Game Thread Oct 23, 2024 07:00PM MT: Memphis Grizzlies @ Utah Jazz

[HermanG]

Also one thing that wasnt mentioned... I am happy Ja is back. He is just such an entertaining and special player to watch. The most entertaining player in the league imo.

I think he had like 10 mid-flight decisions in this game where he had just driven to the trees without knowing what to do, and somehow almost everything he did there worked. Some circus passes, tough shots and fouls drawn.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Some other notes:
When is Collier supposed to be back? We have pretty much zero creation outside of George, especially off the bench.
Can Kessler / Lauri / Hendricks work together long term when basically none of them can pass?

IIRC Collier will be reevaluated today

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Watching Jordan Clarkson continues to be one of the most entertaining and odd things in the NBA. Not sure many players have a looser/wild handle while also being extremely good at getting to spots on the court.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

I don't think Memphis looks that great, I wouldn't peg them as a playoff team yet. They are relying a lot on unproven players in Edey, Wells, and Pippen Jr. I like all 3 of those players, but they will have growing pains this year.

I'm guessing there are some Edey doubters using this game as evidence they were right. He wasn't able to stay on the court and the defense was awful with him in the game. If you paid attention, however, you could see how much attention he was getting and how much that opened up shots for his teammates. The one truly concerning thing, in my opinion, was that Ja does not seem to like him. At the very least Ja does not want to give him the ball in the post. Memphis is probably better staggering their minutes and letting Edey eat in the second unit for now.

It will take time for him to adjust to the fouling. Jaylen Wells was doing the same thing. They see Smart doing it so they think they can just be aggressive but they dont understand the nuances of what refs do and dont call yet. They do need to actually give him the ball some. I would be disappointed if they drafted him and really refused to feature his strengths. Like if you have John Collins in the game guarding Edey, punish that matchup like the Kings did with Sabonis. Some teams just get way too caught up in playing the space/pace game all the time.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

There is a group of posters who want to bash him whenever they can. Its the same guys every time.

Seems to me like they dislike his brand of basketball too much to root for the guy. Its definitely poorly founded to constantly jump on a 20 year old who plays as well as Key and who also gets a lot of hype/trust from the coach and vast majority of fanbase and media.

But it is what it is.

There's a group of posters who just get off on being as negative as possible. I'm all for criticism and realistic expectations, but some people on here are just lame AF.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Speaks to how great some of the performances in this game were that this was as close as it was. You’re not going to win many games in the association when your opponent takes 20 more 3’s than you at a decent clip.

One way to do it is shoot 45 FT's.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

I get losses are the ultimate goal, but I just cant root for a loss in a close game. It's not fun. Winning is fun. I'm glad we lost today, but in the moment I want the win.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Sexton had a solid game, but he took no 3's and had two possessions were he ignored a Lauri post-up mismatch to take a much worse shot.

Both unacceptable.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

I love Hendricks when he plays with energy and confidence. It was cool seeing him smile and just look confident out there after his shot making stretch.

Cody really has to work on getting low and dribbling. His one real NBA offensive skill is finishing with his ability to stretch out for layups, but he cant really access it if he cant dribble at all.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Also thought Walker was great. Still get down on him about some small things (body language and how quickly he looks to pass in situations that arent "optimal"), but he did all the things he needs to do to be a big impact on the game.

 

[Step-Back Lauri]

Watching Jordan Clarkson continues to be one of the most entertaining and odd things in the NBA. Not sure many players have a looser/wild handle while also being extremely good at getting to spots on the court.

Its just good enough to make it work, when combined to his motor and good reactions around him. This, when he's on ofc. Depressed JC last season looked good awful at times. But yeah, a part of the trick is how his unorthodox style throws off some defenders. It's like a random number generator, when JC gets the ball.

 

[framer]

Hendricks is our best perimeter defender by a lot.

This was never in question. . .

 

[KqWIN]

Hendricks and Kessler are for sure confidence players. A couple things go right and everything starts happening. But if things don’t go as planned you might just not see them all night. They were both great yesterday.

It was kind of impossible to play good defense last night bc everything was a foul and both teams shot it decently, but I thought those two were really good.

 

[KqWIN]

I don't think Memphis looks that great, I wouldn't peg them as a playoff team yet. They are relying a lot on unproven players in Edey, Wells, and Pippen Jr. I like all 3 of those players, but they will have growing pains this year.

