Game 2: Utah at Golden State. TONIGHT! 830 ESPN

[JAZZGASM]

Let me ask you some questions. I want your honest answers.

(Only looking at guys that i think the jazz will try to keep around next year or are already under contract)
Do you think Exum improves next year?
Do you think trey lyles improves next year?
Do you think alec burks improves next year?
Do you think Derrick favors improves next year?
Do you think rodney hood improves next year?
Do you think rudy gobert improves next year?
Do you think joel bolomboy improves next year?
Do you think gordon hayward improves next year?
Do you think joe johnson improves next year?
Do you think joe ingles improves next year?
Do you think george hill improves next year?
Do you think quin snyder improves next year?
Do you think dennis lindsey has drafted well with late first round picks?

My answers:

1) I have no doubt Exum improves. But he should be getting more burn now. His improvement will be based on how hard he works. The offseason is the time to improve on a lot of things. I'd like to see more sets that complement his game.
2)Lyles seems like he doesn't have desire. I could be wrong, but I'm not banking on him. Hopefully he surprises me.
3)Alec will not improve much. He is losing athleticism, and he is successful based on his quickness.
4)Favors will hopefully heal. If he can get mostly healthy, he could be the x-factor this team needs. We lack solid post-scoring.
5)Hood will be the same
6)Gobert will improve. Too much desire not to.
7)For Bolomboy, he just needs playing time to see what we have.
8)Sadly, I believe Hayward is going to leave. He will be more efficient in the Celtics system.
9)JJ will decline if anything.
10)Ingles will be the same.
11)Hill has been hampered by injuries, if he stays healthy, he will be better.
12)I hope Snyder adds additional wrinkles and other sets. The Warriors were ready for our on ball screen and ISO game. We have made it easy for them. My one knock on Snyder is I HATE his offense. Which is funny, because it is based off what the Spurs run, the difference being the Spurs have a lot more wrinkles. Maybe we will get there, but when I see us regress to on ball screen after on ball screen, it makes me miss the old Flex and UCLA.
13)It is easy to criticize a GM for draft decisions. The Jazz could draft better, but they could also draft worse. Overall, we have done okay.

 

[fishonjazz]

I didn't say burks would be great next year I just said he will improve almost certainly.
He only played in 42 games. He had the worst field goal% of his career (.399%). Worst 3 point% of his career (.329%). Played the lowest minutes per game of his career (15.5)

Even per 36 minute stats he had the lowest amount of assists per game of his career, 3rd lowest amount of ppg game of his career. Got to the line the 2nd lowest amount his career.
Only thing he did well was rebound. (Highest rebounds per game of his career)

He is a better player than those numbers he posted this season. He will almost guaranteed improve next year.
Burks is still only 25 years old at the start of this season.

Now favors.

Played in the least amount of games in his career.
2nd lowest field goal percentage of his career. 2nd lowest free throw percentage of his career. His per 36 numbers were the worst of his career for rebounds per game, points per game, and blocks per game.
Favors is only 25 years old at the start of this season.


Lyles couldn't play any worse. Career lows in everything basically.
He is 21 years old.

Exum is also only 21.

I would say it's a guarantee that those 4 players improve next season.


I don't think there is anyone on the team next year that you can guarantee will be worse other than maybe JJ due to age. But even he might get more comfortable/more chemistry with his coaches and teammates.

Oh and I forgot about hood. He had his worst year of his career too I think.

It's crazy to think that we got the worst burks, hood, favors, and Lyles that we will likely ever see.... plus a still too young/raw/improperly used/coming back from a bad knee injury Exum to go along with hill missing a bunch of games and Hayward missing a handful, yet still managed to win 51 games and get into the 2nd round of the playoffs.

Simply shocking. If we just get an average (not even good or great) burks, favors, hood, and Lyles next year along with ok health then this team should get closer to 60 wins.
If the stars align and rudy makes another leap, hayward gets even better, burks, favors, lyles, hood, and exum all play the best ball that they can and jingles, JJ, and hill all just stay relatively the same and we have good health than this team is a contender imo.

