2014-2015 regular season!

[QUOTE]Last year, the former Butler All-American ranked a dismal 117th out of 124 players in field goal percentage at 41.3 percent in the NBA and was clear back in 145th place among 151 qualified 3-point shooters at 30.4 percent. Those were by far the worst percentages of his NBA career.[/QUOTE]

Max player? :wtf:

[QUOTE]There were a lot of theories about Hayward

[QUOTE]The Thunder are just 3-8 on the season, behind the Jazz (4-7) in the Northwest Division standings, and ranking last in the NBA in points per game at 89.5. They are coming off an ugly 69-65 home loss to Houston Sunday night where two teams scored under 70 points in a game for the first time since 2005 and two teams shot below 30 percent for the first time in an NBA game since 2003.[/QUOTE]

Can the Jazz hold them under 95?

[QUOTE]There

[QUOTE]the Jazz pulled off a 2-3 record on their first big road trip of the year. As I wrote last week, two wins out of five equates to a decent performance. Not great. Not even good, really. But decent. Definitely not bad.[/QUOTE]

Should have been 4. Those teams sucked!

[QUOTE]And yet, there's still a bit of a woulda coulda shoulda taste in my mouth. Despite the decent performance, it feels like the team underachieved just a bit because all three losses were winnable. All three losses included a Jazz lead in the 4th quarter.

Clark has mentioned that if the Jazz are to become this year's Phoenix (which is what we'd all hope to see), then they need to do better. They need to win these winnable games. And to do that, they need some different things happening in games. They need:

Someone besides Hayward and Favors to break out. Seriously, two major breakthroughs should mean more than 5 more wins (pace Jazz are on now). So we need to look at Alec Burks, Trey Burke, and Enes Kanter and ask each of them: "When are you going to take a big step forward?"[/QUOTE]

Kanter might when they leave him on the floor! Trey might on the bench. Alec will eventually.

[QUOTE]There has to be some defensive improvement. Maybe they just don't have the right guys for a decent defensive team right now ... but I still feel okay hoping/expecting some games that they can get stops when needed.[/QUOTE]

They suck defensively despite Favors supposed elite skills at that end.

[QUOTE]And so, looking at the upcoming week, I think it's fair to make a couple projections: first what kind of performance is indicative of the team we're seeing thus far (a team taking a smaller first step to respectability), and then what kind of performance is indicative of the team we hope to see (a team taking two or three major steps toward being a good team).

This week, the Jazz play at home against the Thunder, at Golden State, and then home vs. the Pelicans.

A team that's taking big steps will win two of those. That's really the benchmark for this week: Jazz should win two. I don't know if three is a fair expectation, not when the Warriors are playing as well as they are. But the Jazz should be able to win against this Thunder and Pelicans teams. So that's what I'm holding them to.[/QUOTE]

Pelicans should beat them. They have an elite player.

[QUOTE]Stats of the Week

I'm calling Favors the Man of the Week. I know Hayward was epic at times, but Favors was more consistent. So Favors gets the Yucca Nod[/QUOTE]

G all the way. The Favors love is hard to understand still.

[QUOTE]Starters

Starters Week 3

Bench

Bench Week 3

Utah's Two All Stars

Right now, the Jazz have two players who are putting up All-Star quality production. We know who they are: Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward.

Right now there are only two guys putting up Favors' combination of scoring, rebounding, shot-blocking, and scoring efficiency: Derrick and Dwight Howard.[/QUOTE]
:facepalm Dwight is an elite defender and rebounder and can't be stopped close to the basket. Find a new comparison please. 2 all-stars=contender not high lottery pick.

[QUOTE]As for Gordo: There is not another wing in the NBA right now scoring, rebounding, and assisting the way he is

[QUOTE]The defense has predictably continued to struggle with all the youth littering the roster, currently mere decimals ahead of the putrid Lakers for the worst unit in the league2.[/QUOTE]

All Ty's fault! :rolleyes:

[QUOTE]Trey Burke, quickly becoming a divisive topic in Jazzland, has alternated uneven performances with game-winners recently as he tries to claw his way back from an awful start to the year.[/QUOTE]

Is it awful or is this who he is. A move to the bench might be what he needs. Start Burks at the 1 which might get him going too. Start Ingles? Give Clark a shot at the rotation at least? I don't know. They just don't have enough talent. This roster just screams Neto anyway you look at it. Another vet or two would be nice as well. I'd guess there could be a couple moves once other teams start making moves like when they got Ingles.

[QUOTE]Perhaps most alarming, though, has been the play of recently-extended Alec Burks. For all the good Snyder’s system has done for the team as a whole, Burks seems to be having the largest struggles of anyone on the roster adapting to the motion-oriented scheme. His basic per-minute counting stats are down across the board, and his field-goal percentage (41.5) would be the lowest of his career thus far.[/QUOTE]

Maybe he's just not an NBA starter? Better hope he is with his new contract.

