2016 stretch run- Playoffs or bust!

[WayOfWade]

Grizzlies make it official that Marc Gasol is out for the season

You never really want to see anyone go down with an injury like that, but you can't help but think that this is huge for not just the Jazz, but Mavs, Blazers, and Rockets as well.

Mack is starting? Why is Lyles playing over Withey than? I'd think Neto is part of their core.

He's starting because he did such a great job in Portland; yeah it's a small sample size but he did great yesterday as well. Obviously he can do better (7 turnovers vs. the Rockets), but that's what's so great, he's done good but can easily do better. While Neto is the better 3-point shooter, Mack is the better overall scorer. I didn't pay enough attention to Mack's D however to really make a fair judgement on it.

I'm guessing Burke will be benched once Alec is back

Not for a little bit, I think Coach is going to ease Alec into the rotation once again, thus providing Burke with one last chance at actual playing time. Right now either him, Mack, or Neto is due for a major drop in minutes once Alec gets back, I think it just depends on who is playing best while he's working his way back.

[Xiao Yao You]

You never really want to see anyone go down with an injury like that, but you can't help but think that this is huge for not just the Jazz, but Mavs, Blazers, and Rockets as well.

Yeah and I like Gasol.

He's starting because he did such a great job in Portland

But than why isn't Withey playing? He was putting up a double double and a couple blocks. Just don't get it. They kind of act like they are trying to win but not really.

yeah it's a small sample size but he did great yesterday as well.

I wasn't as impressed last night. He played about a perfect game in the first one. Surprised he's starting already.

While Neto is the better 3-point shooter, Mack is the better overall scorer.

Debatable. Burke is the better scorer of the 3. Mack is starting for other reasons. They want guys that can hit 3's. I guess now that Hood is hitting them they think they have enough spacing in the starting unit?

Right now either him, Mack, or Neto is due for a major drop in minutes once Alec gets back, I think it just depends on who is playing best while he's working his way back.

I would think Burke. He's a scorer and not a much else. They won't need him as much once Alec is giving them 15 a game off the bench again.

[WayOfWade]

But than why isn't Withey playing? He was putting up a double double and a couple blocks. Just don't get it. They kind of act like they are trying to win but not really.

It's because Gobert is his competition whereas Mack has to compete with Burke and Neto :

I wasn't as impressed last night. He played about a perfect game in the first one. Surprised he's starting already.

Snyder just likes to switch things up I guess, maybe Hayward has something to do with it, advertently or inadvertently

Debatable. Burke is the better scorer of the 3. Mack is starting for other reasons. They want guys that can hit 3's. I guess now that Hood is hitting them they think they have enough spacing in the starting unit?

I was talking strictly between Neto and Mack, seeing as coach specifically wants Burke coming off the bench. But I do feel they're content with Hood and Hayward, even though Hayward either goes 1/6 or 3/4 from 3 it seems like. If Exum can come back and get his defense back as well as have a good 3-point shot, he'll get the nod over everyone.

I would think Burke. He's a scorer and not a much else. They won't need him as much once Alec is giving them 15 a game off the bench again.

I agree, for this season at least

[Xiao Yao You]

It's because Gobert is his competition whereas Mack has to compete with Burke and Neto :

I see Lyles and Booker as his competition. Lyles shouldn't be playing ahead of him if winning is the objective. I thought it was just because they didn't care about winning and were developing Lyles. But now Mack is playing and Neto is not. Have never had the impression they like Withey for some reason. They only played him when desperate. Even when Rudy went down he wasn't playing. Favors had to go down too for him to show his stuff.

If Exum can come back and get his defense back as well as have a good 3-point shot, he'll get the nod over everyone.

He probably will regardless. That's kind of why I thought maybe they benched Neto. They see him there once Exum is back.

[Xiao Yao You]

The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has assigned center Tibor Pleiss to the Idaho Stampede, the Jazz

[Xiao Yao You]

http://saltcityhoops.com/the-jazzs-f...n-jeff-withey/

Withey has not played much recently. And yes, it is a bit sad. At the same time, it is understandable.

Not quite as bad as Sloan playing Fessenko over Koufos but it's not easy to understand.

Well, in training camp and the pre-season, Withey not only solidified his roster spot, but passed up Pleiss in the center pecking order.