Lots of what ifs in that paragraph though admittedly

 

[fishonjazz]

Again, we likely just saw the worst favors, hood, burks, lyles, and exum that we will ever see. All of them are really really young still.

It's almost a guarantee that each of those guys will be better next year than they were this year. Even if by just a small amount. It would be shocking to me if any of them played worse next year.

 

[Keefe]

[TWEET]1412366[/TWEET]

Let me ask you some questions. I want your honest answers.

(Only looking at guys that i think the jazz will try to keep around next year or are already under contract)
Do you think Exum improves next year?
Do you think trey lyles improves next year?
Do you think alec burks improves next year?
Do you think Derrick favors improves next year?
Do you think rodney hood improves next year?
Do you think rudy gobert improves next year?
Do you think joel bolomboy improves next year?
Do you think gordon hayward improves next year?
Do you think joe johnson improves next year?
Do you think joe ingles improves next year?
Do you think george hill improves next year?
Do you think quin snyder improves next year?
Do you think dennis lindsey has drafted well with late first round picks?


My answers?
Yes, I think dante exum improves a lot next year.
Yes, I think trey lyles improves a lot next year.
Yes, I think alec burks improves a lot next year.
Yes, I think derrick favors improves a lot next year.
Yes, I think rodney hood improves a lot next year.
Yes, I think Gobert gets a little bit better next year.
Yes, I think bolomboy gets a little bit better next year.
No, I dont think hayward can get much better than he was this year. But i have always doubted him and he has always proved me wrong so who knows.
No, I think Joe Johnson gets a little bit worse next year.
No, I think joe ingles stays about the same good.
Tough one. I think hill might play a little bit worse but should be healthier so im gonna say overall with better health he provides more production next year.
Yes, I think quin snyder improves next year.
Yes, I think dennis lindsey has drafted well late in the draft and since we have multiple picks in the first round next draft i expect him to add 1 or 2 good players to the team via the draft.

We were a 51 win team with TONS of injuries (might have led the league in missed games again after leading in that category last year) and made it past the first round of the playoffs in our first try with this squad even though the injuries to gobert, burks, hill, and favors continue to plague us in the playoffs and hayward even gets food poisoning.

The Future of this team is extremely bright if we can keep these guys together.

Jazz were number 1 in the NBA this year in wins lost to injury at 9.4.

https://mobile.twitter.com/mangameslostnba?lang=en

That's obviously a very inexact science but it shows just how injured we were if nothing else. If we are (much) healthier next year, retain Hayward, Hill and Ingles (doable now imo given Ingles' disappearing act and Hill's injury), see noticeable improvement from a couple players (Hood and Exum for me--Favors is already really good, he just needs to get healthy more than anything), and draft well (I'd love the SMU kid and OG--two impressive physical profiles), I think 60 wins next year is possible. More likely is 55-57 but I am very excited about what we have, how we're developing, and what we've shown in these playoffs.

 

[fishonjazz]

[TWEET]1412366[/TWEET]


Jazz were number 1 in the NBA this year in wins lost to injury at 9.4.

https://mobile.twitter.com/mangameslostnba?lang=en

That's obviously a very inexact science but it shows just how injured we were if nothing else. If we are (much) healthier next year, retain Hayward, Hill and Ingles (doable now imo given Ingles' disappearing act and Hill's injury), see noticeable improvement from a couple players (Hood and Exum for me--Favors is already really good, he just needs to get healthy more than anything), and draft well (I'd love the SMU kid and OG--two impressive physical profiles), I think 60 wins next year is possible. More likely is 55-57 but I am very excited about what we have, how we're developing, and what we've shown in these playoffs.

Yup. We on the same page.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Wat...

-13 matched the eye test.

He hustled, as he always does. But he sucked eggs on defense. Just cause he hustles doesn't make it effective.
He still looked for his own shot.

Good he made some 3s. But give me a break. (Fool's gold?)