[QUOTE]Some of this can be explained away by his insertion into the starting lineup and subsequent play versus tougher average competition, but a deeper dive reveals some negative trends that go beyond this sort of context. Burks’ calling card is his ability to get to the rim and create issues for defenses, as detailed here by Ian Levy3 – simply put, he’s just not doing it as well as last season, or even close.

Per SportVU, Burks scored 7.9 points per-48-minutes on drives last year, a top-15 figure among rotation players and in the neighborhood of such elite drivers as LeBron James, Damian Lillard and Kevin Durant. This year? He’s down to 5.3 points per-48, 59th of rotation guys. He’s not shooting too different a percentage on his drives, but simply hasn’t appeared able or willing to get to the hoop as often. He drove the ball4 9.4 times per-48 last year, a figure that’s down to 6.1 so far, and the Jazz as a team are scoring barely half as many points per game as a direct result of Burks drives despite his per-game minutes increasing significantly.[/QUOTE]

Teams might be forcing him to take shots away from the rim or not fouling him when he does drive? He's not getting to the line as much. I would.

[QUOTE]He’s been far too willing to settle for low-efficiency jumpers instead of pushing the envelope. Where Burks in previous years was often rounding corners and flying into the teeth of the defense to cause rotations and help collapses, he’s more frequently than ever stopping short and jacking impatient shots:

Whatever the reason, be it hesitance within the system or something less fixable like complacency after his payday or even a minor injury5, it’s a real issue even through a small sample of games. The numbers bear out a significant worsening of his shot selection, both compared to his peers and to his own previous seasons. Burks is attempting over 30 percent of his total shots as two-pointers from 16 feet or further, a figure that would be far and away a career high. Not only that, but his conversion rate here has been nearly 46 percent, over 10 percent better than he’s ever shot from this range over a full season for his career – it’s good he’s improved his accuracy so far, but there’s almost no way he can sustain such numbers,[/QUOTE]

Why not? G is a great shooter now despite never being one.

[QUOTE]and his dwindling efficiency overall could suffer even more when he inevitably regresses.

There are other trickle-down effects, too. Burks has also distributed some of his new shot volume to beyond the three-point line, which is a positive sign along with another slight uptick in his accuracy from deep, now up to 37 percent. But it hardly outweighs a sharp drop in his free-throw rate6, from .449 last year to .350 so far, a big surprise given the aggression he showcased all throughout the preseason.[/QUOTE]

That's what you get when you take players away from what they do well. Same issue as making your best low post scorer a stretch 4.

[QUOTE]Furthermore, his increase from the 16+ range has come at the expense of his looks at the rim, where Burks is attempting just 26.8 percent of his looks (compared with 34.2 percent last year), easily his lowest since entering the league. His actual performance near the basket has suffered badly, as well – per NBASavant, he’s shooting an ugly 45.9 percent in the Restricted Area, 121st of 128 guys who have attempted at least 25 shots there so far7.

It remains early, and it’s not out of the question that the vast majority of Burks’ struggles can be traced back to both a new offensive scheme and his insertion into the starting lineup. But to the experienced eye, he just hasn’t seemed the same; he’s far too willing to settle, and seems genuinely uninterested in getting to the hoop for long periods of time, even when clear opportunities to do so and create an advantageous circumstance appear to be there. Couple this puzzling reluctance to attack with continued meandering defense away from the ball, an area I had hoped he was ready to clamp down on this year, and my man Alec hasn’t had the most encouraging start to the year. It’s a long season, though, and Quin and his staff have undoubtedly seen many of the same trends and will work to correct them. Look for a bounce back game or two from the young 2-guard in the near future…or if not, don’t expect the worrying to subside.

Ben Dowsett[/QUOTE]

Maybe he's still not 100%? That could explain him not wanting contact as much.

[QUOTE]Jazz rookie Rodney Hood is out for the game against Oklahoma City as he continues battling plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

Hood averages four points and 3.3 rebounds in 15 minutes, but he has missed the last five games. He was wearing a boot as he watched the end of Monday

[QUOTE]How hurting are the Thunder? Sebastian Telfair was playing in China a year ago, but he started a long stretch of games through November, and remains a key guy off the bench. [/QUOTE]

He'd be a nice starter for the Jazz.

[QUOTE]Reggie Jackson, normally a back-up, is the No. 1 offensive option. Jeremy Lamb, not even in the rotation a year ago, now has a green light to shoot it. That

[QUOTE]Spencer Checketts: Trey Burke: "Coach really came at us at halftime. Honestly, we were all shocked at how animated he was." Twitter

"I just thought we lost our identity," Snyder said of his halftime pep talk after his team's sluggish/terrible/awful/ugly/downright dreadful first-half performance. " ... We came out and didn't get stops early and offensively we were just stuck in mud. We showed them a couple of clips and said let's get back to doing the things we do." Deseret News[/QUOTE]

He lost it before the end of the first half telling them to wake up. It lit a fire under them and it was the best they've played all year for the stretch that followed into the 2nd half. Granted it was another shitty team.

