2014-2015 regular season!

[QUOTE]Nets Daily: Woj says Jazz interest in AK-47 never real, teams never talked Twitter @NetsDaily [/QUOTE]

of course not. why would they want to compete?

:facepalm

[QUOTE]Jazz held the Spurs to just 96 points in 94 possessions. Given the state of the defense during the losing streak, I was beginning to believe that the Jazz would never be able to defend well.2But over the last 2 games, progress has been made with a 104 DRtg against the Kings, and a 102 DRtg against the Spurs. These were teams that were missing their best offensive players, but at least they showed that they were capable of a good performance on the defensive end.

In particular, I thought holding Ginobili to 3-17 shooting was a massive success, and a team effort to boot. To show this, I watched all of Manu

[QUOTE]Sacramento winning sans Cousins has been another disheartening trend during this nine-game losing streak. Many of the Jazz

Jazz To Sign Patrick Christopher

Dec 10, 2014 1:16 AM EST

The Utah Jazz are lining up the call up of Patrick Christopher from the NBA D-League.

Christopher went to training camp with the Memphis Grizzlies this season and has since played for the Iowa Energy.

Doesn't look like much of a pick-up on paper. Be 27 in June so he'll be another rookie/vet presence. Shoots the 3 at 6'5" from the small forward position. Hasn't done that much since the first 3 games in the D-league. Maybe he is a D and 3 guy? Had 5 assists in one game too.

[QUOTE]his was a complete effort. Everyone had a part and the guys stayed engaged for the complete 48 minutes. The Spurs were run less for almost the entire. At no point did the Jazz let the game get away.[/QUOTE]

Everyone but Trey anyway. Could say he played good D but without Parker did he?

[QUOTE]Key portion of the game was early 2ndquarter when Gordon Hayward went out of the game and the Jazz were able to score. The Jazz have not been able to score for most of the season with Hayward on the bench and this prevented the Jazz from having the second quarter collapse.

The Spurs only hit 4 three pointers the whole night and only 1 in the 2ndhalf. Tony Parker being out of the game restricted the ability of the Spurs to collapse the defense and get it out to shooters. At the same time there were numerous plays where the Jazz cut off the penetration with good help defense and still got out to bother the shooter.[/QUOTE]

And plenty of open misses.

[QUOTE]Derrick Favors really impressed me tonight. He struggled against Tim Duncan early and only increased his effort and desire to impact the game. This is a hard night for a big like Favors. They play solid defense. They slip lanes are not there. They protect the rim. They don

[QUOTE]the Jazz and their fans will be hoping it might signal a turning point, perhaps a good omen of, hopefully, better days ahead for this struggling ballclub.[/QUOTE]

Like Snyder taking over the team?

[QUOTE]After all, Tuesday night's 100-96 victory over the defending NBA champion Spurs not only snapped Utah's woeful nine-game losing streak

[QUOTE]They did this sometimes last year, too, dangling a carrot and then pulling back.
[/QUOTE]
teams are going to have good and bad nights. Jazz had a good one and the Spurs had a bad one. The Jazz aren't suddenly a deep, talented, and veteran team though.

[QUOTE]“It’s just growth,” said forward Derrick Favors.

But so far, this has been the mode for the still-learning Jazz: Show up for grand opening but take a break during the digging.

As happy as the win made coach Quin Snyder, he must at times be grinding his teeth. His team can soar with the eagles but also wallow with the pigs.

Snyder’s response: Stick with them. They’re getting there. He just wishes Jazz fans would please put away their stopwatches.

Last year’s 57-loss result was excruciating for fans, the worst in Utah since Jeff Wilkins and Ben Poquette inhabited the paint. The last two weeks gave way to a curious numbness.[/QUOTE]

The same fans calling for the tank so they could get their big potential superstar? It's funny. People want them to win and lose at the same time.

[QUOTE]“The picture for us is a big picture,” Snyder told Salt Lake beat reporters on Monday.

Good thing for them they finally got a snapshot from a different angle.

What the kind of a future the Jazz have is still the question. When they broke up the Al Jefferson-Paul Millsap group after the 2012-13 season, it was clear they were taking a chance. But management knew their ceiling with the old group: an annual one-and-done playoff appearance.[/QUOTE]

They didn't know the ceiling with one of the best PF's in basketball and another guy in Demarre that every team should want. Obviously a team built around Al ball isn't going anywhere. But this team with Millsap and Demarre could be looking pretty good. Still have a big ole at pg but maybe they'd have a vet and/or Neto? Gobert, Millsap, Neto and Tomic for 2015!

