3. Future contenders (teams like the Bucks that look to be on a path to contending for a championship 2-4 years from now)

What makes them a championship contender? They are similar to the Jazz right now just in the east. They have some intriguing young players but until they have actually superstars they aren't a championship contender.


4. Rebuilders (teams like the Celtics in the midst of an unfinished rebuilding process)

tankers


5. Sinking ships (teams like the Nets that need to rebuild, but can't even start yet)

The Utah Jazz have been solidly in Group 4 for quite a while. Sure, they were young and rebuilding, but were they actually doing a good job of it? Rebuilding for the sake of rebuilding was not an accomplishment.

Mark it down: The Jazz have leveled up.

There seems to have been a major change recently, led by the emergence of Rudy Gobert, that has pushed the Jazz from Group 4 to Group 3, perhaps a few months ahead of schedule.

No doubt Gobert has changed the Jazz future and fortunes single handedly. They have a guy to build around. Now rather they actually do it remains to be seen. Hard to imagine they won't. They can't blow that can they? :confusedshrug:


The change: The Jazz are taking pride in their defense.

Rudy is anyway.

[QUOTE]The statistics show that the Jazz have improved defensively; but it's more than that. The change in attitude is visible to the eye as well. Watching the team, there's a sense that suddenly these guys are taking pride and pleasure in stopping their opponents from scoring. This is a new and course-altering development.

It starts with Gobert, and again it's about more than statistics. Gobert has given the Jazz blocked shots, but even more than that he's brought an attitude to the court that has elevated the whole team. Remember, Al Jefferson blocked shots for the Jazz too. But when you watch Gobert play, there's an evident "edge" to his game

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Unlike football and baseball, the prospects for a basketball player or a team tend to be evident quickly.

Less so in basketball than foottball. The guys are younger. Hard to say what Exum and Hood are going to be. Just starting to see what Maxi G and Favors are.


After Stockton and Malone arrived, for instance, you knew within a year that the Jazz had something going.

They already had something going when they added them though. Knew by the '88 playoffs they had something special and they wasted almost a decade treading water with them. Hopefully they don't blow it with Rudy.

[QUOTE] As for the current team, with its Salute to Youth movement: As of Jan. 27, the Jazz were 16-29; exactly a year ago on Jan. 27, the Jazz were 16-29.

According to NBA.com, the Jazz are the third youngest team in the league (23.9). The Rockets (25.7), Suns (25.1), Pelicans (24.9) and Bucks (23.7) also have young teams

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[QUOTE]The Timberwolves have been trying to accommodate Budinger, shopping him around the league. But the team has been unable to find any takers as we head into the final weeks before the NBA

[RightTwoCensor]

Is Trey Burke up for sale in exchange you T-Jones and Capela?

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I'd be all over that trade certainly. Jazz might want Canaan instead of Capela though.

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[QUOTE]When asked if he saw Klay Thompson's 37-point quarter, Kanter confessed that he did and said, "Who cares?" "I think we have enough talent to guard (Thompson) and everyone on their team," he said. CSNBayArea.com

"Andrew Bogut: Big guy, knows a littler Turkish, I don't know what to say about him," Kanter said. "He's just, I don't know, a big guy -- nothing special." CSNBayArea.com

Enes Kanter: Yup!! Just like what l said..! What A Win #JazzNation Twitter @Enes_Kanter

The remarks were probably "ill advised," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. Still, the coach appreciated his player's passion. "I like that Enes is being emotional and aggressive and playing that way," the coach said. "I think it was said in that kind of spirit of exuberance. But I think we all know the reality is [Golden State] is a terrific team, and what Klay Thompson did the other night was remarkable, and Andrew Bogut may be the best center in the league

[RightTwoCensor]

I'd be all over that trade certainly. Jazz might want Canaan instead of Capela though.
We'd be all over that like white on rice.

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The Jazz took a 20-10 lead and never relented for 48 minutes. The Jazz never allowed the Warriors to have their usual run. They had a 6-0 surge on two Steph Curry 3-pointers but that was it. The Jazz led wire to wire and it was the first time all year. It was also the first time the Warriors were on the wrong side of a wire-to-wire game.

off night for the Warriors obviously

[QUOTE]One of the huge plays of the night was a Favors mid-range shot with 5:47 left in the third quarter. The Warriors had gone on a 6-0 run to cut the game to 12 and Kanter scored one free throw, the Jazz got a stop, and then Favors hit a jumper that put the Jazz back up 15. The Warriors had hit the Jazz with a solid six-minute surge and the Jazz had stretched the lead from 11 to 15 and you could see it took a little out of the Warriors.

Favors had some big jump shots in the fourth quarter as well.

If you

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[QUOTE]Harrison Barnes: 4 points, 1 rebound, 0 assists, 2-6 shooting.
Draymond Green: 7 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2-6 shooting.
Andrew Bogut: 4 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2-3 shooting.
Andre Iguodala: 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2-7 shooting.
Mo Speights: 5 points, 8 rebounds, 0 assists, 1-7 shooting.
David Lee: 7 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3-6 shooting.

On the season, those 6 players combined average 57.9 points, 37.4 rebounds, and 13.8 assists on 23 for 47 shooting. Tonight, they accumulated 33 points, 24 rebounds, and 11 assists on 12-35 shooting. The Jazz

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"He's always excelled," Cecil said.

Until this year anyway. He's obviously in over his head. I'd guess he'd excell at the D-league level and than be able to bring that back to the NBA. Makes no sense really.

[QUOTE]And as 19-year-old Dante Exum embarked on his latest challenge, his parents' confidence seemed simply to say: Why would that stop now?

Solving the mystery

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[QUOTE]"He

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Asked about Golden State's center, Kanter responded: "Andrew Bogut: big guy, knows a little Turkish. I don't know, what you say about that? He's just down low, big guy. Nothing special."

He does what Rudy does defensively with a lot more offensive game right now.

[QUOTE]The remarks were probably "ill advised," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said.

Still, the coach appreciated his player's passion.

"I like that Enes is being emotional and aggressive and playing that way," the coach said. "I think it was said in that kind of spirit of exuberance. But I think we all know the reality is [Golden State] is a terrific team, and what Klay Thompson did the other night was remarkable, and Andrew Bogut may be the best center in the league

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, the Jazz are giving reason for invested hope for the future.

Rudy is anyway.


A 110-100 win over the Golden State Warriors on Friday night is the latest evidence of growth. Before a raucous crowd of 19,295 at EnergySolutions Arena, Utah beat one of the best teams in the NBA wire-to-wire. They led by as many as 18 points, they never trailed and they played perhaps their best game of the season on both ends.

