2014-2015 regular season!

[QUOTE]

[QUOTE]Christopher is a 26-year-old wing who played collegiately at California before embarking on an international hoops career.

He's played in Turkey (2012-13) and in France (2011-12), where he was Jazz center Rudy Gobert's teammate with Cholet Basket.[/QUOTE]

He knows Rudy! Wonder how much French or Turkish he speaks?

[QUOTE]In 2013-14, he averaged 13.6 points for Iowa and was named to the D-League's All-Defensive second team. He also participated in the league's 3-point contest.

The Jazz announced that Christopher will wear No. 19. He is the 12th D-League call-up in team history and the 10th player in the NBA to be brought up this season.

EMAIL: [email]jody@desnews.com[/email]

TWITTER: DJJazzyJody[/QUOTE]

3 and D! Sounds like he might just be a non guaranteed contract that they can use for a trade.

[QUOTE]Alec Burks

[QUOTE]Utah has a young, talented team with a young, talented coach. But young takes a beating in the west. The 6-16 Jazz are already almost hopelessly out of the playff chase, but would be just four games out of the eigth playoff spot in the east.[/QUOTE]

4 games is still a lot this early in the year. They'd have an easier schedule though too.

[QUOTE]The Jazz’s mirror image in the east might be the Milwaukee Bucks, with rookie sensation Jabari Parker and Jason Kidd in his first year on the Milwaukee bench. The Bucks are 11-12 and are in sixth place in the east. If the regular season ended today, they would be postseason-bound.[/QUOTE]

Don't see them as a mirror image.

[QUOTE]This is the Jazz’s sobering reality. They face really tough, Western Conference competition in the vast majority of their games. Just another reason why Utah’s rebuild is going to take time and patience. It has as much to do with where they play as anything else.

"It’s an eye-opener to see the great teams and the great players that you come across on a regular basis," Snyder said. "As we go through the process, we certainly know that we have our work cut out for us."

Things are so tough in the west that just 31/2 games separate the Mavericks from the conference-leading Warriors. Golden State is off to a terrific 18-2 start, but it’s just one prolonged losing streak away from fighting for its postseason life in the west. There are no nights off, just a bunch of talented teams jockeying for position over the course of 82 games.

"This is how it’s been for 10 years," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "But this year, it’s as good as I’ve ever seen it."[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE]Defense is important.

It wins championships, they say.

But if you want a shot at making the Utah Jazz

[QUOTE]Christopher is known for being a wing who can defend and score on the perimeter. He averaged 15.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists for Iowa this season. Although capable offensively, Jazz management told him his main priority is defense.[/QUOTE]

He should have a real shot. They need shooting, D and help on the wing. He's a bit older than most of their players too.

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[QUOTE]the Utah Jazz are rebuilding. [/QUOTE]

tanking actually

[QUOTE]The main point of a rebuild is to get better players than the ones your already have. Some teams can do this with trades. Others do it through free agency. The Utah Jazz, though, have to start with the draft. Getting good young players means, most of the time, that you have to be really bad, lose a lot of games, and get good draft picks. The other thing you need to do is have a great scouting department so you don't blow it when it's your turn to select someone. Of course, the next step is playing those guys, teaching them, and giving them experience so that they can fulfill their destiny and be better than the players you had at the beginning of this process.

That's how you rebuild. The Jazz are years into their rebuild. Two players are in their first year after their rookie contract, and that's year five of their NBA careers: Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward. Two players are in the last year of their rookie contracts, year four of their careers, one has gotten an extension from the Jazz in Alec Burks, the other has not and will be a restricted free agent this summer, Enes Kanter. To be fair, I do not believe that those four players are a) as good as they are eventually going to be, and b) probably not as experienced as they should be going into their 5th and 4th seasons in the NBA. This is a failure of the last step mentioned above.

As a result, the Jazz are still rebuilding, with a Phase 2 rebuild YEARS after the point where they should have started. (Very few teams with high potential lotto picks decide to keep them on the bench for years in this current era of NBA basketball) [/QUOTE]

And that's a big problem. Guys that earn the time should play. That's the biggest problem with Trey right now. He hasn't shown he's an NBA caliber starter but he's starting just because. The other guys had to earn it somewhat anyway. The fact they have their own DLeague team playing the same style of basketball gives them no excuse now either.

[QUOTE]Phase 2 started with two 1st rounders in the 2013 Draft, Trey Burke and Rudy Gobert, and continued with another two 1st rounders in the 2014 Draft, Dante Exum and Rodney Hood.

If you add it up, though, this is a young team that is inexperienced. (No doy why we only have 6 wins!) But it's a super young team where 9 of the 15 players on it are under 25.[/QUOTE]

They are young but why also don't have the shooters or defenders to play the type of ball they are playing.

