"You Gotta Love It Baby" Official Jazz thread

[Jacob]

That's a huge upgrade.

I'm not so sure, not having followed Watson. But based on his stats...he sucks. Despite getting major minutes the past 2 years, he hasn't produced at all. There is no stat where he shows better than price. He's a horrific shooter. He's shorter and less athletic than Price. His PER has been just as bad as Price's

Hopefully he can run an offence, because Price certainly can't. But I don't have my hopes up.

[CJF]

I'm not so sure, not having followed Watson. But based on his stats...he sucks. Despite getting major minutes the past 2 years, he hasn't produced at all. There is no stat where he shows better than price. He's a horrific shooter. He's shorter and less athletic than Price. His PER has been just as bad as Price's

Hopefully he can run an offence, because Price certainly can't. But I don't have my hopes up.

The Jazz have been in love with Watson for years. I'm not surprised they finally nailed him. Of course they waited until he turned into the equivalent of old Kirstie Allie instead of old Raquel Welch before the got their chance to lay the lumber.

[MarkGrace]

I'm not so sure, not having followed Watson. But based on his stats...he sucks. Despite getting major minutes the past 2 years, he hasn't produced at all. There is no stat where he shows better than price. He's a horrific shooter. He's shorter and less athletic than Price. His PER has been just as bad as Price's

Hopefully he can run an offence, because Price certainly can't. But I don't have my hopes up.

His passing numbers blow Price's out of the water. 8.4/ap40 (Price 5.3) and an assist ratio of 35.8 for his career (Price 25.0). If he is basically comparable in other areas but a notably better passer, how is that not an upgrade?

There is no question in my mind that he's better than Price, I just don't know if at his age he's still at that level. A couple of years ago he was a borderline starting caliber point, and Price has never been anything other than a 3rd guy at best. What remains to be seen is how much Watson has dropped off at 31, but even looking at his last year numbers I fail to see how he could be anything but an improvement over Price. Price is a great athlete, good defender, and brings a lot of energy, but running the point he sucks.

[Jacob]

His passing numbers blow Price's out of the water. 8.4/ap40 (Price 5.3) and an assist ratio of 35.8 for his career (Price 25.0). If he is basically comparable in other areas but a notably better passer, how is that not an upgrade?

There is no question in my mind that he's better than Price, I just don't know if at his age he's still at that level. A couple of years ago he was a borderline starting caliber point, and Price has never been anything other than a 3rd guy at best. What remains to be seen is how much Watson has dropped off at 31, but even looking at his last year numbers I fail to see how he could be anything but an improvement over Price. Price is a great athlete, good defender, and brings a lot of energy, but running the point he sucks.

I was looking only at his numbers over the past 2 years, and I did see that his assists were better, though they were way down last year (6.9 to Price's 6.1/40) That's the one thing I held out hope for, that he could run the offense i.e. make good passes. On the downside, the only thing to like about Price is his athleticism and hustle on defense in short spurts. I don't think we'll be getting that from Watson. Maybe I'm wrong.

I don't have a problem with bringing in Watson, I just don't have hope that he will contribute much. Same with Elson, I suppose, except that almost every minute Elson is on the floor will likely be a minute that the Jazz will be worse off than going with someone else on the bench.

[smokymountainrain]

I was looking only at his numbers over the past 2 years, and I did see that his assists were better, though they were way down last year (6.9 to Price's 6.1/40) That's the one thing I held out hope for, that he could run the offense i.e. make good passes. On the downside, the only thing to like about Price is his athleticism and hustle on defense in short spurts. I don't think we'll be getting that from Watson. Maybe I'm wrong.

I don't have a problem with bringing in Watson, I just don't have hope that he will contribute much. Same with Elson, I suppose, except that almost every minute Elson is on the floor will likely be a minute that the Jazz will be worse off than going with someone else on the bench.

Watson, at one time, was a ridiculous run/jump athlete - I haven't seen him enough to know how much he's lost in the last few years, but I suspect he can still very much hold his own in the athleticism dept.

