What's new
By:

the OFFSEASON HOPE thread

NAOS

NAOS

Well-Known Member
This is NOT a thread about trades, but a thread about your greatest hope for internal change IF YOU ASSUME THERE WILL BE NO TRADES. Every off-season I do a little wondering about what could change if PLAYER X improved this or that facet of his game, etc., etc.

Please share your thoughts below.

Here are mine:
Besides getting in killer shape, Al develops AT LEAST a solid two-man game with a perimeter player. Think Al + Hay mimicking Manu + Duncan.

Paul working on lateral agility so that he's able to reliably play 7 to 10 min at SF.

15 lbs for each of Evans, Hayward, and Favors.

Harris to realize that any legacy he might have is riding on his performance next season. Career year. PnR repetitions.

The annual: what if cj miles has a consistent 15 ppg this year?
 
1 - Sap drop 15lbs and get in world-class shape as far as stamina
2- Al do this as well ^^^ (more confidence Sap does it though)
3 - Hayward hit the weight room hard and continue shooting a Brazillian shots a day
4 - Harris to get to really know his teammates on a personal level, earn their unwavering respect, and be a fearless and trusted leader
5 - Miles to make appointments with Artests psychiatrist
6 - Burks and Kanter to learn the players and the system ... whatever that may be
 
I pretty much have the same exact hope as you.
1) Al: Ditto...hopefully working in CA for two months will do wonders. I'd add that I'd also like to see a better commitment to defense.
2) Paul: Lose about 7-10 pounds while maintaining strength to help his lateral agility for possibly starter time at SF and also to keep his body fresher for the 82 game haul
3) I think 15 pounds of pure, lean muscle is a lot to ask of guys in just five months, even at their age, while still maintaining their speed, agility, and basketball skills...for Evans and Favors, perhaps. For Hayward guarding quick 2's, I don't think it's wise. I'd rather see about 3-5 pounds with noticeable strides in strength and athleticism.
4) Harris: Exactly.
5) Miles: Pipe Dream
6) Kanter: 16 minutes per game with about 7 points and 5+ rebounds as well as an indication that he'll have NBA three point range and signs that he'll be a stud like many of us think. I want us to feel about him at season end like we do of Favors now.
7) Burks: An upward trajectory. If he starts slow, I don't care. But over the last couple months of the season, I want to see noticeable growth like we saw from Hayward last year. Also, 30%+ from three point land and a fearlessness that 2's in this league need.
 
i really hope Enes n Favors will appear to be mentally strong guys to prove that they r capable of being a productive starter even now.
and i hope burks improve at least his shooting, and defense so that he can be a useful guy off the bench.
if i assume there will be no trades in offseason, i hope young guys have a great performance so that we will get rid of overloaded contracts n get the young guys start asap.
Becuz i really dont think Big al will dedicate himself to utah after kanter trade, he will rather work on improving his performance to increase his stock to be traded to a good team.
 
I hope Corbin makes a commitment to team defense. I read that Thibodeau ran defensive drills exclusively for a couple weeks last year.

I hope AK signs on the cheap, like 2 mil. He doesn't need the money and I'd really like to see him redeem himself.

Hope Kanter can make me like him better.

More than anything, probably, I hope Favors is as good as I think he is.

Edit:
I'd like to see a small lineup: Harris, Burks, Hayward, AK, Favors. A lot of ball-movement potential with that.
 
Last edited:
#1 - A FULL recovery by Mehmut Okur. I think he'll be fine with accepting a diminished role, which is really where he was at this past season the little he played. GOOD solid team guy; hope he recovers!

#2 - Millsap's future looks to be as a combo F, so he needs to work on his movement on the perimeter as a SF. Prolly needs to add more running to his regimen to help lose a little weight.

# 3 - Jefferson needs to continue to work on his defense and rebounding. As his offensive production within the Jazz system improved later in the season, I suspect that was where almost all of his practice time was spent. That made sense, as we NEEDED his scoring. Al is a VERY hard worker, so I expect all aspects of his game to improve this year, including his passing.

# 4 - Hayward should continue to get familiar with the Jazz system and teammates. I know he's hittin' the weights to get stronger, but I don't think his frame needs more than a few pounds weight-wise to be our SG.

# 5 - Evans needs to seriously hit the weights AND work on agility on the perimeter. I do think his future is more at SF, not a full-time PF.

# 6 - Favors needs to work on his stamina as well as get stronger in the weight room.

# 7 - Harris just needs more TIME to practice with his teammates. AND STAY HEALTHY!!

# 8 - CJ needs to spend more time working on DEFENSE.

# 9 - Raja Bell needs to stay healthy and ACCEPT a backup role. He could become a good role player with limited minutes. With Hayward's late-season ascention I don't see Raja starting.