[QUOTE]Utah Jazz 2014 2015 Roster by Age

So...... ESPN's three headed monster of Kevin Pelton, David Thorpe, and Amin Elhassan decided that only three of them are among the NBA's Top 25 players under the age 25. (In$ider). Because I'm a nice guy, I'll fill you in on what they had to say:

11. Derrick Favors / Age: 23 / Jazz
Projected 3-year WARP: 16.8

Pelton: Improved floor spacing in Quin Snyder's offense has helped Favors set career highs in both usage (22.2 percent of the Jazz's possessions) and true shooting percentage (.593).[/QUOTE]

Yes they are using him a lot better. Until he shows he can defend the 4 or 5 than who cares really though? Gobert should be higher than anyone on the Jazz .

[QUOTE]Thorpe: Favors has made a jump as a scorer, which moves him up on this list with another year to go. Right now he is a good defender and can be a good team's second-best scorer, with room to grow.[/QUOTE]

He's a crappy teams 2nd option now. Don't really see him as that on a good team.

[QUOTE]Elhassan: His progression has not happened as quickly as I anticipated, but he's still a high-level rebounder and shot-blocker who is making strides on the offensive end.

12. Gordon Hayward / Age: 24 / Jazz
Projected 3-year WARP: 17.3

Pelton: Hayward will be 25 in March, and similar players were about at their peak by that age. It's OK if Hayward continues performing like he has this season, as he ranks in the league's top 30 in both RPM and WARP.

Thorpe: He's enjoying a career year, as players entering their prime years should be. Can help an offense as both a scorer and passer while bringing great energy to the game, which is not a small thing.

Elhassan: Nice all-round talent who can dribble, pass and shoot, but I wonder whether Hayward can take the next step toward greatness. If he can't, the Jazz will need to add someone who can lead them there.[/QUOTE]

Not sure he can get a lot better. They are using him better to. He'll have to become more consistent to step up anymore and he's always been streaky.

[QUOTE]23. Dante Exum / Age: 19 / Jazz
Projected 3-year WARP: 1.5

Pelton: After a strong start, Exum has shot just 24.2 percent since Nov. 21, including 2-of-14 from 3-point range. SCHOENE includes Tony Parker among his comparables, but the closest match is Indiana Pacers wing C.J. Miles.[/QUOTE]
Ouch! He's already better than CJ. Got the BB IQ that CJ lacks.

[QUOTE]Thorpe: Maybe the best example of upside versus downside on this list, but his abilities as an athlete and passer suggest a big future. We don't know if he will be a great scorer, which would lower his ceiling significantly if he doesn't turn out to be. As a plus, he's young enough to be on this list for five more seasons.[/QUOTE]

He looks like a guy that will be able to score but rather he has that mentality I'm not sure. Assists and D and solid, smart play at the very least.

[QUOTE]Elhassan: Of all the players on the Jazz roster, Exum has the highest upside. He is in the first few steps of a thousand-mile journey of development, but as Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee showed last season, the light can turn on sooner than expected.

So there you have it, the Jazz are rebuilding and have three players with potential who are young, and they are getting recognized right now. But is three enough? What if one doesn't become a star? Does that make the rebuild a failure? The Jazz have a lot of youth right now . . . will any of the overlooked players make a jump?[/QUOTE]

None are stars yet. That's why the tank continues but next year cap wise it says it's time to start competing.

[QUOTE]Maybe this is just Jazz-fan DNA, and my anti-ESPN bias against their Jazz / small market bias is flaring up, but I think that more than just three of our guys have the ability to make a list of people under 25. Maybe a Top 30 list, as the actual ESPN Top 25 list is pretty solid.

We'll see.

I think the Jazz front office is doing their part during this rebuild. And they finally got a coach who is on board with it too. Results will follow. But seriously, in a year or two Alec Burks or Enes Kanter better be better than Draymond Green![/QUOTE]

Kanter likely won't be a Jazz man and Green as a stretch 4 is highly valuable in today's game.

[QUOTE]In 23 games, the Jazz have had a 1st quarter deficit 14 times.
In 23 games, the Jazz have been outscored in the 2nd quarter 17 times.
In 23 games, the Jazz have been losing at halftime 17 times.
In 23 games, the Jazz have scored more points than their opponent in the 3rd quarter 16 times.

In 23 games, the Jazz have eventually been outscored in the 4th quarter 16 times.

In 23 games, the Jazz have been losing at the end of the 4th quarter 17 times.
So sure, these are individual instances, so maybe you

[QUOTE]Poor 1st half followed by awesome comeback with a furious finish. It sure is entertaining and it is a great learning experience for this team.[/QUOTE]
It's entertaining if they compete and make a ball game of it. That's all I ask. I know their roster has lots of holes. But mostly they've been getting blown out unlike the middle of last year.

