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Thoughts the morning after - 10/28/10

NotDeadYet

NotDeadYet

Well-Known Member
That didn't quite work, guys :p...
If anyone would've told me AK and CJ would've gone a combined 0-8 in 33 minutes, I'd not have bothered turning on the TV! OK, Jefferson only having 2 FG's was a big downer too, but at least he had 7 boards and 3 blocks.
I was watching the NBA League Pass (still free) in Florida from Altitude Sports. Announcers were only slightly biased for Denver, and were actually very knowledgeable on the Jazz. They kept saying how the Jazz would miss Boozer's defense (Say WHAT??), but made a valid point when they added Boozer had quick hands, slapping at the ball when opponents put it on the floor. Jefferson wasn't doing that. They didn't bother to mention that was ALL Boozer did on D while Jefferson blocked 3 shots, more than Boozer would get in a week!!
No one escapes this AM; I thought Deron started the game very slow, but I could understand that with the new guys around him (Bell & Jefferson). He did amp it up in the 3rd. The same with Millsap. Decent game, but not great for him.
Raja Bell looked fine. I see him as a very solid support player for DWill. I was impressed with Hayward; the kid struggled with his shot at times, but made some very good basketball plays, both on offense and defense. He's a very smart gamer; stays with plays very well, even when physically overmatched.
Evans subbed in for Millsap at PF and looked good in his 11 minutes. Fes was OK, but Elson looked quicker; in 16 min. had 8 boards, 6 points and a block. He came in at PF (behind Evans), then ended up at C. Ronnie Price looked very 'alive' in his 14 minutes; he initially came in for DWill, then moved to SG when Bell when out. But, only 2 assists, 2 boards and a steal; never scored. Watson was a little better with 2, 2, and 2, plus 6 points.
I will say Denver appears to have made some upgrades too; Sheldon Williams kinda ruled their paint, Afflalo was a new player from the guy the Pistons drafted a few years ago. The announcers commented on how improved he'd looked in the pre-season. They also noted how Ty Lawson at PG really bothers DWill; he's a lot quicker and has deceptive strength to go with it. Harrington was his usual self; makes a good play, then goes bone-headed. Some like him, I'm not a big fan...
All in all, this is a work in progress... Hang in there, guys
 
...I tied in with NBA League Pass for free on the internet....and here's what I briefly saw: Brain dead basketball. I saw Klinko attempt a behind the back pass under the basket in traffic that resulted in a 5 point swing....the two we should have gotten and the 3 points the Nuggets got because of the turnover. Then I saw Hayward pass up a WIDEOPEN jumper from about 16 feet.....in order to try some ill-advised pick and roll with FESS....the man with the iron hands! Needless to say, another 4 point swing. I suspect the decision making will be better tonight. At least I hope so.
 
The biggest problem I had with the team was the complete lack of emotion. The guys looked like they were running in cement. Denver certainly added a few pieces that played well. There were too many dumb passes, missed layups and jumpshots and a lack of focus. Where was the energy? The team just rolled over which is the last thing I expected. I can take losing but when you do not compete it is embarrassing.

The biggest disappointment to me was CJ. If he doesn't play well off the bench the Jazz will struggle scoring.

I know it is one game but at least show up and be in the game mentally.
 
I watched online, too (thanks for the link, by the way!). From my perspective (my couch in middle Kansas) it looked like AK was the primary game bum. He looked terrible and kept gambling on defense, which is does from time-to-time, and got repeatedly burned. Jefferson said in the Salt Lake papers this morning that he has to get over being a black hole on offense, which he was, and look to pass back out. I think he'll be better tonight in that regard, but it was murder to see the following things all converge against a division opponent:

1) AK doing anything last night besides warming the bench
2) Jefferson stagnating the offense
3) D-Will's shots in the 1st half (not that they were all bad shots, but they were not falling at all)
4) CJ's foul trouble caused a lot of trouble with the rotation, though I thought the rooks certainly rose to the occasion. If they play like that everytime they have the opportunity I'd be very happy.
5) The entire team's torreador defense made them look like they'd been at a Carlos Boozer basketball camp this summer. Depressing.
 
