Back to work: Post virus break

Sirius XM NBA: [URL="https://*********.com/social/"]“That was kind of blown out of proportion.” @Georges Niang has no concerns about reported tensions in the Jazz locker room following the positive COVID-19 tests.[/URL] #takenote pic.twitter.com/5kddhj4zHf

Georges Niang: [URL="https://*********.com/social/tweets/"]In this time we need to come together as humans regardless of race, gender and enthicity! And do the right thing and try our best to spread love and positivity![/URL] What is happening to our country is devastating and we need to come together and change that now!
– via [URL="https://twitter.com/GeorgesNiang20"]Twitter GeorgesNiang20[/URL]

[QUOTE][URL="https://www.sny.tv/knicks/news/heres-who-knicks-could-target-as-leon-roses-front-office-reshapes-roster/313481746"]Bobby Portis, who has a team option next season that opposing teams see as unlikely to be exercised,[/URL] hit 36 percent of his three-point attempts (which matches his career average).
– via [URL="https://www.sny.tv/knicks/news/heres-who-knicks-could-target-as-leon-roses-front-office-reshapes-roster/313481746"]SportsNet New York[/URL]



[/QUOTE]

might be able to get him on a good deal with the uncertainty ahead

[URL]https://www.deseret.com/sports/2020/5/29/21202018/looking-back-utah-jazz-okc-thunder-wild-finish-postgame-hug-dawn-of-a-new-era[/URL]

[QUOTE]As the buzzer sounded, the crowd went nuts, confetti rained down from the ceiling, Mitchell raised his arms in celebration, Westbrook went to the locker room and Snyder circled around to hug a bunch of his players. When he met Mitchell, the pain of losing Hayward 10 months previous was officially gone and a new course of Utah Jazz basketball was being charted.


[/QUOTE]

Pretty much the same course as it's been since December 2014. Go as far as Rudy carries you

[QUOTE]Eric Walden: Asked how the Jazz can play more uptempo with top transition finisher Bojan Bogdanovic out, Ingles said he expects lots of lineups in which Gobert/Bradley are surrounded by 4 guys who “can handle, push, rebound the ball. … We can be a really dangerous team playing like that.” – via Twitter tribjazz[/QUOTE]

We knew that Hayward's last season and yet they put Favors back in the starting lineup and replaced Hill with Rubio. :facepalm

[url]https://saltcityhoops.com/bold-jazz-takes-explored-part-i-big-what-ifs-alternate-reality-titles/[/url]

[QUOTE]Jazz would be legit contenders if Gordon Hayward had stayed. We all think the Jazz are better off now, but we could have a 7-man rotation of Ricky Rubio, Donovan Mitchell, Hayward, Derrick Favors, Rudy Gobert, Royce O’Neale and Joe Ingles right now.

@CCool_CCCool[/QUOTE]

The offense would suck with Rubio and Favors back in the fold but sure that's a contender. :facepalm

[QUOTE]The Jazz did eventually find a way to replace the departed star with what we can call an upper middle class man’s Hayward. Bojan Bogdanovic is older than Hayward and doesn’t defend as well, but both guys are legit NBA scorers with size who know what it’s like to be on top of the scouting report. That said, the pivot toward Bogdanovic cost Utah Favors and left the frontline uncomfortably thin.
[/QUOTE]

Bojan is a better shooter and maybe a better scorer. Hayward is better at everything else. Hayward might be at the 4 now which is a huge weakness on the current team

[QUOTE]That’s just one of several alternate timelines forking off the if-Hayward-stays inflexion point that we need to consider if we’re to buy Mr. CCCool’s premise about the current 7-man core. Would Utah still have Rubio at this point, or would they have eventually wanted to angle for a point guard upgrade anyway, like they did in this version of reality with Mike Conley? Would they have still moved on from Rodney Hood, Alec Burks and Dante Exum (moves that yielded them Jae Crowder, Kyle Korver and Jordan Clarkson, respectively, but also cost them picks), or would a more solid core rotation have afforded them the patience to not part with the assets that those deals cost them?
[/QUOTE]

They gave up on Rubio because they couldn't get past Houston with horrible offense. Don't see how that changes. Hood asked out because he thought he was a lot better than a 6th man which is what he's been since he left and again how does that change? Coach didn't like Burks. Exum sucks! The big question is who would be at pg. Probably wouldn't be able to afford Conley, Hayward and Gobert. Maybe Mitchell? With them being able to play through Hayward as well as others that might have made most sense as it might now anyway

[QUOTE]If we had Quin Snyder when Trey Burke and Enes Kanter were rookies, they would have worked out better. I don’t think Ty Corbin did anything for them.

