Season of the tank!-2013-14 regular season

[Xiao Yao You]

[quote] Strangely, the Jazz didn

[Xiao Yao You]

Li Shuangfu: Sebastian Telfair just dropped 58, a new CBA playoffs record. But his team lost the game. http://t.co/xS30rnzbJv Twitter @LiShuangfu

He's better than Lucas III any day of the week.

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]Forward Derrick Favors, who has been dealing with a hip injury since mid-January, won

[Xiao Yao You]

Ante Tomic Named Euroleague MVP For Top 16, Round 7
Feb 22, 2014 1:42 PM EST

Ante Tomic has been named Euroleague MVP for Top 16, Round 7.

Tomic set career highs with 24 points and a performance index rating of 36, which was the highest off any player in the competition all week.

Tomic led Barcelona to a 68-80 victory at rival Laboral Kutxa Vitoria by going 8-for-9 from the floor, in addition to nine rebounds plus two assists, two steals and one block in a terrific performance. Victor Khryapa flirted with what would have been the third triple-double in competition history, but had to settle for the week

[Xiao Yao You]

The Atlanta Hawks have signed Dexter Pittman to a 10-day contract while releasing Jared Cunningham.

Cunningham has spent most of the season in the NBA D-League. Pittman has spent the entire season in the D-League.

Cunningham was a first round pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.

This guy outplayed Clark on the same DLeague team.

[Gabi]

Haven't seen them play but from what I've read there's a question as to rather Parker is a 3 of a stretch 4. They need to take the best player available regardless and unless they get lucky in the lottery it doesn't look like they'll get either player. Right now it looks like they need a stretch 4 or 3 if Hayward leaves but who knows what will happen with a new coach? New coach might be able to make Kanter/Favors work? Burks has been looking better than Hayward anyway of late.

If Utah needs a stretch four Randle is the answer. But if they do get the first pick you go Embiid all the way. Crazy wingspan, height and talent. Kanter with his performance this year is expandable. With that said I do believe he can be better if you surround him with something better than what has been put on the floor this year.

A duo of Favors and Embiid could be interesting, but I would like to see Favors expand his range.

[Xiao Yao You]

If Utah needs a stretch four Randle is the answer. But if they do get the first pick you go Embiid all the way. Crazy wingspan, height and talent. Kanter with his performance this year is expandable. With that said I do believe he can be better if you surround him with something better than what has been put on the floor this year.

A duo of Favors and Embiid could be interesting, but I would like to see Favors expand his range.

Favors might be expendable they get Embliid,

[Xiao Yao You]

The Jazz continue to struggle without Derrick Favors, going 0-9 in games when he’s out with a hip injury that’s been variably described as a “sore lower back”, a “right hip abductor strain”, “right hip inflammation”, or most recently a “right hip sprain”. It’s not clear how Derrick got the injury or injuries. 3

It’s clear, though, that something changes without Favors in the lineup, especially defensively.

They've had problems with anyone out. Just shows their lack of depth and versatility.

Part of it is Enes Kanter’s still developing defensive game. Before the game, Jazz coach Ty Corbin mentioned how Enes Kanter is doing a better job defensively in getting to his spots as the play developed, but still struggled in impacting the play once he was in position, either in help defense or while guarding the post.

But the team is also just missing Favors’ ability to make up for his teammates’ mistakes. As Marvin Williams put it, “He’s an anchor. He’s a great one-on-one defender, he’s also a great help-side defender. Derrick has always been there to save the day. But obviously, when he’s not back there, it’s been difficult.” Without Favors, the Jazz’s perimeter players end up giving up a lot of paint buckets for guards and wing players, perhaps most notably Lillard and Matthews respective 28 and 24 point performances last night in Portland.

3. This game might be an example of a contextual narrative going too far.

Two weeks ago, I asked Ty Corbin about the impact on the All-Star break on his players. Corbin responded that, naturally, giving 100% effort was difficult after playing 50 games in such a short period of time, that the players were tired. After the All-Star break, he said that the players should look much more energized after getting some time off, presumably meaning better performances and smarter play from the team.

Last week, before the trade deadline, I asked Ty Corbin about the impact of the trade deadline on his players. Corbin responded that, naturally, focus was difficult when the possibility of you and your family having to immediately move exists. After the trade deadline, he said that the players should be able to re-focus on their jobs, presumably meaning better performances and smarter play from the team.

Instead, the Jazz now are on a 3 game losing streak after having won three in a row going into the above important dates. The team did fight against the Nets and Trailblazers, though came up short. But tonight against the Timberwolves, the team looked both slow and dull-witted.

Wolves have looked like probably the worst match-up in the league for them.

As Corbin put it, “We talked about some things before the game, taking away the things they’re really good at, transition baskets and scoring in the paint. They got both tonight.” This is now the third time this season that the Jazz have lost by big margins to the Timberwolves because of those two factors. Are these mistakes that a relatively well-rested and focused team should be making?

I’m probably reading too much out of the second game of a back-to-back. But I think that this game shows some of the problems with making too much of a narrative out of the landmarks in the NBA calendar: sometimes the problem isn’t to be placed off the court, but on it. The problem could be matchups, scheme, effort level, or personnel, but we now have 3 really clear points of evidence that something isn’t remotely up to par when the Jazz play the Timberwolves, at least. It may be time to start looking to saviors other than the calendar.

[Xiao Yao You]

Hayward is also trying to become just the second Jazz player to average at least 16 points, five rebounds and five assists in a season. The late, great Pete Maravich did that twice in the 1970s, including in 1976-77 when he averaged 31.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.4 assists.

Hayward is averaging 16.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.0 assists.

EMAIL: jody@desnews.com

TWITTER: DJJazzyJody

[East_Stone_Ya]

this just shows how important Favors is right now

[Xiao Yao You]

They've struggled without any of the guys in their rotation.

[Xiao Yao You]

Jazz rookie Rudy Gobert was supposed to bring donuts Monday

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]Gordon Hayward, one of Utah

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]Center Derrick Favors participated in the shootaround session after missing the past three games with a sprained right hip. He

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]