Hordon seemed to have a good nose for "where to be" on the floor. Made some good plays but also some very boneheaded plays. But like most have said, thats to be expected from a rookie. He also went after the ball, but never really showed much "toughness."

AK, Bell and Price (and occasionally Millsap and Williams in the 2nd half) were the only energy we had. AK's passing was sloppy and his shot selection pretty poor.

Overall, I think Millsap had a pretty good game tho (surprisingly) his defense wasn't as good as I expected.

Williams tried to get everyone involved in the first half...waited too long to assert himself.

Fesenko played so-so. He should be better at position defense. He bites at everything and seems to only have about a 2 inch vertical on defense. He just doesnt have a "knack" for shot blocking - some of it will be learned, but instinctually he doesnt have it.

Elson looked as expected...if he plays every game like this one, no one can be disappointed.

Evans played really well. Not in the shots he made so much as I thought he made smart, crisp passes, and seemed to be where he needed to be within the offense. I dont expect him to take many more teams by surprise and get that many easy shots within the offense tho. If he's to be effective throughout the year it will probably be cleaning up the glass or on broken plays and backdoor lobs.

Jefferson was utterly lost for most of the game. The critics were right about his inability to pass out of a double team. He didnt seem to have the strength to play the post-game he's supposedly accustomed to. Could never back Nene down even for position to get the ball, much less once he had it. His defense was suspect - especially in the first half. Bit on too many fakes and his footwork wasnt great. I chalk a lot of his performance offensively to nerves. I just hope he becomes more decisive passing out of double teams and the passes he does make are more crisp. Defensively, he needs some work.

Refs: Wow. The pace was sickening. We fouled them a lot, but there were a lot of horrible calls...on both ends really. And the 'no-emotion' technical foul calling is grossly inconsistent...gonna be a major issue going forward. I blame Utah for a lot of the fouls...but only because we played defense with our arms out most of the nite...Denver got penetration anytime they wanted. Then free to kick out to Carmello or someone behind the arc...or we were whistled for the foul on the drive. Horrible team defense. Denver looked very active and moved their feet well defensively...which made our poor D stand out even more.
 
I was expecting this kind of a bad offensive performance just because the newcomers play gib roles in the game plan and they get lots of PT on the court. Our offense was not going to be as fluid as it was just a year ago and that's acceptable and predictable. Memo and Booz had played 5-6 seasons under the coaching of Sloan and together. In short, you better get ready for offensive struggles of this new group of guys. What you and me do not have to get ready for or do not deserve to see and did see yesterday were overall effort, the level of competitiveness, level of readiness and such a terrible defensive outing. A player does not have to know the system or does not have to play 10-15 games before trying to put a good, respectable defensive effort. The offense was out of synch, OK, but how 'bout a lackluster defense. In the games that the team have a hard time scoring efficiently in, it's the defense that carries the team and keep the margin close so that despite the struggles on offense, the team can get its last and slim chance to win it, ugly. Many of us think that we got much better defensively after those acquisitions. However, yesterday was not suppoting their theory.

It sucks to lose the first game however, I'm hopeful about the remaining of the season. The Jazz have to make sure that they win the games they are supposed to win. Win home games, do not lose against awful teams. The Jazz should not be out of the mix when they finally start to click on offense and defense together. That's the most crucial thing.
 
