2020-21 Regular season- The tax team

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https://saltcityhoops.com/sc7-sustain-shooting-more/

A big part of the reason Utah’s shooters are so open on threes is the guy who never shoots them: Rudy Gobert commands so much attention with his elite roll finishing ability, and he constantly draws a crowd even on plays where he doesn’t touch the ball at all.

pick your poison

That’s a lot of 3-point shots to make in a single half. Remember: it wasn’t that long ago that Utah set a new franchise record with 20 triples in a game. That’s how fast this team and this league are evolving. Had the Jazz been facing even a slightly more competitive group of Magic players, they would have had an excuse to stick to their rotation a little bit longer and would have set a new league record for threes in a game. But up 40-plus, Quin Snyder opted to do the gentlemanly thing and pull his main guys. Consequently, the Jazz had to settle for “just” breaking the record for threes in a half. Not even the trigger-happy Rockets or the Steph-and-Klay Warriors ever canned 18 in a half.

a better Magic team doesn't give up that many 3's

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https://www.slcdunk.com/2021/4/5/223...wn-the-stretch

From a narrative perspective, Memphis doesn’t have a super star or a top 50 second player. The Jazz beat the Grizz 3x this year with all 3 of their stars having incredible games.

if Mitchell is a superstar than Morant is

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Eric Walden: Royce O’Neale, asked if Wednesday vs. the Suns has any extra juice to it because it’s 1 vs. 2 in the West, began his reply with, “It’s another game. We’re going to treat it as if it was a playoff game.” Sooooo … does that mean they treat *every* game like a playoff game?
– via Twitter tribjazz



Eric Walden: Jazz forward Royce O’Neale, on Baylor’s national championship: “Me and Dennis [Lindsey] are gonna rub it in everyone’s faces for a little while.”
– via Twitter tribjazz

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https://kslsports.com/456960/jazz-an...s-in-the-west/

The Jazz will have to shoot better against Phoenix than they did against the Mavericks should they hope to return to Utah with a victory. The Jazz converted just 27 percent of their 44 three-point attempts on Monday night en route to a 111-103 loss.

Always the offense. If they defended in the 3rd they win

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https://www.ksl.com/article/50141332...--or-maybe-not

Another game. A playoff game. Or something in between. How important is Wednesday's game? It seems that depends on who you ask.

it's big. They need home court throughout

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https://www.deseret.com/2021/4/6/223...zz-playoff-run

On the other side of the bracket the ideal situation is to have the Clippers and Lakers face one another in the opening round, promising that one of the L.A. powerhouses is knocked out. The winner of that series (most likely the Lakers, as long as Anthony Davis and LeBron James are healthy) would then face the winner of the Mavericks and Suns series.

why is it most likely the Lakers?

Again, so long as the Lakers are able to field their full squad at mostly full health, they are very likely to end up in the Western Conference finals. It’s hard to imagine any team getting out of the West without having to face the Lakers in the end. There is a chance that the Lakers could limp into the playoffs a bit without a fully healthy squad, and the Jazz could end up in the West finals facing the Clippers, Mavericks or Suns.

Easy to imagine

I personally think the Clippers would be the toughest opponent for the Jazz so avoiding that matchup at any stage would be ideal. But honestly, a series against the Suns or Mavericks in the Western Conference finals wouldn’t be nearly as exciting as one against the Clippers or Lakers and beating one of those teams to make it to the Finals would be incredibly sweet for Jazz fans.

Lakers. Can beat Clippers

Schematically, the Jazz still have some things they could address or change. What will they do if faced with a team that presents a size problem on the perimeter. Does that mean that Joe Ingles gets more minutes and is used as a defensive tool? Is Quin Snyder going to stick with a nine-man rotation? How do substitutions and rotations change if the Jazz need to play Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors together through long stretches? If there are injuries or illnesses, who is the next man up?

Need more Ingles. Less Bojan and Clarkson. Niang probably doesn't plat unfortunately. If Gobert and Favors play together Snyder needs to be fired. Oni is next up. You been watching? Quin isn't hard to figure out

Donovan Mitchell, Conley, Ingles, Royce O’Neale and even Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson have to all be incredibly focused on the defensive end and committed to the Jazz’s scheme of staying in front of their man while funneling toward Gobert or Favors.

Why did you not say and even Mitchell? He sucks as much as anyone

Doing what they do better is probably not the answer that anybody wants right now, but there aren’t any other options. The Jazz could certainly move around some of those players and look for some mismatches or more advantageous switches with Ingles on a long player rather than Bogdanovic, but even then, the scheme is the same and they have to execute it in order to win.

there are and were other options but the front office and Snyder chose and continue to choose them. Morgan/Ersan should play instead of Bojan and Clarkson for starters. Niang and Oni should play ahead of them too. They won't

The Jazz have Conley’s Bird rights since he came here in a trade, so they can re-sign him even if it puts them over the salary cap. The real question, and one that we’ll address on another day, is how much is Conley worth next season?

salary cap? How about how much luxury tax. He needs to be paid period. Trade anyone but Rudy if that's what it takes

