2014-2015 regular season!

Tony Jones: Quin Snyder on Alec burks: "We're losing a big piece of what we do. It's not easy but best thing for him to get healthy. He's been getting better but it's in his longterm best interest to get it fixed right away" Twitter @Tjonessltrib

Tony Jones: Quin Snyder: "We've added Patrick Christopher, the roster is constantly being evaluated. We like the group we have" Twitter @Tjonessltrib

Tony Jones: Quin Snyder on Rodney Hood: "We have five millennials now in the starting lineup. Rodney is going to get a lot of experience" Twitter @Tjonessltrib

[QUOTE]Tony Jones: So I was told the entire Jazz bench had words for Shabazz Muhammad after he blatantly taunted them with the three goggles Twitter @Tjonessltrib

Tony Jones: On the record, Gordon Hayward had this to say: I don't think anyone was happy about it Twitter @Tjonessltrib[/QUOTE]

Play some d. Another player lit you up for a career high. One of the two guys yu traded for Trey! :facepalm

Chris Vivlamore: Hawks update on Al Horford: He is listed as probable for Friday's game against the Jazz. #ATLHawks Twitter @CVivlamoreAJC

[QUOTE]Any win is a good win. [/QUOTE]

The front office might think differently.

[QUOTE]Wins are going to be hard to come by.[/QUOTE]

Which should please the front office.

[QUOTE]Alec Burks is out for the season. This is going to be a gaping hole for the Jazz. Rodney Hood is a nice player but you don

[QUOTE]Quin called a quick timeout, clearly incensed at his team

[QUOTE]We certainly didn’t want it to be a deal where he loses an entire offseason to rehab. We’d like to rehab this and get him back to playing basketball, particularly within a very new system to Alec.[/QUOTE]

Yeah losing almost an entire season is better than an off-season. :rolleyes:

[QUOTE]Is there a timeline?

We’re just going to give a very conservative estimate: That he’ll be able to return to full contact by the time training camp hits, and if it’s before that then that’s good. But we want to certainly protect him timeline wise.[/QUOTE]

Which is why the surgery is now I assume.

[QUOTE]After waiting for the Gordon Hayward extension, is there disappointment in not waiting for Alec Burks?

I don’t think so. Every contract signing, our medical staff does a thorough review – so X-Rays, MRI’s, physical exams, and Alec at that point in time passed. So no disappointment, because we don’t think this is going to impact the long term playing career, either from a length standpoint or a quality standpoint, so we’re very comfortable with the decision we made and the knowledge that we had at that particular time.[/QUOTE]

What else would he say? :confusedshrug: He would have came a lot cheaper after this I'm sure. He might have had to sign for the qualifying offer. Could be big with Enes now up.

[QUOTE]Will you look to sign someone to give guard help?

Well, we have 15 now – some partial and some non-guaranteed, so we do have some flexibility. But we’re comfortable with where we’re at. Misfortune is another person’s opportunity – certainly Rodney will get some of those minutes, we wanted to see Rodney as a 2-guard so here’s a little bit of his opportunity. Last night Dante played a lot with Trey, and Dante’s certainly big enough to handle the position as well. And then there’s some guys that haven’t received as much opportunity – Ian Clark, Toure’ Murry, Patrick Christopher – who we’ll be able to kick the tires with a little bit and take a look at, and as you would imagine we’ll be evaluating what’s available to us. Frankly, Quin’s very comfortable where we’re at, and we’ll see how the young guys do.[/QUOTE]

Still be stupid not to apply for another roster spot and use it. You're like 4 million or something under the cap.

[QUOTE]Did you see any impact on Alec’s game before now because of the injury?

Not really. I think more of an impact is getting used to a new system. He was actually in very good rhythm the last few games, helped us close out the Memphis game. Look, [there are] more pullups vs drives, [there’s] a little less finishing, better shooting, all that. But I don’t think there were enough games to document that as a trend. That’s just where we were at as a team – if Alec were playing the same minutes but with a second unit, his usage was probably a bit higher, so adjusting to playing with the starters was a new thing as well, so there are several factors in there and how to parse that out [along with] him protecting his shoulder, I don’t know.[/QUOTE]

That's not good. I was hoping that was at least an excuse for his inconsistent play. For a guy they just signed to that much money that is concerning.

[QUOTE]Were you pleased as an organization to see Alec stay aggressive?

Thank you for the question. I’ve said this several times, but we’re young, rebuilding, things happen to players. I’ve seen situations where guys have limped away, conveniently so. The public needs to know Alec’s heart was really in the right place all through this period. This is killing him. But there are times when organizations and agents and doctors need to say ‘Hey, you’re not superman, this is the reality of the situation.’ I think as that running conversation took place, and Alec in particular when he takes blows from behind where he can’t see things, I think was impacting a little bit of his mindset and psychology of continuing to go. But frankly, I was ecstatic with not only his level of play but his toughness: still going to the basket, his willingness to get hit, chasing defenders on pindowns and pick and roll. I didn’t get the sense that he ever let go of the rope. He dealt with the situation all the way through.