"We knew coming in that Golden State is a terrific team," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "We just wanted to come in, play hard and execute. We knew how tough it was to play defense against a team like that. We were fortunate, they missed some shots that they normally make. But we played well on both ends, and we played hard defensively. When you do that, good things tend to happen."

Utah is now the hallmark of a young, talented team, one with huge wins over some of the league's best, and mystifying losses against those they should conceivably beat. The proof is in the statistics. The Jazz are 17-30 on the season, with the victory over the Warriors. Of those 17 wins, eight of them are over teams who would be in the playoffs if the season ended today. A ninth is over the Oklahoma City Thunder, certainly one of the most talented groups in the league.

Who were without their two best players at the time. :facepalm


On Friday night, Utah was dominant on both ends, and it started with Gordon Hayward. The star small forward played perhaps his best game of the year, scoring 26 points, grabbing a career-high 15 rebound, handing out six assists and coming up with three steals. He set the tone from the opening tap, pushing the ball, making shots and harassing Warriors star Klay Thompson on the other end.

His performance was quite the turnaround from Wednesday's loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, when a head cold forced him into a subpar game.

"I feel like when I'm active early, I usually have a good night," Hayward said. "Tonight, I got about three or four rebounds very early, so I was able to bring the ball up myself and attack. I feel like I'm starting to read defenses more, and that's helping me."

Besides Hayward, Utah's night was highlighted by a 51 point game from Jazz bench. Trevor Booker scored 17 points, and grabbed seven rebounds. Trey Burke was great in the second half, and finished with 15 points to go along with seven assists. Rudy Gobert had 10 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots.

Those guys supported Hayward and Derrick Favors, who had 15. Joe Ingles scored seven of his 10 points in the first quarter.

Everyone who played contributed in some way. The balanced effort was too much for the Warriors on this night. They received a game-high 32 points from superstar Stephen Curry, but he had very little tangible help from his teammates.

"We didn't have enough life tonight on the road against a young, hungry team," Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. "They played a lot better tonight, and they took it to us."

This ends an uneven week for the Jazz, who suffered a bad loss to the Boston Celtics, and played well against the Los Angeles Clippers before losing. But Friday night salvages a 2-2 homestand for Utah. And to get the win at home over the 36-8 Golden State Warriors, snapping a six game losing streak to them in the process, shows another slow step of improvement.

tjones@sltrib.com

twitter: @tjonessltrib

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[QUOTE]

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There have been a lot of frustrating, disappointing nights for the Utah Jazz and their fans the last couple of seasons.

the last 35 years for some of us


And then, occasionally there are those glorious nights when it's great to be part of Jazz Nation ... ah, yes, just like the good ol' days.

the good old days of not getting it done?

[QUOTE]Indeed, Friday was one of those nights.

Yep, EnergySolutions Arena was rockin'; the outcome was shockin'; and the Jazz were busy knockin' off the NBA's best team, the Golden State Warriors, in a 110-100 stunner that only the most die-hard Utah fan might've predicted.

And hey, with the Warriors winning their previous six meetings against Utah, including three in a row at ESA, that's pretty doubtful.

After all, Golden State steamed into town with the league's best record (36-7), boasting both the league's best offense and defense, and appears seemingly headed for the No. 1 seed in this year's Western Conference playoffs.

Utah, meanwhile, had lost its last two home games earlier this week and limped into Friday night's matchup at 16-30 on the season.

But unlike their meeting a couple of weeks ago, when the Jazz played 'em mighty tough for a half only to see the Warriors break free with a monstrous third-quarter showing on their way to a 17-point win, Utah didn't back away this time.

"They're a terrific team," first-year Utah coach Quin Snyder said of Golden State, which was surprisingly added to the list of this season's top-flight victims of the Jazz that also includes defending NBA champion San Antonio, Memphis, Chicago, Cleveland, Oklahoma City, Miami and Phoenix. "We just wanted to try and play hard and execute.

"To be able to play defense against a team like that and really focus on it, for us, was good. We were fortunate

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Shams Charania: Utah's Trey Burke has committed to his invite for NBA Skills Challenge at All-Star weekend, league sources tell RealGM. He's reigning champ. Twitter @ShamsCharania

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[QUOTE]There may be many reasons why Jazz coach Quin Snyder decided to insert rookie Dante Exum into the starting lineup nine days ago

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[QUOTE]One of the Jazz

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[QUOTE]A reporter started asking the Jazz coach, who grew up near Seattle and has been a devout Seahawks fan since 1976, about his

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Even when Jazz coach Quin Snyder has bad news for Trey Burke, even when informing Burke five games ago he would be coming off the bench, the second-year point guard responded to Snyder the same way he always has.

"He asked me to hold him accountable at the beginning of the season, and he's always thanked me for holding him accountable," Snyder said.

He' still laying huge minutes while shooting like crap. Not sure he's ever been held accountable.


By now, it isn't breaking news that Dante Exum is the new starting floor leader.

He's a new starter. Maxi G and Ingles are the floor leaders.


It also isn't much of a secret that Burke was initially disappointed with coming off the bench. But he's played admirably in his new role. He says that he's more comfortable with the change and he's adjusting to being more of a scorer.

More of a scorer? :facepalm

[QUOTE]This was apparent last Friday, when the Jazz defeated the Golden State Warriors. Burke scored 15 points and handed out seven assists. In his last five games, Burke is averaging 14.6 points per game, up from the 12.7 he's averaged on the season.

"I'm good with it," Burke said. "It's a new thing to me, but I'm playing the same amount of minutes as I always was, and I've just come in and tried to be more aggressive offensively. Coach has been on me about holding the ball, so I've just been trying to work on shooting or driving the ball right away, and just being generally aggressive."

Super Bowl nerves

Snyder

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Tony Jones: Alec Burks has been in practice and in good spirits the last two days. He's still in a shoulder brace...it will come off next week Twitter @Tjonessltrib -

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Joe Ingles: Cannot wait to marry @RenaeHallinan this off season! ❤️ Twitter @Joeingles7

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[QUOTE]it

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Ideally trades used to happen in the NBA to make two or more teams "better". A team would have a need, and go for it. Today the needs mostly seem to be either to bolster a bench or to shed salary. If you are making a move at the deadline it used to mean you were trying to win a title. Today it means you may be trying to move out of the first round, or avoid paying so much in the luxury tax.

Not sure much has changed really. I see the top teams trying to get pieces to put them over the top.


And really, blockbuster trades seem to be a thing of the past, at least during the season. In the off-season big name players seem to get traded in sign-and-trades, not for one another.