They slowed down Reggie and Ibaka. Burke has been getting some assists at least to go along with his crappy shooting. Burks might have had the best game of his career and 2nd straight double figure rebounding game. Exum might have had his best game as well. Other than Novak he's probably their best spot up shooter which is funny considering that was supposed to be a weakness. All without their superstar showing up and Favors in foul trouble again. Enes is playing well. Maybe he'll start getting big minutes or stay in th game in favor of Favors at some point even?

[QUOTE]But in terms of their games and skillsets, Okafor is increasingly drawing comparisons to the future Hall of Famer with five NBA rings.

[QUOTE] The Jazz don’t want to lose contact. With that, we mean contact with the .500 mark, especially early in the year.[/QUOTE]

With Okafor available? :coleman:

[QUOTE]It’s fairly obvious that this is a much better team than last season. It’s obvious that the Jazz are more competitive, are developing guys that could have some star power and want to maintain the consistency and the confidence that improved play has yielded early on.[/QUOTE]

It's not that obvious to me. Everyone seems to forget that there were close to .500 in the middle of last year. They've been beating crappy teams and teams on the back end of a back to back. Also lost to some shitty teams that they should have beat. Their bench is weaker with Alec starting. The pg position is weak again. They still can't shoot. They still don't defend.They have a lot to prove yet.

[QUOTE]So this week isn’t central to that, but it is important. You can argue that of their four games in the next seven days, Utah should only be favored tonight against the Oklahoma City Thunder. After OKC on Tuesday night at EnergySolutions Arena, the Jazz travel to Golden State to face the Warriors, come home to face the New Orleans Pelicans and then meet the Chicago Bulls next Monday.

That’s quite a week. Three teams that look to be in the postseason hunt, and three teams with some of the NBA’s elite players. The Jazz are currently 4-7, a bad week can put them in a difficult spot.

"It’s definitely going to be competitive for us," Utah center Derrick Favors said. "We’re going to have to play well if we want to get some wins. We just have to pay attention to detail and take things slowly."

The good news is that the week isn’t nearly as travel intensive as last week. The Jazz will play tonight, then take a few days off before meeting the Warriors. They do face the Pelicans on a back-to-back, but then get the Bulls after another day off.

In doing so, here are the slate of players Utah will be running into: Serge Ibaka, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Anthony Davis, Joakim Noah, Pau Gasol, Jimmy Butler. Oh yeah. That guy Derrick Rose is currently sitting out with a strained hamstring. He could very well be healthy in six days.

So the Jazz are going to have a fun time navigating yet another stretch through the minefield’s of the NBA’s Western Conference. It all begins tonight with a depleted Oklahoma City team. Looking at all of the evidence, tonight looms fairly important.

Tony Jones[/QUOTE]

I'd expect them to lose the next 3. Than their record makes them one of the worst teams in the league which they are.

[QUOTE]normally perfect hair unkempt, Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder did the one thing on Tuesday night he hasn

[QUOTE]Hood, a rookie forward out of Duke, has been a key member of Quin Snyder

[QUOTE]Burke put together one of his best performances of the season Tuesday night at EnergySolutions Arena.[/QUOTE]

Even at his best he hasn't been that good. The fact that they write articles about him still is amazing really!

[QUOTE]He finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and committed one turnover in 37 minutes to help the Jazz beat Oklahoma City, 98-81.

"Tonight was definitely a balanced game for me," Burke said. "I tried to make plays for others and I found myself in the paint a lot. A couple of [shots] didn

[QUOTE]"Alec Burks played unbelievably," Kanter said. "Got his second double-double in two games. If he keeps playing like that, other players are going to help out and this team is going to be really good."[/QUOTE]

And no one seems to be talking about it. Was shocked he wasn't the interview immediately after the game but instead it was Trey. Let's hope he can keep it up against Klay Thompson now.

[QUOTE]Gordon Hayward added 13 points and Derrick Favors contributed 10 with seven rebounds for Utah (5-7), which was playing its first home game following a five-game Eastern road swing.

"Those games when you come home off a long road trip are always a tough game," Snyder said. "I thought we did a good job responding to it.

"At the beginning of the game we didn't have any energy. Anywhere you can find it, I told them, look under a rock, look at each other. Anywhere you can find some juice, try to find it."

Dante Exum splashed in three 3-pointers in a crowd-pleasing 2 1/2-minute stretch of the second half, and Rudy Gobert and Joe Ingles also contributed to the victory off the Jazz bench.

"A lot of guys had good efforts in a difficult situation," Snyder said. "Everybody played a part in trying to pick us up. What Alec was doing defensively was crucial. He's the guy that had the juice. This is the best job Trey has done running the team and keeping his composure."

For Oklahoma City, Jeremy Lamb led the way with 19 points but shot just 5 of 15 from the field for a Thunder squad that shot just 35.7 percent from the field in suffering its third-straight loss.

"We were defending with our hands and they got 15 free throws in that second quarter," said Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks. "That turned the game around. We got up 17 and then we stopped doing what we were doing.

"And then our defense didn't come to play in the third (quarter)."

