"You Gotta Love It Baby" Official Jazz thread

[MarkGrace]

Ford mentioned that Philly tanked the year only to not come away with a 1st rounder that will contribute next year. Embiid will be on the mend and Saric will be in Europe. ha.

[Blueintheface]

Ford mentioned that Philly tanked the year only to not come away with a 1st rounder that will contribute next year. Embiid will be on the mend and Saric will be in Europe. ha.

It's called tanking for your children's children.

[Jacob]

Right- I just argued with someone here in the office that he's Jabari's equal if not his superior, but he just doesn't have the magic "upside" fairies dusting his name. I don't 100% believe that's right (I was just arguing), because I think Jabari's gonna be a monster in the league, but Hood was definitely under the radar- possibly primarily because of Jabari.

You guys keep getting ridiculouser and ridiculouser.

[Jacob]

I'll go on record: Jazz should have drafted Clint Capella over Hood.

And when the flame of Hood's career is extinguished, Jabari and Exum will be about as old as Hood is now.

[MarkGrace]

Is there a comp out there for a tall, ultra-quick point guard who doesn't really play above the rim? Watching him drive and you can think of Westbrook or Rose and how they get to the rim, but he's not near their level in explosiveness getting off the floor. He reminds me of Ty Lawson, but 6" taller.

MCW? He got up for a few good dunks last year, but I've always thought of him as being much quicker for his size than truly vertically explosive like a Westbrook/Rose. I just watched a couple dunks from both MCW and Exum, and while MCW did look a bit more explosive off the floor, I don't think it's uncommon for a guy to have grown into his athleticism more at 22 than 18. I'm guessing MCW dunking in HS probably looked a lot like Exum.

And speaking of 18, I didn't realize he was still that age. Pretty strange to be experiencing a prep-to-pro situation again.

[MarkGrace]

Lindsey mentioned twice that they really liked him because he's underrated in the pick and roll. The guys I'm thinking of comparing him too weren't really good initiators in screen/roll situations. But if Hood can do that well, and space the floor, he's going to be a great fit in what Snyder wants the team to run. They're talking about Hood being able to play two positions. Are they seeing him as a 3 and big 2, or 3 and stretch 4? I'm guessing more of filling Marvin's role as a small 4.

There's a great stat about his points per possession in SnR scenarios on Draft Express. I'll link it later when I get home.

[MarkGrace]

Rodney Hood ranks as the highest usage and most efficient pick and roll ball handler in this group. His 1.26 points per possessions on 2.2 possessions per-game are the result of his very good overall shooting numbers. He scored a 2nd ranked 1.11 points per-pull-up jump shot and above average 1.29 points per shot around the rim. While Hood is not a tremendous athlete, and got to the rim on a well below average 23.3% of his shots in the half court last season, his ability to score efficiently from the outside should give him a chance to make an impact early in his career in some capacity.

From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com#ixzz35uwr3VMW
http://www.draftexpress.com

[smokymountainrain]

So I've watched a couple full games of Exum - one in the U19 and one from his high school league in Australia. I'm trying to be optimistic, but I just don't see it. Like Grace mentioned, his situation is unique because it's essentially a prep to pro like we haven't seen for several years. In watching these games, I think it's pretty clear Exum is the most gifted player out there, but he never dominates anybody. Back when Kobe, LeBron, McGrady, KG, Jermaine O'Neal, even less successful guys like DeShawn, Jonathan Bender, Al Harrington, etc, were coming to the league they were dominating their high school competition.

Exum's first step and speed are legit, but he simply isn't an explosive finisher, so in the half court when using that first step to get by people or in transition when using his speed, he has trouble finishing at the rim. Those wing players I mentioned above, when their shot wasn't falling, they could explode to rim and dominate their competition. I don't see that with Exum. I remember watching Kyrie Irving in high school - he wasn't an explosive athlete, but he could score and could really shoot it. Exum doesn't seem to be a scorer and definitely isn't going to dominate with his shooting.