Actually despite looking like the better player Pleiss and Lyles were ahead of him when the season started. Withey wasn't even dressing!

Outside of Gordon Hayward, it could be argued that no one was more consistent or important to the Jazz than Withey. He brought 9.1 PPG, 7.3 RPG and 2.33 BPG to the table — very respectable numbers. Withey was a viable difference maker on both ends of the court. He was surprisingly good offensively, showing a great ability to finish when his teammates set him up. He also cleaned the glass and managed to get some points off offensive rebounds. During those nine games, Withey managed double-figure scoring five times, while adding a pair of double-doubles.

Defensively, while not having the full effect Gobert would have, Withey was imposing and impactful. He also recorded a blocked shot in every single game and had seven performances of two or more (and two games with four swats).

For the season, Withey has been an advanced statistics darling. His 18.0 PER is fourth on the squad and his .163 win shares/48 minutes is third. He boasts a total rebound percentage of 15.54 If he qualified, Withey’s 7.3 block percentage would be the second best in the NBA behind Hassan Whiteside — and ahead of Gobert’s 6.4. You cannot ask much more from your back-up center. For a veteran’s minimum, Withey was a downright heist. Having a team option for him next season only enhances that.

I'd think he'd be traded. Don't get the impression despite the previous numbers that they think much of him for some reason.

There were also a number of times where match-ups have helped dictate rotations. When facing teams that employ small ball, Trevor Booker and Trey Lyles have gotten the nod.

Those two have played no matter what the match-ups were. The last game and the Dallas game I thought Lyles created some match-up problems. Otherwise he should be in the D-league proving himself.

He may be needed more next year, as it remains to be seen if Booker will return in free agency.

You would think they'd let Booker go and Withey would step in but I'd guess they'll draft another big and like Lyles he will play even if he shouldn't.

Jeff Withey has been a great find for Utah and if he stays patient, he will be needed sometime during this stretch run.

He's been needed all year. They are probably in 5th place at least if he'd been playing all year. Lyles minutes have cost them games. Think about all the close games and how many Withey would have made the difference in with even a few minutes that were going to Lyles and in some cases Booker. Reading the comments it's hard to believe Booker isn't appreciated more either.

[Xiao Yao You]

http://www.slcdunk.com/research-stat...ert-dante-exum

I made the assertion that Utah didn't really strike the metal when it was hot after drafting John and Karl. Frankly, they did end up surrounding them with contender-level talent, but the first decade of their careers were spent listing in the doldrums. In effect, the front office enjoyed their good fortune and didn't work as hard as GMs for other teams did for ten straight years, and tried to see how far two guys could get you.


Bold words. I know. And I don't mind people telling my I'm crazy.

I agree with you for a change. They always acted like there would be another year but eventually another year didn't come. Had more to do with them being cheap than how hard the GM's worked though.

I don't think that Shelvin Mack or Trey Burke (in their 5th and 3rd years respectively) were better than John in his 2nd year. You could argue about that.

There's no argument for it. John should have been starting from day 1 despite Green being one of the best in the league. Doubt any Jazz pg's will ever be as good as John was at the beginning or end of his career.

Dante Exum being one of our "Top Four Guys"

you could argue that Rodney Hood is better than Dante Exum.

Hood isn't very good defensively and Dante sucked on offense. I really don't think we should compare Dante with anyone until he shows he can play again. Who knows if he'll be able to defend like he did after an ACL.

Kelly Tripucka wasn't that effective in a Jazz jersey, and I think Rodney Hood eats him up.

I didn't like Tripucka when they got him and it was a horrible trade but he was actually a good player when they played him.

No one on this '87 team can stop Alec Burks.

Eaton? Scurry actually might have slowed him down. He was their Johnson/Booker.

But ultimately this Jazz team didn't have the talent to keep up with the better team.

They did. They had them beat. Layden and Ivaroni gave it away.

I don't know if the '88 Jazz have the talent to keep up with the '16 Jazz group after the Top Four players.

Thurl was great, again, but his is Rickey Green before his career is over, and everyone else is really below replacement level. Many Jazz players this year aren't implicitly great either. But in a direct comparison I think we think our current #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, and #10 guys take the day.

