2022-23 regular season. The Tank begins...

Minnesota boasts a core of Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards and D’Angelo Russell, so the team that Gobert joined is hardly devoid of talent. [URL="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/does-trading-for-an-nba-star-work-its-complicated/"]But none of their returning players managed to break the plus-5.0 RAPTOR threshold last season, with Towns coming closest at plus-2.0.[/URL] And even next to that established foundation, Gobert may well be the T-Wolves’ most impactful player. Although it hasn’t shown up in the on/off-court metrics yet, he theoretically fits the current construction of the roster, despite his co-star being another center. But the teams who improved most in the playoffs following a star acquisition had players already on the roster with higher RAPTOR ratings than the newcomer. Indeed, the Timberwolves are 5-7 against a relatively weak schedule early in the season, and though they have time to improve, they don’t currently have the profile of a championship contender.
– via [URL="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/does-trading-for-an-nba-star-work-its-complicated/"]Louis Zatzman @ FiveThirtyEight[/URL]

Few around the league, though, expected to find the Croatian in this environment, as one of the rare veterans amid Detroit’s young roster construction. After the Utah Jazz dispatched Royce O’Neale, Rudy Gobert and then Donovan Mitchell across the map, rival front offices expected Bogdanovic’s inevitable departure to deliver another of Utah’s proven postseason performers to a team with contending aspirations. The [URL="https://sports.yahoo.com/bojan-bogdanovic-providing-value-to-young-pistons-and-potentially-boosting-his-own-status-in-the-trade-market-144138939.html"]Lakers certainly called, sources told Yahoo Sports. Phoenix engaged the Jazz as well[/URL].
– via [URL="https://sports.yahoo.com/bojan-bogdanovic-providing-value-to-young-pistons-and-potentially-boosting-his-own-status-in-the-trade-market-144138939.html"]Jake Fischer @ Yahoo! Sports[/URL]




[URL="https://sports.yahoo.com/bojan-bogdanovic-providing-value-to-young-pistons-and-potentially-boosting-his-own-status-in-the-trade-market-144138939.html"]“What it really does is it gives them contract control so it’s easier to trade him in July,” one assistant general manager told Yahoo Sports,[/URL] “when a team that needs him is far more likely to have cap space and wiggle room.”
– via [URL="https://sports.yahoo.com/bojan-bogdanovic-providing-value-to-young-pistons-and-potentially-boosting-his-own-status-in-the-trade-market-144138939.html"]Jake Fischer @ Yahoo! Sports[/URL]

[url]https://www.slcdunk.com/2022/11/13/23457396/joel-embiid-monster-night-powers-philadelphia-76ers-sixers-past-utah-jazz[/url]

[QUOTE]The biggest upside for this game was that Utah really should have won. Maybe it was tired legs because of this being the back end of a back-to-back on the road, but Utah shot just 56% from the free throw line. Probably also a sign of tired legs was the bad decision-making, and bad shot choice. Utah had 17 turnovers, which is not good, but they also drove constantly to the rim against Embiid, who had 7 blocks. At what point do you decide that’s not a good shot? The good news about those things is they are fixable issues. Yes, the referees missed some obvious fouls for the Jazz at the end of this one, and those calls would have changed things for Utah, but the Jazz did shoot 23 free throws. This one is a game you chalk up to tired legs, and you move on. The Jazz have now lost two in a row, and if they lose their next one, then you start to worry a little. For now, the Jazz still look like one of the top teams in the league.

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Philly back to back. Now we're worried about them losing? :roll:

Steve Popper: [URL="https://*********.com/social/"]Knicks players gathered for a players only dinner last night here in Utah – stressing accountability to each other[/URL].
– via [URL="https://twitter.com/StevePopper"]Twitter StevePopper[/URL]

[QUOTE] Tony Jones: Rudy [URL="https://*********.com/social/"]Gay is out tonight against the Knicks with a left hand sprain[/URL]

– via [URL="https://twitter.com/Tjonesonthenba"]Twitter Tjonesonthenba[/URL]


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saw that in the game.