The "killer" stat I heard was: At halftime, our backcourt had 14 points combined, and the team had 15 turnovers... We definitely played out of control way too much. Guess it'll take a while to mesh, with 6 new guys on the roster. <deep breath>...
I did like the fact all 12 active players actually got to play over 10 minutes. Good move by Sloan!!
Yeah, I had reservations using CJ as our 6th man. IMO, the 6th man needs a more well-rounded game; CJ is not even a consistant enough scorer and still can't play D. He still can get a little crazy with his shot selection... I also think we have a problem with replacing Millsap's energy in the paint when he was coming off the bench. I'm not sure Elson can do that every game, and Evans at his size can't go very much over 10 MPG at PF.
I really think if they want to start AK, start him at PF and bring Millsap off the bench. AK plays with more energy at PF, and this would get him energized and involved from the start of the game. He can switch to SF later in the game. Millsap plays great off the bench, so I wouldn't mess with that. We don't want him to wear down as a full-time starter...
Last nights rotations were:
PG Williams, Price, Watson
SG Bell, Price
SF Kirilenko, Miles, Hayward
PF Millsap, Evans, Elson
C Jefferson, Fesenko, Elson
I wouldn't bet this is locked in concrete...
 
I hope Hayward develops quickly so CJ can return to the 10th man role. It also clear that the Jazz are going to miss Wes Mathews way more than anyone in the organization is willing to admit.

Jazz need offensive help from the wing or this will be a very long & frustrating season.
 
Once again JazzFanz proves how reactionary they are. It was one game. The sky is not falling, yet.
 
Then why countinue to come here if we are of inferior intellect to yourself? I thought you said you were outty once before? Anyways no one is saying the sky is falling, but if you were not frustrated by the play last night.....then damn.
 
Long-term, I think Hayward could be a really good 6th man. He's just not seasoned enough quite yet. I do expect him to develop quickly, as he absorbs basketball details like a sponge; just like Wes Matthews did. For his first NBA game, I thought Hayward showed up very well; just gonna get better as he adjusts to the NBA...
I kinda see the Kirilenko dilemma we have; against elite-level wing players like Anthony, Kirilenko is by far our best defender. If he's guarding a wing player as our PF, who's gonna guard the opposing PF when he goes to post up? CJ? Hayward? Not a good matchup there...
 
2 plays summed up the night for Jefferson: Twice in the 1st qtr Denver posted Shelden Williams on him - first time Jefferson sent him to the line, the second time they doubled Shelden Williams (no digging by the guards, a straight up DOUBLE-TEAM OF SHELDEN WILLIAMS!) and he passed out of it and Melo got a dunk. Al will play much better offensively, but if he can't improve his defense against a Nene/Shelden Williams frontline the Jazz may be better off starting Fes to clog up the middle and bringing Millsap off the bench like they did in the playoffs.
 
I was incredibly upset and emotional last night. So much so that I didn't even play with myself before I went to bed. I just wasn't feeling sexy.

Like I've said over the years, I don't mind losing, just as long there's an effort there...and there ****ing wasn't.
 
The VERY worst thing I saw all night was the only time the offense was actually run like a Utah Jazz offense was 2 straight possessions in the 4th with, IIRC, Hayward, Fes, Evans, Watson and Price(?) on the floor.

That lineup shouldn't be the ones showing the starters how Jerry wants it done. That's an inditement on Dwill and Big Al. Hate to say it but Al was completely lost out there like he just cleared his physical after being traded 2 days earlier and Jerry threw him in. Not after a month of training camp. But then Deron is the floor general and it shouldn't take till the 4th with a bunch of rookies and borderline NBA players to show these guys how to cleanly run the offense.

Y'all better quit with that Batman and Robin stuff until they learn to play together.
 
Yeah, our lack of energy and all-around terrible offense by the entire team was a big part of the pathetic loss, but a bigger implication of the game comes down to the TOs and fouls. If the Jazz expect to contend with so many fouls and TOs they are delusional. Of course, our motion offense lends itself to more TOs, but many of the ones from last night were unacceptable. And for once I'd like to see our team not lead the league in fouls. Also, I'm already seeing several people making comments like "give them time, this unit needs to get to know each other" and "they are young, they will learn." The latter is just ludicrous and the former can only be used for the next two or three weeks. If people are still talking about chemistry a month from now, I'll be peeved.
 
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