Draft day, free agency, training camp, pre season...

[QUOTE]The Utah Jazz are one of the few teams to have announced plans to start the season with fans in the arena, playing host to up to 1,600 attendees, socially distanced from each other and the players. [URL="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30484856/what-nba-players-saying-coronavirus-offseason-fans-returning-arenas"]Rudy Gobert: I think that if they make it happen they probably have the scientific evidence that it would be safe for us and for the fans in attendance.[/URL] Derrick Favors: I think that’s an amazing thing to do and hopefully everybody can stick to the safety protocols and we can continue to build and bring more fans in there.
– via [URL="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30484856/what-nba-players-saying-coronavirus-offseason-fans-returning-arenas"]ESPN[/URL]



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don't count on it Rudy. They want the cash

[QUOTE]Quinton Mayo: [URL="https://*********.com/social/"]In this league all you have to do is be solid. He didn’t do anything spectacular but he did everything good. He’ll be in the league a long time because of that. – Scott Brooks on Raul Neto[/URL]
– via [URL="https://twitter.com/RealQuintonMayo"]Twitter RealQuintonMayo[/URL]



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He's a player. Too bad he was never appreciated here

Kellan Olson: [URL="https://*********.com/social/"]Chris Paul said he’s playing tonight[/URL].
– via [URL="https://twitter.com/KellanOlson"]Twitter KellanOlson[/URL]

Duane Rankin: “We’re going to see tonight.” [URL="https://*********.com/social/"]Chris Paul when asked about being in shape as he’ll make his #Suns debut. “I work out, I train just about every day. I run and all that, but playing is different. It’s totally different.[/URL] And it’s fitting that we here in Utah. We’re going to see.”
– via [URL="https://twitter.com/DuaneRankin"]Twitter DuaneRankin[/URL]



Kellan Olson: [URL="https://*********.com/social/"]CP3 said the Suns’ attention to detail in every aspect of preparation (practice, shootaround, etc.) brings on a really good feeling for him[/URL] knowing all the work possible is being put in.
– via [URL="https://twitter.com/KellanOlson"]Twitter KellanOlson[/URL]

Eric Walden: [URL="https://*********.com/social/"]Asked what it’s like learning from Rudy Gobert, Azubuike said it couldn’t be understated given the similarity of their games: “I try to pick up his mindset, I try to talk to him all the time.[/URL] … I’m a really a good learner — I like to learn.”
– via [URL="https://twitter.com/tribjazz"]Twitter tribjazz[/URL]



Eric Walden: [URL="https://*********.com/social/"]Jazz center Udoka Azubuike, on his first game: “Of course I was nervous a little bit. … But the coaches told me ‘Just take your time and bring some energy.[/URL] … Obviously, I have to do better, there are things I have to work on, but it was a great experience.”
– via [URL="https://twitter.com/tribjazz"]Twitter tribjazz[/URL]

Eric Walden: [URL="https://*********.com/social/"]Utah Jazz guard Nigel Williams-Goss, who had a 15-point game on Saturday: “I’m feeling a lot more comfortable in my second year here — I think we all are.”[/URL] Said he feels progress has come as a result of being the first one on the court and the last to leave, + tons of film study.
– via [URL="https://twitter.com/tribjazz"]Twitter tribjazz[/URL]

[QUOTE]Crowder doesn’t solve the problem of the no-Gobert minutes, and so Utah would have to pay more money (plus luxury tax) to get some guy at the minimum or the Bi-Annual exception to hopefully not be terrible at the backup 5. Or, Utah could go with the known quantity in Favors. I would have been supportive of trying forward-center JaMychal Green (2 years, ~$15 million with Denver), which would have left a tiny bit more room with the MLE to get a true backup center to fill that need. But why have two lesser players whose salary equal one better one?


