First-round draft pick Trey Burke is "looking forward to getting the season started," beginning with the exhibition opener against the Warriors.
A key to the Jazz
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First-round draft pick Trey Burke is "looking forward to getting the season started," beginning with the exhibition opener against the Warriors.
A key to the Jazz
[QUOTE]The Jazz allowed 98.1 points per game last season, tying for 13th in the NBA with Atlanta, Minnesota and New Orleans. Of those four teams, only the Hawks reached the playoffs.
According to Corbin, improved defense is a primary goal this season.
"It has to be a priority for us, the way we finished last year," he said. "Although we won 43 games, we didn
[QUOTE] It
[QUOTE]Burke has apparently looked good in practice, but he
Jefferson isn't to happy about leaving the Castro for Mormon city...
[IMG]http://static.everyjoe.com/files/2010/08/richard-jefferson-gay.jpg[/IMG]
I thought he'd be happy. Plenty of fresh white meat available in Utah.
[QUOTE]Rusty Simmons: Andris Biedrins seems really happy in Utah. "Of course, it's no secret that things weren't going my way. It's nice to have a fresh start." Twitter @Rusty_SFChron
[/QUOTE]
Didn't play much and Gobert and Evans looked good.
[QUOTE]Posted on October 8, 2013 by David Locke
EMPTYING THE NOGGIN
Big Question of the night is how much was the Warriors 33% shooting because of pre-season, fatigue (3 games in 4 nights) or because of the new Jazz focus on defense.
I think it is probably mostly the first two, that is how both Thurl Bailey and Ron Boone felt during the broadcast but you saw good rotations and you saw lots of rim protection. Some of the pick and roll defense still needs work.[/QUOTE]
Still got to be better without Al no?
[QUOTE]Favors rebounding was awesome. 14 rebounds, 12 on the defensive end in just 26 minutes
Trey Burke played a nice game. His line tonight is what we should expect most nights
[QUOTE]1. The Jazz
[QUOTE]Favors is much farther behind, as he played in 252 more minutes in his third season as he did as a rookie. Because his second season was a lockout shortened year he essentially played Kyrylo Fesenko type minutes. He's never gotten close to playing 2,000 minutes before. (Which, btw, is not on him, it's on the coaches or the general manager. [/QUOTE]
Some of it's on him. He's had problems with fouls regardless.
[QUOTE]The Jazz got rid of a guy who scored 30 ppg four times in five years to make room for a guy going into his second year before when they moved Adrian Dantley for Karl Malone's benefit. But they decided to keep Al Jefferson around (a never ever all-star vs. the HOFer Dantley is) in order to retard Favors' growth?)[/QUOTE]
They didn't move AD for Karl. They moved him for Frank Layden.
[QUOTE]That all looks to change this season as both players, now into their fourth year and on the precipice of getting significant raises, will finally have the ball in their hands, and be on the court at the same time.
Let's not mince words here, Hayward as a shooting guard is a much better defender than Randy Foye is. And Derrick Favors as a center is a much better defender than Al Jefferson could ever dream to be. If Gordon is at the three he has to contend with some pretty heavy duty guys but still doesn't back down. Against power forwards Favors will have to contend with more and more face up guys who will draw him out of the paint. Regardless, on defense these two deserved to be on the court more. They will be on the court more this season. And both will help one another out.
So much so that the game plan for the other team will most likely end up being "run a pick and roll with the guys Favors and Hayward AREN'T defending" and try to take them out of the play area as much as possible.
I really believe in their defense, and I think that their length and mobility will cause fits for other teams. Even better is that Hayward doesn't gamble (unlike, say, a guy who got the media to rebrand gambling as hustle like DeMarre Carroll did)[/QUOTE]
All I know is that they generally looked a lot better with Demarre on the floor.
[QUOTE], and Favors can defend shots without leaving his feet. In a season where we need them to stay out of foul trouble it's good that they can play grounded, fundamentally sound defense.
If there is a problem with these two it appears to be on offense, and that's really only because Favors isn't a one on one scorer just yet and does pick up offensive fouls. Really though? I'm not worried at all because this year we expect our players to be able to counter attack more because of defensive stops (remember what those are Utah Jazz fans?) -- and Hayward is good enough to get the board and run the break, and I'm sure a guy like Favors has learned to trail really well by now. (Karl Malone's voice seems hoarse and it's only October)
These two guys are going to lead our team, and help one another. We saw how John Stockton and Karl Malone worked so well together as a 1 and a 4. Right now? Right now we have a chance to see the evolution of the game as our best players are a wing and a defensive big. Two or three, four or five, it almost doesn't matter anymore -- just as long as they get out on the floor together this year.
Surprise_favors
N.B. Over their three year career, these two cats have played a grand total of 2,017 minutes together. Which means they're at a first year level, going into their fourth. They need to be together more. Good things will happen.