I also wonder if the drafting would have gone differently on some of those years if we had Quin. Imagine if we had managed to grab Kawhi Leonard, Kemba Walker, or Giannis Antetokounmpo. I’m not saying that Quin has had everything to do with the drafting, but I’m sure he has some sway.

@bigd_84095[/QUOTE]

Burke sucks. He's a 3rd pg at best. You can't hang that on Ty. Kanter got time as the 4th big with 3 players better than him ahead of him. How does that change? They get rid of their best player Millsap even earlier than they stupidly did? If anything maybe Snyder would have realized Millsap was their best player and they wouldn't have let him go to tank?

[QUOTE]Had Kanter been OK with that new pecking order, he could have provided the Jazz with the same stuff he gave OKC, Portland and Boston as a stat-stuffing, high-minute reserve big.[/QUOTE]

Exactly. Kind of like Hood's role hasn't changed after he asked out. If anything the Jazz overvalued guys when they were here and made those players think they were more than they are

[QUOTE]Though I hated it at the time, the rumored Bryon Russell + Donyell Marshall trade for Keith Van Horn could have catapulted us back into contender status.

@IrwinMFletcher8[/QUOTE]

Donyell was someone they shouldn't have let go. Cheap owner comes into play yet again!

[QUOTE]Actually, my own related hot take here is that the Jazz held onto Bryon Russell too long. That was certainly not my view at the time, as a rather un-erudite teenage fan who liked Russell’s dunks and swagger. But if the blogosphere and advanced stats had been more fully deployed during Russell’s career, I think it would have been obvious to more folks that there was a point in time when his trade value exceeded his basketball value. [/QUOTE]

Russell was one guy I actually thought they let go at the right time even though he had some good years after he left

[url]https://saltcityhoops.com/bold-takes-explored-part-ii-modern-jazz-moving-forward-cosmic-forces/[/url]

[QUOTE]But yeah, it seems odd that someone who has been named the very best at something that makes up 50% of a basketball game (defense) for two years running doesn’t really get mentioned in the same breath as the guys who are among the very best at the other 50%. For better or worse, MVP tends to be focused on offensive stars, and on guys who really set the narrative for a particular NBA season.
[/QUOTE]

what is really odd is that he isn't even appreciated in Utah like he should be. The Jazz have been a horrible team without him but keep going on about Hayward, Lindsey, Snyder and Mitchell!

[QUOTE]First of all, we just got done talking about how Gobert is firmly a top 10-15 player in the NBA in terms of overall impact. When you get someone that good, the question isn’t whether or not he “fits” your team, but rather who fits with him. All-league impact is by far the hardest thing to replicate or replace, so when you get a player at that level, that’s what you build around.
[/QUOTE]

Yep. We saw with Hill and joe Johnson starting what kind of team should be around their best player and not until this year did they put that team around him. With Favors and Hayward leading the team they were as bad as anyone in the league:facepalm

[QUOTE]Rubio/Gobert and Favors/Gobert worked, it was the trio of them that didn’t.
[/QUOTE]

It worked at making the playoffs as does almost anything with a healthy Gobert. Beyond that it is certainly limited

[QUOTE]In particular, the success of the Gobert-Favors duo when Rubio sat is enough to make fans wonder what the offense might have looked like had the Jazz still dealt for Conley but found a way to keep Favors.
[/QUOTE]

the defense would have been better but they wouldn't have one of the best offenses in the league. Need to get someone that can spread the floor and defend

[QUOTE]It’s also worth remembering that Hill turned 31 that spring, and has never come close to equaling the career-best numbers he produced with the Jazz, even on a per-minute or per-possession basis. So there’s a case to be made that, in hindsight, it’s good the Jazz didn’t hitch their wagon to that horse just in time for his production to start declining.
[/QUOTE]

He was a perfect fit unlike Ricky

[QUOTE]What’s worrisome about the Jazz in this case is that they are probably borderline title contenders at this point, so they have leveraged themselves into this position without a clear path to make that last mini-jump from “on the cusp” to true contention. But there are still a few ways they can get there:
[/QUOTE]

What's worrisome is that they continue to talk about being all in but instead of trying to replace Bojan with Lance Thomas of Moute to shore up their weakness at the 4 they've signed no one

[QUOTE]Maybe. I will say that I think the only way they even consider trading him on his current contract is if they have a sense that he’s definitely not coming back. As I wrote above, top-15 players are really, really hard to replace.
[/QUOTE]

sounds like he could be gone since they think Mitchell is a lot better than he is

[url]https://saltcityhoops.com/bold-takes-explored-part-iii-more-opinions-on-jazz-teams-of-the-past/[/url]