But the reason they almost beat the Lakers is because they played mostly 5 guys huge minutes.

I really did think that Jay Humphries and Larry Krystkowiak were going to be difference makers. I was wrong.

Larry was good I thought. Jay had been before he came to the Jazz.

The Jazz got a lot better with Jeff Hornacek on the team. They also added Tom Chambers, and the Jazz front office finally started to act like one that was actively trying to build around two HOFers.

Outside Horny it was more of the same.

Going from Fred Roberts to Marc Iavaroni to Mike Brown to Larry Krystkowiak to Tom Chambers is progress though.

Not really. First off Roberts was their 3rd string 3 not a 5 despite his height. He was good too. Ivaroni sucked. I liked Brown Bear and Krystko( before he stopped the rivalry anyway.) Was never a Chambers fan but he was alright in this role.

useless draft picks (Quincy Lewis, Scott Padgett)

I liked Padgett. Too bad for him he played in the wrong era for the wrong coach. He'd be making a lot of money now as a stretch 4. He rebounded too. Could have been Ryan Anderson possibly.

Dare I say it, a deeper, more talented roster than one build around Hall of Famers. The only thing we're missing now are stars. And that's really up to Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, Rudy Gobert, and Dante Exum to figure out.

So were Corbin/O'Conner's teams. Lindsey still has a lot to prove. Can he keep Hayward/Favors/Gobert/Hood together and still put some talent around them?

[Xiao Yao You]

http://www.slcdunk.com/research-stat...-trevor-booker

I'm being bold with saying my Jazz Top Four players are Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, Rudy Gobert, and Dante Exum (who is missing this entire season IRL).

Why don't guys have to prove it on the court anymore? Exum(assuming he can still defend when he returns) is a younger Chris Johnson until he proves otherwise.

This means my "Next Six" is (position order): Shelvin Mack, Trey Burke, Rodney Hood, Alec Burks, Trevor Booker, and Jeff Withey. Yes, no Raul Neto, Joe Ingles, Chris Johnson, or Trey Lyles. But I don't think those guys are in the "Next Six" just yet.

Can't put Burke ahead of Neto. He's one dimensional. We'll see with Mack. Chris Johnson might compare with Booker with what he brings to the floor as well.

where do you think Shelvin and Trey rank individually? They both have to be fighting for that #5 spot right?

I only like 4 guys on that list so Mack and Neto would be in my top 6 out of that. Certainly different than your list.

Howard Eisley did everything he was asked, from hitting game winners off the bench, to coming back at the end of his career to help a team stay afloat.

Never liked his game.

Shelvin Mack is Mr. Small Sample Size, but he seems to be playing very well right now -- just as long as you don't ask him to hit open threes.

But that is the team's philosophy.

But if you play Rodney Hood there he's clearly better than Tyrone Corbin, Blue Edwards, David Benoit, and everyone else including a "Next Six" level Bryon Russell. That's not the same thing as a NBA Finals era / starting level Russell. (Keep that in mind.) So if we move Rodney to SF, we have the best SF here. As it stands, we have the best SG here because I think he's superior to all of these players, including a "Next Six" level Darrell Griffith (not the same thing as the ROY level, or starting with Adrian Dantley level Griffith).

For someone that loves advanced stats as much as you, you are discounting defense where Hood is weak. If Hood can't do what he's been doing the past couple months consistently he is a bench player. Those other guys played D or in Griffiths case put up big stats over whole years not just a couple of months.

Alec Burks? He's probably also a better SF than a lot of the guys on that list, and surely better than a lot of the SGs. Again we see this year's "Next Six" to be filled with two of the best ever (from the data set and time frame) at the same position. I think Burks right now is playing better than everyone not named Bob Hansen or Shandon Anderson. (Only because they both were better defenders.) And I think Hood is better than Burks right now.

Alec plays a lot like a sf but I don't think they use him there much. I'd take him over Hansen any day. Shandon was a scorer for them like Alec.

Trevor Booker isn't better than Thurl Bailey, Danny Manning, Tom Chambers, or possibly even Antoine Carr at their peak levels. But only Bailey was at his peak with the Jazz, and he's the only guy who was at his peak while being in that "Next Six" roster role with the Jazz. I think Booker is better than Mike Brown, and the rest of that PF lot.