EMAIL: [email]rhollis@desnews.com[/email][/QUOTE]

[QUOTE]Through the first three-plus years of his NBA career, spanning 211 games, Alec Burks had never had as many as 10 rebounds in a game. That

[QUOTE]"It starts on the defensive end when it comes to those tight games," Burke said, pointing out that the Jazz could have won their road games at Toronto, Atlanta and Indiana on their recent Eastern road trip if they'd just tightened things up defensively in the fourth quarter. "We've got to execute at a higher level on offense as well.

"When it's a close game, anything can happen. It's just a matter of executing and then sticking to our principles on the defensive end.

"It's something we're gonna have to constantly buy into, which is the defensive end more than anything," Burke said. "The offense is gonna come but when it comes down to the last six minutes of the game and it's tight, both teams are battling, it's gonna come down to playing defense."[/QUOTE]

Try playing it the rest of the game and it might not come down to it at the end.

[QUOTE]NO NIGHTS OFF: Oklahoma City came into Tuesday night's game without its two best players, reigning league MVP Kevin Durant and All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook.

But Favors said the biggest mistake the Jazz could make is to think that, with the Thunder's two top guys sidelined by injuries, he and his teammates could win by simply showing up.

"It's the NBA and there's a lot of good players in the NBA, so you can have any night where a guy can have 30 (points)," he said. "So, yeah, we don't have to go against Durant and Westbrook, but at the same time, this is the NBA and you have to work against everybody. They've still got guys who can put up points and have their nights."

First-year Jazz coach Quin Snyder admitted that it's a challenge to make sure his guys are mentally ready to play, knowing that the Thunder's big guns are silenced for now.

"I think it's always a concern," he said. "And these guys have beaten people, too. They don't obviously have the firepower that they would have with two All-Stars, but teams come together in these situations and I'm sure they look at this game as a game that they have an opportunity to win.

"The silver lining ... is they've got some guys right now that are getting opportunities to grow and to play. There's nothing like experience. We can talk about player development and all this, but part of development is actually getting out on the court and competing. And they'll be better for it when they get those guys back."

CONFIDENCE-BOOSTER: Burke, whose buzzer-beater knocked off the Knicks last Friday at Madison Square Garden, said making such a big-time shot can be a big boost to a player's confidence.
"It helps it a lot," he said. "It gives you confidence when you hit a big shot like that to help your team win. Obviously to hit a shot like that for a young player, I think all young players get confidence from that because that's a big shot, and a lot of guys might not even take that shot.

"So for me, it's a confidence-booster," Burke said, "something that I'll definitely carry with me. It gives you confidence, the experience of the shot by itself gives you confidence to be ready for that same shot whenever the game's close. It's always big when you make a shot like that to help your team win."

SOMETHING'S WRONG UNDER THE HOOD: Jazz guard/forward Rodney Hood missed Tuesday night's game with plantar fasciitis in his right foot, marking the sixth-straight game that the rookie swingman has been forced to sit out due to the painful injury.

"He brings that scoring punch off the bench for us, kinda like Alec (Burks) used to do for us in the past," Favors said of Hood, a 6-foot-8 sharpshooter out of Duke who's averaged 4 points and 3.3 rebounds a game in limited playing time.[/QUOTE]

No he doesn't. I think Trey could be the answer to the bench. Where's Raul? :cry:

[QUOTE]Favors, who has dealt with painful plantar fasciitis of his own in the past, said there's only one way to get over it: "Basically rest," he said. "There isn't much anything that you can do. You've got to rest, put ice on it, and it's gonna take awhile to get it back healthy again. The main thing he can do right now is to take his time and rest."

Snyder said the Jazz definitely miss Hood's presence coming off the bench for the team's second unit.

"It affects us, it affects us," he said. "Obviously he's been a key guy for us off the bench. He makes shots, and one of the things that I don't think maybe people are aware of is he's a good defender.

"He's got length, and he knows where to go as much as any of our guys here right now that are still trying to find their way. So we miss him. He's an important part of our team."

EMAIL: [email]rhollis@desnews.com[/email][/QUOTE]

[QUOTE]He had just used Jeremy Evans for the 4th time this season, then subbed him back out. He tried playing Jingles1 to unstick the ball in the offense. In his own words, he was

[QUOTE]no doubt that Hayward is an extremely unique player that make an impact in a bevy of different ways, he

[QUOTE]Burks is a very good catch-and-shoot 3-point shooter. Last year, he was at 41% and this year he

[QUOTE]Toure' Murry is playing better. And when I say playing better, I mean he's playing like the Dwyane Wade of the NBA-DL.[/QUOTE]

:wtf:

[QUOTE]Lastly, before we go on to the players, Jack Cooley did not play in this game as he was injured in the second half of Game 1, and did not return / was not cleared for action tonight. This meant more Quinton Doggett, and he is showing some impressive things in the paint.