[QUOTE]So they started over with kids, and lots of them. Derrick Favors, Gordon Hayward and Enes Kanter gave way to Dante Exum, Rudy Gobert, Rodney Hood and Trey Burke. Last year’s horrendous 1-14 start developed into to this year’s 5-16 launch. Going into Tuesday’s game, the Jazz were only one game better than a last year’s pace.[/QUOTE]

But they're definitely better this year! :rolleyes:

[QUOTE]They lost to a changing Dallas, a weak modest Sacramento and an Oklahoma City with its liver and kidneys removed.

Yet Tuesday they arrived looking conspicuously feisty. They blocked five Spurs shots and traded baskets throughout the first half. But the Spurs were crafty as ever. With the Jazz up by one, Tim Duncan took an entry pass with his back to the basket. He didn’t turn around, didn’t fake either. He just flipped a no-look shot over his head. Derrick Favors recovered in time to take a swat at the ball but was whistled for goal tending.

It was a move Duncan wouldn’t have considered back when he was young and locomotives were new.

But the other really old Spur, Manu Ginobili (37), didn’t fare as well. He missed 14 of 17 shots and had four turnovers. Even so, he got eight assists and two steals.

That’s the Spurs: Even when they’re bad, they’re good.

The Jazz led by 10 with a 1

[QUOTE]Dan McCarney: Most impressive part of Enes Kanter's performance last night - he left the arena in Utah in December without a coat. Twitter @danmccarneySAEN - See more at: [url]http://*********.com/rumors.htm#sthash.5KbDVUcD.dpuf[/url][/QUOTE]

Getting sick would be real smart
:confusedshrug:

[QUOTE]just over 20 games into the Dante Exum era, just over a season into the Trey Burke era[/QUOTE]

My guess is the Burke era won't last more than a couple more years unless he eventually accepts a reserve role which he probably won't initially until he figures out no one else in the league sees him as a starter.

[QUOTE] just getting into the maturing stages of the Enes Kanter and Alec Burks era, just past the rookie contracts of the Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward era.[/QUOTE]

The Kanter era is probably coming to a close sadly. I hope they they at least take a good look at him and Gobert together before they decide.

[QUOTE]Or are they just past the Tyrone Corbin era? Stop me, now, please.[/QUOTE]

The Ty era ended the year before they just didn't want to pay two coaches last year.

[QUOTE]Jazz fans have been waiting on draft picks to build this roster since Kevin O

[QUOTE]San Antonio worked the offense that stands as an example for the Jazz and for half the teams in the league, all of whom are trying to replicate it.[/QUOTE]

That's a big part of the problem. They don't have the players. You got to have guys that can shoot and defend.

[QUOTE]The key word, the problematic word, there: trying.

The great point guard/philosopher Yoda said: "Do or do not. There is no try."

In the literal sense, in the case here, wrong the veteran small man is.

At this particular point of development, try is most of what the Jazz can offer. There isn

[QUOTE]The Jazz remain the third-worst defensive team in the league, allowing just under 110 points per 100 possessions. But over the past two games, a loss in Sacramento and a much-needed win over the defending champion Spurs, that number has been a more respectable 102.1.[/QUOTE]

Moving on up! 102 I believe is still horrible.

[QUOTE]Utah held the Spurs to under 100 points in part by blocking seven shots and forcing five steals. And while Snyder said Derrick Favors remains an "obvious" leader and the "anchor of our defense," [/QUOTE]

:roll:

[QUOTE] the Jazz will need what Hayward can provide if it

[QUOTE]playing without star point guard Tony Parker, Duncan had little help. [/QUOTE]

Whatever. They had some guys doing some things. Jazz had everyone play well though except for their leader Trey.

[QUOTE]Leonard scored 16 points, but was held in check by Hayward for much of the evening. Manu Ginobili scored 10 points, but went 3-17 from the field. [/QUOTE]

He did some other stuff too.

[QUOTE]The Spurs shot 4 of 20 from 3-point range, and they missed nine free throws.

Those factors were enough for the Jazz to pull off the win, improbable because Utah was playing on consecutive nights and the team hadn

[QUOTE]Joseph Goodman: Kenneth Faried appears to be a go tonight for Jazz-Heat. Utah w/out Gallinari, Nate Robinson and JaVale McGee. McBob questioned for Heat. Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr [/QUOTE]

:roll:

[QUOTE]Enes Kanter had 12 points and 15 rebounds. Meanwhile, the Turkish big man, who has often been criticized for his defensive deficiencies, had a team-best defensive rating of 82.2 in 30 minutes on the floor.[/QUOTE]

:eek: He's been looking better and better. Start playing him and Favors with Gobert and see which is the best fit moving forward.

[QUOTE]Coincidentally, it would be the third time in franchise history the Jazz snapped a nine-game losing streak with a win over the San Antonio Spurs. It happened before in the 1983 and 2005 seasons.

The win helped Utah avoid the team