[QUOTE]Quince is referring to a deal that sent out Blue Edwards (coming off 12.6 points and 38% shooting from three the season prior) and Erick Murdock (4.1 ppg as a deep bench guard) plus a first-round pick in exchange for Jay Humphries (14.0 points and 6.6 assists) and Larry Krystkowiak (9 points, 5 boards).
[/QUOTE]

Sloan didn't like Blue and they thought some crappy white guy was better than Murdock. Les, Crotty, etc.? Humphries had been a good player but sucked here. Liked Larry though

[QUOTE]John Crotty (version 2.0) was Stockton’s best backup.
[/QUOTE]

:roll:

I'd go Mark Jackson though in retrospect I guess he was a problem in the locker room that led to Stockton's retirement and Vaughn. The rest sucked. A big reason the Jazz never did anything

[QUOTE]Greg Ostertag was right up there with Mark Eaton, Andrei Kirilenko and Gobert as one of the great defensive Jazz players ever!
[/QUOTE]

Tag was better than Eaton who was a joke

[QUOTE]There probably aren’t too many players in between that holy triumvirate and ‘Tag, but the drop-off there is still really steep. Ostertag only had one season (the lockout-shortened ’99 campaign) where he ranked in the top 10 in defensive BPM. I also don’t think Tag was nearly the deterrent that any of those three were. He blocked shots because of the sheer physics involved of being 7-foot-2 and always near the rim, but those three were all more mobile than him and all possessed better understanding of schemes and defensive timing.
[/QUOTE]

Eaton wasn't more mobile than anyone :facepalm

[QUOTE]Stockton > Malone.
[/QUOTE]

I'd take Stockton everyday

[QUOTE]The ’98 Jazz were right in the middle of a 6-year period where they won more than 72% of their games. Only three modern teams had a stretch like that and didn’t win at least one title during that span: the ’90s Sonics, the 2001-02 to 2006-07 Mavs1 and the Jazz. In other words, the team you’re talking about can make a case for being the best team ever to not win a title. As interesting as the current group is, they haven’t yet accomplished anything that comes close to the level of the ’90s Jazz. Obviously Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell and others aren’t done writing their respective stories yet, but as of today, the Finals teams sit head and shoulders above their counterparts from any Jazz era, including the modern version.
[/QUOTE]

but what era are they playing in? Both are great offensive teams and mediocre defensive teams. It's closer than you think. Snyder is probably the better coach

[QUOTE]Hoffa was… not good.
[/QUOTE]

actually liked him too. He shouldn't have been a lottery pick but he didn't suck like Collins and many others

[QUOTE]But let’s be honest: he earned that second Jazz stint by the way his first one ended: after tearing his ACL on a play, he still hobbled to the hoop to finish the play with a layup before checking out with the season-ending injury. Sloan was a sucker for that type of toughness. Remember, this is the coach who promoted Aleksandar Radojevic — with his whole 61 minutes of NBA experience at that point — to a starting position for the sole reason that he was impressed to see the 7-foot-3 “Rado” dive all the way to hardwood for a loose ball at the end of a blowout loss. I don’t know the exact exchange rate between “7-footer-floor dives” and “finish the play on a busted knee instead of stopping play,” but part of me is surprised Handlogten didn’t get a 7-year extension on the spot.
[/QUOTE]

yep. Jazz aren't known for making moves based on skill and talent

[QUOTE]He had other draft misses (Curtis Borchardt, Kirk Snyder, Morris Almond, etc.), but also engineered his way into the top three to get an All-NBA guard, and later selected future All-Stars with the ninth and 47th (twice) picks. C.J. Miles (34th) was a solid NBA contributor for a long time and Wesley Matthews (undrafted) is still producing for a contender, to say nothing of the acquisitions of Mehmet Okur, Carlos Boozer, Matt Harpring, Derrick Favors and more. (Technically we should include Al Jefferson in here, although my own personal KOC-related hot take is that the Jefferson acquisition really hurt Utah long-term, in part because they had to give two decent mid first-rounders that would have helped with the eventual rebuild and in part because integrating Jefferson required a not-subtle shift in philosophies that may have exacerbated the Sloan-DWill tension and hastened the end of an era… But that’s probably its own topic for another time).
[/QUOTE]