Kevin Murphy, once again the scoring leader from last year had a poor shooting night. Only 3 of his 12 shots went in, and was a -25 in +/-. If he's not scoring he's trying to facilitate, and it's not quite second nature to him. And if he's not doing that he's not doing much else. His defense appears to be the biggest flaw right now. We know he can score. He's just not doing it right now. We don't know if he can defend at the "next to the NBA" level yet. Murph finished with 10 points, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds. His main benefit on the floor seems to be a guy who can draw fouls and get to the line. But he was supposed to be more than just that at the NBA-DL level. Furthermore, he has shown that he is more with his play last season.
Toure' Murry had a much better game, finishing with 14 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals. He shot 7/15, but missed both of his 3PTA. Here he is being used in a more natural way as a combo guard from the two position. He has the physicality to bully a lot of smaller guards and plays like his college self, not his muted NBA form that was just a pick and roll passer. I am beginning to think that he could be better than Ian Clark -- but Clark distinguished himself in the DL last year as being obviously too good for it. Time will tell if Murry will prove that this year.[/QUOTE]

Clark did not show that! He showed he needed more time there. I'm guessing he might be too good for the D-league now but would love to see him prove it since he does 't play anyway. Encouraging game from Murray anyway. Maybe he has some potential after all.

[QUOTE]Jack Cooley, was injured.

Nick Covington went 6/11, had 17 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals. I was more impressed with him in Game 2 than Game 1, obviously. But it's just clear that Erie is a very bad matchup for him. Peyton Siva and Seth Curry just torched him (and the rest of Idaho) all game long.

Trey Bussey only played 17 minutes, and got to the line and made a three. His 9 points off of 5 shots was impressive, but he did not do much else.
Joel Wright added 16 and 3, while Quinton Doggett had 11 and 8. Neither of them look like NBA ready prospects just yet.

Furthermore, it's easy to see why in previous seasons the Jazz did not call up guys from the Utah Flash, the team gunned for the best defenders. And that's who Sundiata Gaines / Othyus Jeffers were. Right now none of these cats look like solid defenders, save for the potential of Murry right now. And he may only appear that way because he was just physically that much bigger than his opponents on Saturday night.

The Stamps don't play again until a FRI/SAT back to back in LA against the Defenders.

Kevin Murphy needs to shake it off and start making some of his shots.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE]Derrick Favors, the unsculpted low-post presence to anchor the Jazz defense for years to come.[/QUOTE]

I'm not convinced. Rudy maybe.

[QUOTE]It

[QUOTE]the Jazz rallied from a 17-point first-half deficit and wound up winning by 17, 98-81

[QUOTE]Thankfully for the Jazz, there are four quarters in a game. [/QUOTE]

That's actually been a problem the past two years. How often have they put together 4 quarters of play? Not yet this season.

[QUOTE]The first 17 minutes were anything but great for the home squad. Utah was quite lackadaisical in getting off to a slow start. Conversely, the injury-depleted Thunder came out with a lot of energy and it took a while for Utah to match it. Once it did, execution picked up and the Jazz moved on to a comfortable win over their division rival.

Turning point: After falling behind 37-20 midway through the second quarter, Utah head coach Quin Snyder

[QUOTE]There

[QUOTE]Through 12 games, what are some stats, and how do the stats compare to last year?2

Through 12 games last year, we were 1-11; this year, we

[QUOTE]Arno Ferguson, of Golden State of Mind, wrote about the 10 Most likely MIP candidates.

I suggest you check it out, if not just for Gordon Hayward but for the other players on the list.

As for The Precious, well, Arno had this to say:

8. Gordon Hayward (Min -2.2, Pts +2.5, FG% +5.9, FT% +6.9, TOs -0.7)

Hayward is probably one of the few names casual NBA fans will recognize on the Jazz roster. Looks like his game has reacted well to the 4-year, 63 million contract he received in the off-season. With slightly decreasing minutes, he's been scoring more (and efficiently) while cutting back his turnovers.

- Arno Fergusion, GSOM, 2014

Check it out here, and hopefully Hayward's play will continue to gain some level of attention to our oft-forgotten franchise. (On the National level. Serously, name the last Jazz player to win an end-of-season award. Go!)[/QUOTE]

Mailman MVP?

[QUOTE]Kanter has started all 11 contests for the Jazz heading into Friday

The team practiced Thursday after taking Wednesday off to get a "mental and emotional rest," as Snyder phrased it.

[QUOTE]Ohm Youngmisuk: According to sources, Nets have had preliminary talks w/ Sixers about moving Kirilenko + Karasev. In such case Sixers likely waive Kirilenko Twitter @NotoriousOHM

Ohm Youngmisuk: If the Nets and Sixers were to make a deal involving Kirilenko + Karasev, Nets likely would seek and get a trade exception in return Twitter @NotoriousOHM

Mike Mazzeo: Kirilenko's $3.3 million would help #Sixers in their quest to get to (or at least close to) #NBA's $56.759 million salary floor for 2014-15 Twitter @MazzESPN[/QUOTE]

works for Jeremy Evans too.

