Season of the tank!-2013-14 regular season

[Xiao Yao You]

Why did I bring those awards and honors up there? Well, if all you had to do was be big then hundreds of 7-footers would have such a claim to immortality as Mark does. But they don't. Mark was winning DPOY awards back when sidney Moncrief, Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman, Hakeem Olajuwon and others were playing. AND HE BEAT THEM. TWICE!

And he didn't beat them just because, he beat them because dude was one of the few people who could actually block Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 's skyhook.You may know the Skyhook as the go-to-move for the All-Time leading scorer in the history of the sport. And Mark used to block that.

He did have his challenges on the other side of the ball. I can only imagine how many assists John Stockton would have if Eaton was a better finisher. He is a 7'4 guy who has a career average of 6.0 ppg. He shot 45.8 fg% over his career, and 64.9 ft%. And the biggest headache was with his slow release and geologic gather. Stockton would penetrate and dump the ball off to Mark. On the occasions that he would be able to catch it, it was never a given that he could get the ball up past half of his hemisphere before a guard would come in and swipe it. And that sucked. It sucked for Jazz fans, and for Stockton's numbers, and for Mark's own feelings.

So what did Frank Layden do? Well, he kept moving Mark around on offense. Sometimes he would be used as a screen setter for John. Other times he would be used to cut from the weakside and be available to get an offensive rebound or a catchable pass. On occasion he was used as a post up target, Mark had a hook shot of his own after all. But the most brilliant move was to station Mark outside of the paint so Karl Malone could operate down low. Frank solved the floor spacing problem that Dick Motta's offense never had a chance to deal with. And the rules of that era allowed for so many extra free throws because of illegal defense.

Mark HAD to draw a defender out to him or the Jazz got points. If Mark did draw a defender to him, Karl could go beast mode. (And he did)

Jerry Sloan inherited Mark and the playbook when he took over. But the rules changed and the playbook was less than effective until they got Mehmet Okur -- a legit big with legit range. Now, once again, there was a reason to run a PF oriented offense while keeping a C out on the floor. But that's a tangent.

Eaton was the reason our offense worked, and people forget that.

And he was so big, other people wanted on of their own. Because Mark was so big, and we knew how to use him, the Jazz went nuts trying to get size as Mark's career was marred by more and more injures. Luther Wright was supposed to help out, but he was medically unable to do so. (Mental problems are medical problems. There should be no stigma.) Greg Ostertag was used as the Mark Eaton; but while Mark was big and smart, Greg was just big.

Greg was much more of a basketball player.

Greg did a good job for what he could do, but he was never a threat to win DPOY.

Because he was sitting on the bench behind Collins and other stiffs!

Because of Mark the Jazz under Jerry kept trying to get the next really big, big guy. Kyrylo Fesenko and Kosta Koufos were brought in, but none of them fit the bill.

Again not sure why Koufos went into Sloan's doghouse but he is a player and has shown that.

Goofus and Gallant were nice players, but they couldn't hold down the paint like Greg or Mark could. (Fes might have been able to according to the advanced stats, but there was just too much Georgia homeboy in his system to give a damn.)

Sometimes other teams did find themselves a Mark Eaton clone, one of them is dominating right now, and his name is Roy Hibbert.

Eaton clone? He's actually a ball player!

I really wanted the Jazz to get him in the draft, but he was not available when we picked. And because of the continued success of the Eaton template in Hibbert, the Jazz competed the cycle to get Rudy Gobert.

Mark Eaton was pick #72. Gobert was pick #27.

We know Rudy is big. But we need him to ALSO be good. Or failing that, let's work on some knee surgeries for Mark.

He's already better than Mark.

[Xiao Yao You]

Beno Udrih has requested a trade from the New York Knicks.

Udrih has been at odds with Mike Woodson for much of the season.

The Knicks will attempt to honor Udrih's request.

Udrih publicly questioned why he was the subject of criticism earlier this season.

"I kind of feel like when I do the right thing, it's not the right thing in some people's eyes. It's just tough. It's easy to point fingers when the team loses. But it comes down to, we are a team, we lose together. No matter who makes a mistake or who doesn't, it's still a team loss," Udrih said on Dec. 25. "So I think all of this stuff should be kept out of the media and not call certain people out or something. We've just got to go out there and fix it and watch video and fix it as a team."

Via Ian Begley/ESPN

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=m4qxhx7

Jazz need another pg besides Burke but obviously that would mean more wins god forbid.

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The Utah Jazz have some mixed news on the hip-injury front.

The good: Shooting guard Gordon Hayward expects to play tonight at EnergySolutions Arena after missing the past five games with a left hip flexor.

The bad: Center Derrick Favors might miss the team’s rematch with the Minnesota Timberwolves because of a right hip abductor injury.