Hayward + Favors Career on the floor together Averages
Season G Min PTS REB AST STL BLK +/- MPG PPG RPG AST SPG BPG
2010 2011 Reg 20 273 518 236 115 39 40 -52 13.7 25.9 11.8 5.8 2.0 2.0
2011 2012 Reg 58 664 1365 685 290 93 87 39 11.4 23.5 11.8 5.0 1.6 1.5
2011 2012 Play 4 70 141 67 21 8 11 -12 17.5 35.3 16.8 5.3 2.0 2.8
2012 2013 Reg 67 1010 2046 938 482 183 148 33 15.1 30.5 14.0 7.2 2.7 2.2
Total 149 2017 4070 1926 908 323 286 8 13.5 27.3 12.9 6.1 2.2 1.9
I do think that them being on the court together for about 13.5 mpg is a little too low. Don't you?[/QUOTE]
Only because Jefferson sucked so bad.
[QUOTE]"We want to see Alec coming off the bench right now
"I try not to think about [the summer league performance] anymore," Burke said afterward. "That was one phase, my first real taste of the NBA. Now I
Corbin said he still might tinker with his starting lineup and rotations. He wanted to put the 33-year-old Jefferson, entering his 13th season, into the opening lineup to steady the younger starters.
"He
Kanter hadn
[QUOTE]One area in which they can be consistent is rebounding. Led by Favors
[QUOTE]There was Jeremy Evans playing like he deserved to be there. There was the entire team doing a thing called defense. There was Gordon Hayward ripping the ball out of Klay Thompson's hands, AK-style. There was the bench, the terrible bench as we've all been told, playing pretty well. There was Favors playing like the Captain of the Defense. There was a starting lineup that figured out how to get out of a funk all by itself. There was Trey Burke looking like The Trey Burke, NCAA Player of the Year. There was Kanter. There was Burks. There was Richard Jefferson. There wasJohn Lucas, III. There was Gobert. There was Biedrins.
I feel kinda bad now for making fun of the RJeff start. He played decently, and that block was Boss. And Beans ... what a move for the score.
But to me, one thing stands out above all else. It was late 2nd quarter or early 3rd, the Jazz missed a shot and were getting back on defense. There was Favors, shouting out to Kanter where he needed to go. And Kanter wasn't moving. I don't know if he didn't hear, or didn't understand, or what. But he wasn't moving.
And so Favors put both hands on Kanter's back and shoved him to the spot he needed to be.
* * *
Folks ... this changes everything.
We're used to seeing a Captain of the Offense. It's called a Point Guard, and we've had some really terrific ones. Now we have a Captain of the Defense, and he's a Power Forward/Center.
More than anything else, it was obvious to me how much the team really has been working to defend well. It's not just lip service. It's not just the catch phrase of the training camp. They were doing it like they cared, like there was a plan, and like they were working together.
Sure, it'll take more than one pre-season game to know whether the plan will consistently work, to know whether the players will consistently dedicate themselves to it, to know how much more work and tweaks it will need. And there was likely some fatigue factor for Golden State.
But for the first time I can remember ... and possibly the first time since Frank Layden sat in the coach's chair ... the entire team seems to have made a commitment to defend like it matters.
[/QUOTE]
Frank Layden? :facepalm
[QUOTE]Random Stats that made me happy:
Favors and Jeremy combining for 27 rebounds.
Hayward and Burks combining for 12 assists.
Jeremy Evans shooting 6-11 and hitting dunks, layups, and jumpers.
Kanter and Favors getting only 2 fouls apiece
8 blocked shots by the team; 3 by Favors.
7 rebounds by Hayward
* * *
It's a long way from winning the first pre-season game to conquering the universe. But whatever. For a night, it felt like the universe was there to be had.
Did it matter?
Of course it did. Had they lost, had they played poorly, we would have had to mutter: "I'm not worried" over and over. And you know what, maybe we'll be in that spot on Friday.
But what fun to just enjoy and celebrate. NBA basketball is back. The Jazz feel reborn. And our guys win a game by dominating defensively.
The Quintet
I'm bringing back the Jazz Quintet to my post game recaps. For those of you who are newer, these are five guys who I feel best represented what was good about the team. It was a great idea until one day I was irritated with some players and deliberately included only three. Amar got mad, because it totally messed up his spreadsheet of Quintet mentions.
Well, here's my Quintet for Pre-Season Game 1:
Preseason1quintet_medium
Derrick ... for Captaining the Defense
Jeremy ... for showing that you belong on the court
Ty ... for making defense more than just word-of-the-week
Alec ... for willingly leading the bench
Andris ... for that awesome score[/QUOTE]
Aaron Falk: Corbin said he's in "no rush" to cut down his 20-man roster at this point in the preseason. Twitter @tribjazz
McGuire
[QUOTE]Forward Dominic McGuire holds one distinction among the 20 players participating in the Utah Jazz
[QUOTE]The Jazz have focused on defense in training camp and only allowed 78 points against Golden State on Tuesday.
