"You Gotta Love It Baby" Official Jazz thread

[Blueintheface]

bitf porn.

Admit it, MG. It made your needle move just a little bit.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

bitf porn.

So Mailman still works harder than most NBA starters?

[MarkGrace]

So Mailman still works harder than most NBA starters?

Article today said he's still at his playing weight and works out at least three times a week for about three hours per session. So I think the answer is probably yes.

[Non Sequitur]

I haven't looked at the numbers, but I did watch a lot of Paul George in the Playoffs when LeBron was on him. LeBron got the best of him over the long haul, but there were times when George took it right at him and made him look human. I can't envision any scenario in which Gordon Hayward gets the best of LeBron. Has Gordon Hayward ever created a match-up problem for another team? Has another team ever had to scheme around Gordon Hayward? If we're in the Fieldhouse choosing teams, I've gotta believe you're not going to take Hayward ahead of George.

[MarkGrace]

I haven't looked at the numbers, but I did watch a lot of Paul George in the Playoffs when LeBron was on him. LeBron got the best of him over the long haul, but there were times when George took it right at him and made him look human. I can't envision any scenario in which Gordon Hayward gets the best of LeBron.

Everyone got a George boner over a some nice games and big moments in the playoffs. The problem is, you only are what you were the whole season, not in a handful of games (same thing has happened with GSW on a team level) or against some single opponent. And Paul George just wasn't drastically different than Gordon Hayward in terms of regular season production.

Has Gordon Hayward ever created a match-up problem for another team? Has another team ever had to scheme around Gordon Hayward? If we're in the Fieldhouse choosing teams, I've gotta believe you're not going to take Hayward ahead of George.

If you only watched the playoffs, when were opposing teams ever scheming around Paul George? Indiana was not a very good offensive team (they ranked well behind even the Jazz in terms of offensive efficiency) and succeeded on having one of the better team defenses in recent memory. Miami may have made some switches to check George, but there was no grand team defensive scheme to stop him. Scheming is what SA did to Bron in the Finals.

That said, I'm not disagreeing with you, but it's not because of offense. There's really nothing to back up the argument that George was a better scorer this season than Hayward in terms of real data (I think there are some qualitative arguments there, but BGR hit them better than you did). For me right now I take George simply because of his stopper ability. And I just think his longer frame and superior athleticism give him more long-run upside.

[MarkGrace]

Marc Stein @ESPNSteinLine 3h
Klay Thompson had a strong shooting day at Team USA camp in Vegas. Ty Lawson made some noise, too. Ditto for Lillard, Kyrie and P-George

Marc Stein @ESPNSteinLine 3h
But two names that keep coming up out here in Sin City that were not widely expected to wow us: Gordon Hayward & Creighton's Doug McDermott

G-Time is probably just made he has to interrupt his busy summer schedule of playing Starcraft to attend mini-camp.

[smokymountainrain]

G-Time is probably just made he has to interrupt his busy summer schedule of playing Starcraft to attend mini-camp.

Doug McDermott? Again?! But we've learned in this thread that he's a POS- er, one of the "ugly chicks" and future second round pick. A guy you certainly don't want to be mentioned in the same sentence with. Must be getting lucky.

[MarkGrace]

I was looking at McDermott's numbers earlier today when people were talking about him in this thread. His Frosh year he went 60.1% fg's and 48.6% from 3 on 14.6 and 3.2 attempts, respectively. Soph year was 54.8% and 49.0% on 14.4 and 4.4. I don't care which conference you play in, that shit is bananas.

[wapiti]

Doug McDermott? Again?! But we've learned in this thread that he's a POS- er, one of the "ugly chicks" and future second round pick. A guy you certainly don't want to be mentioned in the same sentence with. Must be getting lucky.

My comment was limited to DeAndre Jordan. I know nothing about McDermott other than he's still in college.

[MarkGrace]

My comment was limited to DeAndre Jordan. I know nothing about McDermott other than he's still in college.

Stein followed up the tweet with an article, and this is what it said:

According to the whispers emanating from UNLV's Mendenhall Center, Portland's Damian Lillard, Utah's Gordon Hayward and collegian Doug McDermott of Creighton were among the Day 1 standouts, with the Los Angeles Clippers' Jordan said to have made his presence felt defensively.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/95...usa-basketball

That doesn't seem so improbable.

[smokymountainrain]

I was looking at McDermott's numbers earlier today when people were talking about him in this thread. His Frosh year he went 60.1% fg's and 48.6% from 3 on 14.6 and 3.2 attempts, respectively. Soph year was 54.8% and 49.0% on 14.4 and 4.4. I don't care which conference you play in, that shit is bananas.

What makes those soph numbers even more impressive - when you watch the games it is obvious - is that he was the sole focus of defenses on that Creighton team. He's always being defended by the best defensive player on the opposing team, and they are constantly running a second guy at him to ensure he's never open or getting easy shots. But because he's such a great shooter (Glen Rice comes to mind) and is so damn smart and moves without the ball so well, he finds ways to get shots. Plus, at the college level, he's a beast in the low post.

[Surfah]

What makes those soph numbers even more impressive - when you watch the games it is obvious - is that he was the sole focus of defenses on that Creighton team. He's always being defended by the best defensive player on the opposing team, and they are constantly running a second guy at him to ensure he's never open or getting easy shots. But because he's such a great shooter (Glen Rice comes to mind) and is so damn smart and moves without the ball so well, he finds ways to get shots. Plus, at the college level, he's a beast in the low post.

I doubt that he'd be as effective in the post at the next level. His up and under is his bread and butter because he doesn't really elevate and I am not sure that will get him to the rim like it does now. He can stroke it though. His game is kind of ugly. Like Paul Pierce.

[smokymountainrain]

I doubt that he'd be as effective in the post at the next level. His up and under is his bread and butter because he doesn't really elevate and I am not sure that will get him to the rim like it does now. He can stroke it though. His game is kind of ugly. Like Paul Pierce.

Agreed about the post play. I don't think you'd ever draft him based what he's shown at the college level there.

[Applejack]

Doug McDermott? Again?! But we've learned in this thread that he's a POS- er, one of the "ugly chicks" and future second round pick. A guy you certainly don't want to be mentioned in the same sentence with. Must be getting lucky.

Lol. This is obviously directed at me. I just hope that the 2013-14 tanking experiment doesn't bag us Douglas McDermott, the greatest walk-on to ever play college basketball: http://www.cbssports.com/collegebask...n-at-creighton

[MarkGrace]

Pelton picks the Jazz 13th in the West.

13. Utah Jazz (2012-13 finish: 9th)
By letting Randy Foye, Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap and Mo Williams all walk in free agency, Utah effectively swapped its bench for its starters. That group, including talented youngsters Alec Burks, Derrick Favors, Gordon Hayward and Enes Kanter, might have contended for a playoff spot with support from a new veteran second unit.

Instead, the Jazz swallowed dead salary from Golden State to secure two future first-round picks, making it clear that this is a rebuilding season.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story...ern-conference