2013 Fall camp/Pre-Season!

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[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

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[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

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SALT LAKE CITY

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POINT MADE: Scott Machado played 3 1/2 minutes Tuesday, but that doesn

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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.

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[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

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the sweet spin move Andris Biedrins did to get around Andrew Bogut from the free-throw line en route to a highlight hoop.

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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.

That should be one thing they are better at this year is protecting the rim.

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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

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

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[QUOTE]The Mailman is serious about delivering his knowledge to the Utah Jazz big men

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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

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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,

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Three nights after taking on Steph Curry, Burke can

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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

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Friday's preseason game