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Kanter shows nerves battling more comfortable Favors

Purch

Well-Known Member
The two most recent No. 3 picks in the NBA Draft squared off Saturday night and basically played to a draw in the Utah Jazz intrasquad scrimmage at the EnergySolutions Arena.

Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors, the two Jazz big men of the future, played on opposite teams in the 20-minute scrimmage and came away with nearly identical numbers.

Both players shot 2 for 6 from the field, and each had a pair of turnovers. Favors had four rebounds, two more than Kanter, while the rookie from Turkey had two more points, thanks to a pair of free throws.

Favors, who joined the Jazz late last season after being the No. 3 pick of the New Jersey Nets, looked a lot more comfortable on the floor than Kanter, whose nerves showed right from the start.

The first time Kanter got the ball on the first possession of the game for the White team, he was called for traveling. The next time down, he tried a little 10-footer in the lane that hit nothing but air.

Later he had a shot blocked by Favors and threw up the wildest shot of the night when, with the shot clock running down, fired up a 3-pointer that bounced off the top of the backboard — that's backboard, not rim.

Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said Kanter has looked much better at the Zion's Basketball Center in front of coaches and fellow players than he was in front of 10,000 fans.

"He's young and thinking a lot and excited to get on the floor," Corbin said. "He pressed a little bit and made some mistakes. But he's working hard and trying. There's so much coming in so fast that he's a young kid where a summer league and a long training camp would have benefited him."

Kanter admitted he was nervous in his first real appearance in front of Salt Lake fans, noting that he got injured in the first couple of minutes of last month's charity game at Salt Lake Community College and didn't get to play.

"That was my first time in Salt Lake City and I was just a little bit nervous and really excited," Kanter said. "It was fun to get out there in a competitive game — the fans were really great. My game's still (not there) because I couldn't play for two years. So I need to play more so I can get much better."

As for Favors, Corbin was much more positive, saying he did a lot of things that didn't show up on the stat sheet.

"Oh I thought he was good," Corbin said. "He played big out there. He made a few mistakes defensively, but when he made them, he looked over and I thought he understood and didn't make them twice. So I thought that was encouraging.

"I thought he played big inside. He did a good job of getting in on Kanter, was physical inside, did a decent job of going after rebounds and set some good screens."

Kanter and Favors will get to play on the same side from here on out beginning Monday night in Portland.

https://www.deseretnews.com/article...-nerves-battling-more-comfortable-Favors.html

I do believe Kanter and Favors have to be our two front court starters going forward.
 
It'll be interesting to see how he goes tonight...

With this condensed season he'll get plenty of practice this year with older guys being in and out of the line up (already Millsap and Jefferson are injured).

I'm not worried at all, bigs need time to develop, by the end of the season I believe we'll be having a different conversation.
 
Favors is going to do wonders for Kanter.

Kanter has probably never faced a freak like Favors in his life. I hope they put each other through hell in practice.
 
Whatever they do, do not put him in D-League.

Why not? In the D-League, he can practice every day and play 30 mins a night 3x's a week. In the NBA, he can sit on the bench and play x-box and watch porns from his hotel room. The kids needs to play, and if he isn't good enough to play ahead of Jefferson, Millsap or Favors, the D-League could help him out a lot.
 
Why not? In the D-League, he can practice every day and play 30 mins a night 3x's a week. In the NBA, he can sit on the bench and play x-box and watch porns from his hotel room. The kids needs to play, and if he isn't good enough to play ahead of Jefferson, Millsap or Favors, the D-League could help him out a lot.

Because NO ONE who spent time in D-League has come back and been successful in the NBA. Practicing with team like Hayward did last year proved to be much much more valuable.
 
I don't agree with your correlation at all. Also, a big difference between last year and this year and there will be weeks in between Jazz practices at times.
 
In the past, because teams were limited in how often they could send someone down and recall them, they were probahbly reluctant to send useful players to the D-League. Now that you can send and recall players as often as you wish, you'll probably see more taltented players who need seasoning in the D-League. In particular, for a polayer who has all the tools and none of the experience, the D-League could be very good.
 
Because NO ONE who spent time in D-League has come back and been successful in the NBA. Practicing with team like Hayward did last year proved to be much much more valuable.
Hayward hasn't gone through a period where he hardly played real basketball in the most important developmental years of his life.
 
Whatever they do, do not put him in D-League.

This. And the next thing they should not do is make him inactive. The kid's already missed enough time, let him practice, dress, and warm up with the team and see some minutes here and there. Sending him down to the D-League with a bunch of guys trying to make a name for themselves or sitting him behind the bench will do nothing to develop this kid. He can't afford to miss more time. An NBA practice serves him better than 30 minutes in a game of And-One.
 
Why not? In the D-League, he can practice every day and play 30 mins a night 3x's a week. In the NBA, he can sit on the bench and play x-box and watch porns from his hotel room. The kids needs to play, and if he isn't good enough to play ahead of Jefferson, Millsap or Favors, the D-League could help him out a lot.

Not really. In theory it sounds good but in reality what works in D league probably won't work for Kanter in the NBA. The size and talent level of the NBA compared to D league is insane. There is a reason they charge WNBA prices to see the games.
By staying with the Jazz he gets to at least practice vs NBA level players, learns the correct system, and interacts with knowledgeable coaches. With the mega compressed schedule, he'll get enough time.
 
This. And the next thing they should not do is make him inactive. The kid's already missed enough time, let him practice, dress, and warm up with the team and see some minutes here and there. Sending him down to the D-League with a bunch of guys trying to make a name for themselves or sitting him behind the bench will do nothing to develop this kid. He can't afford to miss more time. An NBA practice serves him better than 30 minutes in a game of And-One.

With the condensed schedule how many practices will there be? If it is between sitting on a NBA bench and not playing or getting 30 minutes a night in D League. I say D league it is. If Okur is 100% healthy and we want Evans to get some minutes it will be tough for Kanter to get out there.
 
With the condensed schedule how many practices will there be? If it is between sitting on a NBA bench and not playing or getting 30 minutes a night in D League. I say D league it is. If Okur is 100% healthy and we want Evans to get some minutes it will be tough for Kanter to get out there.

If it comes down to minutes between Evans and Kanter, this is a no-brainer. Kanter should not sit at the expense of developing Jeremy Evans.
 
Dont disagree with you on that one, but what does Mr. Corbin think?

I would hope that he thinks like I do. I also think that KOC has more say than he did in previous seasons and he may veto sending Kanter to the D-League.
 
I would just like to clarify my position here; I want Kanter to play in the NBA, but I don't believe that even good team practice can replace floor time. If he's totally buried in the rotation then I'd rather have him in the D-League. But I'd prefer he get a chance in small opportunities pretty quickly. He just needs to play.
 
I would just like to clarify my position here; I want Kanter to play in the NBA, but I don't believe that even good team practice can replace floor time. If he's totally buried in the rotation then I'd rather have him in the D-League. But I'd prefer he get a chance in small opportunities pretty quickly. He just needs to play.

Agreed. I mean, I want him to get his 10 mpg just as much as anyone else (well, maybe not Sepanol) but if the guy is completely clueless to what is going on and just overall useless then he should go to the D-League.
 
I think the whole discussion is moot. With this compressed season, and b2b2b game sets, he will get plenty of PT just to rest Memo and AJ in between games. I think this is one of the best scenarios for the new guys to get solid experience fast and be forced to learn on the court. If Corbin can hold effective practices a few times a month to solidify what he wants the new guys to learn, I am sure they will have ample opportunity to put it into practice on the court.
 
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