All things Rondae Hollis-Jefferson

[The Jazz Wonderbra]

Yeah, I don't have any expectation that there's any likelihood that we'd grab him. However, to be fair, I also didn't have that kind of expectation with Shaq, either, as it's a huge anomaly for a team to go out and get the guy you actually like. And I do believe that seeing glimmers of hope from end of the bench guys would give them pause. If you were to take a gigantic magnifying glass to that logic, you'd see a scenario where you don't bring in the known quantity (DWill) to serve a legitimate need (needing a backup PG, especially with Hill's health while running into your first playoff in a long time) and you pass on this opportunity because you want to make sure nobody gets in the way of Exum's development. But then you end up playing Shelvin Mack instead.

I think fans take a lot of heat for overvaluing small-time guys that they think have potential. But I think FOs do the same things all the time, but we give them huge passes because we accept the fact that they're doing this professionally and that tends to give their irrationalities more credit. In essence, I'd sacrifice our perceived potential of our end of bench guys for a legitimate role-filling guy who isn't going to be setting the world on fire in the future.

This is a bit of a 'content to take 3rd place' attitude. Methinks if you can make your team better you do it. And I think he would make the team better.

He is a defense first player with a body type that we don't have in a league with lots of those body types. He would fill a need and he signed for just over the minimum with Minny. We are clearly in win now mode. Let's enter it full bore instead of digging at the fringes of society for yet another 'intriguing' Tucker-type player.

 

[infection]

I was reminded this week that Oni fought with Dante in practice. With the talk of him as a fiery competitor (sometimes a little too fiery per Locke) I became even more intrigued... could he be our Jae Crowder enforcer/******* that comes in to stir things up a bit? The skill set and measurements are already intriguing.

I need to see him get a real shot. I guess if Joe misses the first game then we will get a look. Trent vs. Oni could be fun.

I'd like to believe this, but I don't know why it's been something that's come out only recently. He played 23 games in G_League and averaged 30 minutes per game. Though we may have referred to Oni as possibly being 3&D (even though his three isn't something great) before, up until we hadn't made any play for perimeter D (before signing Shaq) and when it looked like this was the roster then all the sudden the PR spin became Oni our best defender, there really had been zero talk of this before. Nobody talked about him being that good of a defender. Just a competent one, perhaps. Even our resident Stars watcher (Cy.. I guess you could say HT, too, but this will further my point)... none of those guys, to my recollection, ever spoke this glowingly about him (to the extent that he's out best defender, or that he's better than just being a good defender but perhaps a great one). We get highlights of our G League guys thinking things such as Morgan or Brantley can hit the three ball, or that JWF is looking really good. Where was all the "Oni defensive monster" highlights, discussion, or talk about all this fire? That's something I would hope Cy would weigh in on because he watched all the Stars games, but I don't ever remember him talking about this, and he still doesn't reference Stars play for any basis of defensive prowess.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

I'd like to believe this, but I don't know why it's been something that's come out only recently. He played 23 games in G_League and averaged 30 minutes per game. Though we may have referred to Oni as possibly being 3&D (even though his three isn't something great) before, up until we hadn't made any play for perimeter D (before signing Shaq) and when it looked like this was the roster then all the sudden the PR spin became Oni our best defender, there really had been zero talk of this before. Nobody talked about him being that good of a defender. Just a competent one, perhaps. Even our resident Stars watcher (Cy.. I guess you could say HT, too, but this will further my point)... none of those guys, to my recollection, ever spoke this glowingly about him (to the extent that he's out best defender, or that he's better than just being a good defender but perhaps a great one). We get highlights of our G League guys thinking things such as Morgan or Brantley can hit the three ball, or that JWF is looking really good. Where was all the "Oni defensive monster" highlights, discussion, or talk about all this fire? That's something I would hope Cy would weigh in on because he watched all the Stars games, but I don't ever remember him talking about this, and he still doesn't reference Stars play for any basis of defensive prowess.

I'm with you. I would want to see him regardless of the comments that came out of the organization about him being the best perimeter defender (side note... maybe that comment lights a fire under Royce's ***). That comment was 100% PR spin. I believe the want to see him play and hope he can be good on that end... I'd also like to see that. That particular comment comes from Chapter 13 of DL's book about GMing entitled "Hand Pads and Hand Shakes". Chapter 13 is "The Best New Additions are Sometime the Additions You Always Had". He outlines how if you didn't fill a need in the offseason you can just say player X who was hurt or didn't play actually fills that need.

It may have been a difference of opinion from the front office and the coaching staff... if the coaches believed he was the best perimeter defender he absolutely should have played in the Denver series.

Oni has potential to be a solid defender, but I think the question is will he be elite or just solid. Pretty impossible to measure that in the G League unless the steal/block numbers are crazy. I believe that the Stars were a very good defensive team... so maybe that's some evidence. Preseason has been solid.

I'd like to see him... last year on and off the court he seemed very confident and calm. Other guys get in there and they are hyper/antsy... he just seems cool and like he knows what he is doing.

All the makings are there imo. I'd really like to see him get 15 minutes a night for 20+ games to fully buy in. I'd absolutely add RHJ and just say be the 15th guy in case we need you... I just don't think the Jazz see additions like that and are in "data accumulation" mode on these other guys.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

I really wish we would have played the G League guys more last year. Will give them a pass because the season had the interruption and they were trying to see what Tucker had because they had a decision to make on him. They also gave those guys run in the bubble, but I don't think they were ever seriously considering them for an increased role in the playoffs.