What makes me most optimistic about Exum is that he does have size and speed comparable to Westbrook and Rose. They were also not good shooters at the same stage. Once again, however, those guy could dominate people because they could explode to the rim with their leaping ability. Their explosive leaping ability set them apart from everybody else. If Exum becomes a player, I just can't help but think his ceiling is a poor man's Rose or Westbrook. Maybe 18 ppg on 45% FGs and 6-7 assists per.

Defensively, I was unimpressed. He certainly wasn't terrible, but I've heard a couple people make comments about a high motor. I didn't see that. When you watch Marcus Smart on defense, not only does he get up on his man, but away from the ball, he's all over the court - Smart has a high motor on defense. I didn't see any of that from Exum. In fairness, it was high school and a lot of great high school players are disinterested defensively in high school and they get it when they get to college or pros, but it's one of those things where what I actually saw didn't match the hype.

In the high school game I watched he was 6-23 FGs, but had 15 assists. In the U19 he scored 33 on 9-18 shooting (3-9 3s) with 5 assists and 5 turnovers. Obviously a very good high school player, but never dominant like every other great NBA player was. I watched Andrew Harrison a ton this past year, and that is the guy he most reminds me of. Big PG, solid PG skills, can shoot, but not a great shooter, good athlete who lacks explosion at the rim.

Damn, I hope I'm wrong.

[Blueintheface]

How about we don't over think this and watch him play. He's been working with trainers, nutritionists, and strength coaches since he came to the states earlier this year and by all accounts he's impressed in his workouts. He could just be a speedy guy ready to take the next step.

[smokymountainrain]

How about we don't over think this and watch him play. He's been working with trainers, nutritionists, and strength coaches since he came to the states earlier this year and by all accounts he's impressed in his workouts. He could just be a speedy guy ready to take the next step.

Uh, that's essentially what I did. Overthink it? Perhaps, but really I'm just reporting what I saw when I watched him play. Am I wrong? Most likely.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

I would be less concerned about the domination of lower levels if Exum was described as your old school kind of point guard. But it is clear that his biggest advantages right now are supposed to be early offense, his first step to get past his defender, creating fouls, and scoring. So it seems he really should've been scoring a lot more than he was in many of the limited games he have to go off of.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

I need to know so I can be on the right side of the discussion later, Exum HoF ruined by Jazz coaching/front office stupidity, Exum wasted pick by stupid Jazz coaching/front office or Exum would be HoF but not developed/played correctly by stupid Jazz coaches/front office?

I'm never on the right side of the angst and I'm planning 3-4 years in the future so I can be.

[smokymountainrain]

This is a pretty good video of Exum. It shows all the plays he was involved in when Australia played Serbia in the U19. Not just a highlight video, but at the same time you don't have to watch an entire game. It also happens to pretty much show what I saw when I watched those two full games - very hard to stay in front of him, good and willing passer, gets fouled a lot, lacks explosion at the rim, struggles with his shot (including FTs), suspect decision making, and pretty mediocre defensively. Finished with 21 pts on 7-19 FGs, 4-10 FTs, 3-7 3pt, 4 assists, 4 rebs, 2 stls and 2 TOs.

I thought it was interesting at the end of the game - team down two, he has the ball in a one on one situation where he could have used his quickness to go to the rim, he pulled up for a long jump shot.

[MarkGrace]

Hops don't look bad at all for 17-18. Most kids can't explode at that age the way they can when they get a bit older.

[Sizzle]

Some Exum numbers from the Combine from NBADraft.net:

Dante Exum 31.5” no-step vert, 34.5” max vert, 10.75 lane agility, 3.19 sprint

Exum has been the media gem of the combine; everyone wanted to know about the “Australian man of mystery”. Not necessarily known as a high riser, his vertical measurements were fairly average. However, his speed for his size is special and that came through in his sprint time. He moves exceptionally well and is a dangerous penetrator, with his lane agility and sprint times backing that up at the NBA level. Testing with the SG’s, Exum’s speed at his size did nothing to hurt his stock and was considered by some as the top guard prospect at the combine.