"You Gotta Love It Baby" Official Jazz thread

[smokymountainrain]

I bet two of the three picks make the team. Brantley looks like he could develop into a rotational player down the line. Oni has not looked like an NBA player at all in my limited viewing and opinion.

I would agree regarding Oni.

[falafel]

BRY-on Russell looking a little out of playing shape lately.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B01MHbap..._web_copy_link

[creekster]

If you are a jazz fan you might want to listen to Simmons' podcast today. High praise for Donovan Mitchell.

[Commando]

Mitchell is really going above and beyond repping Utah. In the running for Rookie of the Year, slam dunk champ, signature shoe, World Cup ambassador. We don't deserve this man, but I'll take him.

[creekster]

After watching the FIBA experience this summer I am glad the Jazz did not get Kemba. Much prefer Conley. In the loss to France, Mitchell played very well, but was ignored in the 4th while Walker goes 2 for 9 in hero ball and doesn't have a single assist for the entire game. Gobert was dominant.

[falafel]

After watching the FIBA experience this summer I am glad the Jazz did not get Kemba. Much prefer Conley. In the loss to France, Mitchell played very well, but was ignored in the 4th while Walker goes 2 for 9 in hero ball and doesn't have a single assist for the entire game. Gobert was dominant.

Nice to see our two best players be the two best players for their respective countries in this game.

I'm not surprised USA lost. They've been squeaking through games this tournament. A loss to a powerful Euro team was inevitable, I think. Especially when we aren't sending out best players to these things anymore. We are sending very good players, but we aren't sending our best players. Imagine a roster with some combination of these players:

Kawhi Leonard
Lebron James
James Harden
Steph Curry
Anthony Davis
Kevin Durrant
Paul George
Damian Lillard
Kyrie Irving
Blake Griffin
Russell Westbrook

I get it, the superstars don't really want to play all summer after playing all year right into the summer. They usually only come back after we've been embarrassed for a few years on the international stage. Maybe the promise of a gold medal will get them back for the 2020 Olympics.

[beefytee]

Nice to see our two best players be the two best players for their respective countries in this game.

I'm not surprised USA lost. They've been squeaking through games this tournament. A loss to a powerful Euro team was inevitable, I think. Especially when we aren't sending out best players to these things anymore. We are sending very good players, but we aren't sending our best players. Imagine a roster with some combination of these players:

Kawhi Leonard
Lebron James
James Harden
Steph Curry
Anthony Davis
Kevin Durrant
Paul George
Damian Lillard
Kyrie Irving
Blake Griffin
Russell Westbrook

I get it, the superstars don't really want to play all summer after playing all year right into the summer. They usually only come back after we've been embarrassed for a few years on the international stage. Maybe the promise of a gold medal will get them back for the 2020 Olympics.

It's not just an issue for the US though. The situation is much worse for Canada. They should be a top 10 team as they are second only to the US in number of NBA players. Their U18 program is ranked 2nd in the world. But they only had 2 NBA players that played in the tournament. They ended up placing 21st and will probably not qualify for the Olympics.

[wapiti]

The Jazz have 3 players in the top 24 of the ESPN player rankings. Rudy 14, Donovan 20, and Conley 24. They also have Bogdanovic at 48 and Ingles at 62. What's the precedent for teams winning a title without a top 10 player? I'm thinking Spurs 2014 and Detroit 2004.

Spurs 2014 - You'd probably rank Duncan, Parker, and Ginobli in 2014 similarly to the Jazz top 3 this year. But their experience, system, and coaching are all well above what the Jazz have proven at this point. The Jazz have comparable depth to that team. 2014 was the sweet spot for OKC's window with Durant, Westbrook, and Harden . . . but Harden was in Houston. The Spurs took advantage of that and then a Heat team that was bereft of depth and hobbled in their 4th straight trip to the finals.

Detroit 2004 - Chauncey Billups (Conley), Rip Hamilton (Mitchell), Ben Wallace (Gobert), Rasheed Wallace (Bogdanovic), Tayshaun Prince (Ingles). This is the closest comp to the Jazz. But this Detroit team also took advantage of a window that didn't have any great teams to challenge them. In the East, the only other team to win more than 50 games was the Pacers, who won 61. They were similar to Detroit, built on defense without top 10 talent. Detroit beat them in 6 in the eastern conference finals, neither team scored more than 85 points in the series and Indiana was held under 70 points 3 times. In the Finals they beat a Lakers team that was struggling with Kobe/Shaq friction and hurt by the injury to Karl Malone. It was a unique window and Detroit was able to take advantage.

The Jazz have the talent and depth to emerge like Detroit did. They don't have the top end talent that is usually required to win a title, but there is precedence and it's possible that the window could open for a team like Utah this year. It requires a few things to go in their favor. Mitchell needs to make a leap in his efficiency. The new pieces need to fit. The Clippers, Rockets, and Warriors (after Klay returns) all have top end talent that looks like a traditional NBA championship team. Maybe Doc Rivers will screw things up with the clips. Maybe the Russ/Harden experiment won't work. Maybe Klay will struggle when he comes back. If things come together for any of them then I don't think the Jazz have enough offensively to beat them in a 7 game series.

I'm happy that the Jazz spent the money and made the moves to take advantage if things break right. Either way, they will win a ton of games and should advance at least one round in the playoffs. It will be a fun ride.

[LiveCoug]

Game time! Let's go Jazz!

[LiveCoug]

Conley having a very rough go in his first game for the Jazz.

Mitchell and Conley combined for 1 point in the 1st quarter, yet Jazz led by 11. That's a good sign.

[LiveCoug]

Win 1 in the books. Terrible night for Conley, but Mitchell went off! Love it.

[Pelado]

Is OKC any good now?

[LiveCoug]

Is OKC any good now?

not particularly. I don't see them making the playoffs

[Commando]

Good first game. Would have been nice for Conley to warm up a little- would have been a blowout if he did. I like how Donovan looks- very aggressive and his usual 4th Quarter Takeover self. Rudy had a so-so game, but that's what it is when you're matched up w a beast like Steven Adams aka Aquaman.

I also love Bogdanovic on this team. He plays with great energy, can drive, can shoot, and seems to be pretty active on defense. What a great pairing with Jingles.

[creekster]

Good first game. Would have been nice for Conley to warm up a little- would have been a blowout if he did. I like how Donovan looks- very aggressive and his usual 4th Quarter Takeover self. Rudy had a so-so game, but that's what it is when you're matched up w a beast like Steven Adams aka Aquaman.

I also love Bogdanovic on this team. He plays with great energy, can drive, can shoot, and seems to be pretty active on defense. What a great pairing with Jingles.

I think Rudy played defense very well. He took Adams out of the game, esp in the first half. Part of Rudy's offensive slow night, I think, was Conley's unfamilairity with timing and predicitability on the PnR. That will get better.

I wonder how Conley felt in the 4th when he was on the floor buty Donovan was bringing the ball up? That surprised me a bit.