Bi Gal's Big Season

[Joe Bagadonuts]

It's time to face the music. Not only is Bi Gal not getting traded before this season begins, but he's clearly the offensive centerpiece. I can see why the front office has decided to try this experiment and in a big picture sort-of way, it's an experiment worth running. It relies on two main things.

On the offensive end Gal needs to reward teammates for cutting and having great outside shooting ability by passing the ball when he gets doubled. IMO his passing has improved dramatically since he got here so if that trend continues there is reason for hope. Gal is extremely tough to stop one on one so this has the potential to be a deadly offense (especially if he quits playing with an eye toward letting the shot clock run down).

It's on the defensive end where Gal really must improve. At the very least he's got to be mentally engaged and he's got to show his teammates that he does not enjoy getting beat. Up to this point he has never even seemed to care. He should be pissed when it becomes obvious that the other team is trying to pick on him, and he should be pulled when the opponent succeeds on two out of three possessions. It has got to be discouraging for every other Jazzman when Gal gets lost defensively or when his man blows right by him and his only response is a dopy grin followed be demanding the ball on the other end. I can't stand it when he makes a halfhearted flash out to his P/R man and it's so obvious he has no real intention of covering. It's as if he's saying to himself, "This is what coach told me I was supposed to do," but he has no idea what the move is trying to accomplish. Let's see some fire in the belly, Bi Gal! Only once I see actual defensive effort will I be willing to make some actual punctuation effort when it comes to your name.

 

[cctrackstar]

So, it's safe to say that you are not fond of Al. Fine, that's understandable. As you vaguely mentioned, the Jazz picked up three proven three point scorers in the hopes that when Al is triple teamed, he will have the confidence to pass out the ball to a three point shooter (he already passes to cutters, hopefully he will more) and get the assist instead of trying to bowl through the triple team. It could work. If it doesn't, his contract is up after this season and they aren't out that much for trying. Not a bad gamble IMO.

 

[NUMBERICA]

Will having shooters and the etc excuses make him not be terrible defending anything not as slow as him, run ever, or get to the line?

I guess let's hope.

 

[northeast]

If he is shooting through triple teams, the Jazz should be able to clean up on offense rebounds.

 

[Stifle Tower]

If he is shooting through triple teams, the Jazz should be able to clean up on offense rebounds.

If Al is getting doubled/tripled, it will leave outside "makers" wide open. The problem we had last season was NO ONE could hit an outside shot. Don't underestimate the effect of having Mo Williams and Randy Foye on the team. Both those guys will be able to call Jefferson to task if he's not passing the ball back outside.

 

[cctrackstar]

Will having shooters and the etc excuses make him not be terrible defending anything not as slow as him, run ever, or get to the line?

Two words: Derrick Favors. Every player has strengths and weaknesses. Al's are he is unstoppable single covered in the post, but he is average at best defensively. Millsap tries but is undersized. Favors is just scratching his potential and he's already good enough of a defender to cover for Al.

 

[Stifle Tower]

Two words: Derrick Favors. Every player has strengths and weaknesses. Al's are he is unstoppable single covered in the post, but he is average at best defensively. Millsap tries but is undersized. Favors is just scratching his potential and he's already good enough of a defender to cover for Al.

I agree. That's why it's so maddening to see a Jefferson/Millsap lineup.
Pair Al with Derrick and Millsap w/ Kanter. That gives both units better balance.

 

[Joe Bagadonuts]

So, it's safe to say that you are not fond of Al. Fine, that's understandable. As you vaguely mentioned, the Jazz picked up three proven three point scorers in the hopes that when Al is triple teamed, he will have the confidence to pass out the ball to a three point shooter (he already passes to cutters, hopefully he will more) and get the assist instead of trying to bowl through the triple team. It could work. If it doesn't, his contract is up after this season and they aren't out that much for trying. Not a bad gamble IMO.

I love his attitude and am impressed with his scoring ability and increased passing ability, but he needs to amp up the defensive intensity.

 

[zbone]

Two words: Derrick Favors. Every player has strengths and weaknesses. Al's are he is unstoppable single covered in the post, but he is average at best defensively. Millsap tries but is undersized. Favors is just scratching his potential and he's already good enough of a defender to cover for Al.

All this will be exposed on playoffs when a team puts 3pt shooting PF for Favors to guard and run p-n-r at Jefferson. Favors just won't be there to cover his *** in time.

 

[Thee Idiotic Minivan K]

At least he's not a complete lost cause like Boozer was. Al can defend one on one in the post and block shots, which is more then Boozer ever did.

 

[cctrackstar]

All this will be exposed on playoffs when a team puts 3pt shooting PF for Favors to guard and run p-n-r at Jefferson. Favors just won't be there to cover his *** in time.

Point taken, however i would remind folks that Marvin Williams is big enough to guard 3 point shooting power forwards, and quick enough to get out to the 3, so a little switching can keep Favors closer to the post. It's all in Ty's hands.

 

[Stifle Tower]

All this will be exposed on playoffs when a team puts 3pt shooting PF for Favors to guard and run p-n-r at Jefferson. Favors just won't be there to cover his *** in time.