[MarkGrace]

Watson, at one time, was a ridiculous run/jump athlete - I haven't seen him enough to know how much he's lost in the last few years, but I suspect he can still very much hold his own in the athleticism dept.

Yeah, I'm wondering how he's held up. I watched him quite a bit when he played in Seattle and always liked him. At the time he was also a terrific defender.

[LiveCoug]

[MarkGrace]

ha...that's good.

[CJF]

ha...that's good.

But inaccurate. I don't think anyone wants him back for his basketball skills.

[MarkGrace]

But inaccurate. I don't think anyone wants him back for his basketball skills.

Well, I would put the height/body section bigger if we were being serious. I watched some clips of him from the worlds this summer and the way he can move for being so damn big is really impressive. There are only two other centers in the league his size (+300 pounds) and neither moves half as well as him -- though of course I still think he needs to be more in the 275-280 range.

Sucks to know he has that kind of frame and just won't do what it takes to improve his basketball skills. I guess at least he'll hold the record for world's largest Willy Wonka impersonator.

[CJF]

Well, I would put the height/body section bigger if we were being serious. I watched some clips of him from the worlds this summer and the way he can move for being so damn big is really impressive. There are only two other centers in the league his size (+300 pounds) and neither moves half as well as him -- though of course I still think he needs to be more in the 275-280 range.

Sucks to know he has that kind of frame and just won't do what it takes to improve his basketball skills. I guess at least he'll hold the record for world's largest Willy Wonka impersonator.

You took my comment seriously. Sorry, didn't mean to waste your time.

[MarkGrace]

You took my comment seriously. Sorry, didn't mean to waste your time.

No, not really. I was going to post what I said originally, but didn't. Then I saw your comment, which I knew was intended to be a joke, and decided to piggy-back on it to get my comment out there anyway.

[CJF]

No, not really. I was going to post what I said originally, but didn't. Then I saw your comment, which I knew was intended to be a joke, and decided to piggy-back on it to get my comment out there anyway.

I agree with your comments but that kind of ruins my lame joke.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Well, I would put the height/body section bigger if we were being serious. I watched some clips of him from the worlds this summer and the way he can move for being so @#!*% big is really impressive. There are only two other centers in the league his size (+300 pounds) and neither moves half as well as him -- though of course I still think he needs to be more in the 275-280 range.

Sucks to know he has that kind of frame and just won't do what it takes to improve his basketball skills. I guess at least he'll hold the record for world's largest Willy Wonka impersonator.

I really want Fess to be back for one more season, just because I want to see what happens to him when he gets to practice against Al Jefferson all year. (Which I'm not sure why I care so much, given how often the team actually practices during the season)

Fess has spent his career playing for a coach that cares more about his hair color than his size, and has tried to get better by going up against a center that lives at the three-point line, a PF that fades on almost every post move, and Jarron Collins.

The most likely scenario is Jefferson's offensive skill set makes Fess look even worse in practice and that Fess' brain and vodka affection prevent him from picking up anything useful. But given his size and ability, I'd like to take my chances if all it takes is the qualifying offer.

[Blueintheface]

I really want Fess to be back for one more season, just because I want to see what happens to him when he gets to practice against Al Jefferson all year. (Which I'm not sure why I care so much, given how often the team actually practices during the season)

Fess has spent his career playing for a coach that cares more about his hair color than his size, and has tried to get better by going up against a center that lives at the three-point line, a PF that fades on almost every post move, and Jarron Collins.

The most likely scenario is Jefferson's offensive skill set makes Fess look even worse in practice and that Fess' brain and vodka affection prevent him from picking up anything useful. But given his size and ability, I'd like to take my chances if all it takes is the qualifying offer.

I'm still wondering how Jefferson's pick and roll will be. The Jazz don't run it as much as people think but I thought Locke's breakdown of Jefferson's roll in MN was interesting. It indicated he almost never did ran the pick and roll. That speaks more to the style of offense than to Jefferson's skill set but I'm still curious if he can get the timing right and finish like he's accustomed.

To the Fess point, I think it may be more beneficial to Al than to Fess for him (Al) to go up against a very tall individual in practice. Cliche alert: You can't teach length.