The Utah Jazz currently sit at 17-30, and are in a proverbial "dog fight" against the Denver Nuggets, Sacramento Kings, and Los Angeles Lakers for those precious 11th to 14th spots in the Western Conference. While they are not the 7th to 10th seed doldrums that prevent franchises from ever rising they are far away from the need to improve the roster right now for the hopes of short term, 2015, wins.

Additionally, the Jazz don't have to shed salary. Even with the contracts they are on the books for, for players no longer on the team (Carrick Felix, Jordan Hamilton, etc); and the slew of NBA-DL players who have come and gone (Elliot Williams, Patrick Christopher), the Jazz are still only paying players $58.6 million USD this season.
Still paying Christopher too.


The salary cap for this season is in excess of $63.2 million, and the luxury tax starts off at $77.0 million. Many teams are on the opposite side of the thrifty threshold. And if you were looking to shed salary one of the targets would HAVE to be the Utah Jazz. The highest payrolls for non-contenders are for the Brooklyn Nets ($91.2m), New York Knicks ($81.7m), New Orleans Pelicans ($77.5m), Los Angeles Lakers ($77.3m), Indiana Pacers (this year) ($74.8m), and Sacramento Kings ($70.7m). Four of those teams are going to be paying the luxury tax this year unless they can move some salary. I'm not crazy about renting someone else's problem, even if it's for future draft picks. (N.B. The Jazz do not owe any picks to any team, and in addition to that have one extra first rounder, and seven 2nd rounders owed to them in the next FOUR (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018) drafts.)

I'm open to it. Might get some help. Kind of sucks to be stuck with Novak for another year but he's not a bad vet at the end of the bench.


If we go beyond all of that, just purely within the vacuum of this season, I think it's fair to suggest that the Jazz DO need wing help.

With Ingles and Millsap they are a lot better off there than they were. PG is where they are hurting the most.


No Alec Burks has caused a cascade of problems for the team. Some of which would have been mitigated by an increased role for rookie 'steal of the draft' Rodney Hood.

The steal of the draft should be in the D-league with Exum and Ingles and Millsap have made that even more evident.


Both of those players have played a grand total of 1337 minutes this season, which isn't much over the course of 47 games. As a direct consequence head coach Quin Snyder has had to look elsewhere for starting material, even breaking down and starting Patrick Christopher for one game.

I'd guess he could be back if he gets healthy. They might even try to keep the roster spot open just for him if no one else blows them away.


Right now the team has settled upon some sort of mix between Joe Ingles (27.1 mpg in January) and Elijah Millsap (20.1 mpg in January) -- with Gordon Hayward picking up most of the rest of the wing minutes. Furthermore, we are seeing more of the Trey Burke + Dante Exum combination, which we need to see.

But not this year.


But even if we all have an idea who will be the long term starter going forward I think it's okay not to jump to conclusions on having to move one of them, even IF the trade deadline is approaching.

If you were going to get rid of a player because he doesn't mesh with the other players, the coach, the front office, or isn't with the game plan, then well, that's an option too. However, our collegiate atmosphere seems to have prevented that from happening.

Probably too early to deal any of the young pieces other than Kanter if they really think he has no future with them unless there is a deal that makes sense.


The only other reason why the Utah Jazz WOULD be interested in a trade is if, for the first time ever, they wanted to get a return from a player that may be moving on. The Jazz got something out of Randy Foye 's unrestricted free agency (was involved in a three team trade that brought the Jazz back Andris Biedrins, Brandon Rush, and Richard Jefferson). But he was the exception, not the rule, as the Jazz let Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap, Mo Williams, DeMarre Carroll, Josh Howard, Marvin Williams, and countless others walk while taking with them thousands of minutes from the team.

They did get a return. It allowed them to make the trade with GS. cap space is a return. Could we stop saying that? Letting Jefferson and Foye was a return just so they were off the team.

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A number of Jazz players are going to be free agents this summer. Jeremy Evans is not going to get a lot of attention, and I think that if the team will have him back that he will come cheaply. (I wouldn't expect him to get much of a raise from his $1.8 million this year.)

He showed something last year. No doubt he could help some teams especially in the east. I'd trade him just to give him an opportunity elsewhere and make a roster spot for another player that might have a future with the team.


Shooting guards Ian Clark and Joe Ingles will be free agents as well. Both will have qualifying offers that are under $1.2 million dollars, so those three guys could all be back for less than $6 million on the books. (Though, I think Ingles deserves at least Steve Novak money, and he will earn $3.75 million next year.)

I think Clark will certainly be gone too. Neto and a vet pg/combo guard need roster spots and he hasn't shown anything still. Might even want to consider eating his contract to open up a roster spot.


The Turkish elephant in the room is Enes Kanter. Kanter was supposed to be pushed this season by Trevor Booker (who has only a partially guaranteed contact for next season), but I believe we know who is the superior player at this point.

Booker brings a lot to the table and is a guy that any team in the league would love to have I'd think. Problem is the Jazz have 3 young guys that need to play.


The future RFA is only 22 right now, and as a #3 pick, his starting salary for his next contract will be at $7.4 million. The rest of the "C4" got paid. Fellow 2011 draft pick Alec Burks signed for a deal that starts at $9.46 million next season. Derrick Favors got locked in for $12 million per. And Gordon Hayward just got $15+ per season this past off-season on the open market.

Bigmen get overpaid, and the Jazz may not wish to over pay for Kanter. They have to find money (under the cap now, yes, but who knows what financial situation the team will be in a few seasons from now?) for Dante Exum, Rudy Gobert, and hopefully Trey Burke too. Balancing rookie deals with extensions will be the job for someone else, not I. But I could make a case for and against trading Kanter at this juncture.

Kanter is the only guy to be thinking about now. By the time it's time to pay Rudy and others Kanter, Favors, Burks, Maxi G could be traded and with the cap going up next year is really the only year to consider right now.


His trade value is still pretty high, and while he is making only $5.7 million this season, the Jazz can take back plenty more salary. A cash strapped team would trade of Enes in a heart beat. He's an efficient player who can add a scoring punch, but like I said on this site a while ago, on a team that doesn't need his defense he could look really good.

However, there's no real reason to believe he couldn't ALSO look really good with the Jazz. It's silly to expect him NOT to improve on defense at all. Sure, he may be the best disciple of Al Jefferson, but he also knows that if he wants to play in the NBA for a winner (not just get paid by a lotto team) he's going to have to play defense. Out of the three major bigmen for the Jazz (Favors, Gobert, and Kanter), he's the only one who is a legit face-up threat from a significant distance.

