So Memo went through a full practice today........

[Jazz4ever]

'May be' and 'slightly?'

LOL @ that absurdity. Big Al Jefferson is the better player in nearly every discernible facet of the game and by a considerable amount as well.

And this is based off what? Your hope? Okur is a proven 17 and 7 player when healthy. He can do that as a complimentary piece without even having to touch the ball every time. He has a championship ring and all star appearance. Al Jefferson has done 20 and 10 on arguably the league's worse team over the last 3 years. If you want to argue his stats are just as valuable on a losing team, then you just said Monta Ellis is a top 3 shooting guard in this league. So far with the Jazz, Al's numbers are inferior to Okur's. Both in effeciency and +/-

 

[Siro]

And this is based off what? Your hope? Okur is a proven 17 and 7 player when healthy. He can do that as a complimentary piece without even having to touch the ball every time. He has a championship ring and all star appearance. Al Jefferson has done 20 and 10 on arguably the league's worse team over the last 3 years. If you want to argue his stats are just as valuable on a losing team, then you just said Monta Ellis is a top 3 shooting guard in this league. So far with the Jazz, Al's numbers are inferior to Okur's. Both in effeciency and +/-

He averaged 13.5 PPG last season. That's before the injury, and when he was a year younger. His career average is also around 13 PPG. He did average 17 a couple of seasons, but we might as well get Malone, who's a proven 30 and 12 player! But knowing Sloan, we'll probably get 30 MPG of The Glacier once he's back anyway.

 

[vj_74]

whatever juggling the Jazz do, there are going to be a couple of unhappy players on the bench when Memo gets back and goes 20-25 mins every game. Either Millsap, or Fesenko or Elson or some combination of these three. Jazz will lose some chemistry and they will get back a step or two before going forward. As such Fesenko is not playing much, it is hard to imagine how both him and Elson will continue to get mins when Okur comes back.

 

[vj_74]

And this is based off what? Your hope? Okur is a proven 17 and 7 player when healthy. He can do that as a complimentary piece without even having to touch the ball every time. He has a championship ring and all star appearance. Al Jefferson has done 20 and 10 on arguably the league's worse team over the last 3 years. If you want to argue his stats are just as valuable on a losing team, then you just said Monta Ellis is a top 3 shooting guard in this league. So far with the Jazz, Al's numbers are inferior to Okur's. Both in effeciency and +/-

Al is'nt even a month old with the Jazz. When he is finally clicking he is clearly the better player. He is the ONLY post presence that we have. Meanwhile it remains to be seen how effective Okur is when he gets back and how he adjusts to the lineup changes. Quite a few question marks.
And with Millsap improving his offense, Okur has to really be in top shape to be the 17/7 player again. I am pulling for Memo to make it, but there quite a few hurdles to cross

 

[vj_74]

My expectations out of Memo: 25-28 mpg, 10-12(45% FG, 37% 3-pt FG) and 6, 2-3 assists, above-average defense and good enough to finish games in place of Millsap, just in case we need more size (or a last second winner)

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

It would never happen but how bout play zone and play all 3..lmao

That's not so farfetched. Start Memo at the 5, Jefferson at the 4, play Millsap as a power 3, AK at the SG, and D. Will at the 1. Bring Raja and Miles as the wings off the bench. AK guards either wing anyway, he's has been shooting okay, and he's a mismatch inside. Al plays the pivot on offense. Millsap the high post, and Okur on the wing, replacing Bell's outside shooting. The rebounding would also improve.

I'd try that just to see how it works. I think Millsap can cover most SFs if they're not super quick or great outside shooters (e.g., Rudy Gay types).

Unless the match-ups really work against us, this might be our best starting line-up.

 

[jazzrule]

My expectations out of Memo: 25-28 mpg, 10-12(45% FG, 37% 3-pt FG) and 6, 2-3 assists, above-average defense and good enough to finish games in place of Millsap, just in case we need more size (or a last second winner)

Above average defense. Surely you jest! Only on big slow centers can Okur play good man defense against, and help defense forget it. lol

 

[vj_74]

Above average defense. Surely you jest! Only on big slow centers can Okur play good man defense against, and help defense forget it. lol

Above average defense doesnt mean very good or great defense

 

[cnavk]

I do not think that Sloan would start him. I believe his philosophy of "starter do not lose job due to injury" only valid during the season. If Memo were healty during preseason, he would have to compete against Millsap and Al for the starter job.

I think the offense he will bring to the second team is a huge plus. Also he will not be a big liability in defense, as he will not compete against starters

 

[candrew]

Memo coming back will be a huge help. Jefferson and Millsap are playing too many minutes - they should both be in the 32-33 mpg range. I like Elson but at best he's a 11-12th man on a good team.

 

[Inn Dawn]

And this is based off what? Your hope? Okur is a proven 17 and 7 player when healthy. He can do that as a complimentary piece without even having to touch the ball every time. He has a championship ring and all star appearance. Al Jefferson has done 20 and 10 on arguably the league's worse team over the last 3 years. If you want to argue his stats are just as valuable on a losing team, then you just said Monta Ellis is a top 3 shooting guard in this league. So far with the Jazz, Al's numbers are inferior to Okur's. Both in effeciency and +/-

No, it's based off of my eyes and what they've seen over the years following both players. You are essential saying one can be replaced for the other, when Big Al is clearly the guy who any team would want over Okur. Okur is not a complete slouch, but he is not in the same tier as Big Al, according to my eyes. And that championship ring he has means nothing. How many minutes per game did he actually play that year?

