"You Gotta Love It Baby" Official Jazz thread

[MarkGrace]

I applaud you, SMR. I've lost my way with my FAVORite Jazz player.

He's had a very productive preseason. Hopefully it carries over.

[Blueintheface]

He's had a very productive preseason. Hopefully it carries over.

I fear his style of play will get lost in the shuffle is all (not that I'm advocating a return to old school post entry passes with zero movement).

[smokymountainrain]

I applaud you, SMR. I've lost my way with my FAVORite Jazz player.

I deserve no credit for hanging in there. Burks is a star and it's becoming more apparent every day. Has an off night shooting the ball tonight (2-9 FGs), but gets to the line 11 times to score 13 points; edit: OKC can't keep him off the FT line - make that 13 FTs since my initial post and 15 points in 9 shots.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Trey no longer shooting 50% from 3. After hitting half of his 3pt attempts in 5 straight games, he goes 3-4 tonight to screw the streak up.

I thought Kanter or Hayward or Burks would benefit the most from the new coach and system. But Trey looks like a totally different player so far. Sophomore season + a coach who has a clue = pretty good stuff so far at PG.

[smokymountainrain]

Trey no longer shooting 50% from 3. After hitting half of his 3pt attempts in 5 straight games, he goes 3-4 tonight to screw the streak up.

I thought Kanter or Hayward or Burks would benefit the most from the new coach and system. But Trey looks like a totally different player so far. Sophomore season + a coach who has a clue = pretty good stuff so far at PG.

He's been almost too good to believe during the pre-season. I expect something like a 2-10, 0-5 night on the 29th to bring us back to reality. If Burke plays at or near this level - something like 46% FGs, 40% 3pt - in the regular season, the Jazz will win a lot of games.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

I want to hear Reggie Miller's thoughts on gravity.

It's impossible to understand the way NBA offenses and defenses operate without understanding gravity. No, not the force Sir Isaac Newton discovered that keeps you from dunking without a trampoline. We're talking about the basketball version of it, the one that governs where defenders position themselves and helps determine the success and failure of offenses.

Ready to learn more? Let's break the theory down.

What is gravity?

In a basketball context, gravity is the tendency of defenders to be pulled to certain parts of the floor.

What has gravity?

Every offensive player has gravity -- but not all players have the same gravity. (More on that in a second.) Beyond them, the ball has gravity, because of the need to pressure the ball-handler and keep him from getting a wide-open shot. And the basket itself has gravity, since the highest-percentage shots tend to be taken from close range.

What determines a player's gravity?

More than anything else, the primary factor determining a player's gravity is their shooting ability. Defenders can't stray from good shooters like Kyle Korver lest they give up an open shot -- and then get chewed out by their coach. Against weaker shooters, defenders can cheat an extra step toward the ball or the paint, making it easier for them to offer help to teammates.

Crucially, though, gravity is contextual. Shooting ability is most important when players are off the ball. When it's in their hands, the ability to drive and make plays for teammates become paramount factors. Consider the difference in how a player like Tony Parker is defended with and without the ball. And location on the court also matters. A put-back specialist with limited range has almost no gravity when he plays on the perimeter, but high gravity inside the paint because of the threat he poses on the offensive glass.

The best offenses account for all of these factors, and put their players in positions where they have the most gravity. Bad offenses feature low gravity, which means poor spacing and limited driving lanes to the hoop.

Quantifying gravity

The gravity theory is simple enough, and I've been using it to describe offenses for years. Quantifying gravity to understand how it actually plays out on the court is another matter entirely. While it might be teased out of plus-minus data, nothing in the box score reflects a player's gravitational pull.

Enter SportVU players tracking. Now that cameras in every NBA arena are capturing where players and the ball are at any given moment, we can start to determine the way defenses respond to different offensive players.

Over the summer, STATS Inc. introduced a pair of new statistics utilizing SportVU data to measure the gravitational force of players without the ball. The first, named "gravity score," measures how closely the primary defender defends a player off the ball at any given time. The second, "distraction score," quantifies how much attention the primary defender gives the ball-handler.

The graphic below, courtesy of STATS, shows what each of these metrics measures for Los Angeles Clippers forward Matt Barnes. The gravity score is how close his defender (Kevin Durant) is to Barnes, and the distraction score is how close his defender is to the ball-handler (Chris Paul).

The two metrics capture slightly different versions of gravity, so our Tom Haberstroh has combined the two to create a "respect rating" that captures both measures.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11744634/explaining-gravity-basketball

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Dahntay Jones was released?

Dennis Lindsey continues to prove his genius through many marvelous works and wonders.

[smokymountainrain]

Dahntay Jones was released?

Dennis Lindsey continues to prove his genius through many marvelous works and wonders.

Perhaps I don't understand where you're coming from, but I'm giving Snyder all the credit for this.

[MarkGrace]

Utah Jazz: Macklemore
Next Celebrity

Do you know how you become the celebrity fan for the Utah Jazz? You get your picture taken wearing a Gordon Hayward jersey. That’s it. That’s all. Congratulations, you’re the most famous Utah Jazz fan now.

Second place was that adorable little boy who was crying after they lost last year.

http://grantland.com/nba-celebrity-fans/

lol

[falafel]

http://grantland.com/nba-celebrity-fans/

lol

Billy Crystal is the Clippers Fan. The article links to an interview he did with Larry King where Billy talks about how much he likes Donald Sterling.

[falafel]

Michael Jordan for the Bobcats.

The Charlotte Hornets don’t have celebrity fans. So this spot gets baton-ed over to Michael Jordan, the team’s current owner and also, by the way, the owner of the only pair of khaki-colored eyeballs on earth. It’s cool to see him finally win something* in Charlotte.

[smokymountainrain]

Trey no longer shooting 50% from 3. After hitting half of his 3pt attempts in 5 straight games, he goes 3-4 tonight to screw the streak up.

I thought Kanter or Hayward or Burks would benefit the most from the new coach and system. But Trey looks like a totally different player so far. Sophomore season + a coach who has a clue = pretty good stuff so far at PG.

Tonight, we got the Trey Burke we've come to know so well - 12 points on 14 shots, 1-6 3pt, 2 assists.

[MarkGrace]

Friskier Than Expected
Utah Jazz

This should not have been the worst defensive team in the league last season — even with so many young players and Tyrone Corbin turning Marvin Williams into a full-time power forward. They had size on the wing, and Derrick Favors is a bouncy young rim protector.

Everyone else had issues, especially the plodding Enes Kanter, and there were too many possessions on which Utah’s players did not appear to understand what they were supposed to be doing.

Much of this will change. Everyone is a year older, and some of these guys, including Favors, Kanter, Gordon Hayward, and Alec Burks, are entering the phase of their careers in which we’d expect major growth. Rudy Gobert is ready for more time, provided he can keep his fouls down and catch the round thing that guys are throwing at him on offense.

Most of all, Quin Snyder will have these guys dialed in to concepts they can grasp. The upgrade from Corbin to Snyder might be the biggest coaching upgrade of the summer, and Snyder will loosen things up on offense with loads of 3s — even from Kanter! — and nifty ball movement. The Jazz won’t hunt for a playoff berth, but they should crack 35 wins.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/nba-rankings-san-antonio-spurs-los-angeles-clippers-oklahoma-city-thunder-cleveland-cavaliers/

[MarkGrace]

A good read from Grantland.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/could-the-jazz-be-this-years-suns/

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Are we supposed to cheer for the Jazz to win this year or is this another year we love losing?