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https://www.slcdunk.com/the-downbeat...ordan-clarkson

Might Joe Ingles actually be Utah’s 6th Man of the Year?

is their any question

But that’s not all he does. He’s crucial to the playmaking and ball handling off the bench as well. His Assist to Turnover Ration of 2.56 is 2nd only to Mike Conley. So he’s not just a perfect floor spacer when he enters the game. He’s a great facilitator and offensive initiator as well. To prove his overall value, his offensive rating is 136! On the best offensive team in the league by the way. He has more win shares than Nikola Vucevic, Khris Middleton, and Jamal Murray. More than Ben Simmons, Bradley Beal, and Jason Tatum. More than Paul George, Gordon Hayward, and Paskal Siakam.

and yet the ball is still in Mitchell's hands

Now, the good part is that the Jazz have both of them. I don’t truly want to pin them against each other. They’ve both had some fun and huge moments for the Jazz this year. They are both valuable pieces to this league-best roster. But basically all of the advanced stats indicate that Joe Ingles is more important and more impactful for Utah than Jordan Clarkson. And the on court presence has felt more and more like that as well.

probably the 3rd or 4th most important after Rudy and Conley along with O'Neale

Either way, we have a ridiculous bench.

Posted by GregOstertagged on Apr 6, 2021 | 9:28 PM

Ridiculous that Clarkson and Favors got paid as much as they did and are on the team at all

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https://thejnotes.com/2021/04/06/nba...nt-contenders/

Immediately following Utah’s loss to Dallas, 2008 Boston Celtics champ and current ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins made sure to point out that Luka Doncic and the Mavericks were able to handle their league-leading visitors even without the help of Kristaps Porzingis (sprained right wrist).

him playing would have helped Utah like Mitchell helped Dallas

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https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/262172/Bucks-Warriors-Nets-76ers-Will-Each-Have-Trio-Making-$100M-Combined-In-21-22

Jazz have to be close? Might be once Conley is signed. Dump Favors, Bojan and Clarkson

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Duane Rankin: Dario Saric described playing against Utah Jazz being like a bar fight in terms of being a tough game. He said #Suns want top seed in West and this is clearly a big game towards achieving that goal. Phoenix can win season series and tiebreaker over #TakeNote with win tonight.
– via Twitter DuaneRankin

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Duane Rankin: “We’re real excited, man.” #Suns wing Mikal Bridges talks about playing Jazz tonight as well as how he’s learning to play off Devin Booker and Chris Paul. “Just try to be locked in at all times and be aggressive and find my little spots when we play.” pic.twitter.com/kiqMu8vM5O
– via Twitter DuaneRankin







Duane Rankin: Going into tonight’s Jazz-#Suns showdown, Donovan Mitchell gave Mikal Bridges props for his defense. Bridges returned the favor this morning in praising Mitchell for the season he’s having. “They wouldn’t be where they are right now if it wasn’t for what he’s doing this year.” pic.twitter.com/E0pulxvVsG
– via Twitter DuaneRankin

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Gerald Bourguet: Monty Williams on Suns-Jazz tonight: “My approach has always been the same, and I hope that helps these guys approach it the same every game.” Said it’s human nature to hear what’s being said, but hopes the way they consistently approach preparation wins out here
– via Twitter GeraldBourguet



Kellan Olson: Monty Williams said the Suns watched a lot of clips from the team’s first meeting with the Jazz earlier in the season, one of the Suns’ best defensive performances of the year. Said there are always lessons you can take from earlier games even though it was 3 months ago.
– via Twitter KellanOlson



Duane Rankin: “They have everything. You couldn’t ask for more and they know their roles.” #Suns coach Monty Williams said about Utah Jazz.
– via Twitter DuaneRankin

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Jay Allen: Norman Powell (left big toe inflammation) is probable for tomorrow night’s game against the Jazz. Jusuf Nurkic (right knee inflammation) is questionable. #RipCity
– via Twitter PDXjay

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https://thejnotes.com/2021/04/07/uta...y-gobert-dpoy/

Gobert is currently averaging over 13 rebounds per game and is second in the league in blocks at 2.9 per game. With these averages, along with the fact that “The Stifle Tower” currently has the highest defensive rating in the league at 100.6, it’s hard to imagine that anyone is more likely to win the Defensive Player of the Year honor.

lowest rating no?

Utah Jazz fans might not have loved Simmons’ belittling remarks, but he’s not entirely wrong. At 6-foot-11, the Australian international has the size and athleticism to guard any position on the floor. In an era of positionless basketball, his switchability gives him an edge over big men like Gobert who can run into trouble when forced to guard a smaller player out on the perimeter.

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https://www.deseret.com/2021/4/7/223...ic-lamelo-ball

“The leading scorer on the NBA’s best team, Mitchell continues to make progress in his development from a volume scorer early in his career into a well-rounded offensive force,” wrote Kevin Pelton. “This season, he has taken a step forward both as a 3-point shooter (making a career-high 40% while attempting a career-high 8.6 triples per game) and as a playmaker (his assist rate is up nearly a third on a per-minute basis).

someone gets it! Not best player but leading scorer