Dante looked like a friggin superior physical specimen out there. He was the quickest player on the court by far - and one of the most intense.

His mistakes were aggressive ones. Which was great considering the passivity of the first quarter.

That 1st quarter was trash.

Exum is the quickest player on the court yet he cant get by Curry in isolation?

 

[Keefe]

Exum is the quickest player on the court yet he cant get by Curry in isolation?

While vastly improved, his handle isn't tight enough to do so. Not regularly anyway.

 

[tleikheen]

Exum is the quickest player on the court yet he cant get by Curry in isolation?

This is stupid if you think this is how it's always going to be . If Dante gets by Curry once would be smart to say Exum will get by him all the time from now on ?

 

[LogGrad98]

I just liked that we put up a fight. As I said in another thread, aggression wins playoff games. We played more aggressively and made some decent adjustments which kept us close. I hope to have the lead maybe a few times in Utah, like right as the final horn sounds.

 

[sepanol]

Oh and I forgot about hood. He had his worst year of his career too I think.

It's crazy to think that we got the worst burks, hood, favors, and Lyles that we will likely ever see.... plus a still too young/raw/improperly used/coming back from a bad knee injury Exum to go along with hill missing a bunch of games and Hayward missing a handful, yet still managed to win 51 games and get into the 2nd round of the playoffs.

Simply shocking. If we just get an average (not even good or great) burks, favors, hood, and Lyles next year along with ok health then this team should get closer to 60 wins.
If the stars align and rudy makes another leap, hayward gets even better, burks, favors, lyles, hood, and exum all play the best ball that they can and jingles, JJ, and hill all just stay relatively the same and we have good health than this team is a contender imo.

Lots of what ifs in that paragraph though admittedly

Next year even GSW wont do 60 easily. It is gonna be a hard competition in the west trust me. Especially in our division.

 

[sepanol]

My answers:

1) I have no doubt Exum improves. But he should be getting more burn now. His improvement will be based on how hard he works. The offseason is the time to improve on a lot of things. I'd like to see more sets that complement his game.
2)Lyles seems like he doesn't have desire. I could be wrong, but I'm not banking on him. Hopefully he surprises me.
3)Alec will not improve much. He is losing athleticism, and he is successful based on his quickness.
4)Favors will hopefully heal. If he can get mostly healthy, he could be the x-factor this team needs. We lack solid post-scoring.
5)Hood will be the same
6)Gobert will improve. Too much desire not to.
7)For Bolomboy, he just needs playing time to see what we have.
8)Sadly, I believe Hayward is going to leave. He will be more efficient in the Celtics system.
9)JJ will decline if anything.
10)Ingles will be the same.
11)Hill has been hampered by injuries, if he stays healthy, he will be better.
12)I hope Snyder adds additional wrinkles and other sets. The Warriors were ready for our on ball screen and ISO game. We have made it easy for them. My one knock on Snyder is I HATE his offense. Which is funny, because it is based off what the Spurs run, the difference being the Spurs have a lot more wrinkles. Maybe we will get there, but when I see us regress to on ball screen after on ball screen, it makes me miss the old Flex and UCLA.
13)It is easy to criticize a GM for draft decisions. The Jazz could draft better, but they could also draft worse. Overall, we have done okay.

Why do you think Hayward is gonna leave?
He wont find better love, better chemistry and more money in any place else but big cities, which is not too important unless you are a single guy crazy for parties.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Why do you think Hayward is gonna leave?
He wont find better love, better chemistry and more money in any place else but big cities, which is not too important unless you are a single guy crazy for parties.

Not everyone wants to marry their HS sweetheart, you know what I'm saying?

 

[fishonjazz]

Next year even GSW wont do 60 easily. It is gonna be a hard competition in the west trust me. Especially in our division.

Golden state is the only team that scares me if the jazz are healthy.

 

[LifeOnaPlate]

So did anyone mention that Joe Johnson sprained his pinky during Game 2? Oh boy. Trainers really blew that one.