[QUOTE]On the final in bound play the Heat front block each player on their route and down 3 you can

[QUOTE]At 3 p.m., the training staff told Miami coach Erik Spoelstra that Dwyane Wade was sick and probably would not be able to play.[/QUOTE]
:cry:

[QUOTE]A few hours later Wade was in the Heats starting lineup ready to go.

Wade had only eaten half a bowl of chicken noodle soup in the past 24 hours but summoned the energy to score a season-high 29 points, including three free throws in the final 9 seconds, to help Miami beat the Utah Jazz 100-95 on Friday night.

"He dug deep tonight. We all just appreciated that he was just out there with his spirit but then to have a game like that was tremendous," Spoelstra said.

Wade made 10 of 16 shots and recorded seven assists, despite his illness.

"You don't ever want to be sick at all, but I do know when you have an injury or if you're sick, it makes you focus a bit better," Wade said.

Chris Bosh had 22 points and Luol Deng added 14 for the Heat, who closed a five-game road swing on a winning note after losing five of their previous six.

Enes Kanter scored 25 points, Gordon Hayward had 18 and Alec Burks 16 for Utah, which has lost 10 of its last 11 games.

Wade's final free throw attempt with 5.2 seconds remaining rimmed out, leaving the score 98-95 and giving the Jazz a chance to tie. However, Joe Ingles failed to get the ball inbounds within 5 seconds after a time out, turning the ball back over to the Heat.

"I knew they were trying to go to Hayward at the top of the key. I just wanted to be on top of him and change his route so he'd be in the 2 area, instead of the 3. As soon I saw them line up, we knew the play and put ourselves in position to stop it," Deng said.

Norris Cole was then fouled and made both free throws with 2.1 seconds remaining for the final margin.

Bosh broke a nearly 4-minute drought with a jumper at the 58-second mark to put Miami in front, 95-89.

"We felt like we could salvage the road trip with a solid win tonight but we knew it wasn't going to be easy. Defensively, we answered the bell," Bosh said.

The Heat had to overcome a rare out-of-bounds travel by Deng and four quick points by Hayward along with a layup by Rodney Hood before the last-gasp inbounding gaffe.

After the Jazz trimmed the edge to one point in the fourth quarter, Wade and Mario Chalmers made back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Heat back in command until the final minute.

Down by 16 points in the third quarter, the Jazz stormed back behind the slim, shot-blocking combo of Jeremy Evans and Rudy Gobert. Dante Exum's 3-pointer at the end of the period completed a 15-3 run and closed the gap to 78-74.

Wade had scored 20 or more points in nine consecutive games but then had two subpar outings, before the outburst against the Jazz.

"Why shots started falling now, when I felt bad, no one knows," Wade said.

Early on, the Heat encountered little resistance to their drive-and-dish offense, which produced open shots in the first half. Miami shot 63 percent and led 62-47 at the break.

"We are getting a slow start and playing catch up. We have enough talent to beat every team in every quarter. But it's tough," Kanter said.

The Heat finished 50 percent from the field.

___

TIP-INS

Heat: Miami's 62 first-half points were the most the Heat have scored in an away game this season and the 63 percent shooting was the best of any half. [/QUOTE]

A other team with highs against the vaunted Jazz D! :rolleyes:

[QUOTE]... Starting PF Josh McRoberts missed the game with a bruised right knee and Chris Andersen was out with a sprained right ankle. ... Justin Hamilton, who played high school in Utah, filled in for McRoberts and had nine points, including two key baskets in the fourth quarter.

Jazz: Favors limped off the court for the locker room after twisting his right ankle in the first quarter and did not return. The Jazz have gone 0-10 without Favors in the lineup over the past two years. ... The Jazz outrebounded the Heat 44-35. ... Without Favors for much of the game, Gobert posted a season highs in rebounds (11) and career highs in blocks (5) and assists (4).

UP NEXT

Heat: Host Chicago on Sunday.

Jazz: At Washington on Sunday.

Copyright

[QUOTE]"I was doing jumping jacks," said Heat guard Dwyane Wade. "Jumping as high as I can just so he couldn

[QUOTE]Derrick Favors sprained his ankle in the first quarter against the Heat. He left EnergySolutions Arena in a walking boot, and his status is unclear for Sunday

[QUOTE]Rudy Gobert started and played significant minutes in the second half. [/QUOTE]

The difference was probably Quin not playing him at the end of the first half with 2 fouls.

[QUOTE]With him on the floor, the lanes to the basket closed. He was an elite rim protector, blocking five shots. His presence in the paint allowed the Jazz to more effectively guard the perimeter.

This wasn

[QUOTE]Patrick Christopher, the 6-foot-5 Utah Jazz guard just signed out of the D-League, was inactive for Friday

[QUOTE]To make matters worse, the Jazz had lost center Derrick Favors.

With two minutes left in the first quarter Friday night at EnergySolutions Arena, Favors limped off the floor, wincing in pain. The fifth-year big man and the team