Are you impressed with Rudy Gobert’s development and the defense he gives to this team?

Yeah. Rudy was able to use last year, even though he didn’t get the minutes, he was able to get a lot of time with Mark McKown to improve his body, then there were some skillset things that we wanted him to address. Him and Alex Jensen changed his free throw, we changed his shooting slot, and then I think the summer league was the start of him hitting a different level. Then it certainly continued with the FIBA World Championships and we’re very pleased with his development.[/QUOTE]

I bet. So much so that you aren't going to play him for fear of another failed tanking effort.

[QUOTE]You mentioned the opportunity for the other guys on the team. What are some specifics that you’re looking for out of these guys?

Sure. With Rodney, Rodney was dealing with a foot injury as well, and with this period back, he was dealing with almost a training camp period for a rookie. Things were coming at him really fast. I think now that he’s not backing up Alec and Gordon he’ll get steady minutes and we’ll see more consistent contributions. We were really pleased last night with his all-around play, he did several things well.[/QUOTE]

and than last night you saw why he should be in the D-league not starting in the NBA. Is their a worse starting backcourt in the league now?

[QUOTE]With Dante, it’s been documented, he’s going to have the ball and create situations for us going forward. There’s a little bit of debate, is that best as a PG, is that best as a 2? Funny thing is, he can use his size as a point guard and he can use his speed as a 2-guard. So where his creative abilities best manifest themselves, we can take a look at that a little bit now. Albeit at 19, we might not find out for a while what the best position for him and what the best position is for us. But it certainly allows us to experiment a little bit more with those minutes, with Alec’s absence.[/QUOTE]

Might find out more if he was in the D-league as the man not being overwhelmed as a role player in the NBA.

[QUOTE]And then at the end of the roster, we’ll continue to look at guys and try to develop some guys that are at the end of the roster who could be available going forward, and it certainly affords an opportunity going forward. So while we’re disappointed in Alec [‘s injury], we’re going to use it as an opportunity to learn more about the players we have.[/QUOTE]

Which I'm sure is why they've looked at Christopher. They have decisions to make in the next week and half.

[QUOTE]With under 2 months to go until the trade deadline, what’s your mindset going into that period?

We’re going to address moves that have the long-term interests of the Utah Jazz in mind. I think Quin, I really appreciate his mindset: he’s been as mindful in what we’re going to look like 2 years from now as what we’ll look like 2 weeks from now. So Rudy or Dante could have some rough stretches, as you can see, and they’re still out there. So I think, not that we wouldn’t address a particular need on the short-term, I think we’ll weight 12 months, 24 months heavier than we would addressing a need 2 weeks out.[/QUOTE]

i.e. tank as much as possible

[QUOTE]How do you feel about the timeline of this team’s development and growth overall?

I think we’re seeing signs, as you guys can see. It was a tough loss last night. I felt like we played well enough to win and we weren’t able to convert some shots and free throws, and those things happen. I do think some of the foundational pieces are proving their worth, and what we need to do is continue to connect those pieces. Those returns right now, I think we’ve seen some real progress. Our habits, our communication, our activity on defense has been significantly better over the last 6 or 7 games. I would hope that the players, with all of their hard work, see that it’s starting to bear fruit and they’re getting excited about that.

Then offensively, again, there have been signs, and we’ve trended better than most young teams offensively, but losing Alec, we’ll have to adjust to that. That’s a very significant offensive contributor, and we’ll have to find the best ways to do that; whether that’s Trey with the ball more, Gordon with the ball even more than he already has it, Dante, we’ll learn more about Rodney, the flow offense, there’s a lot to it.

Quin is not dumbing it down because we have a young group. There’s a lot of expectations. Some of the subtleties of what we want to do will get lost because there’s so much coming at them. For example, Dante’s cut out of flow where you see Joe pass by the ear of guys is one of the things, one of the situations we got in San Antonio with Manu and Tony. Some of those subtleties we hope to capitalize on, but frankly we’re years away from mastering what we want to do.

Andy Larsen[/QUOTE]

All I can say is they better not be pulling this shit again next year.:no:

[QUOTE] Shabazz Muhammad made yet another 3-pointer and turned to the Utah bench, flashing a '3 goggles' gesture.

The Jazz got mad and then they got even.

"I don't think any of us were happy about that. But we should be able to get mad without people doing stuff like that," said Gordon Hayward, who added that their late-game play did all the talking.

Hayward scored 11 of his 26 points in the final four minutes to help the Utah Jazz rally to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 100-94 on Tuesday night.

Muhammad scored a career-best 30 points, including a jumper to lift the Timberwolves to a 92-84 lead with 4:22 to play. But it was his 3-pointer and taunt a few possessions earlier that irked the Jazz.

"Yeah, we took that personally. When he did that, each of our guys started taking their own matchups personally and we all came out and played harder," said Derrick Favors, who had 15 points.[/QUOTE]

So what's it going to take for you to play harder regardless?

[QUOTE]Trey Burke set a career-high with 26 points to overcome the loss of starting guard Alec Burks. Before the game it was announced that Burks would have shoulder surgery and miss the rest of the season.

