My 2014 Jazz Agenda

[Coach Ellis]

Here's my issue. I feel like we're still developing Burks, Favors, Hayward, Kanter, Evans, and Burke. If we add five rookies, we're now asking our coaching staff to develop 11 young players simultaneously, as well as implementing a new offense, a new defense, along with the normal game-prep and focus on getting to the playoffs.

A coaching staff can only be spread so thin. It sounds like everybody is enthusiastic about being young, but being young isn't an end unto itself. The reason to go young is to try to figure out who you're going to build around. When you stay young, the focus seems to become cycling rookie contracts through your franchise while hoping for bad enough draft picks to get a star.

How well is that working out for the Timberwolves, who haven't made the playoffs in 10 years? How well did it work out for the Clippers, who made the playoffs 4 times in 29 years and were the laughing stock of the league?

I don't look forward to a scam future of youth and the false hopes of lottery picks.

I personally suspect that there's a severe limit on how much your team can improve if you're trying to develop 11 young guys at the same time.

Fair enough. I could see how that might be the case. From my perspective, I don't see as much work by the staff in the development of Favors, Hayward, Evans, Tomic or Lin in this scenario. That effort is more spent in the developmental stage on Burks, Kanter, Burke, Gobert, Gordon, LaVine, McDaniels and Neto. I'd also expect Neto and McDaniels to spend some time with the stampede to aid that learning process.

I'm not going young just to avoid vets. I'd be going young to get the most talent on the roster as soon as possible. Will it be a strain on the staff to be so young? Possibly. But again, if you go into the season with a clear plan in place with regards to expectations - you can have a lot of success regardless of what the team's record is. At this stage, I think that player development and system implementation is more important than wins and losses. Ty Corbin didn't get that concept, but I'd be willing to bet that Quin Snyder does. The Jazz will be better by virtue of improved coaching and better depth. How much better depends on how the players but in to the new system. If they don't, then next year you go find guys who do.

 

[Doublea]

It'd be interesting to see how many young teams have been successful. Wonder where I could find that...

 

[Coach Ellis]

It'd be interesting to see how many young teams have been successful. Wonder where I could find that...

Good question. The bigger thing for me is if we're evaluating this young team based on how they do in 2014/15 or how they do three or four years from now after they've been in this system, with these (development-minded) coaches and hopefully becoming the players they were drafted to be.

Three years from now - Favors, Hayward, Burks, Kanter, Tomic, Lin and Burke would all be experienced vets under contract, plus the Jazz have youngsters like Gordon, Neto, LaVine, McDaniels, plus 2015, 2016 and two 2017 first round picks (if they don't trade any of those assets.)