# 10 - Watson needs to improve his stamina a little bit, as he seemed to wear down at times. Could have been the altitude. FIRST OFF though, I hope we re-sign him.

# 11 - Kirilenko needs to be willing to take a LOT less $$ to re-sign and ACCEPT a diminished role without pouting about it! I thought he looked a little chunky last year; maybe needs more off-season weights and running.

# 12 - Enes Kanter just needs to sign ASAP and get in here and start working out and learning the Jazz system. As big men are more prone to foul-calls which lead to erratic playing time and slower development, he needs to ACCEPT that kind of role and not get frustrated. Because of this, I don't expect to see him more than MAYBE 15 minutes a game this year, assuming Favors and Jefferson stay healthy...

# 13 - Alec Burks also needs to get signed quickly and get in here. Some weight work would be a good place to start, as well as learning our system.

AND, as noted above, Coach Ty needs to get SERIOUS with these guys about TEAM defense. Talking about it ain't good enough; they need to practice it; A LOT!!!
 
I think Kanter needs to add about 10 lbs as well to get to 270. I know that sounds crazy but if you watch his offensive game it always consists of hitting the guy to create space to get an uncontested shot. He'll need to have a weight advantage on most centers of the NBA or they aren't going to budge. I think Kanter's frame supports this and won't slow him down like most.
 
I think it's safe to assume that everybody is hoping for a defensive specialist to round out the coaching squad. If they can bring on two more guys, then I'd like a big-man coach, too.
 
Simple and realistic: preach defense first and hold players accountable for their effort level and their mistakes. Especially the bigs. If we're going to have a logjam down there, let's use it to make Kanter be the defender he's never been as early as possible. And generally speaking, keeping bigs accountable and rewarding minutes according to performance.

The rest is completely up to the players, but this team isn't going anywhere unless the coaching does the right things.
 
My hope is that the offseason doesn't last through the regular season. I just want to watch the Jazz play.
 
Jazz4ever said:
I think Kanter needs to add about 10 lbs as well to get to 270. I know that sounds crazy but if you watch his offensive game it always consists of hitting the guy to create space to get an uncontested shot. He'll need to have a weight advantage on most centers of the NBA or they aren't going to budge. I think Kanter's frame supports this and won't slow him down like most.
Click to expand...

Crazy stat of the day:

Kanter was 5% body fat, right? That means he could add 10 lbs of pure blubber and still be only at 8.3% fat. Not that he should necessarily do that, of course...
 
Kanter is fine. Agility matters too and he's not built to have a lot of it. He needs to maximize that especially since he doesn't have ideal size for a C (wingspan/standing reach for the most part).
 
NUMBERICA said:
Simple and realistic: preach defense first and hold players accountable for their effort level and their mistakes. Especially the bigs. If we're going to have a logjam down there, let's use it to make Kanter be the defender he's never been as early as possible. And generally speaking, keeping bigs accountable and rewarding minutes according to performance.

The rest is completely up to the players, but this team isn't going anywhere unless the coaching does the right things.
Click to expand...

This.
 
My hope is that Hayward and Burks get together and really develop some great chemistry together. By the way, Burks said that he has already been contacted by Harris and Hayward. I really like to hear that.

I agree with NUMBERICA the team needs to preach defense and be willing to pull those that are not putting in the effort. That might mean that some of the young guys might not get the playing time that they want at first but they will learn and they will put in more effort to get the playing time desired. Same goes for Jefferson. If he is not playing defense then get off the court. Offensive production is great but if you have no defense then it favors the other team.

Millsap agreeing to a diminished role off the bench IF he gets beat out by Favors, Jefferson or Kanter.
 
My number one hope regarding next season is that Raja Bell is not on the active roster.

After that, I hope Hayward and Favors come into the season playing like they still have to prove themselves and get 30 min a game each. If Favors displays he hasn't expanded his offensive game at all, perhaps I can live with him getting at leas 20 min a game, but Hayward needs to be out there for at least 30 based on his creating ability alone.

Finally, my hope is that C.J can be consistent this year and finally shut the insufferable haters' mouths. That includes taking another step defensively and becoming much more consistent on that end as well as on the offensive end where I think he can be deadly. Picking his spots to attack and when to pull up has been his biggest problem but I've always attributed that to youth and inexperience. Those labels wore off after last season ended. Time to show some real consistency and that he's a long term answer here.

At one point or another C.J has shown to be a deadly shooter, very good at creating off the dribble, athletic finisher in transition and tough defender. He has just never done all of those at the same time consistently. If he develops like I think he can - having him and Hayward on the wings is going to be an absolute nightmare for opposing defenses.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page
Back
Top