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Green isn't a lesser PF :facepalm

[QUOTE][INDENT][I]Meanwhile, the extension for Mitchell was an own goal of sorts as well. Utah completely capitulated on the most important part — a fifth-year player option for Mitchell that starts the clock on any potential exit a year early. In a small market, you can’t surrender rights to players that easily.[/I]
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especially when that player hasn't earned it

[QUOTE]It is very fair to criticize the Jazz around the edges for the offseason, and Hollinger wasn’t the only national guy with concerns. Danny Leroux gave the Jazz a D+ in his offseason grades (he and podcast host Nate Duncan use a “C” as average). We don’t know the breaking point in negotiations for Clarkson and Favors where they lose out on those guys, but Utah paid starter-level money for two players who won’t close most games if everyone is healthy. Player options for both players are also extremely risky, and not typically given to players of their caliber. And as much as I would like to start the groundbreaking for a Mitchell statue, giving him both (a) supermax-level raises if he reaches certain performance criteria and (b) the player option in his extension deal is simply an above-market deal for an All-Star who isn’t All-NBA (yet). Add in some very mild draft pick dumps to offload salary, and you’re left with an offseason that’s… fine… but not impressive or laudatory.


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Gobert is the one that is statue worthy. Only in Utah is this off season fins

[QUOTE]I like Harrison and he’ll be best suited as a guy to throw at a hot shooter or great player to give Mitchell, Conley, and/or O’Neale a break in the regular season. But let’s not overstate what he purports to be: a 9th/10th/11th man who will also rack up his fair share of DNPs.


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Exactly why he's panned their off season and called this their best pick up. Couldn't agree more

[QUOTE][INDENT][I]There is one scenario where Utah’s offseason makes some sense, and that’s if Favors and [Udoka] Azubuike were brought in to protect the Jazz’s flank in case Gobert departs.[/I]
[/INDENT]
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Which I think is a big part of it but even than if Gobert is traded it's time for a fire sale on all of their old guys because they will suck

[QUOTE]I’m probably just being Sensitive Jazz Fan here, but the sheer volume of unexplained snark seemed way higher here than in other previews Hollinger has done. Favors has always been a touch-and-go with knees and back pain, but he’s nowhere close to washed-up.


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and he's no where near the player Jazz fans want to believe he is.

[QUOTE]Regardless if any of the youngest Jazzmen are ready to play real minutes, the point of (over)paying for Clarkson and Favors is that the team is now very well-prepared to survive injuries to their highest-level players. It’s a very high-level 6th through 8th player group, which most teams do not have.


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Favors plays 30 minutes at best and Clarkson sucks so ok :facepalm

[QUOTE]With Utah’s positional fluidity at the 2, 3, and 4, if Elijah Hughes ends up as the “fourth wing,” that means he is taking minutes from Harrison (is he good or not?), Clarkson, and Niang. That is to say, he will have earned it (not in the Tony Bradley way) and it will be a massive success.


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Hughes should be way down the totem pole but with Quin who know

[QUOTE][INDENT][I][T]he offseason seemed more of a step backward than forward. By using their full midlevel on a player they didn’t really need…[/I]
[/INDENT]
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Favors is definitely a step back...yet again!

[QUOTE]After further thought, you’re right—Utah didn’t need to improve on Tony Bradley getting torched.


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no because he was cheap and improving. What they needed was a modern starting 4

[QUOTE]Again Hollinger drops a random slight with no real explanation. For Utah to draft Azubuike at No. 27, they traded back from pick 23, and then used the 38th pick from that deal to offload Bradley. It was merely a mild shuffling of draft deck chairs to draft a deep bench center with potential in the back-end of the first round, not some grand upheaval of draft assets.


[/QUOTE]

they made the right pick there it seems. Hughes makes less sense

[QUOTE]Again, who is this reasonably available wing player Utah missed out on here? It is still not clear that this was an actual problem for the Jazz (or at least that it won’t fix itself now that they’ve addressed the issue of backup center with a defensive anchor who keeps their system the same in non-Gobert minutes).


[/QUOTE]

still too small unless Favors is spotting up for 3 in the corner. Didn't fix their issues except by bringing back old issues



[QUOTE]Well it will obviously be another failed season if the Jazz don’t win the title this year, but they can go all-in-er-er by trading away a few more second round draft picks!