Jefferson was certainly a horrible move

[QUOTE]Eleven winning seasons out of 13 is a pretty good indication that you know how to assemble a basketball team.
[/QUOTE]

you have a star you should win. Not that impressive

[QUOTE]The fairest criticism of KOC, I think, is that he was slow to recognize the opportunity to step into a full rebuild post-DWill. The fact that the Jazz really had one foot in the competitive mindset and one foot in rebuilding for those last couple of KOC seasons made it harder to truly start the reset. That probably cost the 2011-2013 Jazz some valuable opportunities, and might have slowed the development of guys like Hayward and Favors.
[/QUOTE]

tank!!!!!!!!! :facepalm

[QUOTE]Sarah Todd: Quin Snyder says it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Rudy Gobert and Tony Bradley play together. – via Twitter NBASarah
[/QUOTE]

Good to hear. Bradley was playing with Willie Reed with the Stars and was playing on the perimeter. He can shoot which we've yet to see unleashed with the Jazz yet. Defensively would be the question. I'd think Rudy would have to play away from the basket with Bradley as the rim protector which would leave Rudy as the deadliest help defender in the league. They need more size. Be interesting to see if Brantley or Morgan or anyone else gets some run now with Bojan out. It's basically a new season and training camp so minutes should be up for grabs

Made a run with Bradley/Gobert starting the 2nd half. Probably the best they looked all night. Bradley missed on a couple of corner 3's badly but he can hit it. Gobert made a nice pass to Bradley for a dunk. Defense would be the bigger question but they should be able to play together at times. They need more size anyway they can get it

8 man rotation in the first half

[QUOTE]In fact, according to executives from two other teams, Thad Young, not LaVine, is the player considered most readily available. That’s largely based on Young’s displeasure with his role and usage last season, his team-friendly deal that carries only a partial guarantee in 2021-22 and his dependability and professionalism. – via K.C. Johnson @ NBC Sports
[/QUOTE]

this could make sense though it doesn't really work in the trade machine right now. That might change in the off season? Need a starting 4! I think the Jazz know based on Bradley starting the 2nd half. Beed to play Brantley and Morgan with Rudy and see what happens

[url]https://www.yahoo.com/sports/yahoo-sports-nba-2019-20-season-restart-team-previews-utah-jazz-112903688.html[/url]

[QUOTE]How much their partnership has to do with Utah’s underachievement this season is less clear, as Mitchell and Gobert respectively continued to perform at elite levels offensively and defensively throughout the season. Without them, the Jazz never would have been in line for a home playoff seed when the season stopped. Of greater concern was the performance and availability of Mike Conley, who cost the Jazz three straight first-round picks and a pair of potential rotational players in Jae Crowder and Kyle Korver.
[/QUOTE]

if Mitchell was elite defensively or offensively throughout the season they might be the team to beat

[QUOTE]If the Jazz have any chance of still making some playoff noise in the absence of Bogdanovic, it is with Conley assuming a greater offensive burden. His track record is evidence of his capability. Ingles will share some responsibility, but Conley as an upgrade over Ricky Rubio is the biggest difference between this Jazz team and the one that was run out of the gym by the Houston Rockets in last year’s first round.
[/QUOTE]

and Favors isn't spotting up from the corner and Jae isn't taking 8 3's a night...

[url]https://www.deseret.com/sports/2020/7/26/21272604/can-the-utah-jazz-keep-donovan-mitchell-rudy-gobert-supermax-nba-free-agency-coronavirus-nba[/url]

[QUOTE]But that’s exactly what an extension is — a prediction that a player will have value in future years. And that’s why from a team perspective, a young player like Mitchell is a better bet than Gobert.
[/QUOTE]

betting on potential over a guy that has proven he can carry a team?

[QUOTE]Let’s say, though, that the Jazz offer Gobert the supermax and sign Mitchell to a max extension, and down the line they run into a situation where they have to pay a luxury tax in order to build around the two stars.
[/QUOTE]

you know they aren't paying tax no matter how much they say they will

[QUOTE]The Jazz’s first order of business this offseason will likely be to get rid of Davis’ contract via trade. In doing so, they’ll want to make it so that whatever they bring back in salary is on a non-guaranteed contract that they can waive so it doesn’t count against the cap and they can open up that $5 million that Davis is currently occupying. The Jazz will probably let Mudiay walk if he wants anything more than a minimum contract, and they’ll deal with Brantley and Wright-Foreman in pretty quick fashion by either waiving or signing them to new two-way deals.
[/QUOTE]

good luck trading Davis for non guaranteed deals! Don't think it's that simple with Mudiay. They probably can't afford him because they are limited in what they can offer but if Clarkson goes I'd want to keep Mudiay. Doubt Brantley is back as a two way. He might be in the rotation. They've yet to have a guy as a two way for 2 years straight so I doubt Wright Forman is back unless it's on the regular roster