Both players are officially game-time decisions for the 7 p.m. tipoff against the T-Wolves, who beat the Jazz 98-72 Saturday at the Target Center.

“I’m going to go out and play like I normally do,” Hayward said after going through a pain-free shootaround. “I’m excited to get back out there. It was tough to sit behind the bench. I’m ready to get out there and get going.”

Favors had to miss this morning’s strategy session because of tightness in his hip, an injury that happened while dunking on the first play of the game Friday against Detroit. He still played Friday and Saturday through discomfort.

“I kind of came down funny (on the dunk) and it’s been hurting since,” Favors said. “It’s still kind of sore. We’re going to see tonight, go out there and warm up and see how it goes tonight.”

With these developments, the most likely starting lineup for the Jazz would be Hayward, Trey Burke, Richard Jefferson, Marvin Williams and Enes Kanter.

Enes could have a big night the way hes been going. Might want to start Biedrins and not mess with Kanter off the bench just bring him in earlier and keep him in longer. I guess Gobert might play instead of Biedrins though.

Favors remains hopeful, though. If nothing else, he’d like to help the Jazz avenge Saturday’s blowout. Utah shot a franchise-low 28.8 percent and had a season-low scoring output in Minnesota.

“I’m a competitive person,” Favors said. “I’m always ready to play, but at the same time I’ve got to listen to my body and listen to my trainers and just know that it’s a long season.”

• The Jazz lost both games earlier this season when Favors sat out with a sore lower back. Utah went 2-3 the past week-and-a-half without Hayward.

“A hurt Gordon Hayward impacts the Utah Jazz play, not to mention a healthy one,” Williams said. “He’s been a playmaker for us all year. He’s been a scorer for us all year and he’s helped us on the defensive end as well. Having him back out there tonight hopefully will be huge for us.”

• Williams said the Jazz didn’t watch much film of Saturday’s offensive no-show.

“We’ve got to bring some more effort. I feel like our effort wasn’t there defensively of offensively, for that matter,” he said. “We just didn’t execute very well on either end of the floor and they took advantage of that.”

Added Favors: “It was very frustrating. We were missing a lot of shots that we normally make. We just was a step slower with everything. I think we’ve got to come out tonight and play with a chip on our shoulder.”

• T-Wolves power forward Kevin Love on his team losing seven straight in ESA:

“The fans are great here. That’s what I was mentioning in practice yesterday — they’re right on top of you. Their fanbase is always good. They’re always talking trash. They’ve always been good, too, every time we’ve played here. It’s a very tough place to play because of that. They always play well on their home floor.”

• Love on the rematch with the Jazz: “It’s going to be a dogfight. It’s going to be a battle, especially after playing Saturday night. They’ve been sitting here waiting for us.”

EMAIL: jody@desnews.com

TWITTER: DJJazzyJody

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Player grades

Player Grade

Gordon Hayward B-
Derrick Favors B+
Trey Burke A
Enes Kanter C-
Alec Burks B-
Richard Jefferson B-
Marvin Williams A
Jeremy Evans A-
Rudy Gobert A
Diante Garrett Pass
Brandon Rush Fail
Ian Clark Pass
Andris Biedrins Fail
John Lucas III Fail
Team A-
Hayward was easily the best player on the Jazz over the first 20 games

Most seem to think Favors has been it seems.

, but now he is taking a slight backseat to Trey Burke and Derrick Favors. He still leads the team in scoring, third in rebounding, second in assists and leading in steals.

His greatest deficiency has been his inefficient scoring. He has scored a lot, but he's shooting 41 percent from the field and 31 percent as a 3-point shooter. Since the last grading article, he has started shooting a little better, but not by enough. His workload has gone down a little, but his production has stayed about the same.

Grade: B-

Derrick Favors

Favors has passed the eye test over the last 20 games with a lot of really good games and an expanding offensive repertoire, however his numbers are basically the same as they were after the first 20 games. He is scoring 13.5 points per game and grabbing 8.6 rebounds.

And basically what you'd have expected based on his past if not less. I thought a double double at least.

What is most important is that he is staying on the court and mostly out of foul trouble. He is still top-10 in the stat, but he is only averaging 3.8 fouls per 36 minutes played. He averages 4.7 per 36 in his career and was at 5 last season.

He still has moments where he looks lost, but for stretches of the season he could be considered the best player on the team.

Grade: B+

Trey Burke

Burke has been great at some points and very average at others. He is averaging 14.4 points and 6.5 assists over the last 21 games. He is second in points and assists among rookies and is one of the best free-throw shooters in the NBA.

He has a claim as the best player on the team right now.

He looks like he could be eventually but not yet.