 

[Hekate]

I guess... who knows. I do think half of Minny's roster would get called out by Nurse for effort issues including their "star" players. Raps play about as hard as any team I've ever watched.

It likely ends up being a nothing-burger for them as they are trashy again this year... just seems like a guy that would play 15+ minutes for them for sure.

Yes but Nurse never had to coach a KAT or Wiggins. He was quite lucky for a first year coach because they already had leaders in Kyle Lowry and Masai Ujiri. No telling if his first year was with the Suns or Minny.

I think Minny is heading in the right direction but Rosas and Saunders were a lil too late.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Yes but Nurse never had to coach a KAT or Wiggins. He was quite lucky for a first year coach because they already had leaders in Kyle Lowry and Masai Ujiri. No telling if his first year was with the Suns or Minny.

I think Minny is heading in the right direction but Rosas and Saunders were a lil too late.

For sure... was just highlighting that a guy could look like he was dogging it in Toronto and that might look like Mr. Hustle in Minny.

I like Saunders but not sure he is head coach material yet. I think the guys love him... which counts for something... would just rather have that guy as an assistant. I think Rosas is bending too much to what KAT wants... guy hasn't won and the DLo thing is likely to be very bad. If they give that pick this year in this draft its a ****ing nightmare. I would not have touched Edwards... I could be wrong there as its early but there are so many red flags. I'm not sold on Rosas yet. The Thibs coach GM thing was stupid, so I think they are improving. Time will tell there.

 

[Thee Jazz Fan]

Layman was pretty good for Minny before he got injured. He looked good in preseason as well in terms of health. They may like him better than RHJ.

And they re-signed Hernangomez who still has some potential and offers a different skill-set.

I don't know why RHJ isn't getting picked up. I think he is overrated on D but still very good but then again he struggled to cut into Raptors rotation early last year because of effort issues. I remember Nick Nurse singling him out. He still got minutes later but they didn't sign him so who knows.

Who is RJH?

 

[infection]

Who is RJH?

The guy from the OP.

 

[homeytennis]

The Stars were a good GLeague defensive team last year. Oni had both bad and good moments with them. I'm just wondering if part of the reason for the love he is getting is that the Jazz paid cash to the Warriors for the pick and it'ss now like Ded Ex and the sunk cost fallacy.

 

[infection]

So when I was in high school, it had been a while since I had a crush on anyone, like since middle school. At some point I discovered that I liked this girl from my cooking class, but it was now the last day of the semester that I realized that. Anyway, never had any other classes with her after that. Summer rolled around and she left. I kept thinking I should have asked her out. After some encouragement from others, I decided I'd get her number and ask her out. So I did. I called her, asked her if she'd like to go out sometime, to which she said yes. I now had a new dilemma: I was so focused on being nervous to get up the courage to do this in the first place that I never thought what would transpire after this. It got awkward... and I had nothing in mind, and told her I'd call her back later. I never spoke to her again as she never took my phone call after that.

Why is this relevant? Why hadn't I thought ahead? From the outside, you could say there are a couple reasons. One would be that I was unprepared and really hadn't thought this through and got lost on all the steps leading up to this that I failed to actually bring this thing to completion (this is the actual explanation). Another interpretation could be that I never thought about this or prepared for it because I never really believed she'd say yes.

Well, so what?

I feel like this could be a common approach we could take. We talk about going all the way, but what happens when we get there? You make a deep run and make it to the finals. Who guards Durant? Who guards Siakam? Yeah, "lol nobody can guard Durant lol." If we arrive in these situations unprepared, are we content with deciding one guy guards someone like Durant, that being Royce? Is that the only option? Royce doesn't get in foul trouble? Royce doesn't get hurt? Someone like Durant doesn't get used to having one defender? Favors?

So that's the unprepared interpretation. The other interpretation is, despite lip service that we have the highest of aspirations, do we have any reasonable expectation that we'd get there? If we did have an expectation that we'd get there, would we be more aggressive about bigger wing D?

Yes, I get that a guy like RHJ isn't the largest wing (but bigger than any of our current wings). I get that he isn't a guy playing 30 minutes per game. I get that he isn't going to be locking someone down. But does that mean it's okay, a la Jamaal Murray, to roll into a series and discover you have no options? I mean, how much time did we invest getting excited about the team summer 2019, wait for this all this time, then watch it all go up in flames in just a couple games where having another defensive option could have swung a series that came down to a missed three as time expired?

I'm very glad we recognized our perimeter option weaknesses and took some action with Shaq. But I'm concerned if doing something like that is a rationalization for not continuing to do so with other easily addressable weaknesses.

"Hey, Rudy, it's the last possession of the game, we need you to stop the dribble penetration."
"I just stopped a dribble penetration."
"But the game is on the line. Can we count on you to do everything you can to stop the dribble penetration?"
"I just stopped like 4 dribble penetrations. Don't get greedy. Be grateful."

 

[framer]

Who is RJH?

Wasn't he the guy who played Ironman?

 

[jom2003]

Adding to the argument, we haven't even played a single game and it looks like Favs is already on the injury report for sore knee lol. Will definitely need someone like RHJ who can provide the much needed depth at the 4 spot.