[QUOTE]The first, and most valuable exception to teams above the cap, is the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. Currently expected to be set at around $9.75 million next season, teams above the cap can use up to that amount on free agents so long as after the exception is used they do not go over the apron.
[/QUOTE]

who can you get for that to start at the 4? Either that or trade Conley or Bojan if you can

[QUOTE]The starting unit is not the issue with the Jazz. Once Bogdanovic returns from injury and the Jazz have a full season to really go for it, with Conley having more time to gel with everyone, it’s the bench that needs to be beefed up. Keeping Clarkson is the first step there, and getting some more athletic bodies and firepower could do the trick to keep the Jazz in the upper echelon of the Western Conference.
[/QUOTE]

Need a starting 4 and better d. I think they may be better without Bojan. He's a scorer/shooter not much else. Conley and Mitchell together isn't ideal either. Clarkson wasn't an ideal fit but he seems to be playing more within the system now that they've had a camp with him

Rudy was great in the last game and it was good to see the rookies pull out the win against veteran NBA players. Need to give Brantley and Morgan some run with Rudy and the top guys. They need more size starting at the 4!

[url]https://saltcityhoops.com/sc7-competitive-sans-bogey/[/url]

[QUOTE]One way the Jazz will cope with the Bojan Bogdanovic injury is by pairing Royce O’Neale with Joe Ingles more often — and that’s a good thing. So far this season, that duo has the best Net Rating of any Jazz player pair with at least 500 minutes together. They also have the best defensive rating at 103.92. That last stat isn’t a fluke, either; O’Neale-Ingles also had the best DRtg of any high-minute player combo last season, at 97.0 in 673 shared minutes. Those two are both long, tough, and understand the Jazz’s schemes extremely well. Deploying them together will be a big key for Snyder
[/QUOTE]

Be better if one of them was coming off the bench and they had a real NBA caliber starting PF

[QUOTE]Someone will have to step up for the Jazz not to have serious problems at the back of their rotation. Almost anybody they face in the playoffs is bound to have at least a couple of guys coming off their bench who have played major roles for playoff teams in the past: guys like Dennis Schroder, Austin Rivers, Eric Gordon, Lou Williams, Moe Harkless and more.
[/QUOTE]

imagine that. Contenders with vets instead of rookies. What a novel idea!

[QUOTE]Mitchell is second, with nine. Not surpring, since he’s the Jazz’s co-MVP.
[/QUOTE]

he's not co MVP :facepalm

[QUOTE]Bogey is right behind with eight. The Jazz will miss him in Orlando.
[/QUOTE]

I think they may be better without him. Better D and will still be able to space the floor

[url]https://saltcityhoops.com/big-offseason-questions-could-be-answered-in-the-bubble/[/url]

[QUOTE]The Jazz only have a couple unrestricted free agents this fall to worry about: Jordan Clarkson and Emmanuel Mudiay. Both of these guys will play a bigger role during the upcoming Restart and postseason due to the injury to Bojan Bogdanović. Rayjon Tucker and Juwan Morgan have partially guaranteed deals for next season, and the Jazz will have the ability to convert their two-way players, Jarrell Brantley and Justin Wright-Foreman, into restricted free agents. Brantley and Morgan might see some time in the bubble, because without Bogdanovic the Jazz get really small really quick.
[/QUOTE]

I think Morgan and Brantley should have gotten a look but it looks like Bradley is their first option to play bigger

[QUOTE]Last year the Jazz traded the beloved Derrick Favors to the Pelicans to clear cap space to sign Bogdanovic. This coming offseason Favors will be a free agent and The Athletics’ Tony Jones (who is close with Favors) reported on his podcast Game Notes that a reunion is possible. “I will say that there’s some interest there, I would say, both ways,” Jones said. Who wouldn’t want to see Favors back in a Jazz uniform? The Jazz would have to use their mid-level exception since they don’t have the cap space to sign him outright.
[/QUOTE]

doesn't make much sense to me. Need a 4 that can spread the floor and Bradley is the backup 5

[QUOTE]Last season’s mid-level was worth around $9 million but as of now it’s anybody’s guess as to how much it will be worth next season. If it’s much lower than this, signing Favors back will become more difficult and unlikely. The other aspect to consider before signing Favors is that the Jazz already have a young developing backup center behind Rudy Gobert. Tony Bradley has been the talk of this midseason mini training camp in Orlando. If he shows well during the playoff run, the Jazz may want to use their mid-level on another position, like adding some size at the power forward spot behind Bogdanovic.
[/QUOTE]