[QUOTE]Hayward battled Carmelo Anthony and toughed through a road-trip-ending game in Toronto with flu-like symptoms. Finally, after a week the 24-year-old was back to full health Friday.

[QUOTE]If there’s one upside to Friday’s shellacking it’s that none of the starters played more than Gordon Hayward’s 27 minutes. Kanter, in fact, only saw 20 minutes of action.[/QUOTE]

that could definitely be a plus tonight with the Pelicans also on a back to back. Still would expect a loss.

[QUOTE]Despite limited playing time, Kanter led the Jazz with 18 points but was frustrated with his five turnovers. As a team, Utah had 20 turnovers, leading to 28 points for the Warriors.[/QUOTE]

Despite the turnovers He was the one guy that came to play and was left on the bench yet again. Tired of hearing about match-ups. He's a tough match-up for other teams too.

[QUOTE]Golden State, meanwhile, got the balanced type of scoring that Snyder was concerned about leading up to the game. The Warriors were able to demolish the Jazz despite the fact that Steph Curry only scored eight points and Klay Thompson had just 14. Those two came in averaging 48.4 combined points.

Sixth man Andre Iguodala led the Warriors with 17 points, while Golden State also got nice contributions from Harrison Barnes (14 points, 11 rebounds), Marreese Speights (14 points) and Andrew Bogut (12 points).

“They can overwhelm you in a number of ways,” Snyder said. “Their pace is so fast, it’s hard to find them all the time.”

“They just have so many weapons,” Hayward said at Friday’s shootaround. “I think it’s one of those things where you try to take away what they like to do most. If they’re firing on all cylinders and everybody’s hitting them, then you have to outscore them.”

On this night, however, the only time that happened was the fourth quarter, which Utah won 31-16 to make the final score a bit more respectable. Still, Golden State easily defeated the Jazz for the fifth straight time for the first time in franchise history.

On a positive note, Warriors coach Steve Kerr noted that it’s interesting how he and Snyder both run similar types of offenses with their new teams — something he said probably goes back to their San Antonio roots in the NBA.

“We have some similar actions. I know we have the same beliefs – ball movement, spacing, flow and pace,” Kerr said of the Jazz. “Our personnel’s a little different. They’ve got some big guys inside that they like to pound you with.”[/QUOTE]

Jazz have big guys they could pound you with too and considering they can't shoot would seem to make the most sense. GS was definitely packing the paint and daring the Jazz to beat them from the perimeter as any team should be doing.

[QUOTE]Only one team did the pounding on this night — and it wasn’t Utah, which dropped to 5-8.

When told of Kerr’s comments about the similar styles, Snyder quipped, “I hope we play like them.”

While it’s unlikely Utah will get a backcourt that’s as explosive as Golden State’s, the team will continue to work on trying to match the ball movement the Warriors use in mimicking the Spurs.

Snyder credited the Warriors’ maturity and how well-connected they are on the court.

“One of the things that makes them so good is the way they pass the ball and how unselfish they are,” Snyder said. “That’s something that’s a credit to Steve first and as well as their guys that they embrace that style.”

EMAIL: [email]jody@desnews.com[/email], TWITTER: DJJazzyJody

[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE]A Jazz newcomer once said he didn

[QUOTE]Derrick Favors, the unsculpted low-post presence to anchor the Jazz defense for years to come.[/QUOTE]

When should we expect this to begin? Gobert looks like that player actually.

[QUOTE]It

[QUOTE]the Utah Jazz still need to be more competitive than they were on Friday night.
[/QUOTE]

As long as you're going to keep gushing over them they must. Other than the Toronto game I haven't been very impressed and of course they folded in that one and didn 't play D. Not sure Toronto is even a playoff team in the west though.

[QUOTE]That was a big message conveyed by Jazz coach Quin Snyder in the moments following a 101-88 loss to a Warriors team that truthfully played like the game was over in the second half. For the second consecutive game, Utah came out with a slow start. Unlike Tuesday night

[QUOTE]"We have to try and keep them off the line," Utah Jazz point guard Trey Burke said on Friday before the two teams met. "They have a lot of guys who can fill it up. So we have to get a hand in their faces, and we have to keep them to one shot."[/QUOTE]

At least you talk a big game.

[QUOTE]The Jazz face one of their biggest defensive tests in trying to deal with Curry and Thompson, each of whom have improved significantly off the dribble over the years. The bad news? A team that closely mirrors Golden State is the Dallas Mavericks

[QUOTE]A look of frustration on their faces after being victimized by Bay Area traffic Friday, Quin Snyder and a good chunk of his Utah Jazz players arrived at Oracle Arena a little more than 75 minutes before tipoff with the Golden State Warriors. As a result, the pregame routine, always precise under Snyder, was thrown off, even if slightly so.

And it all went downhill from there.[/QUOTE]

at least there's another excuse

[QUOTE]By the end, the Warriors won a 101-88 contest that was much less competitive than the final score would indicate. And by the end, if it wasn

[QUOTE]"I

[QUOTE]they also topped the league with 19.3 turnovers per game as they adjusted to Kerr's ball-movement based offense.[/QUOTE]

Of course against the Jazz D they weren't close to that.