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pretty much. They should be competing at a much higher level but they prefer bringing back guys they like than fixing what is wrong

This is one of the worst Jazz homer articles ever!!! :lol

[QUOTE]Yeah, exercising the fourth-year option on Bradley was foolish at the time and it cost Utah a decent No. 38 pick. But making up for the bad Davis signing—again, good process in signing him with an unexpectedly bad result—is just regular NBA business to free up cash and a spot for a better player. And since Utah is going to pay the luxury tax in 2021, there’s no need to pay extra for Tucker when he was not good and the roster spot is better suited for Utah’s other youngsters. [URL="https://saltcityhoops.com/rebuttal-to-hollingers-blasting-of-the-all-in-er-jazz/#note-2"]2[/URL]


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Picking up an option of the youngest guy on the team who is getting better is foolish? Tucker wasn't good? At worst he was defensive energy at the end of the bench. He has 3 and D and 6th man potential. NBA body. Great athlete. His basketball iq might not have made him a great fit here but again if you're going to carry 6 rookies when you're supposedly contending than getting rid of them none of it makes much sense but this is the Jazz!

[QUOTE]In a world where the Los Angeles teams sprayed a fire hose of loosely protected first round picks and/or good players at OKC and New Orleans, Milwaukee dumped out their asset trove for Jrue Holiday, and even Michael Jordan spent nearly as much to bring Gordon Hayward to Charlotte as he did to start a brand new NASCAR team, Utah being comparably “all-in”—for the Conley trade and scraping a few second-round picks off the top to make up for marginally bad decisions—is bullshit.


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Just because they aren't contenders doesn't mean they aren't all in. Paying tax for their current roster is all in. Sure they could look to fill more spots with vets and pay more tax but they won't so I guess they aren't all in?

[QUOTE]Before any specifics about how/why the Jazz re-signed Favors, Hollinger immediately and incorrectly frames the Favors signing as though (a) Favors is a run-of-the-mill, replacement-level stiff, and (b) Utah is absolutely going to play Favors and Gobert at the same time as much as they did three years ago.


[/QUOTE]
He gets it. Sentimental Jazz front office and fans certainly don't


[QUOTE]Add some Conley health, more difficult decisions forced by bench offenses versus Favors at the rim, and maybe some cooling of a noisy stat, and I don’t think Utah has any reason to be particularly concerned about this if they’re ninth in defense with this roster.


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Conley was likely to miss time though. They need to be a lot better on D because the offense won't be as good if Favors plays with Gobert. That is guaranteed

[QUOTE]What is this based on? Bogdanovic missing the entire playoffs? Bogdanovic was generally great, Joe Ingles was rock steady, Royce O’Neale matches up totally fine as a 3/4 against most starting offenses, and Georges Niang plays a fourth forward role perfectly (play hard as hell; shoot open shots and make them; play to the best of your mental ability defensively). Even Clarkson won’t kill you at a forward spot against smaller teams, if, say, Portland wants to roll out a Damian Lillard-CJ McCollum-Gary Trent Jr. lineup.




[/QUOTE]

Bojan was great at shooting and scoring not much else. Ingles was hardly rock steady! WTF? O'Neale was too small. He plays a lot bigger than he is but he is a small ball 4 not a starting one. Now if they want to start Morgan and bring O'Neale off the bench and Niang goes to the 9-11 spots with Shaq and Oni things look a lot better. Still not ideal but better


[QUOTE]If Hollinger wanted Utah to spend money on forwards who maybe could size up defensively better against the LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard types of the league, who was available that would work? Derrick Jones Jr. could be that guy, but he got a massive role in Portland that Utah can’t offer (and he has his own limitations). Ditto for Grant, who Denver couldn’t hold onto. Toronto would match any reasonable offer for restricted free agent Chris Boucher. Justin Holiday isn’t better than Utah’s current options. The theory of Moe Harkless is better than the reality. These aren’t great players here to begin with, and do we really expect Utah to throw a fourth/fifth forward-type $8-10 million?


