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Any of you gonna make a game thread? Preseason game 1

Thee jazz fan said:
I think a lot of it was he didn't know how to handle being the primary target for the other teams defense. Don't think he took many bad attempts, more then those shots looked rushed, and he hardly got a chance to shoot to shoot an open spot up jumper, which hurt his confidence when he did get an open look.
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An interesting takeaway for me from Quin's post-game remarks - and he said this in reference to the Jazz' defense - is that the difference between making open vs. contested shots is about 7%. Now I realize this is very simplistic. Obviously, personnel also plays in to the equation (for example, I don't care how open Tinsley and Watson were in their years with Utah, they couldn't make a shot). But Jazz were 7th worst in the league as a team last season at 44.4%; and sixth worst on their 3's (33.4%). Obviously, a big part of that was due to two guys who really struggled: Hayward and Burke.

Personnel-wise, I'd say the team is better, but just for the sake of argument, you can look at Novak's and Booker's percentages and say they're about the same as Jefferson and Marvin. You could also say that worst case, Exum comes in at Tinsley/Garrett/Lucas numbers.

If ball movement gives the team more open shots, all it takes is improving less than 2% points (to 46%) to be a top-10 shooting team. Takes a little more of a boost to be top-10 in terms of 3's (37%). But the point is, it shouldn't take much to really improve offensively. Combine that with Quin's emphasis on defense and this team MAY not be as far off as some think. We may welcome the increased chance to move up in the lottery. I predicted 35 wins and I may end up being on the low end.


Edit: Lol...as I was writing this and looking up stats, I notice sojodave also picked up on the 7% comment. And no, I doubt Corbin (or Sloan) used this kind of analysis. To his defense, Jerry never had to offensively as the Jazz were usually one of the top shooting teams in the league.
 
Thought the team played really well last night. Think the guys have bought into the obvious unselfishness stuff for the most part, but the two biggest takeaways I had were that Hayward looks like he is playing his more natural role and not worried as much about carrying the load. Looked like he liked playing basketball again.

The other big takeaway was Kanter. Looked really solid... much more decisive. Last year made me jump off the Kanter bandwagon... If he can continue to make quicker decisions and move as well as he was last night I'd happily jump back on.

Its going to be a fun season... I'm intrigued to see how this thing develops.
 
GVC said:
He was terrific. If he can hit that free throw line jumper off pick-and rolls more fairly consistently, and his back and feet don't fail him, he could have a really solid season (even if it doesn't show up in the boxscore).

I just finished watching the game. My thoughts before looking at the boxscore:

1. Not to be a total killjoy, but the Blazers starters (with the exception of Wes Matthews) were treating this as a casual walk through. It'll be interesting to see how well the good stuff the Jazz showed in this game translates to games where the opponent gives a ****.

2. I thought the defense looked pretty precise for most of the game. Players seemed to know where and when to rotate, and there was good communication on switches.

3. The starters ran the offense very well, especially in the 1st quarter.

4. Per the above, I thought Trey did a fantastic job getting the ball up the court, directing traffic/getting the team into the offense, and executing. One of the keys for this team is Trey's ability to hit pull-up jumpers off the pick and roll. I don't think he'll ever be effective going to the rim, so he needs the pull-up to bend the defense when he's working around screens. If he can figure it out, the Jazz are going to get a lot of open looks.

5. It should be interesting to see what the Jazz do with those open looks when they get them. The Blazers did a pretty good job of shutting down the paint, and defending the 3. Along with Trey (and Gordo) hitting pull-ups, Kanter's ability to hit spot-up jumpers from 15+ will determine how many open 3s and shots at the basket the Jazz get this season.

6. I thought the players did a good job of playing within themselves, and focusing on making the right play. Players weren't forcing things. Favors, Gordo, Trey and Alec were pretty steady/disciplined, and did a good job leading the way. The only player I'm worried about turning into Josh Howard is Trevor Booker, but that's based entirely on his contract. Dude is a very willing passer, and seems to have a pretty good feel for the game in general.

7. Contrary to some of the sentiment in this thread, I thought Kanter's D still looked pretty poor. He has to do a better job keeping opposing bigs from getting such deep position. It puts a lot of pressure on the D.

8. Burks is a terrific safety valve and opportunistic scorer. He started showing an ability to move the ball/make the right play and hit spot-up jumpers last season, and if he continues to progress in his off-ball halfcourt ability he'll have a fantastic season as well.

9. Gobert is all arms...it's terrifying in so many ways (good and bad).

10. Final thought: Really liked how the starters played together tonight.
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Better than Brandon Rush?
 
Thee jazz fan said:
Even so, the jazz got plenty of inside looks using pick and roll and Burks, got inside pretty much whenever he wanted to. Both Burks and Favors got to the foul line a ton in limited minutes.
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If the Jazz can't consistently hit the available open pull-up and spot-up jumpers defenses give them, defenses will give them those and stay home down low and on the perimeter. The motion and ball movement was great last night, but it will only be as effective (against defenses that give a ****) as Favors' and Kanter's ability to hit open jumpers from 15+, and Trey's ability to knock down pull-ups (which was a strength of his in college.



Thee jazz fan said:
The jazz as a whole got to the line a lot, Which tells me they got inside a ton.
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fishonjazz said:
From conversations i have had with gvc in the past, i dont think that he believes that getting to the line is all that great
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You think wrong. I certainly never said anything like that.
 
I like a lot of what I saw from Trey last night. I agree with GVC concerning his need to hit the pull up jumper (and the floater). Since that was a strength in college, I'm hoping that returns this year. Glimmers last night. I also liked the way he got the ball up the floor and his tenacity when it came to probing the defense in the half court. It's obvious that he's been given his marching orders, and that those marching orders are probably more parsimonious and fit to his strengths than the ones he received last year.

Also, I'm very happy with what I saw from Enes last night (except for some lapses on defense). I thought this offense would be hard for him to execute and hard for him to play within.

My hopes for both of these players have been resurrected! Hallelujah!
 
NAOS said:
I like a lot of what I saw from Trey last night. I agree with GVC concerning his need to hit the pull up jumper (and the floater). Since that was a strength in college, I'm hoping that returns this year. Glimmers last night. I also liked the way he got the ball up the floor and his tenacity when it came to probing the defense in the half court. It's obvious that he's been given his marching orders, and that those marching orders are probably more parsimonious and fit to his strengths than the ones he received last year.

Also, I'm very happy with what I saw from Enes last night (except for some lapses on defense). I thought this offense would be hard for him to execute and hard for him to play within.

My hopes for both of these players have been resurrected! Hallelujah!
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Good to see!

You need to update your sig.
 
I noticed that Hayward's shot release is a little lower and more out in front vs. last year. On the 3-pt shots he made, he did a better job of getting his feet set and jumping straight up, releasing the ball with a more deliberate motion. It seemed to work better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAkfgk7PjdU
 
fishonjazz said:
From conversations i have had with gvc in the past, i dont think that he believes that getting to the line is all that great so you probably have not swayed him. (I know he hates the pps statistic because taking and making free throws makes the stat look good for guys that get to the line alot)
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Did this get the lolz in the trolly forum?


Doublea said:
I remember that conversation. You said something like Burks uses team possessions getting to the line, so it's not as good as it looks.
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YEEEEAAP!
 
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