Need a starting 4

[QUOTE]Reports out of the Disney Bubble are that Conley looks much more comfortable and should have a huge impact on this team’s playoff run. If Conley struggles then the question will arise again whether the Jazz should try to trade him. This could be tough because of the unknown offseason and the size of his contract. One thing to remember is during the 2021 summer, it will be the offseason of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s free agency. This is when Conley’s contract comes off the books and many teams who are targeting Antekokounmpo will need to clear a lot of cap space in order to sign him. Having a large expiring contract like Conley’s could be quite appealing. So if the Jazz feel they don’t have a chance at Antetokounmpo and Conley still isn’t fitting in well, trying to turn him into something else would be a wise move.
[/QUOTE]

I think they should look at dealing Conley because he's not the ideal fit next to Mitchell and Bojan because he doesn't do much besides shoot and score. Get a starting 4, maybe another wing and pg(if they can't keep Mudiay). The rest would be gravy

[QUOTE]Since the Jazz don’t have much cap space to spend this offseason, they will have to look for smaller contracts. Without Bogdanovic, they Jazz will start 6-foot-4 Royce O’Neale at power forward. The Jazz could use more depth, size and skill at that position. A few names to watch in the bubble are Dario Saric, a playmaking four, who hasn’t been the same player since his trade away from Philadelphia (who can blame him since his stops were in Minnesota and Phoenix?). Sacramento’s Harry Giles could be a good option as a combo power forward/center. Miami’s Derrick Jones Jr. has had a surprise season for them. A return of Jae Crowder or Marvin Williams could make some sense for the Jazz. Lastly, a low risk/high reward guy is Memphis’ Josh Jackson, the former high lottery pick of the Suns. He’s been a borderline bust so far but once he was called up from the G-League, he was making a difference for the Grizzlies.
[/QUOTE]

Giles doesn't shoot the 3. Is he better than Bradley, Morgan or Brantley? Jones doesn't shoot the 3 well. Crowder isn't a starting 4. Marvin might make more sense now than he did before but I wasn't a fan then. Jackson hasn't shot the 3 well and is a headcase. Not a guy I see them interested in. Looks like Saric and Marvin out of those guys. Give me Saric assuming you don't get a 4 in a trade

[QUOTE]The Jazz would be more than happy to give him the regular max deal (up to 30 percent of the cap) but would Gobert’s camp be on board with this during these unprecedented times?
[/QUOTE]

Ideally you pay him more than other teams can pay him and everyone is happy. If he's smart he will go where they are all in and don't just say they are with 6 rookies

[url]https://saltcityhoops.com/constraint-theory-why-the-jazz-could-thrive-in-the-bubble/[/url]

[QUOTE]Hayward’s departure and the resulting identity crisis were a constraint. Yet head coach Quin Snyder and the Utah Jazz stunned everyone. They picked up a wide-eyed rookie replacement from the Nuggets draft factory, took on a new identity, and found a way to win more playoff games than the previous year. Without the constraint of Hayward’s departure, the ball would not have been in the hands of Donovan Mitchell so frequently that early in his career, which means his development would have been stunted. Losing the Jazz’s biggest asset in a decade actually worked to their benefit.
[/QUOTE]

No mention of the 3rd most important man in Jazz history. :facepalm

[url]https://saltcityhoops.com/a-whole-new-game-conleys-return-to-form-could-help-utah-fill-a-void/[/url]

[QUOTE]While many expected Conley to step in as the second offensive option behind Donovan Mitchell, it was Bogdanovic who stepped into the role[/QUOTE]

thats how I expected it. Bojan is a scorer that does little else. Conley is a playmaker that can score

[QUOTE]However, unknown to most, Bogdanovic was playing with a ruptured scapholunate ligament in his wrist from an injury he sustained early in the season. On May 19, while the league was still assessing its options for a resumption of the season, Bogdanovic had surgery to repair the ligament and officially ended his season. While this was a smart long-term decision, it means Bogdanovic won’t participate in the NBA Restart, leaving the Jazz without one of their major offensive contributors. It begs the question: how that void will be filled.
[/QUOTE]

why didn't he have the surgery in March so he could have possibly made it back?

[url]https://www.sltrib.com/sports/jazz/2020/07/30/triple-team-donovan/[/url]

[QUOTE]The Jazz don’t have a lot of options at these positions. Sure, I guess Jarrell Brantley or Juwan Morgan could play those minutes. But as much as those guys don’t necessarily feature the negative that Niang and Bradley do, their positives aren’t as strong either. When Niang’s shot is going, he’s a legitimate microwave off the bench, spacing things so Clarkson can go to work. Bradley’s big screens allow the Jazz’s offense to operate: Morgan just isn’t as effective at that.
[/QUOTE]