In the final three minutes, the Timberwolves scored just once -- a Gorgui Deng layup -- while committing three turnovers, missing two free throws and allowing the Jazz to score at will.

"We were kind of panicking on offense," said Muhammad. "We are a young team and we need to learn how to slow down in the last three minutes."

STATS MIN UTA
Points 94 100
Field Goals 38-82 (46%) 38-79 (48%)
Three Pointers 8-17 (47%) 7-19 (37%)
Free Throws 10-14 (71%) 17-22 (77%)
Rebounds (Offensive) 34 (8) 43 (11)
Assists 26 16
Turnovers 11 14
Steals 7 5
Blocks 4 3
Fouls 23 19
Technicals 0 1
Full Box Score/Player Stats
Andrew Wiggins scored 21 points but the Timberwolves have lost nine in a row -- their worst skid since losing 11 consecutive games from March 30-April 17, 2012.

Meanwhile the Jazz have won six of eight games, extending their best stretch of the season. Utah's defense, which is near the bottom of league, has made big strides.

"It was really just defense," Utah coach Quin Snyder said. "It seems everybody made a play on the defensive end whether they were the actual player that deflected the ball and stole it, someone who pressured the pass or someone who denied the pass. The defense created a couple easy baskets and gave us a boost."

Reserve point guard Mo Williams sparked a Timberwolves rally in the third quarter with three straight jumpers and then had a couple assists to start the fourth. Minnesota's blazing 10-0 start in the final period gave the Wolves an 82-72 lead on Muhammad's back-to-back 3-pointers.

But the Timberwolves, who have the worst record in the Western Conference, came up empty again when the Jazz increased the pressure and got the crowd into the game.

"They got aggressive and we didn't match their intensity. We played more not to lose than to win," Minnesota coach Flip Saunders said.

___

TIP-INS

Timberwolves: The Wolves played without injured starters Ricky Rubio (ankle), Nikola Pekovic (foot and wrist) and Kevin Martin (wrist). . Minnesota has dropped nine straight on the road for the first time since Feb. 22-March 21, 2013. . The Timberwolves had 26 assists on 38 baskets and outscored the Jazz in the paint, 42-36.

Jazz: Enes Kanter grabbed 10 rebounds in his first 12 minutes of play and finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds. ... As Utah held onto a 95-94 lead, Burke was called for a charge but the call was changed to a blocking foul on Thaddeus Young after officials reviewed the play on video. ... Utah's largest lead of the game was the final score.

CAN'T STAY AWAY

Even though Burks faced surgery the next morning, he was out on the court with his teammates hoisting one-handed shots before the game and smiling. He had many opportunities to sit out games when the shoulder was painful but chose to play through unless the training staff held him out, Snyder said.

THE SILENT TIME OUT

Snyder called a fourth-quarter timeout when the Jazz were trailing by 10 and said nothing. "We knew what he was saying without him saying anything. He was encouraging us all game . but he wanted us to figure it out on our own at that point. He was tired of talking. We understood the message," Burke said.

UP NEXT

Timberwolves: Host Sacramento on Thursday.

Jazz: Host Atlanta on Friday.

Copyright

[QUOTE]Utah being dominated by the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves.[/QUOTE]

They were never dominated.

[QUOTE]A half-hour later, Snyder smiled wryly at the moment. But that

[QUOTE]The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has assigned guard Toure

Happy New Year!

[QUOTE=Xiao Yao You]Happy New Year![/QUOTE]
Happy New Year! :banana:

Not sure what I think of Patrick Christopher yet. In the Wolves game I thought there were times he was too quick to shoot, but I suppose they can't rely soley on Hayward and Burkes has been a poor shooter so far this year, despite his recent hot streak. Exum and Hood looked like they couldn't buy a basket even if they had a stack of $100 bills in their hands as well.

Also, i'm getting a slight feeling of schadenfreude now that Ty has been named coach for the rest of the year for the Kings and their season appears to be going down the shitter and DMC is starting to act out again. Cannot understand why D'Alessandro says he wants the Kings to play a more free wheeling style on offence and then puts Corbin in charge. They were better off letting Malone coach out the year then getting a suitable replacement, but it's looking like a tank job since the Bulls get their #1 pick this year if it's 11+.

Yeah Ty might not have the best coach if they want to run. Cousins isn't the best player for that either I wouldn't think for that matter.

2-19 including 0-11 from 3 point land. There's the real Trey Burke we're been loving this year. At least Exum had a decent shooting night, hope he can keep it up and hopefully start taking a few minutes (and shots) away from Burke. Jazz were +17 when he was on the floor last night.

Exum wil be playing. Hood is out and Christopher and Burks are done. Murray might even play tonight.

Harping thinks Trey's starting to get it together. 5-18 2 games before that one.

[QUOTE]Chris Herring: Utah plans to waive ex-Knick guard Toure Murry, according to a league source. Murry's status in Utah led handful of teams to inquire abt his status for potential trade, but no deal was reached. Will be waived tomorrow. Twitter @HerringWSJ [/QUOTE]

Thought the recent injuries may have saved him.