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Jamycheal Green should have been the target in FA. Trading Bojan for one would have been even better
[QUOTE]So if you’re not signing an actual LeBron stopper, what’s missing from this group? A forward or center with some mobility to cope with the size advantage of the Lakers/Clippers/Bucks, who provides luxury backup center defense to [URL="https://saltcityhoops.com/the-favors-factor-explains-why-utah-passed-on-adding-a-3-and-d-wing/"]allow Utah’s wings to play aggressively[/URL]. I wonder who fits that bill?


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They were too small last year. 1 center and 4 guards.wings. You ahve to be versatile and they answered that with Favors spotting up in the corner

[QUOTE]Tony Bradley, Ed Davis, and Derrick freakin’ Favors are the same, you see.


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No one is young and cheap so they could fill the starting 4

[QUOTE]But I thought Tony Bradley “earned” those minutes? And “did hurt them” in this sentence should mean “was the most glaring and obvious problem on the team.”


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Hardly. No starting 4, an undersized backcourt, lack of D, versatility, depth were bigger issues than the youngest guy on the team

[QUOTE]Setting aside the fact that Favors-Gobert isn’t a pairing likely to play a ton during the season (or at least as much as previous years), this statement is also simply wrong. As [URL="https://twitter.com/Ben_Dowsett/status/1337125471004237824"]Ben Dowsett helpfully researched so I didn’t have to[/URL], the Favors-Gobert pairing is plus-442 in 3188 minutes dating back to the 2015-16 season, including playoffs. A decent chunk of those minutes were played with the spacing-compromised Ricky Rubio. The Jazz will be better in the abstract with other players at the 4 alongside Gobert, but Hollinger reacts as if Utah signed Bismack Biyombo to play point guard. We might see Favors-Gobert a fair amount, but Utah will likely be careful about overextending the sometimes-achy Favors, and that duo will likely disappear come playoff time, unless specific matchups dictate otherwise.


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Don't count on it. He'll end up starting and playing way too much guaranteed

[QUOTE]You know what also “doesn’t work,” John? Asking O’Neale or Bogdanovic to guard Anthony Davis for 40 minutes. The Jazz aren’t going to dump us in a time machine to 2017 (although I am longing to see basketball in-person again); the Favors signing is clearly a luxury play to shoot for their personal best chance against the top teams of the league.


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which is why you don't sign Davis or Favors or Bojan or Clarkson and get a starting 4

[url]https://saltcityhoops.com/rebuttal-to-hollingers-blasting-of-the-all-in-er-jazz/[/url]

[QUOTE][I]It was supposed to be an all-in year, but it ended in the same exact place as the last several Utah seasons.[/I][/QUOTE]

All in with 6 rookies who weren't playing, no starting 4 and an undersized backcourt!

[QUOTE]I’d like to think a “big-picture view” takes into account all reasonably plausible outcomes, and not be reduced to a specific conclusion without fair context. Saying the Jazz simply “failed” is an outlook more suited to an old ViewMaster reel.


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It's the truth. They fixed the offense but the defense fell off too much. Fail

[QUOTE]Here’s your missing context: that “rewiring” was indisputably successful when the key conduits—Mike Conley Jr. and Bojan Bogdanovic—were available. It is unfairly reductive to render the season a complete failure after Bogdanovic missed the playoffs to repair a ruptured ligament in his shooting wrist, and Conley missed 25+ regular season games, plus two more in the Denver series.


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They knew Conley was likely to miss time. Depth is part of the equation and they chose to carry 6 rookies and then not play them when they needed help

[QUOTE]I’m taking the word “expensive” as an implication that it’s a bad deal—especially since [URL="https://theathletic.com/1265538/2019/10/07/hollingers-nba-division-previews-looking-up-to-the-nuggets-in-the-northwest/"]Hollinger called the contract an overpay[/URL] last offseason and wrote that Utah will “hate (the deal) in a couple years”—so let’s examine the market. Bogdanovic made $17 million last year and will make $18.275 million in 2020-21. In comparison, in this most recent offseason, free agents Danilo Gallinari ($20.5 million annually) and Jerami Grant ($20 million) signed more lucrative deals, and Marcus Morris ($16 million), Davis Bertans ($16 million), and Malik Beasley ($15 million) came in under. It’s decent money for Bogdanovic, to be sure, but he averaged a very efficient 20.2 points per game and didn’t falter as a defender, all while playing through an injury. Bogdanovic is better than any of the aforementioned players (I’ll entertain arguments about the silky offense/bullshit foul drawing ability of Gallinari, but, even after accounting for Bogdanovic’s relative limitations on defense, there remains a chasm between the two on that end of the court) and his contract is looking like a very decent piece of business for the Jazz.