I'm guessing there are some Edey doubters using this game as evidence they were right. He wasn't able to stay on the court and the defense was awful with him in the game. If you paid attention, however, you could see how much attention he was getting and how much that opened up shots for his teammates. The one truly concerning thing, in my opinion, was that Ja does not seem to like him. At the very least Ja does not want to give him the ball in the post. Memphis is probably better staggering their minutes and letting Edey eat in the second unit for now.

They have four rotation plates out and both Bane+Ja were seemingly on minutes restrictions. I think a game like last night shows their strength in depth.

On Ja not liking Edey….throwing the ball to bigs is just not how NBA play these days. That will be an adjustment period for Edey. When Edey sits in the lane with his hand up, some may say Ja will give him the ball….but Ja is probably thinking they need to run their offense and he needs to move out of there.

One of the things I was curious about with Edey is how he might adjust to a smaller role. I think as one of the centerpieces of the offense, he does quite well. Or relatively well. If you need 25% USG from a big like he was on the preseason he is pretty good. But what about when you need a 10-15% usage player? Can he be effective if he’s not a big portion of the offense?

That’s something that wasn’t quite settled in the preseason. Realistically, he’s going to need to perform with less usage playing with Ja, Bane, and JJJ. He’s not going to be getting many post touches.

 

[oldtimer]

so I watched the game on DVR. Lauri, Hendricks, Kessler and Clarkson played lights out. i mean just great basketball. Key had a terrible shooting night and was our tank commander. since I am pro tank i tip my hat to Key. As i read this thread someone kept saying that Cody played terriffic defense and should start over Hendricks. that is a head scratcher. Cody is a rookie playing in his first game and he sucked both on offense and defense. that is to be expected in his first NBA game. He will get better, but Hendricks is better right now. personally i woukd send Cody to leg camp for a year to build muscle in his legs which look like they could sanp at any minute. He clearly skips leg day. let give Cody time before we demand he starts.

 

[Agent#00]

Boston made 29/61 3pt shots vs knicks, 25 from the starters. Jazz need to catch up.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

They were missing 3 rotation players...

They will be fine, actually great imo.

I knew about JJJ and GG, but was completely forgetting about Kennard, when is he back?

I still don't see them as a for sure playoff team (top 6 in the west) quite yet. There are still a lot of question marks.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

They have four rotation plates out and both Bane+Ja were seemingly on minutes restrictions. I think a game like last night shows their strength in depth.

On Ja not liking Edey….throwing the ball to bigs is just not how NBA play these days. That will be an adjustment period for Edey. When Edey sits in the lane with his hand up, some may say Ja will give him the ball….but Ja is probably thinking they need to run their offense and he needs to move out of there.

One of the things I was curious about with Edey is how he might adjust to a smaller role. I think as one of the centerpieces of the offense, he does quite well. Or relatively well. If you need 25% USG from a big like he was on the preseason he is pretty good. But what about when you need a 10-15% usage player? Can he be effective if he’s not a big portion of the offense?

That’s something that wasn’t quite settled in the preseason. Realistically, he’s going to need to perform with less usage playing with Ja, Bane, and JJJ. He’s not going to be getting many post touches.

Who's the 4th?

 

[SoberasHotRod]

so I watched the game on DVR. Lauri, Hendricks, Kessler and Clarkson played lights out. i mean just great basketball. Key had a terrible shooting night and was our tank commander. since I am pro tank i tip my hat to Key. As i read this thread someone kept saying that Cody played terriffic defense and should start over Hendricks. that is a head scratcher. Cody is a rookie playing in his first game and he sucked both on offense and defense. that is to be expected in his first NBA game. He will get better, but Hendricks is better right now. personally i woukd send Cody to leg camp for a year to build muscle in his legs which look like they could sanp at any minute. He clearly skips leg day. let give Cody time before we demand he starts.

Cody had good and bad moments on D. Being asked to guard the best offensive players in the world as rookie, I'm expecting he will have some bad moments.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

I knew about JJJ and GG, but was completely forgetting about Kennard, when is he back?

I still don't see them as a for sure playoff team (top 6 in the west) quite yet. There are still a lot of question marks.

Oh I forgot about GG. I didnt really consider him since I think his blowup was more a product of showing out during tanking and IDK how much he would impact this season even if healthy. I was referring to JJJ/Kennard/Vince Williams.