Zion is a non shooter and BI is an iffy shooter… the other guys around them range from bad to okayish. There are thresholds with regard to shooting that you don’t want to cross. Even Lebron needs shooters around him. They should be playing Hawkins like 40 minutes a game with CJ and Trey out.
DWill strikes me as the guy who probably barely watches basketball anymore. I don't think he is a basketball junkie like that. He's probably more interested in sports he can actively play, like golf and combat sports. Hes the kind of dude who can't go back to the sport he use to be elite at and not be elite.
That's not weird at all. You need guard play. You need shooters. You need a guy who can dribble and get you the ball where you want it so you can save energy.
Simone just sucks at shooting the ball quickly. Like you can tell the ball kind of moves in his hand too much if he tries to go too fast. At least that is what my eyes tell me. I'm sure there is some kind of tracking data for that kind of thing, but I don't think it's publicly available.
I have to admit that even if I have not been so much supprised about Fontechio's offensive game lately (he has shown quite a lot offensive promise earlier in his career, especially at the national team level), his defense has been suprisingly good in last 2 games. Just thinking that maybe Hardy should try to start Fontechio at "SF" spot with Lauri at "PF"? Especially if Fontechio can keep up a current good work at defensive end. And then put Kessler at Center and Clarkson at SG and Keyonte at PG. And bring Yurt7, Collins, Oschi and Olynyk from the bench at frontcourt positions. That means that Utah can then use a quite a deep 11-12 players roster, which would give Hardy a good chance to better control players minutes in a long regular season (especially Kessler's and Lauri's) and keep up the harder effort at both ends of the court. That strategy may pay a lot of dividents in later parts of the long NBA season.
I would add Sexton and Agbaji on this list. They had 11 and 12 points with a good shooting efficiency in only 17.40 and 16.27 minutes of play. Sexton also moved the ball well although it doesn't show in the AST stat.
According cy that slam didn't matter at all. Nor did Kessler's injury he was playing through to start the year.
Who would have thunk that playing hurt makes you play worse right?
Trust me when I say that any shooter can go through a cold streak even the best of them. I remember a game with Portland a couple years ago where Dame was 0-12 before an injury sidelined him. What separates the men from the boys IMO is what they can muster up when the game is on the line in the closing minutes. That’s where Clarkson shines- even in the NBA.com Clutch conversation of last season. And also something that the great Donovan Mitchell was never very good at it during his time in Utah. Contrast what Clarkson was able to do last night and what Sexton did Saturday with what Ingram was unsuccessful with and you have the razor thin difference in close games.
And they had their starting lineup intact and looking at that lineup, it looks quite good. Good win
CJ McCollum?
And what JC mustered was classic JC and almost cost the Jazz the win. Only Simo's dive for the ball saved the game from being tied - because JC STOPPED PLAYING. After his missed shot he just stopped and spectated.
Dude that is by design. Clock is your biggest enemy there, and the bigger issue in that is not related to JC but the fact that Hardy doesnt have better "quick to execute" go-to plays than JC iso... at least not with Lauri out.
It isn't. Doing what JC did is. It would better to just let the shot clock hit 0 than do that.