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He shoots and scores and brings little else to the table. They don't have a 4 and the D fell off too much so it doesn't look like a great deal

[QUOTE][INDENT][I]In retrospect, they could have signed another perimeter player instead of [Ed] Davis, as Tony Bradley earned the backup center spot anyway.[/I]
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they needed a starting 4 and still do!

[QUOTE]“Earned” is not exactly what I’d say about Bradley’s role as the backup center, because he was not good! “Less bad than 2019-20 Ed Davis” is not an accomplishment.


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I think it's time to quit blaming Tony for everything. He led the league in offensive rebound % at least before the bubble. He was effective in pick and roll. He was getting better nightly. Maybe he wasn't Favors but he was good. They had bigger problems than their back up center

[QUOTE]Without Derrick Favors, Utah knew it would absolutely bleed without a stabilizing force in the middle when Rudy Gobert was on the bench. Utah also knew that Bradley wasn’t likely to be that force (they inexplicably picked up his fourth year option anyway to give him one more chance, but more on that later). So they brought in the respected and highly competent Davis.


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and expected to fill the hole at the 4 with guards, wings and Jeff Green! :facepalm Bradley deserved a shot. Should have brought in a vet on minimum to compete with him and use the money on a 4 just like they should have this year. Instead they still have the same huge hole at the 4

[QUOTE]Since Davis turned out to be terribly miscast and Utah was unfortunately right about Bradley, the Jazz got trucked whenever Gobert sat, and no alternative “perimeter player” would have helped that. Sure, we all saw way more Emmanuel Mudiay than we anticipated, but Utah wasn’t expecting Conley to be out for dozens of games, and Dante Exum was still injured and bad at point guard things. Using the $4.7M Room Mid-Level Exception on an Avery Bradley-type guy (Bradley was also bad for a few years at that point, but was seemingly re-energized by playing with LeBron James) wasn’t going to fix the issue of “opponent benches will relentlessly score on Utah if Tony Bradley is required to have any responsibility.”


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They should have expected Conley to miss time if they didn't. Bradley gets the blame because only 2 or 3 guys on the team play D? :lol


[QUOTE]It’s a gross exaggeration to say “the Jazz rebuilt their entire team around offense,” especially before the trade deadline. Getting the obvious out of the way, Conley is a plus defender. And, yes, going from the stalwart Favors to Bogdanovic in the starting lineup is a downgrade on defense. But Bogdanovic is definitely not tissue paper, and is an appropriate size for defending modern offenses. Davis was intended to supply most of what Favors could do defensively as a backup center. Finally, Gobert is a walking top-ten defense on his own (Jazz were tenth in defensive efficiency before their tanktastic, Summer League-esque bubble play-in games, per Cleaning the Glass). So, yeah, the Jazz could afford to reallocate some assets away from defense, but it’s not like they turned their entire defensive ethos upside-down with that one defensive downgrade — especially since it was also a talent upgrade and a solid overall fit.


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Conley didn't look like a plus defender. He's too small. Bojan was tissue paper. They certainly rebuilt around offense and is sounds like they are trying to score even more this year with only Favors there for D and if he plays the 4 so much for the O

[QUOTE]They weren’t.


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supposedly they were but with no 4 and 6 rookies obviously they weren't

[QUOTE]The Conley trade has been litigated and relitigated over and over again, and the only consensus issue is that the Jazz might have been forced to give up Jae Crowder because they insisted on keeping Dante Exum (if Memphis even wanted Exum to begin with). Which…


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Yeah who knows what they would have looked like if they'd given up Exum the year before to get Conley. Their love of Exum hurt them over and over again! :facepalm You have to no when to cut your losses and they waited many years too many

[QUOTE]Two seconds was the price mostly to dump Exum’s contract because Utah held on to him too long, as he was mostly bad at NBA basketball and that finally caught up with his asset value in 2019-20. Nobody’s losing sleep over those second round picks after what Clarkson provided, and by trading for Clarkson, Utah could maneuver over the cap to re-sign him.