And the 3-PT shooting PF's are who exactly?
Bonner, Nowitzki and Love.
As cc mentioned, you just do some switching.

 

[Hitman]

IMO his passing has improved dramatically since he got here so if that trend continues there is reason for hope.

Al's assist/minute rate has improved *every season* except one since he's been in the league; the exception was the 10/11 season, when he suffered a slight drop, but followed this with his best-ever rate. He's also only slightly below Millsap, twice as good as Favors, and Kanter doesn't even register (7 assists in 841 minutes!).

Also: he doesn't turn the ball over. He had better than a 2:1 assist:turnover ratio. Better than Hayward's A:TO ration, in fact.

I see two ways that this coming season will play out for Al offensively - either teams will be reluctant to double-team him and leave a shooter open, in which case he will have the opportunity to take his man one-on-one, or they do double-team him, in which case we'll find out of he can hit the wide-open man and whether our three-point shooters are as good as advertised.

At least he's not a complete lost cause like Boozer was. Al can defend one on one in the post and block shots, which is more then Boozer ever did.

Al was actually our best shot-blocker last season, he had a slightly better block/minute rate than Favors; both were around double the rate of both Millsap and Kanter. Boozer had a worse block/minute rate than either Earl Watson or Jamaal Tinsley.

And unlike Boozer, Al has been willing to admit his faults, he has acknowledged he has been a poor passer and defender, and said he is trying to improve. The numbers say he has been working on his passing; quantifying his defence is a little harder, but I'm willing to accept he is trying to be better, even if it's hard for us to notice any improvement.

 

[zbone]

Point taken, however i would remind folks that Marvin Williams is big enough to guard 3 point shooting power forwards, and quick enough to get out to the 3, so a little switching can keep Favors closer to the post. It's all in Ty's hands.

Ok, AL is on C. Marvin's on PF. Favors is on SF? I don't get it. I am not even a half coach Tye is (lol) but the only way I see is to bench Al when there is shooting PF and p-n-r C.
Zone won't work because we really suck at playing it and good shooting teams will kill us anyway.

 

[zbone]

And the 3-PT shooting PF's are who exactly?
Bonner, Nowitzki and Love.
As cc mentioned, you just do some switching.

Blair, Ilyasova, Anderson, Frye and plenty of smaller guys if opposing team to choose playing small ball.

 

[Stifle Tower]

Ok, AL is on C. Marvin's on PF. Favors is on SF? I don't get it. I am not even a half coach Tye is (lol) but the only way I see is to bench Al when there is shooting PF and p-n-r C.
Zone won't work because we really suck at playing it and good shooting teams will kill us anyway.

There are 3 freakin 3-Pt threats in the WC, one of which (Bonner) only plays about 20 mins/per. Another who probably doesn't even make the playoffs (Love). The third (Nowitzki), you can just put a hand up as token resistance. When he's on fire, it doesn't matter who is on him. But he's aging and doesn't have a terribly frightening supporting cast. Let Dirk score 40 and the Jazz can still beat the Mavs.

 

[Stifle Tower]

Blair, Ilyasova, Anderson, Frye and plenty of smaller guys if opposing team to choose playing small ball.

Then you match up and play small ball with Favors at center and M. Williams at PF. Of course, if teams go small, they're also at a disadvantage defensively as Al and Favors could kill them inside, not to mention Millsap who can outplay the smaller PF's.

Why do we always have to worry about the adjustments Utah has to make when another team does something? Make teams adjust TO UTAH! If we go big, make team X go big (or get pounded inside). If Utah goes small, make the other team go small - or get hit with a barrage of 3's.

If the Jazz are ever going to advance to the next level, Utah has to learn to set the pace and style of play: proactive vs. reactive.

 

[zbone]

Then you match up and play small ball with Favors at center and M. Williams at PF. Of course, if teams go small, they're also at a disadvantage defensively as Al and Favors could kill them inside, not to mention Millsap who can outplay the smaller PF's.

SAS essentially played small ball against us. You may want to check out scores and see how we took advantage of it. You don't think that Diaw and Duncan is a regular PF-C combo, do you?

And I agree, one of the best solutions is to bench Al when teams play that way against us.

 

[NAOS]

we worry about the adjustments Utah has to make because last year they defended the PnR like a bunch of retarded kids.

 

[zbone]

Why do we always have to worry about the adjustments Utah has to make when another team does something? Make teams adjust TO UTAH! If we go big, make team X go big (or get pounded inside). If Utah goes small, make the other team go small - or get hit with a barrage of 3's.

If the Jazz are ever going to advance to the next level, Utah has to learn to set the pace and style of play: proactive vs. reactive.

You make other teams to adjust when you play either dominating offense or defense. And in playoffs if you rely on your offense to carry you you need to be able to keep it effective while covering defensive weaknesses. Al in high pick-n-roll is a glaring defensive hole. You can't even say the Jazz play solid defense with what we saw last year.

The problem is Jazz have no offense when Al is on the bench.