Thurl played sf at 6'11". He really hates Booker!

He doesn't have the face up game of Armen Gilliam, or the unlimited yet unearned playing time of Jarron Collins. But I think he's at least better than some of the guys at the bottom of the list.

His face up game is pretty good. I'd probably take him over anyone on that list personally. He's good.

[Xiao Yao You]

http://www.slcdunk.com/research-stat...ettling-theory

Even Karl Malone was very public with pointing out that talk was, indeed, cheap because while his front office just made excuses, other teams were leapfrogging the Jazz. And I can understand his frustration -- you're a young guy. You're and All-Star. You want to win as much as possible, because in that era the players wanted to win. It wasn't about playing in a big market, or playing with your best friends, or making a lot of money. Back in the 80s when the salary cap was so small the "thing" about the NBA was about winning.

And if Karl Malone loudly suggests that the Jazz weren't always about winning then it's something to investigate.

Karl was about money more than anything. He signed many contracts and soon after was crying about being underpaid. He got paid and they saved money on everyone else including Stockton who was all about winning.

Scott Layden was an amazing evaluator of talent and got John at #16 in 1984, and then Karl at #13 in 1985. Very rarely do you find two Hall of Famers in the middle of the 1st round, in back-to-back drafts for your dad, the GM of the team and head coach, Frank Layden. It's not just pure luck, but it's something that changed the Jazz franchise forever.

They lucked out to get them. If they knew how good they were they would have traded up to get them.

And Utah did stagnate. John and Karl had four first round exits in their first five seasons in the league. And they advanced only six individual rounds in a decade. That's really not good enough if you were gifted two HOFers in the middle of the draft. Or, more practically, that's as good as just two HOFers can take you if you aren't serious about getting good guys to balance the roster.

Or making a coaching change when you go from 1st to 3rd.

He was already a one way player

He was always a one way player. He sucked!

And I don't think that you're trying to surround your budding All-Stars and future HOFers with the best talent possible when guys like Carey Scurry and Bart Kofoed are coming off the bench to play big playoff minutes.

Loved Scurry! Energy guy. Blocked shots and crashed the offensive glass. He was a bit of a headcase I guess though?

[Xiao Yao You]

http://www.sltrib.com/sports/3573304...-making?page=2

"I thought he had a number of really good passes early in the game that we didn't handle that would have been buckets.

He made several passed that were too low for the bigs.

Why 830 tonite if it's on ROOT?

[Xiao Yao You]

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7...s-in-town.html

Utah won both games against the Spurs at Vivint Arena last season. The Jazz also have a seven-game winning streak at home. For another, the Jazz will have the services of center Rudy Gobert against Tim Duncan & Co. this time. The Stifle Tower was out with a knee injury in the two games at San Antonio this season. You can bet Gobert is eager to bounce back from one of his worst NBA games ever after totaling only two points, three rebounds and zero blocks in the Houston win.

The Jazz also have the benefit of being off at home while the Spurs played a late game at Sacramento on Wednesday night.

I'm thinking it will at least be competitive because of this.

This game was originally scheduled as the late TNT-televised contest, but it was replaced by the Rockets-Blazers duel. The NBA did not change the tipoff time, though, so the game will still be a late 8:40 p.m. start.

[Xiao Yao You]

http://saltcityhoops.com/sc7-threes-a-crowd/

[QUOTE]The starting lineup with Neto has been one of Utah

[Xiao Yao You]

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap...tiating-Buyout

[Xiao Yao You]

On Thursday at Vivint Arena, he began with the softer side of Pop. [URL="http://rockmonster.blogs.deseretnews.com/2016/02/26/the-new-mellower-coach-pop-or-not/"]Asked about Quin Snyder

[Xiao Yao You]

http://www.sltrib.com/sports/3587010...son-carves-out

With Alec Burks still a few weeks away from returning

Even though he's guaranteed for the remainder of this season, he still doesn't have a contract for next year.

I believe he does. Non guaranteed.

When Burks returns in a few weeks, there's a possibility that Johnson falls out of the rotation.

I imagine he will. When healthy they were playing him, Ingles or Millsap. Now they have the 3 pg's which could play into that as well.