Morgan looked good in the few stints he got. Only negative on Brantley is his shooting and he can shoot albeit inconsistently. It's a shame they didn't even get a look with the rotation in pre season. One of them needs to start at the 4. Puts Ingles or O'Neale on the bench and they aren't so small anymore since they chose to pay Davis instead of a starting 4 and chose to carry 6 rookies on a team that was supposedly playing for a title

[QUOTE]That Jazz transition defense number isn’t good enough. We talked about how Mudiay left Redick open from deep in transition, but Mudiay wasn’t alone. The Jazz have struggled in consistently finding a man running back since coming to Orlando, especially the bench. It’s a relatively easy point of improvement, and given how effective their defense can be in the halfcourt, one that would pay off in a big way.
[/QUOTE]

struggled all year. Should be better without Bojan

[url]https://saltcityhoops.com/jazz-basketball-is-back[/url]

[QUOTE]The 14 previous minutes that fivesome played together before Thursday came over five different games. In a very limited sample, the combination looks like it works, posting a +21.3 Net Rating before the restart and the insane +48.6 last night. Of course, having a starting lineup that dominates like that and barely winning the game means that the lineups featuring reserves were not what one might hope. The Jazz bench needs help.
[/QUOTE]

Need a starting pf and O'Neale or Ingles on the bench for starters

[url]https://www.deseret.com/sports/2020/7/31/21345012/in-the-nba-bubble-the-young-players-at-the-end-of-the-utah-jazz-bench-are-more-important-than-ever[/url]

[QUOTE]“One of the biggest things they’ve done is they’ve defended,” he said. “Particularly in a practice situation like this to have guys come in and really guard, it challenges our rotational guys to make plays and to be really good and have to make reads because the defense is good. That’s been a big help.”
[/QUOTE]

maybe you should play some of them than? Doesn't make much sense to me. Snyder has always played rookies even when they hadn't earned it. They have a big hole at the 4 and issues with the bench. Morgan and Brantley at least should have gotten a look in pre season and Oni and Tucker could add much needed size and length as well. It was impressive that they kept the lead in two pre season games against vets

[QUOTE]That group also includes Tony Bradley, who is also one of the Jazz’s younger players and before this season spent much of his time in the G League. Now, Bradley is a regular rotational player coming in as backup for Rudy Gobert.
[/QUOTE]

he's the youngest :coleman:

[url]https://www.sltrib.com/sports/2020/08/01/triple-team-response-okc/[/url]

[QUOTE]They played with blinders on. This is Mitchell’s third shot of the night. Shot clock is running down, but passes up his own open shot and a simple swing pass to Joe Ingles who has an open three. Instead, Mitchell drives into traffic and gets swatted easily.
[/QUOTE]

I noticed that too. Looks like it might have ended up swinging to O'Neale the corner too. They were trying to move the ball for a bit at the beginnign of the 2nd half. Clarkson looked better in pre season but is now back to his selfish play. He shouldn't be the number one option with Mitchell, Conley and Gobert on the floor!

[QUOTE]Literally every other Jazzman is open, all five Thunder players are in the paint. Mitchell has a delightful buffet of options here: the lob to Rudy Gobert, the short kickout to Joe Ingles, one of the league’s best corner 3-point shooters, the long pass to Mike Conley, good shooter, or even, if he wants to make it tough, the turn and throw to Georges Niang, also a good 3-point shooter.
[/QUOTE]

those options are always there and sometimes even a 5 who can shoot in Bradley or Morgan who I thought looked good again in the few quality minutes he got

[QUOTE]Remember when the Jazz beat the Thunder in a playoff series three years ago? They did that by taking advantage of Oklahoma City’s aggressive defense, getting open shot after open shot. When they collapse, it’s time to move the ball. Instead, the Jazz ballhandlers just kept it. At one point, I started trying to keep track of how often an open 3-point shooter had his hands up asking for the ball only to be ignored, and quickly gave up on that idea: it happened almost every possession.
[/QUOTE]

they haven't been shooting well and against the Pelicans they could get to the rim at will so that may have something to do with it

[QUOTE]He ended up with a -14 Saturday after getting a -15 on Thursday. I didn’t think the first game plus-minus was his fault, but rather was due to the underperforming Mudiay, Georges Niang, and Tony Bradley. (Those guys underperformed Saturday too, by the way. The Jazz’s bench is... not good.)
[/QUOTE]

time to let someone else play than. Morgan looked good yet again

[QUOTE]Look, the Jazz need Clarkson’s scoring off the bench, so him being aggressive is usually a good thing. But on that opportunity, Mitchell, Conley, Ingles, and Gobert were all out on the floor with him. Get a better shot than that, especially after making only four of your last 16 shots.
[/QUOTE]

that's the problem. He's playing even more with Bojan out. He should be 4th option with those guys on the floor with him