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I am. How many picks have the given up to get rid of guys now? Clarkson got them a first round loss and likely the same result for years to come assuming they don't trade Rudy

[url]https://www.slcdunk.com/2020/12/14/22173689/utah-jazz-vs-phoenix-suns-part-deux-nba-preseason[/url]

[QUOTE]The [URL="https://www.slcdunk.com/"]Utah Jazz[/URL] are coming into their Monday night game with the [URL="https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/?_ga=2.13205042.484556779.1606999600-247621959.1589286792"]Phoenix Suns[/URL] after an impressive win against the same team on Saturday. The reason that it was impressive, albeit it was a preseason game, is because the Jazz were without the services of Mike Conley. That combined with the fact that they are trying to integrate new faces onto the team, it was a good sign that the Jazz were able to hold up defensively against a team as potent as the Suns. It will be a huge challenge for the Jazz to try and contain the Suns for a second straight game.


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The Suns without Paul suck just like the Jazz without Gobert

[QUOTE]With the way that Mike Conley played in the bubble, it will be exciting to see if he can pick up where he left off. Especially matching up against a future hall of famer and defensive pest like Chris Paul. I don’t expect either Paul or Conley to have a lot of minutes and/or an epic showdown but I am intrigued by how Conley will look, especially if he gets a chance to play with Derrick Favors.

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He's back to 4th or 5th option. Don't expect bubble Mike

[QUOTE]Both Jazz rookies Udoka Azubuike and Elijah Hughes showed well in the first preseason game. Can they continue to show that they may be worthy of a rotation spot when the regular season starts? If so, it will give the Jazz some incredible depth. I know these two are rookies, and they will undoubtedly go through ups and downs this season, but it will interesting to see if they can play or if the first game was just a fluke.



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They are behind many guys or better be. Hughes looked good. Udoka looked like a project. Only reason they should be playing this year is if Rudy is traded

[QUOTE][h=4]No Shaq and O'Neale tonight. Dok is questionable (left knee soreness)[/h]
Will definitely miss seeing any minutes from Dok if he can’t go. But yes, maybe another start from Niang!

Posted by [URL="https://www.sbnation.com/users/SKMike"]SKMike[/URL] on [URL="https://www.slcdunk.com/2020/12/14/22173689/utah-jazz-vs-phoenix-suns-part-deux-nba-preseason#534448244"]Dec 14, 2020 | 11:45 AM[/URL]
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see what Gill can do! Hopefully O'Neale is back to back up Morgan to start the year

[QUOTE][h=4]Hughes is nice[/h]
Too bad his defense was pretty bad last game. Need him to get better at that, but he’s a scorer.

Posted by [URL="https://www.sbnation.com/users/TheNextGM"]TheNextGM[/URL] on [URL="https://www.slcdunk.com/2020/12/14/22173689/utah-jazz-vs-phoenix-suns-part-deux-nba-preseason#534452802"]Dec 14, 2020 | 1:28 PM[/URL]
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without 3 and D he won't last past his guarantee of next year. May even have to dump more 2nds to get rid of him! :facepalm

[url]https://www.slcdunk.com/the-downbeat-latest-jazz-news/2020/12/14/22172892/utah-jazz-next-step-for-improvement-is-valuing-possessions-jazz-nba[/url]

[QUOTE][h=1]The Jazz’s next step for improvement is valuing possessions[/h]

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it's defense

[QUOTE]The point remains: the two strategy extremes the Jazz tested the past two seasons didn’t accomplish the mission. Why is that?


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front office and coach

[QUOTE]The 2020 NBA Champion LA [URL="https://www.silverscreenandroll.com/"]Lakers[/URL] (yes, I’m disgusted with myself for bringing it up too) were a good shooting and shot defense team similar to the Jazz. A key difference? They were exceptionally positive in both possession swing and points swing, aided in no small part by their size at the hoop and scrappiness on the perimeter.