Favors is getting there. Rudy's hitting 3's in practice but as I've said I'm not sure anyone other than Love has Enes' skillset in the whole world.


Snyder's offense relies upon dribble penetration from guards. In order for there to be space for penetration to occur you need a bigman who can shoot. Kanter's ability to go from "ZERO outside shooting reinforcement for his entire career" to being "a guy who can hit threes on the regular" is unprecedented. But the debate between "is Kanter good" and "do the Jazz need to trade him now" are two separate things.

Supposedly he was an outside shooter before the Jazz made him stay in the post as a rookie.


And with the new cap space available, and the regular 'wait and see' approach, if the Jazz DO want him back, they will have the money available to match any offer. Personally, I don't think the Jazz have to make a trade. They aren't in "win now" mode. They aren't in financial #strugglemode either. There are many of young players that need minutes, and right now they are mostly all getting enough.

Rudy certaibly isn't and Enes isn't either.


Renting an expensive vet for a few months doesn't seem like something Dennis Lindsey would do. But we'll see.

They need a vet pg. It's a joke that Burke is that guy right now.


The deadline is in a little over two weeks. But we're not going to even scratch the surface of how good Enes can be in that time period. Who Enes could be in three seasons could be a dominant offensive force, and the lack of playing time early in his career kept his talents quite hidden. It would be silly to trade away a guy before you know how good he is.

That argument gets old too. He was obviously developing his talents as a rookie despite his 4th big man role.


But that's the uncertainty in sports, and in life in general. Will the Jazz made a move?

Hopefully but since they are tanking I wouldn't count on anything with this team.

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[QUOTE]Gobert

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[QUOTE]While informing Burke that he would be replaced in the starting lineup by Dante Exum, Jazz coach Quin Snyder brought up multiple points about what the second-year player needed to do better.

One of the biggest points?

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Gordon and Robyn Hayward are expecting a baby girl, due in mid-June.

"It

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[QUOTE]"I think our defense is improved," Snyder said after his team held the Golden State Warriors to 100 points, 10.8 below their average, on Friday night. "I think there

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Rudy Gobert: Yeah the best rim protector of the @NBA gets dunked on sometimes Twitter @rudygobert15

Derrick Favors: @rudygobert15 @NBA lol second best Twitter @dfavors14

I hope Favors is joking because he's a joke as far as a defender. Funny that Rudy completely take Aldridge out of the game and almost single handedly wins the game and the dunk is what is talked about. Took until late in the 3rd before Harpring realized what Rudy had been doing to Aldridge for 2 quarters. Hard to believe these people are paid to work in basketball.

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What is going on with the Utah Jazz is really impressive. This is a collection of assets. The Jazz have not moved into team building mode.

I think it's obviously time to start. You have Rudy to build around.


Yet, somehow Quin Snyder has formed a team that is beginning to get an identity and it playing the best in the NBA toe to toe each night. The Jazz have played the Clippers, the Warriors and the Blazers three of the top 4 teams in the West (4th one coming Wednesday) and looked like they belonged in every minute of these games.

At least one player looked like they belonged. This game is probably a blowout without Rudy. They had no answer for Aldridge. Aldridge had no answer for Rudy. Reminds of the game where AK completely shut down Kobe for a half in the Stockton/Malone era and Kobe couldn't even give him credit. Couldn't even get a shot off. Blazers started going after Favors at the rim with Rudy on the perimeter. Mentioned that problem yesterday.


Tonight there were numerous chances for the Jazz to wilt and for the Blazers to run away and each time the Jazz fought back and at different times took the lead.

We are not a very good final 5 minute team yet. The Jazz entered the game with the 2nd lowest FG in the final 5 minutes and the lowest 3 pts percentage in the final 5 minutes of a game within 5 points.

Bigger problem has been stops especially when Rudy is pulled.


With 5:00 left tonight it was Portland 90-87 and within 90 seconds the Jazz were down 9. In three possessions Mathews hit two three’s and Aldridge got 2 ft’s while the Jazz went empty Burke missing a 3, Favors missing inside and Burke missing a runner.

The Jazz started the 3rd quarter with Rudy Gobert on LaMarcus Aldridge and Gobert completely shut him down. Aldridge had 0 points in the 3rd quarter on 0 for 4 shooting. In the 4th quarter Aldridge made one great move to hoop when he brought out all the bag of tricks but that was it he went 1 for 3 in the 4th quarter. Aldridge was 1 for 7 while being guarded by Gobert.

Really? You completely forgot the 2nd quarter where he shut him down too. After the other bigs let him go for 16 in the first. That's why he started the 2nd half. Aldridge didn't want anything to do with Gobert. Even missed FT's. He was obviously in his head.


Favors had a big game on the pick and roll playing from the top coming straight down the lane to the rim.

Not doing much on the boards of late.


The Jazz had the best pick and roll sequence I have seen from them all season. Trey hit Favs on back to back plays going to the basket. Then Trey drove faked the pass to Favs and finished at the rim. Then the Blazers began adjusting and Trey hit a pull up 15 footer. Finally, Trey passed to Favors who swung it to the corner for a Hayward 3. How good is that sequence.

Favors and Gobert played a little more than 20 minutes together on the floor. The Jazz were +1 in those 20 minutes with the two of them on the floor.

And what was Gobert without him?


The Jazz are playing a slow pace and it is disrupting teams. If Gobert is going to be a core to this team

if? I'm just blown away! Am I the only one paying attention? I can't believe how anyone can watch this team and not see the impact Rudy is having. :wtf:


there is a value to playing slow and keeping teams in the half court where he can impact games the most. Fast breaks are a low percentage of plays in the NBA, about 10% if you can be great in half court defense you got a chance to do big things.

says Jerry Sloan anyway. Trey also prefers a slower game.


Trey played the pick and roll tonight really well.

Enes Kanter got yanked after 2 plays of the game and then was put back in the game after being coached by Quin.

Booker was playing well when he put Enes back in. They certainly aren't looking to win games.


Enes has a part of his game that is elite, offensive rebounding and a part of his game that may be his downfall, no passing. Tonight he had 4 offensive rebounds. He has been averaging 4 offensive rebounds a game over the last 10 games. This is mammoth. Assuming he scores 6 to 8 points on those plays it has a crazy large impact on the game. The other issue is he doesn’t pass. More specifically, he never passes in a way that he creates for teammates. He had 3 assists in over 300 minutes in January and had 0 tonight in 22:54 minutes. He is assisting at the same rate he did as a rookie when he had 8 assists in 800 plus minutes.

And the scouting reports are starting to reflect it. They are doubling him knowing he is unlikely to pass or make a bad pass. Definitely needs to work on it still.