[QUOTE]If that were the only shot like that, I’d spare him the complaint, but Clarkson absolutely dribbled the air out of the ball, using precious shot clock seconds to maneuver around the floor. Attack, move the defense, and find the open man. Easier said than done, but the attempt needs to be made.
[/QUOTE]

that's how he always plays and people seem to love him for it usually. Ready to pay him big money despite their bigger need at the 4

[QUOTE]Low passes are tough for any big, but Gobert is particularly bad at it. He does have poor hands down low, and he’s always expecting the pass high. That’s partially because he’s been coached to do so, partially because he’s a 7-foot-1 physical freak. He needs to be ready to do stuff with his hands high, not low.
[/QUOTE]

he's ok down low to an extent. off his shins he's not though!

[url]https://www.deseret.com/sports/2020/8/2/21351379/utah-jazz-mailbag-what-happened-to-the-blender-have-the-jazz-lost-their-identity[/url]

[QUOTE]Yes, Jordan Clarkson is guilty of this, but so was every other guard/wing on the team, and Clarkson is a player that seems to play as the rest of the team is. If Donovan Mitchell, Joe Ingles, Royce O’Neale, George Niang, and Emmanuel Mudiay are all resorting to playing iso ball, Clarkson is going to also, and it’s doubtful that if he’d passed the ball more on Saturday that the recipient would have done anything other than just isolate and drive.
[/QUOTE]

I've only seen Clarkson play one way

[QUOTE]I understand that Snyder is a defense-first coach and that he expects for his team to let the defense dictate the game, especially with two-time DPOY Rudy Gobert on the roster, but it might be time to accept that this team, the 2019-20 squad, just doesn’t have the same juice that others before it have had. A middling defense is concerning, especially when the offense doesn’t look that great either.
[/QUOTE]

Is he really a defense first coach? Without Rudy we've never much D from them

[QUOTE]I guess they could be considered a fast-paced 3-point shooting team, but without Bojan Bogdanovic on the floor and with hesitation to shoot from some of the other players, along with streaky outings across the board, it’s hard for that to be their identity.
[/QUOTE]

they aren't fast paced. They were the best offensive team in the league after the changes to their bench. Bojan's absence shouldn't change them that much at that end. Be more worried about the D

[url]https://www.sltrib.com/sports/jazz/2020/08/03/triple-team-jazz-do/[/url]

[QUOTE]That’s long been among Quin Snyder’s philosophies. He noticed that the high-turnover teams were actually frequently near the top of the offensive rating leaderboards, and concluded that some turnovers are okay if they come in the context of good offense. Tonight, I think we saw that — and again, the shots just didn’t fall.
[/QUOTE]

but the offense hasn't been good except for the end of Hayward's last year and this year after they made the changes to the bench. Turnovers have always been high under Snyder

[QUOTE]You’d have to believe that avoiding the Rockets would be priority No. 1. I think no one on the Jazz wants to face the Rockets again, and likely lose to them again. But then again, they just got blown out by OKC. We’ll see how they fare against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, but you can argue the current No. 3 seed is their most favorable matchup. Sliding down to No. 6 also would mean the Jazz would avoid the Lakers until the Western Conference Finals.
[/QUOTE]

They lost to Houston because of bad offense. Different team now

[QUOTE]Truthfully, it may not matter much — the Jazz might just be undermanned either way after Bogdanovic’s injury. But doesn’t that just maximize the importance of facing someone you have a fighting chance against?
[/QUOTE]

not convinced they can't be better without Bojan. They looked good tonite. Shots weren't falling

[url]https://saltcityhoops.com/salt-city-seven-basketball-in-a-crazy-world-playoff-picture-patient-conley-more/[/url]

[QUOTE]The flip side, of course, is that Utah’s bench has, um, not been good. All four of the Jazz’s regular reserves have double-digit negative Net Ratings in the bubble. Emmanuel Mudiay has the best (or least bad, anyway) at -16.9, while Tony Bradley has posted a -44.8. Jordan Clarkson has scored a bunch, but on efficiency that is far below average, and his defense has been next-level bad in Disney World. And Georges Niang suddenly can’t make shots, easily his best NBA skill. Quin Snyder gave Juwan Morgan a chance on Saturday night, albeit in a blowout. Of the deep reserves, Morgan seems most likely to get a chance to crash the rotation. He has 81 NBA minutes to his name, but if the bench continues to struggle the way they are now, eventually the door will crack open for somebody.
[/QUOTE]

appears it has. Mice to see him playing the 4 finally! Of course he went back to Niang in the 2nd half