 

[somebody]

Can Memo be as effective with Watson/Price? Deron was always looking for Money.

 

[NAOS]

good enough to finish games in place of Millsap, just in case we need more size (or a last second winner)

Um, yeah, I was also wishing we had Memo in the Heat game so that he could hit the big shot at the end. Too bad we only had Millsap in there.

My expectations out of Memo: 25-28 mpg, 10-12(45% FG, 37% 3-pt FG) and 6, 2-3 assists, above-average defense

Like I said earlier, I don't see anyway that he averages more than 20 minutes for the season. That average might be achieved by very spotty minutes at first while finishing the season with consistent 23-25 minute performances. I don't think your point totals are too far off though, and if he hits those figures then he'll definitely help us win games.

 

[jimmyjazz]

Okur needs to practice defense. He's still one half of the old Boozer-Memo frontline matador club.

 

[VINYLONE]

SOURCE

Jazz's Okur starts running with team during 5-on-5 drills

Published on Nov 23, 2010 09:52PM 3 Comments

Jazz center Mehmet Okur entered the next stage of his rehabilitation today. Okur, who is recovering from Achilles tendon surgery, was scheduled to begin running with Utah during five-on-five drills during practice.

There is still no timetable for Okur's return, though, and Jazz coach Jerry Sloan joked that he's heard varying reports about where Okur is at in his rehab. However, Sloan and Okur were optimistic about the veteran center's progress, while Utah guard Deron Williams acknowledged that the team “misses Memo.”

Sloan on Okur: "That's what we're looking for is to see if he can run. We haven't seen him do that."

"The real test will comes when you get up and down the floor; start banging and knocking people around and getting knocked around. How does that affect you? Everybody feels that's the thing for him to do now in order to make progress."

"I've always felt that fresh legs are better than dead legs."

"We're not trying to push him. We're not in a desperate situation. And it's regardless, because the player's more important than us, and we try to approach it that way."

"I hear people say, well, he's 60 percent, he's 70 percent, 85 percent. I don't know how the heck a guy knows that. I've been around a long time and I've never seen a hundred percent. … You take 10 percent off and get some change, I guess."

"He's worked very hard, and that's all you can do. Obviously, I can't judge where he is. We tell a player whenever he's ready to play, then that's when he should play."

Williams on Okur: "He's got to start getting back into shape and getting a feel for playing five-on-five again. You can do all the one-on-one and two-on-two, but that doesn't really simulate a game. These type of practices are good for him.

"You're definitely curious. Because you watch him out there shooting and you watch him playing one-on-one, and he looks pretty good."

"We're definitely missing Memo. I think he makes life easier on a lot of people. It's no secret that he's been a big part of our success. He's been a big part of our success in the past.
So we definitely look forward to getting him back and getting him healthy."

— Brian T. Smith

 

[NCJazz]

Okur needs to practice defense. He's still one half of the old Boozer-Memo frontline matador club.

Big Al is any better than Okur defensively? I think he does a fine job in the half court. A pretty good man to man defender, But not much of a help defender. A Millsap-Jefferson-Okur-Fes frontline is a pretty decent matchup against LA, with AK guarding Odom part of the time. The Millsap at SF matched up against Artest is also not a bad idea.

 

[Stickler]

I would give Okur the slight advantage over Jefferson defensively. Jefferson is a better shot blocker. They're both flat-out bad help defenders. We underrate Okur's man-to-man defense on big men, which is above average -- he gives the effort but his slow feet hamper him against quicker big men. I have yet to see a consistent effort from Jefferson on that front. Both are better defenders than Carlos Boozer.

 

[GVC]

Count me as one of the people who want to see, at least in limited minutes, how a Memo-AJ-Millsap-AK-Deron lineup would do.

Memo needs to be focused on going hard, especially on the defensive end, in his minutes when he returns. He won't be counted on (necessarily) to be on the court for 30+ minutes a night (since AJ, Fes AND Elson have proven to be passable centers), so he should be able to use his 6 fouls and play tougher and faster than he has in the past. If we get the same sluggish (especially in transition) Memo as always, I will be very disappointed.

 

[jimmy eat jazz]

Lost in all the discussion is that Memo is a pretty decent rebounder. I remember how (i forget his name) always harped on how rebounds are defense. He took a lot of abuse for that, but I think we are seeing now that he had a valid point. Playing the best defense in the world is of limited value if you give up offensive rebound after offensive rebound. I personally like Memo coming back. He gives us an extra offensive dimension, plus he rebounds, which as this point, I'd be thrilled to have in spite of his other defensive limitation. If we can't solve the rebounding problem there's problems a brew'n ahead.

 

[Scorpjazz]

Sorta sad that some here actually think it will hurt the Jazz to have Memo back. Blind haters are gonna hate.