"You Gotta Love It Baby" Official Jazz thread

[smokymountainrain]

I think people are being very forgiving of Exum, I'm one of them and perhaps rightfully so because he is just 19 and folks want to have hope. He had some nice plays, showed good vision and passing ability, etc. However, it was against Philly's JV summer league team (as opposed to their varsity summer league team) and he did just finish with 10 points on 10 shots and 3 assists, and was pretty mediocre to below average defensively. For all the talk of his quickness and first step, there were several times he had the ball in his hands and couldn't get by his defender. Elijah Millsap, who is really a SF, was giving him fits with his ball pressure in the second half.

It will be interesting to see what he does tonight and going forward and then I hope he gets a ton of minutes in the FIBA World Cup for the Aussies.

[MarkGrace]

I think people are being very forgiving of Exum, I'm one of them and perhaps rightfully so because he is just 19 and folks want to have hope. He had some nice plays, showed good vision and passing ability, etc. However, it was against Philly's JV summer league team (as opposed to their varsity summer league team) and he did just finish with 10 points on 10 shots and 3 assists, and was pretty mediocre to below average defensively. For all the talk of his quickness and first step, there were several times he had the ball in his hands and couldn't get by his defender. Elijah Millsap, who is really a SF, was giving him fits with his ball pressure in the second half.

It will be interesting to see what he does tonight and going forward and then I hope he gets a ton of minutes in the FIBA World Cup for the Aussies.

He's going to look ugly at times. The dribble is high and loose (like a lot of tall young guards) and when people press and use bigger, physical defenders he's going to struggle. But I don't think people are necessarily being forgiving. Everyone realizes it was Philly's terrible team and nobody thinks he blew it up, but that's not what has people excited. Exum's physical ability is the equivalent of watching a teenager hit the mound at +95mph with a plus plus curveball. Even if he's missing the zone, the raw tools are exciting. When was the last time you saw someone on the Jazz move with that kind of speed, grace and explosion? He's got a long ways to go, but in terms of a raw, unharnessed talent, I can't remember the last player we saw like him on the Jazz.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

He's going to look ugly at times. The dribble is high and loose (like a lot of tall young guards) and when people press and use bigger, physical defenders he's going to struggle. But I don't think people are necessarily being forgiving. Everyone realizes it was Philly's terrible team and nobody thinks he blew it up, but that's not what has people excited. Exum's physical ability is the equivalent of watching a teenager hit the mound at +95mph with a plus plus curveball. Even if he's missing the zone, the raw tools are exciting. When was the last time you saw someone on the Jazz move with that kind of speed, grace and explosion? He's got a long ways to go, but in terms of a raw, unharnessed talent, I can't remember the last player we saw like him on the Jazz.

And I think it might be even more evident when watching him live. That's how it was with Westbrook when I first saw him live. I knew from watching on TV that he was an elite athlete in a league of elite athletes. But when you get to watch him up close, you are absolutely blown away with how easy it is for him and how explosive he is. When you hear that the Jazz scout who was over the Hoop Summit international team saw Exum and knew he was special then, even with how raw his actual skills are, it does give me hope he can turn into something special on the court.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Does anyone think of Jimmer at BYU when you watch Burke play for the Jazz? Even against summer league players he just doesn't have an easy time getting anywhere on the court. He has to constantly back up and reset a pick, and then even when he appears to get by his defender the defender often recovers more easily than you expected. Jimmer had the freedom to be able to do that over and over, until eventually he got enough space, and then he was such a crazy shot maker that he made it work. But I hate seeing Burke back up 5 feet from the 3pt line to re-initiate the offense. And he's just not that kind of shot maker, not at this level.

Lindsey said he's 10 lbs lighter and moving better because of it. I was really hoping we were going to see him have some breakout performances in his 2nd season, like KCP showed with the Detroit summer league team. But Burke has been bad in that open scrimmage and in the first game.