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and the Jazz answered that with Favors spotting up in the corner

[QUOTE]Last season the Jazz lacked size and perimeter defense. This season the Jazz are hoping a daily does of [URL="https://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/297091/derrick-favors"]Derrick Favors[/URL] and a measure of [URL="https://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/283086/shaquille-harrison"]Shaq Harrison[/URL] every so often can help on both fronts. Ultimately, personnel alone won’t push the Jazz from the lower-left quadrant to the upper-right; it will be focus and strategy.


[/QUOTE]

having the right players would help and they don't

[QUOTE]And Bradley (and to a lesser extent Gobert) were the only players who could even sniff an offensive rebound. Bradley’s ORB%: 19.1. Gobert’s: 11.2.
Next highest among rotation players? Clarkson at 3.2 and Conley (!!) at 2.8. While Royce holds his own on the defensive glass, neither he nor Bojan nor anyone else really could ever snag second chances.
Hopefully Favors helps a lot here on the glass, but we need 1) to take better care of the ball, and 2) scheme better positioning or drill better technique to get rebounds.

Posted by [URL="https://www.sbnation.com/users/Korumbian"]Korumbian[/URL] on [URL="https://www.slcdunk.com/the-downbeat-latest-jazz-news/2020/12/14/22172892/utah-jazz-next-step-for-improvement-is-valuing-possessions-jazz-nba#534442506"]Dec 14, 2020 | 9:38 AM[/URL]
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But Tony sucked! Only their centers hit the offensive boards so that won't change.


[QUOTE][h=4]ORB[/h]
good read. Sadly Q has never valued the offensive rebound much. I wish he did more. Rudy has the ability to dominate there if he was a bit stronger and was coached up on boxing out. I don’t think they will spend much time on the court together but if he and Favors were there together 1 could fight for them while the other got back on defense

Posted by [URL="https://www.sbnation.com/users/Jordan%20pushed%20off"]Jordan pushed off[/URL] on [URL="https://www.slcdunk.com/the-downbeat-latest-jazz-news/2020/12/14/22172892/utah-jazz-next-step-for-improvement-is-valuing-possessions-jazz-nba#534448299"]Dec 14, 2020 | 11:47 AM[/URL]
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He used to value it more. Gave it up for transition D. That's more the league trend I believe too

[QUOTE]My point was how much Rudy effects the Jazz positively in both TS% and ORB, and also hurts opponents in both categories. His is among the leagues elite in helping his own team’s TS% (not just his own, but his teammates shoot much better when he is on the floor), hurting the other team’s TS%, helping his own team’s ORB, and hurting the other team’s ORB.
As you highlighted, the Jazz’s main struggle is in turning the ball over and not causing their opponents to turn the ball over. The Jazz are among the worst in the league in both, and that hurts their advantage in TS% and offensive rebounds.

Posted by [URL="https://www.sbnation.com/users/Kira%20Argonova"]Kira Argonova[/URL] on [URL="https://www.slcdunk.com/the-downbeat-latest-jazz-news/2020/12/14/22172892/utah-jazz-next-step-for-improvement-is-valuing-possessions-jazz-nba#534451266"]Dec 14, 2020 | 12:53 PM[/URL]
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but let's low ball him because Favors and udoka can do it anyway! :roll:

[url]https://kslsports.com/448707/the-post-game-returns-to-the-utah-jazz/[/url]

Niang's probably their best in the post

So much for Favors not playing the 4. He is and the spacing was horrendous. Why can't they ever learn from the past? With Conley back Morgan was out of the rotation as well. Oni played well but once O'Neale is back not to mention Shaq he won't be playing either. Hughes is the 2nd coming of Clarkson and of course officially ahead of all gleaguer. Forrest looks good if they can teach him tho shoot

[url]https://kslsports.com/448725/jazz-show-high-potential-rust-in-win-over-suns/[/url]

[QUOTE]“I think it’s taking time to kind of work through it,” Conley said of the Jazz three guard lineup. “We end up find ourselves fighting for the outlet sometimes just trying to figure out who’s bringing the ball up.”


