Season of the tank!-2013-14 regular season

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By making only 28.8 percent of their shots, the Jazz set a franchise record for field-goal percentage futility. The previous low shooting mark happened in a 73-62 home loss on Nov. 14, 2005, to the New York Knicks when Utah only made good on 29.3 percent of its field-goal attempts.

Jazz fans might remember two significant moments surrounding that ugly game.

First, the late Larry H. Miller was so livid that the injury-plagued Jazz only scored eight points in the third quarter, the fuming owner, Utah's most passionate fan, walked from his old courtside seat to the Jazz huddle between quarters, barked at then-coach Jerry Sloan and players, and then stood next to the team bench during the fourth quarter.

"They (players) probably did get a little bit intimidated,” Sloan said at the time. “But they have to learn how to play at this level if they are going to be in this league.”

The next day, the Deseret News reported that former players Greg Ostertag and Matt Harpring were among the active athletes who got a tongue-lashing. Miller also “seemed to have heated words” for injured Andrei Kirilenko and Carlos Boozer, who sat behind the bench.

Former Jazz guard Devin Brown admitted the passionate Miller “was vocal.” He said the main point received was that the owner “spends money on our team, and he wants us to play hard. We need to play harder."

From the Nov. 15, 2005, article:

“When Brown was pressed on what Miller said specifically, Ostertag, who was standing nearby, sarcastically told his teammate to share the exact language, then snapped, ‘It's a family show,’ before walking to the showers in disgust.”

Sloan told reporters he didn’t hear what Miller said.

"I was aware that he was in the huddle, but I didn't hear him say anything … I had other things that I was concerned about," the Hall of Fame coach said. "Larry can say whatever he wants. He owns the team. I've never had a problem with that."

That, by the way, also led to No. 3 draft pick Deron Williams getting the first start of his NBA career the next night in Sacramento. D-Will, who remained bitter for years about not being a full-time starter his rookie campaign

Hard to blame him considering the two scrubs that played ahead of him.

, was in the first unit for the next 19 games. However, he returned to the bench for the following 25 before securing a permanent starting role in Utah’s final 28 games of that 41-41 season.

The Jazz made 27 of 75 shots in that game more than eight years ago. Sloan described his team’s interior attempts “kind of like an adventure.”

Or a misadventure.

Sloan's description also fits the current club’s clunker against the Timberwolves, a game in which Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said the team simply lacked pep and energy along with dozens and dozens of shots. Even normally strong finishers Derrick Favors (two missed dunks) and Jeremy Evans (three missed tips) had head-smacking possessions in which it seemed like the Target Center rim was playing defense against them.

Overall Saturday, the Jazz missed a whopping 52 of 73 field goals to enter a portion of the history book they’d rather avoid. Utah only scored nine points in the second quarter and 23 in the entire first half, tying a franchise record for fewest field goals in a half with eight.

“You never want to put all your weight on one game, whether it’s good or bad,” Marvin Williams said in the cramped visitors locker room. “We’ll learn from this game and hopefully bounce back and put out a better performance Tuesday.”

The Jazz host Minnesota on that night at ESA after having Sunday off and getting one day of practice Monday.

An especially puzzling part of Saturday’s offensive no-show was that the Jazz had played so well in Detroit the night before, putting up 110 points and shooting 54.4 percent in a blowout win. Corbin thought the 21-point win, Utah’s largest margin of victory this season, was one of the team’s better all-around performances.

“You’re going to have some ups and downs,” Corbin said. “You just don't want it to be this broad.”

Saturday's effort was much more reminiscent of how the Jazz played during their 1-14 start when duds were common than how Utah had performed while going 13-13 after the season's bumbling beginning.

“We didn’t attack as we have been. We lost in all areas (Saturday),” Corbin said. “We’ve got to make sure this is just a short-term thing.”

EMAIL: jody@desnews.com

TWITTER: DJJazzyJody

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It

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[QUOTE]Deseret News sports columnist Brad Rock talked with former Jazz coach Tom Nissalke about his take on where the game stands, both today and yesterday.

1. Q. Do teams ever really tank a season?

A.

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[QUOTE]Jazz center Enes Kanter logged his seventh consecutive game in double figures with 18 points (and seven rebounds) off the bench.

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[QUOTE]HOMECOMING: Alec Burks admitted it was

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[QUOTE]Supportive Michigan fans cheered every time he scored in his 20-point night. The Jazz loved it every time he passed to a teammate for a score in his career-high 12-assist game.

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[QUOTE]Once firmly at the bottom of the league in terms of points and wins, the Jazz now find themselves playing .500 ball.

The main thing is that Utah has been scoring more

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The Jazz have been bouncing back and forth between wins and losses all month while going 4-4 in January. Coach Tyrone Corbin sees some positive in that, seeing as the team isn

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Williams admitted the team is in somewhat of a somber mood after it set a franchise record for shooting futility while hitting for just 28.8 percent from the field in Saturday

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[QUOTE]Corbin was asked what part of the season has frustrated him as a coach.

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[QUOTE]Corbin said Hayward will likely start when he returns, and shooting guard Alec Burks will probably return to his sixth-man role. When asked if he

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Hayward has missed five straight games because of the injury, but he likely will play for the first time since Jan. 7 on Tuesday night, when the Jazz face Minnesota at EnergySolutions Arena.

"You

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This is their most leisurely stretch of the schedule. They play four home games over the next 12 nights. ... At 8-11, they own the worst home record in the Western Conference. ...

The good news is they've actually played decent on the road which is surprising.

[QUOTE]G Trey Burke has scored at least 11 points in 22 of his last 27 games. He had nine at Minnesota on Saturday night.