The Warriors shot 32 percent and failed to score more than 21 points in any quarter. Significantly, the Jazz didn
[QUOTE]That familiar doubt crept back into his mind.
Utah Jazz forward Jeremy Evans had the ball in his hands midway through the second quarter of Tuesday night
SALT LAKE CITY
POINT MADE: Scott Machado played 3 1/2 minutes Tuesday, but that doesn
POWER PLAY: Power forward Dominic McGuire, an NBA journeyman who's played for seven teams in six years, saw more action than any of the guys in camp with nonguaranteed contracts. He had four points and four rebounds in 17 minutes.
[QUOTE]Posted on October 9, 2013 by David Locke
Today Kirk Goldsberry did an interesting piece at Grantland. The premise was to figure out who is the best shooter in the NBA, using a metric better than field goal %. The thesis was De Andre Jordan has a better FG% than LeBron, but it is because of the lack of variance in his shot selection.
Goldsberry plotted every shot of every player and compared what their projected points scored should be compared to the league average based on shot location.
Inspired by Goldsberry work today I built a similar chart on last year
the sweet spin move Andris Biedrins did to get around Andrew Bogut from the free-throw line en route to a highlight hoop.
[QUOTE]Posted on October 9, 2013 by David Locke
The Jazz had a strong defensive night last night holding the Warriors to 33. 6% shooting. The Warriors hit their season average nearly 40% from 3 but it was near the rim where the Jazz defense took effect.
The Warriors played their starters, who were playing their third game in 4 nights in the pre-season, mostly for the 1st and 3rd quarters against the Jazz starters. The Jazz did two things very well defensively, they rebounding and they protected the rim.[/QUOTE]
That should be one thing they are better at this year is protecting the rim.
[QUOTE]BACK-UP POINT GUARD
Candidates: John Lucas III, Alec Burks. To a much lesser extent: Ian Clark, Scott Machado
This spot has some intrigue to me. Lucas has said all the right things since signing on the dotted line, and it appears that he is eager to serve in the mentor role for Burke. He is not the purest of point guards, but has experience that should suit him fine in Utah. Against the Warriors, Lucas was often the best player on the court. His shot selection was excellent and his hustle and enthusiasm, contagious. It was telling that the Jazz brass sent Burks to Spokane to work with Stockton, as well. He played minutes as the back-up last season, and while he had his moments, his performance was largely unspectacular. That said, the talent is there to be another ball handler and facilitator and he could get some extra PT here. A tandem of Burks and Lucas could be exciting and disruptive on defense. An interesting guy to watch during pre-season will be Ian Clark and whether he can play spot point guard minutes as needed. Machado has a good chance of making the team, but if so, will most likely anchor the bench.
Prediction: John Lucas III[/quote]
Hayward, Burks and Burke should have the ball. Lucas is a 3rd stringer.
[QUOTE]BACK-UP SHOOTING GUARD
Candidates: Alec Burks, Brandon Rush. Outside chance: Ian Clark
Tuesday evening, Burks came off the pine. That said, at least for now, I
[QUOTE]The Mailman is serious about delivering his knowledge to the Utah Jazz big men
Karl Malone just wrapped up the first week of an NBA training camp as a coach. He's coaching the young big men for the Utah Jazz and trying to instill in them the same desire and skills that helped Karl climb to second on the NBA's all-time scoring list. While he is here with them, his focus is second to none. Putting these young raw talents through workouts before and after practice.
"The first day it was tough and trying," Malone said. "I think our big guys don't know the severity of what is in front of them and how serious this is. I wasn't a happy camper. Then
It was only preseason, sure, but Burke left his veteran backup, John Lucas III, impressed.
"He let the game come to him," Lucas said. "When I saw that, I was like,
Three nights after taking on Steph Curry, Burke can
Tonight the Jazz will see two of the seven free agents they let wander elsewhere this past offseason. Point guards Mo Williams and Earl Watson are Lillard
Friday's preseason game
"It
Corbin managed to get 15 of his 18 healthy players into the Jazz
the Jazz received solid production from Favors and Kanter in their win over Golden State.
Favors finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds in 25 minutes. Kanter, who is coming off shoulder surgery, had 10 points and four rebounds in 20 minutes in his first game since April.
Favors finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds in 25 minutes. Kanter, who is coming off shoulder surgery, had 10 points and four rebounds in 20 minutes in his first game since April.
"I feel better," Kanter said. "My shoulder feels better.
[QUOTE] Richard Jefferson arrived in Salt Lake City to finish out what was once deemed an impressive career.[/QUOTE]
He announced his retirement?
After starting the Utah Jazz