I went back and rewatched the 3rd and 4th quarters of this game with less emotion.
The offensive just has no rhythm when another team puts pressure on. I felt like the entire 3rd and 4th quarters it looked like a team no offensive game plan whatsoever. It was either a quick shot that was bad, or a scrambling last few seconds of the shot clock shot.
There were several times just a little effort could have gotten rebounds and they just let a Nugget player get right in and get it.
As frustrating as Rubio can be, I have to say rewatching the game the dude does play hard. He and Donovan had consistent effort on defense. I never once saw Ricky give up. One things for sure this loss had nothing to do with Rubio tonight.
Offensively Donovan seemed to me like he was trying not to be overly dominant. He didn’t touch the ball much but he really wasn’t looking for it much either. It just kind of seemed to me like Donovan doesn’t want to be overly selfish, when in reality he needs to be really selfish. Basically in the 3rd and 4th quarters tonight we got to see what this team would have looked like if we never got Mitchell, and boy would life without that kid be miserable.
It was also obvious how valueable having Rudy is, both for defense and rebounds. So many times guys wouldn’t even dare drive in or post up when Rudy is there. There were several times Lyles got low and there’s no way it happens if Rudy is there for help defense. So to whoever the commenter was above, yes the void of Rudy is obvious and he is what makes our defense, he covers up mistakes and bad defense of everyone else a lot. He is still the most valuable peice the Jazz have.
Another thing, I wish Ingles could get some more open shots. I like the thought of Mitchell kicking those great passes to Ingles instead of Hood and Sefolosha. Poor Donovan deserves 5-6 more assists a game his teammates don’t get him.
I’m concerned with losing Favors as well. I like Udoh, but he isn’t very good and the Jazz sure struggle in some way s when Udohs on the floor.
I think Jerebko should have played tonight, he would have been a better matchup against this team after watching it again.
Joe Johnson, as much as I thank him for his time here and that playoff series he won for us, it’s time to part ways. He’s just eating too much time and all those played minutes are beginning to take their toll.
In all the Jazz looked bad defensively looked a mess offensively. Rubio tries hard but things seem much more under control when Mitchell is controlling the offense. Rubio dribbles too much and seems to make decisions on the fly. Donovan is much more poised and seems to have a plan with what he’s going to do before he does it. When Donovan runs things we end up with a good shot(even though Hood, Jerebko, and Sefelosha miss all the time), when hes passive and unselfish it results in quarters like the 3rd and 4th tonight.
After rewatching it, I came to much of the same conclusions as I did watching it the first time. We miss Rudy, Donovan is an absolute star, and we need to make some moves. This current roster doesn’t work. We knew our offense wasn’t great coming into this year but when you have Hood missing most his shots, Ingles not getting hardly any open shots, and a point guard who can’t shoot it packs the paint and takes offense from being hard to impossible.
