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A question for this Jazzfanz community - for an article in Israel

karpasov

karpasov

Well-Known Member
Hi all,

As an enthusiastic member of this forum, a daily reader of the amazing posts here and a devoted Jazz fan since I was 12 - I am asking for your help on collecting essential and unique info about the Jazz for an article that a friend is working on towards the playoff. The basic idea is to give a general summery and prediction of playoff teams for the Israeli NBA fan base.
So, if anyone is interested, quit freely, please describe ( in a condensed manner) what are the 3 most important/intriguing/unique things, that an NBA fan should know about the Jazz's season, players and current state going into the playoff. I will transfer all your thoughts to my friend and he will use it in his article.

In Israel, there is a very small (but devoted) Jazz fan base. Mostly because, like in the US, the media give prays to all the "obvious" teams and players from the big familiar cities. I think it's bad education and that the Jazz fan base here should be bigger. This kind of article can really help me with that..

Thanks!

Go Jazz!
 
1) The big 3 lineup and why it's dominating. Can it beat the Spurs?
2) Can Favors and Hayward become the next deadliest duo in the NBA?
3) Why my Advil PM pill is not working, I need to $*%^*in sleep with a fever tonight.

EDIT: Meaningful minutes. Cousins is putting up 40 minutes and crazy stats in games that don't matter. Favors is putting up good stats in 20 minutes in a game that does matter. Who'll be better in the future? Does this technique work?
 
The Youth Movement Meets Veteran Leadership

The Jazz have had a unique season in that they are rebuilding their core with extremely talented, young players such as Derrick Favors, Gordon Hayward, Enes Kanter and Alec Burks, while simultaneously maintaining enough of a veteran presence to stay relatively competitive. The key veterans include: Al Jefferson, Devin Harris and Paul Millsap. Remaining competitive while also rebuilding your team is not something typically seen; usually your team is either in a state of competitiveness or rebuilding, not both at the same time. In fact, the Jazz are probably the only team that could be considered to be truly rebuilding that managed to qualify for the 2012 Playoffs.

Going into the Playoffs, one should pay attention to how the minutes are balanced. In other words, how much playing time are the veterans receiving in an attempt to win the series vs. how many minutes are being distributed to the younger players to give them Playoff experience to help them and the team in the future.

A balance of remaining competitive now, while preparing for the future has been the theme of the 2011/2012 season for the Jazz, and it will continue to be so in the post season.

New Head Coach, Tyrone Corbin

This past season was the first full season as head coach for Tyrone Corbin after taking over for the Hall of Famer, Jerry Sloan. Anticipation and debate surrounded whether he was the right man for the job and what kind of coaching style he would infer on the team. Now that the regular season is essentially over, he has proven to have a place in the league by taking what he learned from Sloan and incorporating a little of his own medicine, resulting in a team with a winning record and a chance to make a Playoff run, all while balancing minutes between the older and younger players.

It has been said that the Playoffs are all about match ups and adjustments, so one should watch how Corbin changes his game plan from game to game against the legendary Greg Popovich, coach of the San Antonio Spurs. This series will likely tell us a lot about Corbin as a coach.

The "Big" Lineup

In the last stretch of the season, several of the Jazz's perimeter players were sidlined due to injury, forcing Corbin to experiment with a somewhat unorthodox lineup that featured Paul Millsap, who is a natural power forward, at the small forward position, with Derrick Favors at power forward, and Al Jefferson at center. Not only did this lineup give more playing time to the developing Favors, but it proved to be quite effective--perhaps, even their best lineup. Look for this lineup to be the Jazz's best chance at creating a miss match for the Spurs, and their best chance at winning a game or two, and hopefully the series.
 
to me the big lineup is not a story that defines the jazz season... at least not yet. there isn't enough of a sample size yet to even say convincingly that it is the answer -- just some amazing early result on the D end.

my three would be:

1) hybrid roster of veteran leadership + young talent
2) return to playoffs just one year removed from a complete overhaul of the team and coaching staff
3) after trying to force al jefferson to be a star, the jazz finally got better when they accepted who they were - a deep team w/ no star
 
theNBAnerd said:
to me the big lineup is not a story that defines the jazz season... at least not yet. there isn't enough of a sample size yet to even say convincingly that it is the answer -- just some amazing early result on the D end.

my three would be:

1) hybrid roster of veteran leadership + young talent
2) return to playoffs just one year removed from a complete overhaul of the team and coaching staff
3) after trying to force al jefferson to be a star, the jazz finally got better when they accepted who they were - a deep team w/ no star
Click to expand...

I included the big lineup mainly because this article is meant to give these fans more of an idea of what to watch for in the post season.
 
Nice points, spycam and nerd.
I agree that the most compelling point is the integration of young talent with the solid veteran leadership of Millsap, Jefferson and Harris. As much as we rag on Corbin about substitutions and lack of PT for some youngsters, I think he's done a pretty good job of keeping as many players happy as possible. Utah really has been unique in that a major rebuild is nearly complete with only a half-season (last half of 2011) of irrelevance.

I would also add as a point how lucky the Jazz were that their most unproductive players got hurt at precisely the right time in Bell, Miles, Howard and Watson. Howard at least has seemed to always voice his gratitude for the opportunity to play in Utah and resurrect his career, even though he jacks up ill-advised shots whenever he gets PT. Watson has been the biggest disappointment, IMO. I was praising his leadership early in the season, and then he became a malcontent once he wasn't getting playing time.

Along with the Jazz, I think a big story this season is to see the possible changing of the guard in the NBA.Yes, you still have Miami and their Big 3, but Dallas and the Lakers are on their way down with aging superstars, and this may be SA's last gasp. Kobe, Nowitzki, Nash and Duncan are all nearing the end of their dominance. Young teams like Utah, Memphis, Minnesota, Indiana, the Clippers and Philadelphia are all showing they may be forces to reckon with in the near future, joining OKC at the top of a new era in the NBA.
 
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