About the Timberwolves

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[QUOTE]Jazz rookie Ian Clark has played 21 minutes in the last two games.

He

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Mark Eaton was so big, and used so well by Frank Layden, that he made tall guys everywhere get NBA contracts without deserving them. Because they all were searching for the next Mark Eaton.

I'm not convinced Eaton would have had a career anywhere else. Jazz were often playing 4 on 5 at the offensive end with Mark hanging out around half court(which is now illegal because of him I believe). It took a while to adjust after he was gone but they were a better defensive team and overall of course after he was gone. Their two finals coming after him aren't just a coincidence. He was big and clueless. They taught him to keep his arms up. He's have a hard time even keeping track of the ball and would turn around and get a block just because he was big and had his arms up.

Okay, before we get too far into this I need to point out that Utah Jazz mountain / former starting center Mark Eaton is a dinosaur. I don't mean he's old and obsolete. I mean he's a huge thing that walks on land, can't really jump much, and takes up a lot of space. And it's hard to do anything around him, so you end up having to pass the ball back out to your guards and shrug your shoulders.

Well, he may also be partially obsolete now that they changed the illegal defense rules; but they also added in that Zone defense thing the NCAA's have been using. But getting back on point here, Mark Eaton was big. (Big enough that he can get away with using his height as part of his twitter handle @markeaton7ft4 -- and no one can say anything!) But there's more to it than just that. There have been a lot of big guys in the NBA. Some of them have been horrible. What made Mark so special is the relationship he had with his coach Frank Layden, and how Layden was able to use Mark so well on offense and defense. It was an admirable pairing which forced many other teams to try to find the Next Mark Eaton. Size was always prized, but Mark made it more than a gimmick for the Utah Jazz. Heck, even the Utah Jazz themselves have been searching for year for the next Mark Eaton too!

I don't know if you're read John Stockton's Autobiography, but ya really have no excuse not to because it's $14 bucks on the Kindle right now. And you should, because he reveals a lot of interesting information about the team, the relationships the players had with the coaches, and so on. It's really required reading. I'm assuming a lot of you haven't read it yet so I'm not going to spoil anything.

I will, on the other hand, upload this amazing picture.

Payne3_medium

Yes, it's true. Wearing a beard increases your defensive ratings by +20.

Anyway, Mark Eaton was discovered by a scout when he was working as an auto mechanic. He played college ball at UCLA, and was picked by the Jazz in the 4th round, pick #72. (The really sad thing is that these are all things I know by heart.) Mark played for the Jazz for 11 years, his rookie season saw the 26 year old play in 1,528 minutes of NBA action, spread out over 81 games. So there are so many awesome things about this. First, this rookie center is playing 18.9 mpg (Frank Layden >>>)

Jazz sucked at the time!

, and second, he's a 26 year old rookie. He was a 24 year old college freshman. This is already an amazing story. Derrick Favors is in his fourth year in the league and he's 22.

Very few players than went pro early and most at least 3 years.

Times have changed.

But the fundamentals of defense have not. And that's something Layden recognized when he had a 7'4 center to play with. Frank has had big guys before, the Jazz have a history of trying to use size. (But our best bigman for a long while was Truck Robinson, who is only 6'7... so that shows you that size doesn't always walk in the same direction as capability.) But all of those other bigmen didn't have what Mark had going for him.

And what was that?

Mark was ridiculously good at being big, but also knowing how to play big. He was attentive on the court, and more proprioceptive than a lot of other people playing center. Some guys luck into it by being big and just showing up. Mark on the other hand had this whole career where his size was a huge disadvantage. Seriously, think about why being 7'4 would suck if you were an auto-mechanic. He had to spend hours and hours understanding space, where everything else was at all times, and be mindful not to wreck everything. At the NBA level his keen senses were still used, but now he was tasked WITH wrecking everything.

And that was the key difference. He understood space because he was so confined by it before he started playing basketball. A guy like Greg Ostertag, who is thicker, but grew up in the wide expanse of West Texas, was always in a situation where he had enough room. He never had to learn about positioning just to get by. That probably explains why sometimes on defense O-Tag wouldn't even put his arms up when other guys shot. He didn't understand space. He just knew he was big. And all of his life being big and showing up got the job done.

Tag was a much better player as far as I'm concerned regardless if Sloan or anyone else thought so. He wa one of the best shot blockers(comparable to even Mark) and offensive rebounders in the game. Unfortunately people had unrealistic expectations of him.

Eaton was big, was smart, but still had limitations. Bigmen aren't usually made of the same stuff as pure athletes are. Some are really only big because of Acromegaly -- like our good friend Pavel P. (Remember him?) Big Mark wasn't some giant, but he wasn't an athlete either. He was slow, and couldn't jump, and didn't have the amazing conditioning of some other NBA players. And again, that's why he had to be so smart.

Being big and smart is a lot better than just being big and showing up. The awards speak for themselves:

2x Defensive Player of the year (1985, 1989)
Jersey retired
1x All-Star (1989)
3x All NBA Defense (1st team) (1985, 1986, 1989)
2x All NBA Defense (2nd team) (1987, 1988)
#5 All-time in Blocks
#1 All-time in BPG
#3 All-time in BLK%
#46 All-Time in Defensive Rating
#52 All-Time in career Defensive Win Shares
#89 All-Time in DREB%
#85 All-Time in TREB%
#69 All-Time in Defensive Rebounds

I thought the all-star berth was deserved bec ause they had to take 3 centers at the time and he was deserving under that stupid criteria that thankfully has been changed.