The Cavs did not want to see Markkanen go, but when the teams started discussing concepts for a Mitchell deal, Utah insisted he be included. [URL="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/35026261/the-hoop-collective-victor-wembanyama-rise-spell-end-team-usa-dynasty"]“I can remember when he got traded, he was sad about it that night because Cleveland was his first taste of winning,” Connelly said. “I told him this may end up being the best thing that could ever happen in your career.[/URL] You go be the best player on the Jazz. But it took everything he’s gone through to make this the best scenario.”
– via [URL="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/35026261/the-hoop-collective-victor-wembanyama-rise-spell-end-team-usa-dynasty"]Brian Windhorst @ ESPN[/URL]




“It’s really hard for young players sometimes to find their lane,” Hardy said. But Markkanen has definitely found his in Utah — and with it, his confidence. [URL="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/35026261/the-hoop-collective-victor-wembanyama-rise-spell-end-team-usa-dynasty"]“Confidence is everything,” Markkanen said. “My third year in Chicago, it was hard for me mentally.[/URL] … I was always trying to climb out of it.” He started seeing a sports psychologist, read “The Inner Game of Tennis” at the urging of his longtime trainer, Dan Connelly, and just kept at it. Eventually he had a breakthrough.
– via [URL="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/35026261/the-hoop-collective-victor-wembanyama-rise-spell-end-team-usa-dynasty"]Brian Windhorst @ ESPN[/URL]

Utah Jazz guard Malik Beasley welcomed his second child with wife Montana Yao on Friday after the couple reconciled following his brief fling with Larsa Pippen. Beasley and Yao welcomed a daughter, Mia Love Beasley, on Friday, according to separate posts on Instagram. “11/11 and my wish came true 💫 Mia Love Beasley- 8lbs / 19inches,” Beasley wrote in his post, which included a photo of him holding his daughter on his chest.
– via Jenna Lemoncelli @ New York Post

[url]https://kslsports.com/495470/espn-markkanen-success-with-jazz-mirrors-fiba/[/url]

[QUOTE]Markkanen has always shown flashes of star potential, but a lack of consistency during stops in Chicago and Cleveland have prevented him from breaking through as one of the NBA’s premier players.

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you either are or aren't

[url]https://saltcityhoops.com/sc7-111422-bench-danny/[/url]

[QUOTE]And yet… those five together have been Utah’s best high-volume lineup, outscoring opponents by 16.1 per 100 possessions so far (+18.9 if you exclude garbage time and heaves). The collection of misfit toys has become a strength for the Utah Jazz, extending leads in some games and keeping the club in striking distance other nights. The group has runs totaling 23-8 in Philadelphia on Sunday. A night earlier, Beasley’s shooting and Sexton’s rim pressure kept Utah within striking distance. Sure, both of those games ended in losses, but the Jazz bench did their part.

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no Clarkson

[QUOTE]Sexton puts a ton of pressure on defenses, and it often results in easy points. He drives 8.5 times per game and gets fouled on 14.8% of them. The only player with at least eight nightly drives who draws more fouls on paint forays is Giannis Antetokounmpo. In all, 43% of his shooting possessions (FGA + shooting fouls drawn) come at the rim, an elite figure for a 6’2″ guard.

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yet another thing he is better than Mitchell at

[QUOTE]Speaking of drivers, Horton-Tucker has a way of making smaller defenders just bounce off of him as he rumbles to the hoop. Sure, [URL="https://twitter.com/danclayt0n/status/1588732941622206464?s=20&t=bDHYsvCwyrSBTWtyPeFXYw"]he can get a little wild[/URL] at times, but the same spirit that leads to those daring attempts also cracks the defense open a few times a game. In that sense, he’s not unlike the wildly popular Clarkson, who also won over the fan base by straddling the line between audacious and “umm wut.”

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difference is he's young

[QUOTE]Gay is still waiting for his shot to come on — career low .445 true shooting… ugh — but there’s something to be said for knowing where to be. Somehow, the veteran has the best DRtg of the rotation guys (93.6) and he trailed only Kessler with a +16.0 net rating.

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is it enough to get someone to take on his contract for next year?

[QUOTE]There’s another lineup data quirk that, if it holds, might mean something. Small sample sizes be damned, but so far Utah’s best two lineups on a per-minute basis are when Sexton appears with the other four starters in lieu of Vanderbilt (+54.3 outside of garbage time, but only 48 possessions) and when Jordan Clarkson runs with the bench mob in Sexton’s spot (+70.1, 45 possessions). If anything remotely like that holds over a big chunk of the season, we might see more crossover from Sexton and Clarkson.

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been pretty obvious they are better with Sexton over Clarkson size be damned

[QUOTE]The goal, at least for now, is likely more about seeing what the Jazz have and fomenting [URL="https://saltcityhoops.com/what-matters-most-to-transitioning-jazz-part-2-development-identity/"]development[/URL], rather than losing or (gasp!) winning games. Folks with knowledge of how the front office is thinking say that the Jazz feel like this early success gives them more options, not fewer. They still have more unprotected picks than anybody and they have a bunch of capable players whose stock has likely risen with Utah’s head-turning start.

