"You Gotta Love It Baby" Official Jazz thread

[UtahJazzFan88]

In Haywards defense he was really moving well. He got caught under the basket a few times and left his feet but nobody was moving to the basket to help him out.

A side note, I feel bad for the fringe NBA players who won't make a roster due to just 2 preseason games and never getting a shot. It appears most coaches just can't afford to play anyone who won't definitively be on the regular season roster. Fortunately or unfortunately the Jazz fringe roster is atrocious.

I wanted to see Paul Carter get some burn, from some of the stuff that scouts and draft experts have said, he has some decent potential.

[SloanHater]

The Jazz should start pg Harris, sg Burks, sf Hayward, pf Jefferson, c Favors with Kanter, Millsap, and Evans getting at least 20 minutes off the bench.

Corbin will start pg Harris, sg Bell, sf Howard, pf Millsap, c Jefferson with Watson, Bell, and Miles getting at least 20 minutes off the bench.

The curse of Jerry Sloan.

[cougjunkie]

Now we know why Burks received such rave reviews in training camp, he had Raja guarding him.

The Jazz looked terrible last night, you can see its only 1 preseason game but guess what they only have one more. Season is less than a week away. Watching Memo guard Gerald Wallace was awesome.

[smokymountainrain]

Now we know why Burks received such rave reviews in training camp, he had Raja guarding him.

The Jazz looked terrible last night, you can see its only 1 preseason game but guess what they only have one more. Season is less than a week away. Watching Memo guard Gerald Wallace was awesome.

Seriously. It's so depressing, since all of us Jazz fans are expecting them to contend for a title this year.

[cougjunkie]

Seriously. It's so depressing, since all of us Jazz fans are expecting them to contend for a title this year.

I am sure no one expected them to contend for a title but that team last night does not win 10 games.

[MartyFunkhouser]

I am sure no one expected them to contend for a title but that team last night does not win 10 games.

I'll take the over on 10 wins.

[falafel]

Now we know why Burks received such rave reviews in training camp, he had Raja guarding him.

The Jazz looked terrible last night, you can see its only 1 preseason game but guess what they only have one more. Season is less than a week away. Watching Memo guard Gerald Wallace was awesome.

They looked terrible with Harris, Memo, Big Al, Roger and CJ on the court.

They looked pretty good with Harris, Favors, Kanter, Hayward and Burks. Even with Hayward and Burks getting caught up, there was more energy on offense. Favors and Kanter were cleaning up on the boards.

[MarkGrace]

I'm still too busy celebrating last year's preseason championship to worry about this year.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

What was the word on Hayward last night? I at in-law exile and couldn't watch.

My biggest worry with him is that he goes into deferment mode way too frequently. Other than just more consistent minutes in the last month of the season I thought the biggest change for him was his mental approach to the game, where he seemed less concerned with just fitting in and instead was out there to make plays. But I wonder if what is actually being preached in practice constantly is for the young guys to fit in instead of to stand out.

[MarkGrace]

What was the word on Hayward last night? I at in-law exile and couldn't watch.

My biggest worry with him is that he goes into deferment mode way too frequently. Other than just more consistent minutes in the last month of the season I thought the biggest change for him was his mental approach to the game, where he seemed less concerned with just fitting in and instead was out there to make plays. But I wonder if what is actually being preached in practice constantly is for the young guys to fit in instead of to stand out.

I didn't watch, but according to what I read a lot of his mistakes were active/aggresive mistakes. I'm fine with that, as it's better than the passive mentality he showed at the beginning of last year.

I'm also hoping that we see more side SnR action with Hawyard/Burks and the bigs. Hawyard really shined with some of those opportunities last year, and I'm not terribly comfortable with Harris as a playmaker/setup guy. From what I can tell not a lot of this happened last night, and I'm hoping that we'll see more.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

I didn't watch, but according to what I read a lot of his mistakes were active/aggresive mistakes. I'm fine with that, as it's better than the passive mentality he showed at the beginning of last year.

I'm also hoping that we see more side SnR action with Hawyard/Burks and the bigs. Hawyard really shined with some of those opportunities last year, and I'm not terribly comfortable with Harris as a playmaker/setup guy. From what I can tell not a lot of this happened last night, and I'm hoping that we'll see more.

I'm interested in seeing who Harris logs most of his minutes with because his strength is getting out in transition. Hence the lineup of Harris with Memo, Jefferson, Bell, and Miles...makes perfect sense.

[Jacob]

It was really ugly last night. If it were reasonable to extrapolate anything from it, junkie is right, that is not a 10 win team based on what I saw. But it is unreasonable to take anything away from that game.

Corbin had the strange idea of starting the old guys together, then giving most of the minutes to all the rookies/sophs together. I say strange, because it seems like you would want a couple of guys on the court who have played in the NBA and are experienced. The young unit didn't know what to do, IMO. The offense didn't look good. Turnovers everywhere. But at least most of them played significant minutes.

They made Portland look pretty good.

[MarkGrace]

Corbin had the strange idea of starting the old guys together, then giving most of the minutes to all the rookies/sophs together. I say strange, because it seems like you would want a couple of guys on the court who have played in the NBA and are experienced. The young unit didn't know what to do, IMO. The offense didn't look good. Turnovers everywhere. But at least most of them played significant minutes.

It wasn't terribly strange for a normal preseason, but it was when you only have two games, though I don't think it lasts. At some point he's going to mix experience and youth in both the starting lineup and bench rotation. It makes zero sense not to.

[MarkGrace]

I'm interested in seeing who Harris logs most of his minutes with because his strength is getting out in transition. Hence the lineup of Harris with Memo, Jefferson, Bell, and Miles...makes perfect sense.

Especially when getting out in the floor and running with Harris has been an emphasis in camp.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Hollinger projecting the WC:

11. Utah Jazz (27-39)

Long-term, I love what the Jazz are doing. Love it, love it, love it. This team is my early favorite to be my go-to late-night League Pass fix.

Here's why: The Jazz are set up to become a major force about three seasons from now. Nobody has caught on to this nationally, but they're positioning themselves to be the next Oklahoma City. Utah has four lottery picks from the past two drafts -- Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter, Gordon Hayward and Alec Burks -- and are likely to have two more (their own and Golden State's) in the 2012 draft. That six-man group will give the Jazz a five-year window to win big in the middle of the decade.

Alas, they're a giant question mark in the interim. Al Jefferson, Devin Harris, Paul Millsap and C.J. Miles are all potent offensively and suspect defensively, although Harris is redeemable. One of the best defensive players in the league when he was in Dallas, Harris has slacked off since then.

Utah went off the rails with that group last season. It's hard to remember now, but the Jazz were once 14 games over .500. With the departures of Jerry Sloan and Deron Williams marking a shift in direction, they had the biggest first- to second-half decline in NBA history, going from 27-14 at the break to 12-29 afterward. In particular, the defense fell off -- the Jazz finished 23rd after ranking in the top 10 early -- and while some events were beyond his control, head coach Tyrone Corbin needs to prove he can motivate his troops to play halfway decent defense.

Utah also has some short-term options. I have to think they'll shop Mehmet Okur at the trade deadline since he's a fifth wheel in the frontcourt rotation and owns an expiring contract; Jefferson, Millsap and Harris all expire in 2013 and also could come into play.

That won't help them this season, obviously, and I think the kids are going to take their lumps. But get your shots in on the Jazz while you can, because in a few seasons they'll be back with a vengeance.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/previ...cted-standings