Jazz starting guards were 1 for 8 with 5 points and 3 assists.

That's a joke!


I hope we are not taking this for granted – Hayward 27-5-5 . On 16 shot attempts. WOW. That is a huge night. He has gone over 20 scored or more in 5 of his last 6 games. He is 20 of his last 42 from 3.

Elijah Millsap had another good defensive game.

I have tonight’s game at 86 possessions so allowing 103 points to the Blazers is not going to be a good defensive rating. Jazz got in the penalty early in the 3rd and then allowed 28 points in the 3rd and 31 in the 4th.

Jazz threw the ball all over the gym in the 3rd quarter but where really solid with the ball other than the 3rd quarter.

Solid night. Great fight. Super experience gaining games. Still a long process but progress is obviously being made.

Posted in Emptying the Noggin

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Is there a more fascinating player this Utah Jazz season than Enes Kanter? Probably not.

Rudy easily. I'm not even that interested in watching them when he's on the bench. So much fun to watch him. :cheers:


Understandably, much of the conversation has been directed elsewhere. Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors are quietly putting together All-Staresque campaigns.

:banghead:

[QUOTE]Rudy Gobert has taken a massive leap forward. Dante Exum and Trey Burke have given us a lot to talk about. But what

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After a lowly 6-19 start to the season, Utah has gone 11-12 since then.

Rudy! :rockon:


Grading the performance: All in all, Utah put forth an excellent performance on the road. The Jazz were not intimated in the slightest and played with great energy and hustle. The Jazz were hitting from the perimeter and had a nice inside-outside attack. Rudy Gobert did a fine job helping contain all-star forward LaMarcus Aldridge in the second half. There were some costly turnovers and once again, some foul trouble and missed free throws were issues.

Fine job? He completely took one of the best players in the game out of the game and it started in the 2nd qyuarter. Really no one noticed what he was doing in the 2nd besides me and the head coach? :facepalm

[QUOTE]Utah Jazz grade: B+

The Blazers have struggled recently and almost let this game go. In the end, however, Portland made several crucial plays down the stretch to help seal the much-needed win. As is the case with most teams, Damian Lillard gave Utah fits. His emphatic dunk on Gobert was one the NBA season

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[QUOTE]Tuesday

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[QUOTE]LaMarcus Aldridge, the Blazer player who didn

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Evans said he's dedicated himself in practice to improving his ball-handling and his outside shooting so that he might be able to play on the perimeter in addition to using his dunking prowess.

If he could hit the 3 or play some wing he might get some time. I think he makes a lot of sense with Kanter if Gobert and Favors are sitting.


The 27-year-old is in the last year of his contract with the Jazz, and his basketball future in Utah is uncertain.

I think it's certain. Was nice knowing you. :applause:


"I think I'm here for a reason," Evans said. "I feel like I'm blessed and whatever is going to happen will happen."

'Hawk talk

The heartbreak Seahawks' Super Bowl defeat was still lingering around the Pacific Northwest, even before Seattle native and longtime 'Hawks fan Snyder arrived in Portland.

Snyder has rooted for the team since childhood, but said there's more to his admiration for the team than nostalgia.

"I think they're one of the great communicative teams, if that's a word, in any sport," the Jazz coach said. "We showed our guys some of Richard Sherman, not talking to the camera, but talking to his teammates."

Jazz juniors

On his website Tuesday, Jazz swingman Gordon Hayward announced that he and his wife, Robyn, are expecting a baby girl due in June. Maybe next year's Jazz practices could become a standing playdate; Derrick Favors and his longtime girlfriend Shivolli Da Silva are expecting twins.

Dunk champs

Evans knows what it takes to win a Slam Dunk contest, having taken home the crown in 2012. So who does the Jazz forward like from a field of Victor Oladipo, Zach LaVine, Mason Plumlee and Giannis Antetokounmpo?

"This year, I think my money's gonna be on Zach LaVine," Evans said. "I've seen him jump a few times in in-game dunks and he looks like he gets pretty high."

Defensive pride

Snyder is starting to see some of the defensive progress he's been preaching since taking this job, but he'll be the first to caution there's still a long way to go."I think our defense is improved," Snyder said after his team held the Golden State Warriors to 100 points, 10.8 below their average, on Friday night. "I think there's just more pride across the whole team, top to bottom, from our guys. I don't think it's an identity yet. But that's certainly what I would like to see continue to evolve."

The Jazz have slowly crept toward defensive respectability, improving each month of the season. In December, Utah allowed 107.1 points per 100 possessions. Last month, that number was down to 102.1.

"They've worked at it," Snyder said. "There's been a lot of film. And we drill. Sometimes, that's monotonous, but our guys have embraced it. I think we're starting to see some of the benefits of that work."

afalk@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tribjazz

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[QUOTE]"If Rudy doesn't get dunked on, then he's not being Rudy," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said after his team had fallen to 17-31 on the season. "The alternative is he could be hugging his man on the weak side and not be there. He'll get plenty of those. He didn't get this one. Damian Lillard is a great player. But I guarantee you he'll be there next time."

The Jazz are young and rebuilding

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http://www.ksl.com/?sid=33347856&nid=304&title=lillard-has-25-and-blazers-hold-off-jazz-in-103-102-victory

No mention of Rudy! :roll:

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http://www.ksl.com/?sid=33347850&nid=304&title=close-jazz-loss-to-portland-highlighted-by-big-blazers-run

Only mention of Rudy is getting dunked on! Unbelivable! :wtf:

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"All possibilities at this point are still open," Stoudemire said of a possible buyout. "The door is still open for that. But at the same time, I am with the Knicks now. I got to stay optimistic about things and what we are doing here. I can't really focus on the future because it's not here. Yahoo! Sports

One team that could have interest in Stoudemire if he becomes a free agent is the Los Angeles Clippers, whose coach Doc Rivers said the team would be in the market for buyout players. The Dallas Mavericks and Portland Trail Blazers are also looking a big man. Yahoo! Sports

The Knicks, however, are more focused at this point on negotiating a buyout with forward Andrea Bargnani than Stoudemire, a league source said. Yahoo! Sports

Got to think Booker could bring a first rounder especially with his new 3 point range.

[Xiao Yao You]

Rudy had a limited impact on the game tonight.

Limited minutes. Looks like he did what he usually does.


I thought Enes Kanter played the first half as well as he can play. He finished with 16-10 and had an assist to Derrick Favors.

Quin said it which ever big is playing well is going to play. Tonight Enes 31 minutes, Favors 29 and Rudy 24. Quin has been very consistent in this regard.