His next biggest step is becoming consistent. He has the skills to be a good player in the league, but he can't go from 20 points to 9 from one night to the next, or 20 then 3, 30 then 2.

He can depending on how he's doing. Taking the most shots on the team on a low % isn't good though.

Since the start of December, he has six 20-point games and five single-digit games.

He's still in the discussion for some Rookie of the Year votes, and that means his season is still very successful so far.

Grade: A

Enes Kanter

Kanter has had a rough season but is starting to pull out of his nosedive. In January he has scored 13.8 points per game and grabbed 6.8 rebounds. He is playing 21.4 minutes in that time, which is actually down from his season average.

Kanter is still a bit of a mystery. His 25-point, 11-rebound game against the San Antonio Spurs was pretty amazing. He is shooting 57.7 percent this month. Using the grading system from before the season started, he is sitting at a C, up from a D in the last grades, but his turnaround from the start of the season will get a little better.

Grade: C-

Alec Burks

Much like Kanter's season Burks has started to look good this quarter of the season. He is scoring 14.2 points with 3.5 rebounds and 3 assists in that time. He is shooting better from outside than he has in his career.

He is a 43 percent shooter for his career and is up to 48 percent over this span. He is also shooting 37 percent from beyond the arc, up from 34 percent in his career. Since Burke has returned, Burks has become a better player.

There were high expectations to start the season, and it's starting to show. Still his greatest problem is consistency. In January, he is averaging 14.9 points, but he only has two games within two points of that, 13 and 16 points, other than that they are anywhere from 3 to 34.

Grade: B-

He's becoming a lot more consistent.

Richard Jefferson

Jefferson had a pretty rough offensive start to the season, along with most of the team, but has been hot over the last quarter of the season. He's a career 37.6 percent 3-point shooter and is shooting 52 percent in the last 21 games.

He's actually the eighth best shooter in the league, sixth best with a limit of 110 3-pointers. He is actually shooting better from beyond the arc than his normal field goal shots.

Not surprising the way the game is played today.

He's also doing this with fewer minutes than he's used to and giving a great defensive effort.

Last year he was hardly playing at all and I think his minutes need to take a hit with the play of their kids and Rush coming around.

[Xiao Yao You]

[QUOTE]A

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Chinese team Zhejiang announced that they have waived Ivan Johnson and signed Mike Harris. Johnson was averaging 25.8ppg, 10.2rpg and 2apg in CBA in 25 games. Mike Harris has played with the Jazz this season averaging 4.2ppg in 20 games. Sportando

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Jody Genessy: Jazz shooting guard Gordon Hayward has received an invitation to participate in USA Basketball's player pool this summer. Twitter @DJJazzyJody

Might raise his price? He'd be a good role player to have around the superstars.

[Xiao Yao You]

Marc Stein: Story going online now co-scribed w/our own @mcten: http://es.pn/18nkpr obtains USA Basketball's full 28-man list to be released Thursday:

LaMarcus Aldridge, Carmelo Anthony, Bradley Beal, Tyson Chandler, DeMarcus Cousins, Steph Curry, Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard, Andre Iguodala, Kyrie Irving, LeBron James, Kyle Korver, David Lee, Kawhi Leonard, Andre Drummond, Kevin Durant, Kenneth Faried, Paul George, Blake Griffin, James Harden, Gordon Hayward, Damian Lillard, Kevin Love, Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Klay Thompson, Russell Westbrook and Deron Williams.

Twitter @ESPNSteinLine -

[East_Stone_Ya]

damn Kanter just fails when is starting

[Xiao Yao You]

He wasn't failing to start the year. Whole team failed against the Wolves in back t back games.

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G might want to come to a free agent decision fast so he can be part of the Olympic camp.

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[QUOTE]Rudy Gobert got some run tonight. His length was a factor and his offensive game is limited to dunks. The coaches may need to find a way to get him in the rotation for the second half of the season, though it

[Xiao Yao You]

* Marvin Williams had a good defensive night against Kevin Love, who did almost all of his damage on Jeremy Evans.

* The Wolves were going at Alec Burks and took advantage of his inability to get off a pick. The guy he was guarding took 14 shots, and the next closest is Hayward

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Jazz center Derrick Favors did not practice Thursday morning because of a lingering abductor strain.

Favors

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After participating in U.S. national team camps in in 2012 and 2013, Favors was not named to the player-pool USA Basketball will use to stock its roster for the upcoming World Cup and 2016 Olympics.

"I think there will be more opportunities for him down the road," said teammate Gordon Hayward, who was selected. "... He will be back with Team USA, for sure."

We'll see. With guys like Drummond and Davis around it might be tough.

[QUOTE]Managing director of USA Basketball Jerry Colangelo left the door open for players like Favors who were not invited.

"... There are some players who didn