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the best picks are the Jazz losing a lot though

[URL]https://www.slcdunk.com/latest-utah-jazz-news-recent/2022/11/14/23459408/will-hardy-appears-to-be-the-biggest-steal-of-the-offseason-for-the-utah-jazz[/URL]

[QUOTE]Everyone in Jazzland was probably wondering the same thing after the departure of Udoka in Boston. Every report about Hardy was that he was a major part of what the Celtics did in Boston and, had he stayed in Boston, there’s no doubt he’d be head coach there.

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and he'd probably be trying to not to change much in Boston. Here he was able to do whatever he wanted.

[QUOTE]Mark it down as another early season W for the 10-win Jazz when so few were expected at this juncture. They appear to have replaced an eight-year fixture like Snyder with the right hire.

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any new hire was a win. COTM should have gone after the bubble. Might still have Gobert :cry:

[QUOTE]Now, with so many different paths the front office can take, one thing is clear, they need to find the right championship pieces for the roster. If they can do that, it’s clear that Hardy is the coach that can take them all the way.

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it's not clear. Sloan and COTM were great hires in the beginning. Once a coach gets comfortable he doesn't change. That's what has been great about Hardy. He's up for anything. See how he does when he has his stable unit playing for something big. Look forward to it!

[url]https://kslsports.com/495477/knicks-overcome-olynyk-jazz-in-utah/[/url]

[QUOTE][h=1]Jazz Stars Struggle, New York Knicks Get First Win In Utah[/h][/QUOTE]

stars? :facepalm

[QUOTE]After opening the season on a tear, Jordan Clarkson’s efficiency has taken a steep drop.

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no one has ever watched Clarkson before? Mostly he sucks. He has a hot streak now and then

[QUOTE]Hardy faces an interesting dilemma with the last spot in his rotation. Fontecchio produces more statistically than Gay, but the Jazz were outscored by 19 in his limited minutes on the floor.

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and Gay they want to showcase for a trade ideally

[QUOTE]Fontecchio, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Ochaci Agbaji have long-term potential on the roster but haven’t proven they can help the team in the win column.

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Nickeil certainly has. He should be playing. The other two had their moments. Ochaci can play with the Stars until he's ready though. Yet to dominate down there like he needs to

[url]https://www.deseret.com/2022/11/16/23460169/utah-jazz-lose-to-new-york-knicks-second-chance-points-turnovers[/url]

[QUOTE]The Jazz went into the game against the Knicks ranked 27th in the league in defensive rebounding percentage. They’re just not getting to the rebounds that they’re working so hard to create and they’re 21st in the league allowing teams to score second-chance points, allowing 14.4 per game.

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these things tend to happen when you don't have the top rebounder in the league anymore

[QUOTE]He’s clearly a natural scorer and shooter but he’s also more athletic than maybe people would have assumed and he’s also got some good instincts and a great frame for defense. [/QUOTE]

he looks pretty good

Chris Fedor: [URL="https://*********.com/social/"]#Cavs Donovan Mitchell (ankle) participated in shootaround today here in Milwaukee.[/URL] One of the last players to leave the floor like usual. Also, with a couple injuries, 2-ways Mamadi Diakite and Isaiah Mobley are both here in Milwaukee as opposed to being with the G League Charge
– via [URL="https://twitter.com/ChrisFedor"]Twitter ChrisFedor[/URL]

Marc Stein: [URL="https://*********.com/social/"]Former Jazz swingman Miye Oni is signing with the @LondonLions in England,[/URL] league sources say, bringing a third former NBAer to the @EuroCup team alongside @Kosta Koufos and Sam @Sam Dekker. More NBA from me: marcstein.Substack.com
– via [URL="https://twitter.com/TheSteinLine"]Twitter TheSteinLine[/URL]

[QUOTE] [URL="https://nypost.com/2022/11/17/knicks-not-planning-to-send-quentin-grimes-to-g-league/"]The Knicks appear to be against sending Quentin Grimes to the G-League to get in some reps[/URL]. Although the young guard didn’t play for the first time when healthy during Tuesday night’s win over the Jazz, as coach Tom Thibodeau trimmed his rotation to nine players, and hasn’t played much this season due to a nagging left foot injury, it doesn’t seem like Grimes will be going anywhere to get some games under his belt. “I think him being here with us is the best thing right now,” Thibodeau said of Grimes who did not pay in the Knicks’ 106-103 win over Nuggets on Wednesday night.

– via [URL="https://nypost.com/2022/11/17/knicks-not-planning-to-send-quentin-grimes-to-g-league/"]Zach Braziller @ New York Post[/URL]


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funny if he's the reason they didn't get Mitchell