Nice to see. Been waiting for Enes to get more minutes than Favors when he's playing better since his rookie year. Rudy has to play more than any of them though.

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]At what point do the Jazz start to cash in assets5?

I keep thinking the Jazz are about to turn the corner from asset accumulation into putting some pieces in place. Given how young they are, they

[Xiao Yao You]

Rudy Gobert might've been more surprised than anyone that Damian Lillard dunked on him Tuesday night in Portland.

It was surprising because most players try to avoid him and those that have challenged him have usually failed. The fact that he'd been out on the perimeter most of the game might have hurt hm too.

[QUOTE]Not because he believes Lillard isn

[Xiao Yao You]

Utah leads the NBA in offensive rebounding rate and has the second-highest overall rebounding rate, according to ESPN’s Hollinger Team Statistics.

With one of the deepest frontcourts in the league — featuring Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter, Rudy Gobert and Trevor Booker — the Jazz are averaging 42.7 total rebounds. That number includes 11.7 offensive boards an outing.

While expounding on Utah’s rebounding, Snyder complimented Kanter for crashing the offensive glass.

"You watch him and he works,” Snyder said. "It’s not easy wrestling down there.”

Good rebounding isn’t just about strength and size, the Jazz coach added.

“There's a lot of big guys that don’t like to rebound because it’s hard,” Snyder said.

Snyder was especially pleased last week when small forward Gordon Hayward grabbed 15 rebounds in the 110-100 win over the Warriors. That kind of production from the wings goes a long way in helping the bigs and the team.

“I’d like to see our guards continue to rebound better,” Snyder said. “That’s been a real point of emphasis.”

It's nice that they've continued to get offensive boards when a point of emphais was getting back in transition D. They need to do better on the defensive glass still. It's hurt them. Not as much since Rudy started playing more.


BOOSTING BURKE: Point guard Trey Burke, who scored a team-high 21 in Utah's 100-90 loss to Memphis, continues to come off the bench and keeps getting positive reviews from his coach.

"To me, he’s not a bench guy,” Snyder said. "He happens to be on the bench in the beginning of the first and third quarters, but when we go through everything … I think he’s a core guy, and as a core guy, he’s able to see what the team needs.”

Remains to be seen. Right now he's a D-leaguer or 3rd stringer. Sub 40 % shooting and crappy D. :confusedshrug: He helps their offensive rebounding numbers anyway.


After Tuesday's loss in Portland, Hayward also spoke highly of Burke, who has become the Jazz’s sixth-man spark in the two weeks he’s played in his reserve role.

“It’s just one of those things that you look around the league and the best teams have somebody coming off the bench that can really go,” Hayward said. "It’s not a demotion, we talked about that, it’s just kind of when he gets to play. He can pick his spots and be more aggressive there in the second unit and really lead that group for us and he’s done a great job. I think he’s taking it really well.”

And Maxi G knows. He played some his best ball off the bench.


FAMILIAR FACES: The next two opponents will be against teams coached by former players and coaches of the Jazz. Utah travels to face Jeff Hornacek’s Suns in Phoenix on Friday, and then hosts the Tyrone Corbin-coached Sacramento Kings on Saturday night.

EMAIL: jody@desnews.com

TWITTER: DJJazzyJody

[Xiao Yao You]

Christopher is progressing back to being a basketball player again. He says he's about two weeks away from being cleared for non-contact drills. His rehabilitation is going as planned, and he's about a month away from returning to the court.

"I'm a local now," Christopher said.

The shooting guard was in his first career start when he dislocated his knee against the Atlanta Hawks at the end of December. It was a physical injury, but also a mental one. Christopher had slogged through basketball's minor leagues, hoping for a chance to become an NBA player. Injuries to Alec Burks and Rodney Hood allowed him that opportunity, and he was rewarded by being placed in the starting lineup.

There is no word on if the Jazz will sign him back - he was waived to make room for Elijah Millsap - but it's clear the organization took a liking to him as a player and a person.

Christopher was at the Jazz/Grizzlies game because he was in camp with Memphis during the preseason. He's been living in SLC during his rehab.

Tony Jones

I'd guess he could be back depending on what happens with the new guy and the trade deadline.

[Xiao Yao You]

The Jazz shoot 21 3s per night, making seven of them. That puts them near the bottom of the league.

"I think if you look at the stats, we're a bit inconsistent," Utah forward Gordon Hayward said. "I do think we're starting to get more 3s off weak-side reads. It's something that we have to work at, and just kind of improve."

You are certainy inconsistent. Need better shooters Simple really.


Of the core rotation players, Hayward is the best shooter, knocking down 38 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. Most of the best NBA their have a 40-percent shooter in its starting lineups. For instance, the Atlanta Hawks have Kyle Korver. The Golden State Warriors have Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. The Portland Trail Blazers have Wes Matthews.

Shooting 3-pointers is a key part of making Snyder's offense flow, a key facet in the spacing Snyder wants on the floor. Maybe it's an issue that will be addressed when Alec Burks and Rodney Hood come back from injury. But, make no mistake, Snyder wants this part of the game to get better for the future.

Assuming Hood is the shooter he was advertised at.


"I think right now we have to recognize that we're not one of the better shooting teams in the league," Snyder said. "But shooting and spacing flow into a more cohesive offense. We've had some games where we haven't made shots. We've had games where the shots have fallen. We need it to be more consistent."

Another ex-team

Joe Ingles had a chance to play for the Memphis Grizzlies last season with a deal on the table. The starting shooting guard opted to go to Maccabi Tel Aviv instead.

Time's almost up

Jazz guard Chris Johnson's 10-day contract expires Friday. The former Dayton star has yet to appear in a game. Previously, the Jazz signed Elijah Millsap to a pair of 10-day contracts, and will keep him for the season.

tjones@sltrib.com

twitter: @tjonessltrib

I imagine he'll get another 10 day.

[Xiao Yao You]

Jody Genessy: Trey Burke on Ty Corbin: "He instilled a lot of confidence inside of me. ... He made me a better player, no doubt in my mind." Twitter @DJJazzyJody

[Xiao Yao You]

Not sure why they didn't put Rudy on Morris when he was going off? :confusedshrug:

[Xiao Yao You]

http://www.sltrib.com/blogs/jazznotes/2152378-155/jazz-let-christapher-johnsons-10-day-contract


With the trade deadline less than two weeks away, the decision to let Johnson's contact expire could be about maintaining flexibility for a potential move.

Has mosre to do with the all-star game. I'd guess he'll be back if he's not picked up by someone else.