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guess that's the good thing about Clarkson. It's his ball and he isn't giving it up

[QUOTE]Forrest has had a quiet training camp for the Jazz, but has looked surprisingly steady in his limited time on the floor. The rookie guard finished with a modest statline of two points and three assists in eight minutes, but his impact was felt far beyond the box score.


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He's looked good. Do they think they can make him a decent shooter somehow though?

[url]https://www.sltrib.com/sports/jazz/2020/12/14/triple-team-jazz-turn/[/url]

[QUOTE]I also want to give a shoutout to Georges Niang, who did have some really nice defensive plays despite not being known as a defensive player. That’s the one big knock on Niang, that he can’t keep up defensively, and we’ll see if he can during the regular season. But this is an excellent defensive rotation block on Ayton, and once he even defended an isolation situation against Paul well.



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what will the naysayers think! Doesn't really matter he's at best 9th in the rotation with Favors playing the 4.

[QUOTE]There are minutes to be earned at the backup power forward, between Niang, Juwan Morgan, shoehorning Derrick Favors in there, or just going small with four wings and guards. But if Niang shoots like he did last season and takes a step defensively, he’d be the favorite to win those minutes.



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Pretty obvious they are Favors minutes. Niang is probably next in line though Shaq could change that and Oni is in the mix as well. Morgan isn't it would appear

[QUOTE]Of course, the Jazz aren’t the Warriors. But there is real value in having these delightful, powerful scoring bursts which turn a game on its head. Tonight, it came right to open the second half: a 13-0 run in the course of exactly 100 seconds. The 49-48 lead expanded to 62-48, and that was that.



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could call it a defensive burst which is what they really need


[QUOTE]We’ve written about the Jazz’s desire to push the pace this year, and honestly, they say that every preseason. We’ll see if they can actually execute it when the regular season begins and becomes a slog; it’s a compressed 72-game schedule with a relatively shallow roster. But if they can turn talk into action, I’m a believer that a speedy pace can help.



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But I thought they were deep?

[QUOTE]For a rookie who has been on the team less than a month, he’s shown an unusually good knowledge of when to attack and when to defer: he just takes advantage of his good opportunities while keeping it moving rather than forcing it. Tonight, he made only one of his five 3-point shots, but he was a 35% shooter in college, and I loved his willingness to take the three.



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He's not shy. Not sure what they want with a guy that doesn't have length and can't hit the 3 though

[QUOTE]• I’m a little bit disappointed in how Jarrell Brantley is struggling to make his presence known on the floor. In his rookie season, Brantley had the opposite problem: whether it was the crazy playmaking, the effort all over the floor, or the boneheaded turnovers and play-breaking decisions, you always knew Brantley was out there. Now, he’s trying to fit in. That’s a good impulse, but he needs to find the really tricky balance of fitting in while contributing in his own, unique way. There’s a happy medium there somewhere.



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That's more on the Jazz I'd say. He's obviously the most dynamic of their young guys but they want guys to just fit a role which Oni and Morgan have done. Probably can't be that happy that all gleague got him nothing but another 2 way and he'd behind Hughes as well as guys he outplayed with the Stars

[QUOTE]• Sorry, local friends. Jake Toolson isn’t an NBA player. The defense isn’t close, and there’s not a lot of reason to believe it will ever be good enough.



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don't think anyone thought it was

[QUOTE]But in this setting where opponents haven’t read the scouting report, he’s got a lot to offer: pick-and-roll slithery-ness, on-the-money passing, and free-throw-drawing craft. And on defense, that 6-7 wingspan and physicality makes him a real potential difference-maker. He certainly was in college, with impressive block and steal rates.



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average wingspan

[QUOTE]Is it mean to point out that Forrest has an NBA job right now, but Emmanuel Mudiay doesn’t? Okay, that’s wildly unfair: Mudiay can’t sign a two-way contract like Forrest did. But if Forrest can get the 3-ball to an acceptable level, he has the size, defense, and vision to stick in the league.




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having a contract doesn't mean you are better than others. Means you are cheaper, more potential, whatever