[QUOTE]The Warriors put on a dazzling display against the Jazz, showing off a space-and-pace scheme and a smothering defense while minimizing mistakes on both ends.

Golden State outshot the Jazz 50 percent to 42.7 percent. The Warriors also had just 13 turnovers

[QUOTE]The Jazz aren

[QUOTE]It's been refreshing to see the outpouring of support FOR AK from the Nets fans, the various comments sections and @ replies to Nets reporters see to be almost universally pro-AK. The refrain is that while things appear unsalvageable with Hollins at the helm, that General Manager Billy King should move him.[/QUOTE]

Hard not to like AK isn't it?

[QUOTE]You may remember Billy King as former GM of the Philadelphia 76ers back when he and Kevin O'Connor (then Utah Jazz GM) made a lot of trades. They remain very close, clasping hands and joking with full mirth when I last saw them together at the NBA Draft combine last spring.

N.B. King was the GM of Philly from 98 till 07. Here is a list of the UTA/PHI deals during that time period:

June 24th, 1998 -- Nazr Mohammad traded for future 1st rounder (Quincy Lewis, 1999) (on draft night)[/QUOTE]

bad trade though I though Quincy deserved more of a shot

[QUOTE]June 7th, 2005 -- Future 2nd rounder (Alex Acker, 2005) for future 2nd rounder (Ante Tomic, 2008)[/QUOTE]

That one looks good but when will the league see Ante?

[QUOTE]June 28th, 2007 -- Herbert Hill for Kyrylo Fesenko (on draft night)[/QUOTE]
:roll:

[QUOTE]December 29th, 2007 -- Gordan Giricek and future 1st rounder (Trevor Booker) for Kyle Korver[/QUOTE]

great one obviously other than the fact that Jerry had too much love for Kyle

[QUOTE]N.B. King was the GM of Brooklyn from 2010 onwards. Here is a list of the UTA/BKN deals during that time period:

February 23rd, 2011: Deron Williams for Derrick Favors, Devin Harris, Cash, a future 1st rounder (Enes Kanter, 2011), a future 1st rounder (Gorgui Dieng, 2013)[/QUOTE]

still got to wonder what they could have gotten if it wasn't the 2nd offer on the table though.

[QUOTE]December 22nd, 2011: Mehmet Okur for a trade exception and a future 2nd rounder (2015)[/QUOTE]

sweet!

[QUOTE]That's six Utah deals that Billy King has made in his GM career. I wouldn't mind having Andrei Kirilenko return to the Utah Jazz. Kirilenko is making $3.326 million this year, in the final year of his contract. I'd straight up trade the rights to Ante Tomic and a few 2nd rounders for him; or just try to claim him off of waivers if he gets cut.[/QUOTE]

I had forgotten about the King/O'conner connection too.

No way I give Tomic away in the deal. He's one of the top players not in the league and in his prime. An elite passing big man with various post moves with both hands and length. He has to have more value than that. The Sixers are supposed to be getting a pick for taking his and the other Russians contract. I don't think the Jazz are under the cap enough to get him without a player in the deal anyway.

Jeremy Evans makes perfect sense. He's not in the Jazz's plans this year or beyond obviously. Expiring contract. Great end of the bench energy guy who was a solid rotation player last year in a tougher conference. Even if Jeremy is at the end of the Nets bench he would be better in that role than AK and he saves the Nets money not that they care much. I would like to see Jeremy get a shot elsewhere.

[QUOTE]Obviously his use to the Jazz are partly for nostalgia purposes, but also as that veteran off the bench who has actually played in big games before (Olympic medal games, Western Conference Playoff games, etc). I think that if there was a guy who was going to make Gordon Hayward and Rodney Hood into solid wing defenders it could be Andrei coaching them in practice / film sessions. Last season he played 19.0 mpg, and I seriously doubt that there is 19.0 mpg to be found on this roster. But I am certain that Quin Snyder, who knows the Euro game under Ettore Messina, would be able to find a place for a high basketball IQ forward passer.[/QUOTE]

Great fit. Plays D and passes. A vet. Could help lead the 2nd unit. Could start pulling Burks early in games instead of G to join him on the 2nd unit since G and AK have more similar games. Can play 3 positions. Hood to the D-league until he's ready. Could move Burks to the 1 and send Burke to the D-league.

[QUOTE]I'm not objective when it comes to AK-47. It is sad to see that one of the better relationships he's had with a coach was the troubled one with Jerry Sloan . . . his on court utility isn't as high as it used to be. But I would welcome him back if he found his way back home. Regardless, I wish him the best and hope that the 33 year old can find a place that will feel like he can contribute to their team. It's most likely not going to be Utah. If it's in the NBA I will still watch him, unless it's with the Lakers.[/QUOTE]

I don't see it happening. They are tanking and don't want vets. His number will hang from the rafters though eventually. I thought it was certainly time to move on from AK when they did but now would be a great time to bring him back. He could be a tradable asset later in the season as well. A more valuable one than Evans I'd think. They also have the roster space to take on the other guy if they must.