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]Rudy Gobert, C

17 MIN | 2-2 FG | 0-2 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 0 TO | 4 PTS | -4 +/-

While his frontcourt counterparts dominated on both sides of the ball, Rudy continued a rough stretch of late, playing just 17 minutes and not making quite his usual recent impact. He

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]In Gobert

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John Reid: Anthony Davis will not play Monday night against Jazz, Pelicans just announced. Twitter @JohnReid64

Jazz need to take it.

[El Kabong]

Bloody horrible shooting night from Burke, Millsap and Exum (they were a combined 4-29). Thankfully Hayward still played well and a cameo appearance from Novak was a boost. 21-3 run was enough to get them over the line. Also they were +17 when Gobert is on the floor and -16 for Kanter and -11 from Favors.

[Xiao Yao You]

Typical night from Trey not to mention what Gordon and Tyreke did against him at the other end. Everything starts and ends with Rudy. They might be able to get away with Novak as long as Rudy is on the floor. Might want to try to get Booker some more minutes at the 3 too.

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]They likely will have to face Utah on Wednesday without Tyson Chandler. They also could be short Monta Ellis. And they already know Rajon Rondo is out. That

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Rudy was the clear fourth big in Utah for much of the first two months, cracking 20 minutes in just three games before December.

Him and Booker.

[QUOTE]Midway through 2014

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Lots have people have jumped to the conclusion that Kanter might be on his way out this trade deadline, so the Jazz can capitalize on him as an asset and clear the way for Gobert in the process. But would they be giving up on Kanter too soon? Here's a solid piece from 1320 KFAN's Ben Anderson weighing the pros and cons of that decision:

Jazz General Manager Dennis Lindsey allowed Paul Millsap to leave in free agency to the Atlanta Hawks, hoping to clear up cap room for future roster additions, only to see the power forward qualify for two straight All-Star games, leading the Hawks to the Eastern Conference's best record this season. Lindsey won't want to mar his reputation by allowing another home-grown Jazz prospect to flourish in another franchise's hands.

Wasn't just any homegrown player. Millsap is the type of player any franchise should want to keep around. It's a joke that they let him go really. Same with Demarre. Kanter or Favors it's easier for me to see letting go.


And what of Gobert's future? To this point in his career, Gobert has appeared in fewer than 100 games, having started fewer than 10. Can the Jazz afford to move Kanter in order to clear room for such an unproven prospect?

He's proven! :rolleyes:


Seven-footers are unique, and when they click with a team, they are potential franchise changers, but injuries are always a concern, and there is a reason successful big men of Gobert's build are few and far between. If the Jazz were to bet the future on Gobert, only to see it derailed by obstacles outside of their control, Kanter could be a franchise saving spare piece, or the one who got away.

It's an enviable conundrum for an NBA team -- oh, three starting-caliber big men? WHAT A PREDICAMENT -- but it's one I don't have an answer to yet. On one hand, Gobert's ceiling is definitely higher than Kanter's.

Defensively anyway. Kanter has more upside at the other end for sure.


On the other...well, I'm tired of seeing former Jazzmen flourish on other teams, like Millsap and Kyle Korver (both now All-Stars in Atlanta this season). I'd hate to see the same thing happen with Kanter. At the very least, it'll be an interesting story to watch as the trade deadline nears.

But I'll bet you were on the start Favors bench/trade Millsap bandwagon with everyone else right?


We've had a tumultuous relationship with rookie rankings so far this season. With three first-year prospects in solid rotation, almost every column devoted to rookie analysis has mentioned a Jazz player. But now a fourth rookie has gotten some love from CBS Sports' Sean Vecenie: the newly-contracted Elijah Millsap:

Finally, Elijah Millsap earned himself a full-season contract with team options for two more due to his hot shooting and defensive acumen in Utah. It's nice to see the Millsap tradition live on in the state after the Jazz were responsible for kickstarting his brother Paul's career prior to him flourishing with Atlanta over the last two seasons.

Flourished with the Jazz too. It's not like it should be surprising what he's done in Atlanta.


Truthfully, Millsap The Younger probably wouldn't be sniffing the Jazz lineup if not for injuries to fellow rookies Rodney Hood and Joe Ingles, not to mention Alec Burks. (Geez, we've had way too many SG/SF injuries, haven't we?) But he's been doing the most with his role, and it's nice to see him get some recognition.

He should be playing ahead of Hood and certainly competing with Ingles.

[Xiao Yao You]

How about revisiting the AK trade idea? Have enough cap space to get him for nothing. He can't shoot like the rest of team but his D, passing and vet presence would certainly be welcome.

[El Kabong]

Guess we can say bye-bye to Kanter. Hopefully they use it as a chance to bring in a really solid piece and aren't afraid to include someone like Burkes in the deal if it brings back a really good talent.

[Xiao Yao You]

Meanwhile, until now, the Jazz front office had felt that his potential was worth more than the limited interest they had received in Kanter from other teams.

Sounds like he might be here til the end of the year. Suns look like a possibility on paper. Might be time to look in the mirror and ask if other teams aren't that interested maybe you ought to just keep working where you're at?

[QUOTE]Before the 2013-14 season, they wanted to see what he could bring in more than a 4th big role. In Ty Corbin

[Xiao Yao You]

The Phoenix Suns have a glut of guards in the backcourt and Ryan McDonough admitted the team's balance is slightly off.

"I think our roster balance is a little off, and that's my fault," McDonough said Wedneday on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. "We are a little too backcourt heavy, especially in terms of guys who, you know, I think you'd define primarily as scorers in the backcourt.

"So I think at some point we'll need to balance that out, try to get a little more size, a little more frontcourt scoring and rebounding."

The Suns are in the playoff picture but have lost seven of their last 10 games.

"At the same time it's a challenge because we do have talented players, they've all had success individually and team success in the NBA," McDonough said, "so those are some of the decisions we'll kind of mull over the next week or so and we'll see where we are on the 19th next week."

Not sure I'd want Dragic. Be a great fit offensively but he's a free agent to be. Isaiah Thomas or Bledsoe might work. Ennis I would take.

[Xiao Yao You]

Aaron Falk: Kanter's agent, Max Ergul, on 1280 says Enes' frustrations center on an a "lack of investment in his development" by the Utah Jazz. Twitter @tribjazz -

Can't say I agree. A big part of the problem is the way the league is set up. All these guys think they should come right in the league and be given everthing and some like Burke, Exum, and Hood are. Young guys need to earn their way in the D-league or end of rotaion or whatever.

Kanter got a chance to contribute to a playoff team as a rookie when he was still pretty raw. Biggest problem I've had is at times he's outplayed guys ahead of him and hasn't been given the opportunity at those times. I certainly dont see Favors as head and shoulders above him. They've both got strengths and weaknesses.