[MarkGrace]

And I think it might be even more evident when watching him live. That's how it was with Westbrook when I first saw him live. I knew from watching on TV that he was an elite athlete in a league of elite athletes. But when you get to watch him up close, you are absolutely blown away with how easy it is for him and how explosive he is. When you hear that the Jazz scout who was over the Hoop Summit international team saw Exum and knew he was special then, even with how raw his actual skills are, it does give me hope he can turn into something special on the court.

I thought that whole story was interesting. Basically a Jazz scout saw him before anyone and so they've been following him longer than any other team.

At any rate, the speed, change of direction, that step, vision, feel for the game, etc. Those are things that get people excited because you just can't teach them. And where he is deficient (handle, shot) are the areas you can improve. The handle will improve quickly, as he's just a teenage. The biggest concern is the shot, but if you start rebuilding that early enough, he should be able to make some real strides. He has a no-elevation set shot, which is not ideal or a real shooter's stroke, but guys like CP3 have made something similar work. Also, I think you can come up with a pretty solid list of tall points that were very good without ever necessarily being very good shooters.

[smokymountainrain]

He's going to look ugly at times. The dribble is high and loose (like a lot of tall young guards) and when people press and use bigger, physical defenders he's going to struggle. But I don't think people are necessarily being forgiving. Everyone realizes it was Philly's terrible team and nobody thinks he blew it up, but that's not what has people excited. Exum's physical ability is the equivalent of watching a teenager hit the mound at +95mph with a plus plus curveball. Even if he's missing the zone, the raw tools are exciting. When was the last time you saw someone on the Jazz move with that kind of speed, grace and explosion? He's got a long ways to go, but in terms of a raw, unharnessed talent, I can't remember the last player we saw like him on the Jazz.

All good points. Tonight's game against Jabari, Giannis and Wolters should be fun.

[MarkGrace]

Does anyone think of Jimmer at BYU when you watch Burke play for the Jazz? Even against summer league players he just doesn't have an easy time getting anywhere on the court. He has to constantly back up and reset a pick, and then even when he appears to get by his defender the defender often recovers more easily than you expected. Jimmer had the freedom to be able to do that over and over, until eventually he got enough space, and then he was such a crazy shot maker that he made it work. But I hate seeing Burke back up 5 feet from the 3pt line to re-initiate the offense. And he's just not that kind of shot maker, not at this level.

Lindsey said he's 10 lbs lighter and moving better because of it. I was really hoping we were going to see him have some breakout performances in his 2nd season, like KCP showed with the Detroit summer league team. But Burke has been bad in that open scrimmage and in the first game.

I think Burke processes the game slower than he actually moves. There are plenty of guys that go from looking slow to perfectly adequate based on knowing where to be and understanding all the angles. I just don't think he fully gets everything right now. That and I also think it's summer league and he probably doesn't want to be there. He looked fine enough last year that I'm not worried and expect him to improve this year.

[MarkGrace]

All good points. Tonight's game against Jabari, Giannis and Wolters should be fun.

What about Doug McD yesterday?!

[smokymountainrain]

What about Doug McD yesterday?!

I was never sure what kind of NBA player he would be, but he just seemed like a guy who would dominate summer league regardless. I was surprised by his first game, but 31 points on 12 shots in the second game - yeah, that's okay.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Could he have gone to a more perfect team, other than any team that has LeBron? One of the best defensive centers in the league, one of the best perimeter defenders, now he'll play next to the two best passing bigs in the league, and if Rose can ever stay healthy he's got a PG that can distort a defense to free up the perimeter shooters.

[Blueintheface]

Go-Bear!

[LiveCoug]

Go-Bear!

Excellent first half.

[Blueintheface]

And the power in the neighborhood goes out...

[smokymountainrain]

Rodney Hood. Wow. Gobert was a beast again. Exum was a non-factor, kinda disappeared. Burke played a decent floor game, but 0-6 FGs won't keep a guy in the league very long.

[smokymountainrain]

And the power in the neighborhood goes out...

I think Hood shot your lights out.