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Utah Jazz @ Minnesota Timberwolves 12/22/10 6PM MST

YB85 said:
It's hilarious that you say the Lakers' loss was "part of a 4-game losing streak" rather than "the Jazz ended the Lakers' 5 game winning streak". But whatever it takes for you to downplay the fact that any win for the Jazz against the Lakers, especially a great comeback win, wasn't impressive. It's also hilarious that the Heat were making adjustments and trying to figure things out, but the Jazz "simply" added AJ (and Raja).
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First of all, let me make myself more clear, if "more clear" is possible: my original statement was that the Jazz are inconsistent, not incapable. While I cannot look into the players' psyches, and I don't know what kind of motivation tactics the coaches are using, what seems obvious is that it is not working early in games. We all can witness the games and the lineups, I continue to maintain that with better substitution management, some of the losses could have been saved. This team is good now, but they are better than a 21-9 team.

This inconsistency is underscored by the repeated first-quarter and first-half sluggishness. And since you insist on pressing the issue for some unknown reason, let me add further backing to my claim. The Laker victory is yet another example of that inconsistency and sluggishness, as Utah fell behind 33-17 in the first quarter. While it is awesome that they pulled back to win from such a deficity, and did it again last night, there is no reason to dig a hole like that, game after game, and it hasn't simply been against teams with winning records. (Enter Minny. And GSW. Etc.)

And yes, "simply" adding Raja and AJ has nothing to do with Jefferson's laziness defensively and Raja's poor early-season conditioning. While it is understandable that Raja needed some time to get back into NBA rhythm after last year's long injury, it's not excusable that he came into the season out of shape--and he admitted to it. It's the same argument that was used against Fes and others, yet Raja is rewarded with nearly 30 MPG and more minutes than Miles even though Miles is producing more. Not sensible substitution strategy.

Earlier in the year, Jefferson's lack of effort defensively was inexcusable and had nothing to do with the system. Sloan let him off the hook for games on end. If Sloan wants to keep up his petty beef with Fes, than at least put in Elson for Jefferson when AJ is being completely ineffective. This was evident as recently as last night. The difference? Jefferson got two quarters to get into rhythm--and Elson got two minutes time two. Fes was a negative impact in two minutes and change, and while it makes sense that he was sat down after three quick fouls, there is really no opportunity with such a short leash (i.e., two to five or six or seven minutes) to get in to any rhythm, either.

P.S. That five-game Laker winning streak that you feebly flipped in my face? 4 of the 5 are sub .500 teams, and the only team with a winning record was lacking a former Jazzman who "accidentally" shoved his hand into a wall. As for the Laker losing streak that the Jazz were a part of, Utah is the only team that has a winning record also. Kudos for actually putting forth the effort to research my argument. Too bad it backfired when your research didn't go deep enough.
 
What is his "petty beef" with Fes? Is his "petty beef" that Fes can't run up and down the court more than 4-5 times without losing his breath? Or that he asked to come out of the game against Miami in nut-cutting time? Or that he plays 2 minutes and picks up 3 fouls? I have yet to understand why Sloan would purposely keep such an amazing talent as Kyrlyo Fesenko-Jabbar on the bench and hurt the team simply because he has a "petty beef" with him. Didn't Sloan have numerous "petty beefs" with Ostertag, too, but that didn't seem to stop him from playing Ostertag. Why is that? Your pining for Fes is almost as cute as when you used to tell us how Dee Brown was the best PG on the team...per 48. That was good.
 
Qman said:
Deron struggled against the "soft" double teams they put up against him all night. He did make some big plays but he was inefficient.
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If you have a player that goes for 25, 7, 7, and 2 steals with a +5 in a close game and he struggled, you have found yourself a ****ing hero. Just because he went 6-19 from the field doesn't mean he didn't still score 25 points on 19 shots. The greats gut out good performances even when they shouldn't, and I'm as much or more impressed that Deron was able to still impose his will on a game where the entire defensive game-plan revolved around him and he couldn't get into a rhythm all night (on the road, 3 days before Christmas) as a 30-10 game where he has his rhythm.
 
YB85 said:
What is his "petty beef" with Fes? Is his "petty beef" that Fes can't run up and down the court more than 4-5 times without losing his breath?
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Um, has Fesenko been getting beaten because of lack of conditioning? Not very often. He's often up in players' grill--perhaps too much so, partially explaining the high foul rate. As I have suggested before, ask Stephon Marbury about Okur's running up and down the court. Or more recently, you can ask Stephen Curry about AJ's protecting the paint.

You're right, though, "petty beef" isn't complete. More like Sloan's "general bias or obliviousness against developing young players and/or against especially foreigners, even when the game isn't at risk." Heck, Sloan hasn't even tried very hard to get Evans or Hayward into the game--which made putting Hayward in the fourth quarter last night so surprising (except that Bell and Miles weren't exactly tearing it up).

YB85 said:
Or that he asked to come out of the game against Miami in nut-cutting time?
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Um, I've written this before, too: because of Fes's FT shooting, I wouldn't suggest playing Fes in clutch time either in most cases. And given that a vast majority of NBA players prefer playing than not, any player who puts the team's interests (winning) before his own (playing) should be commended. Fes's FT shooting is a black mark, but your timing in bringing that up is also amusing, given that he went 2 for 2 last night.

YB85 said:
Or that he plays 2 minutes and picks up 3 fouls?
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You've got me. Fes's -6 last night was worse than Elson's -4. But still better than Jefferson's first quarter.

YB85 said:
I have yet to understand why Sloan would purposely keep such an amazing talent as Kyrlyo Fesenko-Jabbar on the bench and hurt the team simply because he has a "petty beef" with him.
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Now you're resorting to exaggeration that I never claimed. Don't embarrass yourself that way.

YB85 said:
Didn't Sloan have numerous "petty beefs" with Ostertag, too, but that didn't seem to stop him from playing Ostertag. Why is that?
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I hypothesize on two main reasons: (1) lack of alternatives (Jarron Collins isn't an alternative), (2) Ostertag not being a foreigner. But since you mentioned it, the Ostertag example only underscores the lack of even minimal playing time that Fes has received. I have posted ad infinitum that Ostertag got as much PT in his rookie season as Fes got in 3+ years. Most players simply don't develop magically without that court time. Not even Millsap. Not even Jefferson. Not even Elson (10-year veteran).

YB85 said:
Your pining for Fes is almost as cute as when you used to tell us how Dee Brown was the best PG on the team...per 48. That was good.
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The reason that I pointed that out then is that Dee Brown deserved more minutes. It does not mean he was the best PG on the team, anymore than Fes's near-leading on-court/off-court +/- means that he's the best player on the team now. It means that he deserves more time than the near-sub-10-minutes-per-available game that he's getting, and that he has been contributing more often than not when he has seen the court. Last night wasn't one of those examples, but again, if Fes got even half of the laxity of treatment that Jefferson gets, Fes would be benched far less quickly.

Yawn.
 
It is pretty amazing how different Sloan is with his first string with the backup crew. The backups are judged sometimes within a a couple of minutes, if they do not look good then they are done. Witness Fes last night.

Yet the starters, game after game after game after game x 30 - 2, start very very poorly. How common is it they get down by more than 10 points very quickly in the first quarter? Even ole Jer hisself has complained about it a bunch. And what does he do? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. One could call it hypocritical but lets go with inconsistent.
 
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