Ideally right now he should be getting more time. Made sense to start Marvin last year but he could have been given more time

[Xiao Yao You]

Jody Genessy: Trey Burke on Enes Kanter saying he hopes to get traded from the Utah Jazz: "It

[Xiao Yao You]

Austin Horton: "He's one of the most dominant players of his generation. If he wasn't, Kevin O'Connor wouldn't have selected him with number 3 pick" - agent Max Ergul. Twitter

I think the problem starts with his agent obviously. Enes has a lot of upside but he's still got a lot to learn. If he can't pass out of a double team it's going to be tough for him to dominate on a nightly basis.

[QUOTE]Center Rudy Gobert hadn

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]Jazz coach Quin Snyder reiterated Thursday that he

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Meanwhile, free-agent acquisition Trevor Booker has been a consistent momentum-changer, earning more minutes than anticipated.

He has? He's one of their highest paid players. He's probably playing less than expected since Rudy started getting more time.


So coach Quin Snyder has tried to utilize both Gobert and Kanter effectively, and done a nice job.

No he hasn't. Gobert is the man. Need to figure out how Favors and Kanter fit around him. He hasn't done that.


Some nights Gobert is simply undeniable. He blocked seven shots against Oklahoma City in January. Also, he has vastly improved his modest offensive game (shooting 63 percent).

But it’s the defensive side that has haunted Kanter, and the place where the coaching staff continues to focus. This leaves him frustrated and confused.

I think his passing or lack thereof is a much bigger weakness right now.


He hinted occasionally this year that he wanted more playing time, but finally on Wednesday it became a declaration more than a hint: play me or trade me.

Kanter isn’t a malcontent whining about time he didn’t deserve. Rather, he’s sunny and optimistic, having worked diligently to improve since the Jazz drafted him No. 3 in 2011. That’s why his mood on Wednesday was jarring but understandable.

Still, this isn’t an Armageddon moment for the Jazz. It’s a good thing.

It means they’re getting better.

If the Jazz are talented enough to keep Kanter on the bench, somebody must be filling in.

Kanter is agile and teachable and could do nicely if he goes elsewhere.

Could? I don't think there's much doubt. Could be another Jazz move that looks bad after the fact. It makes their decision on him a lot easier but getting rid of Favors might be the better move in the long run.


Whether the Jazz move him before Thursday’s trade deadline is another matter. As a restricted free agent, it could hinder talks. Some teams would rather wait for summer and get him without giving anything in return.

This isn’t the first time a Jazz player has wanted to be moved. Heaven knows, Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams weren’t the most content souls. Even Karl Malone had an occasional spat with management and would talk about leaving.

Occasional? Everytime he signed a new contract he'd be whining about getting more soon after.


This, though, seems serious. The Jazz could use a shooting guard, with Alec Burks out for the season.

They need a pg more than anything but wing help too. Going to need a back-up center if they trade him. Evans isn't that.


Kanter is averaging more points, rebounds and minutes than any time in his career. At the same time, Gobert has gone from a 15-minute-a-night player to sometimes more than 30.

If Kanter is traded before the deadline, or even if he leaves later as a free agent, he would be missed. The Turkish big man has skills. But the good news for the Jazz is that they’ve improved enough to even consider parting ways.

They have? I'd still rather have Millsap and Demarre personally.


In sports, unhappy people are sometimes a sign you’re doing something right.

Email: rock@desnews.com; Twitter: @therockmonster; Blog: Rockmonster Unplugged

but not in this case.

[Xiao Yao You]

In an on-air interview with 1280 The Zone on Thursday, agent Max Ergul said Kanter's frustrations with the Jazz date to his rookie season under former coach Tyrone Corbin.

The only problem I have with his rookie year is there were times when he was playing well and they'd pull him just because he was the 4th big in the rotation even if the 3rd big wasn't playing as well.

[QUOTE]"I don't think it's a one-game, one-postgame-interview outburst," said Ergul, whose client did not play in the fourth quarter of Wednesday's loss in Dallas. "I think there's a sensitivity to Enes related to his first couple years and how little he's been used.

[Xiao Yao You]

"I like Tyson Chandler," Gobert said. "He inspires me defensively and the way he plays the game. But I'm myself. I'm not going to be the same player he is. I'm just myself, and you'll see that I'm going to be in a few years."
Already better than Chandler too! :cheers: Gives you an idea what Chandler could have done for the Jazz if they'd traded for him instead of Al though.


Gobert, who will play for the World Team in Friday's game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, will be joined by teammates Dante Exum, who also is on the World Team roster, and Trey Burke, who will suit up for the U.S. Team.

Recent events might speed up the discovery process for Gobert.

The 22-year-old center has taken a leap this year, and his minutes have cut into Kanter's. For Kanter, years of frustration over his role in Utah boiled over Wednesday, as he let reporters know he hoped to be moved in the coming week.

What will happen remains to be seen. Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey had no comment when reached this week regarding Kanter's situation.

Kanter will be a restricted free agent this summer, which could also complicate a potential deal should Utah decide to shop him. And Utah officials like the 22-year-old Kanter's potential, so they may stand pat with the trade deadline a week away.

Gobert, meanwhile, remains a work in progress himself, despite the gains he's made this season. In recent weeks, the Jazz's defense has actually been better with Gobert off the floor than with him on it, according to some metrics.

For Gobert, it's a case of stats not telling the whole story.

"A lot of people say that my numbers are not the same, but if they shoot 3-pointers, what can I do?" he said before the loss to the Mavs. "You know what I'm saying? I feel like they don't come to the paint as much as they used to because they know. When I'm on the floor, they're going to space and shoot 3s. But I do my job. I protect the paint. I can't protect the 3-point line."

Gobert's take evoked a chuckle from his coach later that night.

"I love him," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "But let's let him play defense and not let him analyze the numbers."

Rudy is right. Even early in the year when his stats looked pedestrian he was a factor. Stats don't begin to tell the story with him. He's probably their best perimter defender too. Too bad Favors isn't the rim protector his been advertised as.


On the whole, Snyder said he believes Utah's defense is improving and Gobert "has been a catalyst for a lot of that."

all of it. They are ne of the worst teams in the league when he's not on the court. Look like a a team that can compete with anyone with him on the court.


This weekend in New York City, Gobert will have a chance to show off his skill set against some of the league's other top talent.

"I'm pretty excited," he said Wednesday when asked about the upcoming activities. "I think its going to be fun. I have time to get some rest after."

It just may be less time than he expected.

afalk@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tribjazz