[QUOTE]Obvious propaganda video is obvious.

Update: Via Steve Aschburner, of NBA.com who points to this Tim Bontemps story today

Sources said no buyout negotiations have taken place yet, but that it's possible the team could try to trade Kirilenko and his $3.3 million expiring contract. If such a trade were to materialize, it would likely be after Dec. 15, when all rookies and players signed to contracts this summer are eligible to be moved.

If a trade doesn't materialize, it seems inevitable that a buyout would be reached at some point.

- Tim Bontemps, NY Post, 2014[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE]in a team defensive structure like the Jazz’s that relies on help-and-recover from all five guys, you’re only as good as your weakest link. And the Jazz have had a lot of weak links lately.[/QUOTE]

Despite all the hate for Enes Burke has to be the weakest no?

[QUOTE]Part of it is that they haven’t been actively defending away from the ball. If they’re guarding someone weak side — or even guarding someone on a simple cross paint route, a lot of Jazz players just sort of hang out. They start defending after their man has caught the ball. Smart defenders are engaged all the times, but too many Utah players have been defending like they’re on-call: “Page me when I really need to start caring.” It happened throughout the Eastern trip, it happened on Tuesday and it happened a lot on Friday in Oakland.

Gordon Hayward — usually a more engaged defender all-around — did it on consecutive plays in the first quarter, waiting to lock in on the play until the ball came to his man. At one point Alec Burks was casually jogging behind his man who caught, turned and scored a layup before Burks even realized what had happened.

And then the screen defense… Yikes.

The Jazz actually had to play their bigs more aggressively on screens than they’ve been doing on the whole. That’s what you have to do against GSW, but they were probably working against muscle memory a bit, and they looked confused a lot of times. The Warriors have a set they like to run with a multiple-weave pattern out front, a series of side to side screens and constant motion. The Jazz would get completely disoriented on those, almost always allowing an open three or a lob for a short-range attempt.[/QUOTE]

And that's got to be on the coaching staff as well. They had plenty of time to prepare them for it.

[QUOTE]That’s to say nothing of the Jazz allowing early leakouts. Seven of GSW’s points in that 12-0 opening salvo were transition points, and four were completely uncontested cherry-picks1.

It was obvious early that the Jazz weren’t paying attention to those kinds of details. They were a step late or a missed read away from good defense for most of the night.

2. That said, the Warriors ARE, in fact, good.

Their new offensive principles are really bringing out the talents their guys possess. Andrew Bogut is learning how to score opportunistically, Marreese Speights and Draymond Green are hitting their shots and playing with energy, and of course Los Hermanos Splash are doing the kinds of things they’re known to do.

Golden State runs a one-post flow offense, too, only their guys trust the offense a lot more at this point. You can tell they’re confident and have the green light from the bench because they tend to strike when a moment presents itself. They trust each other to recognize a good shot, and the result is a much more free-flowing, purposeful game than the Jazz are playing most nights.

In contrast, you still see Utah pump fake their way away from open jumpers and otherwise overcomplicate their own lives. They would do well to take note of how free and loose the Warriors are, and how ready they are to take good shots that the flow produces. Watch this play and tell me that the Jazz are trusting themselves to take what the offense presents.[/QUOTE]

The Jazz aren't great shooters. There's a reason they pass up open shots.

[QUOTE]That’s a lot of wasted movement and passing. The offensive movement is creating moments of opportunity, but sometimes they’re not taking what’s there and instead just bounce the ball around the perimeter. This clip right here is exactly why the Jazz’s pace numbers aren’t what we expected: if the early offense isn’t there, the Jazz spend the whole clock looking and waiting for something better to come along. “No, really, YOU shoot.”

3. Ru-dy!

Context matters, so it’s hard to take too much positive from a game that was never competitive after the first four minutes. Even the nice things that happened (like Steve Novak’s three triples, including the he-must-give-to-charity high rim bounce) has a huge asterisk that says, “Yeah, but…”

That said, Rudy Gobert had a career-high 12 points on 6/7 shooting just by being active and showing good hands around the rim. All of his shots were in the restricted area, and the one he missed, he quickly collected and put back in. He was disruptive with two blocks and two steals.

Other bright spots: You wouldn’t be overwhelmed by Dante Exum’s line (2 points, 5 assits in 22 minutes), but he had a nice floor game for the most part. [/QUOTE]

That's what I'm impressed with. His stats aren't going to jump out at ya but he knows how to play.

[QUOTE]Ian Clark had some nice minutes, too, though by that point a playground game had broken out.[/QUOTE]

Clark looks like he deserves a shot anyway. When no one else is getting it done I see no reason not to give him and Jeremy a shot.

[QUOTE]Enes Kanter played a nice fluid game on offense. All 12 active Jazz players scored.

And, of course, there was this:

Dan Clayton[/QUOTE]