"You Gotta Love It Baby" Official Jazz thread

[Jarid in Cedar]

I'm still kind of shocked AK hit 5 3's. I thought mediocre shooters becoming 3pt gunners only happened on the Suns.

The real trouble is that good results will fuel bad behavior..... over and over and over.

[JohnnyLingo]

Deron can do no wrong in the eyes of Jazz fans. He is the best pg in the nba according to most of them.

Deron has built up a lot of goodwill with Jazz fans.

He was the only one who showed up against the Lakers in the 2007 WCF.

He's averaged close to 20 and 10 the last three seasons.

He has hit a lot of clutch, game-winning shots over his career.

He plays hard and doesn't whine about wanting a trade.

It's not that he can do absolutely no wrong, but it will take a lot for Jazz fans to ever turn on him. And with how Paul has performed, it's a rare, purple-goggled Jazz fan who says Deron is the better point guard. But I'm still fine with Deron... he's great. It's a very close race.

And btw, Stockton IS the best PG ever.

[smokymountainrain]

i am kind of getting that vibe.

and some people didn't want to read your simmons book because it doesn't offer any insight or analysis!

This team keeps blowing huge leads. Almost nightly. Who is responsible?

This Jazz thread has unwittingly become something greater than I could have ever imagined. The one thread that has serious potential to overtake the Lakers thread....and it is an entire thread, by Jazz fans, for Jazz fans....dedicated to complaining about how awful the Jazz are. I couldn't have scripted that any better if I had done it myself.

I see a couple major reasons for the meltdowns...

First, the Jazz don't play defense. In crunch time, when opponents HAVE to have baskets, they can get them almost at will. They can get open looks from deep or they can get to the basket for easy hoops or get fouled. Yes, they can do this throughout the game, but it isn't until the 4th quarter and they have that sense of urgency that they really dig down and get it done.

Second, Deron is the only player on the team capable of creating his own offense. He is also the guy who is relied on to get other guys involved. When your only player who can create his own shot is also the guy who is responsible to get teammates involved, you have a problem. And just like above, this problem is that much more exaggerated when it matters most. Teams start to focus more on Deron, double him, whatever...and when the Jazz need hoops, when they need somebody to step up (Millsap! Boozer! Brewer!), they simply don't have the ability to take the load off Deron.

There is a reason we don't blame Deron...He's the only player on the roster who's worth a shit.

[fusnik]

The Garden was great tonight except for: the Jazz blowing a lead to a horri le team, Milsap for 4 more years, Andrei hitting threes (that's a bad gift), crappy concessions, and horrible exit stradegies.

[LiveCoug]

You forgot Houston.

Did we have a huge lead in that game? I don't remember being up by more than 5 or 6......

[MarkGrace]

Did we have a huge lead in that game? I don't remember being up by more than 5 or 6......

Yeah, you're right. I just looked at the game log and we never went up by more than a handful. For some reason I thought we had a double digit lead at some point in that game.

I see a couple major reasons for the meltdowns...

First, the Jazz don't play defense. In crunch time, when opponents HAVE to have baskets, they can get them almost at will. They can get open looks from deep or they can get to the basket for easy hoops or get fouled. Yes, they can do this throughout the game, but it isn't until the 4th quarter and they have that sense of urgency that they really dig down and get it done.

Second, Deron is the only player on the team capable of creating his own offense. He is also the guy who is relied on to get other guys involved. When your only player who can create his own shot is also the guy who is responsible to get teammates involved, you have a problem. And just like above, this problem is that much more exaggerated when it matters most. Teams start to focus more on Deron, double him, whatever...and when the Jazz need hoops, when they need somebody to step up (Millsap! Boozer! Brewer!), they simply don't have the ability to take the load off Deron.

I would agree with both, but I actually think in some respect our offense is as responsible as our defense. This renewed emphasis on defense hasn't seemed to do anything but detract from our offensive efficiency (the defense still looks as mediocre-bad as ever). I've said this before, but this team is built like the Phoenix Suns in that they have to outscore you to win. I know, duh!, every team has to outscore the other, right? I guess what I mean by that is they have to maximize every offensive possession in order to stay ahead because they're just flat not capable of getting stops on D.

Two years ago they won 54 games (most with this incarnation of the Jazz) and were scoring 113.8 points per 100 possessions (first in the league). Last year they dropped to 48 win on 110.1 p100 (eight in the league) and this year so far 109 p100 (worst in the last four years and currently eleventh in the league). Meanwhile their defensive points per 100 possessions has stayed more less within the range of one point (it's high right now, but I suspect it will drop with the NY game and more or less look like the last two years by the end of the season).

The other factor, and I think most have probably been a part of something similar, is just a collective mentality that you start to develop as a team due to some type of repeat circumstance. Almost like a conditioned response that you expect to happen. You get up 15 late in the game and everyone is thinking the same thing, and your play almost becomes a function of the thoughts running through the back of your head. You tense up, stop doing what you were doing before, and start playing not to lose instead of playing to win. It's no surprise that the best 4th quarter they've played recently came when they went into the quarter down 14 (or however many they were down against the Kings). With nothing to lose, they played aggressively instead of tightening up, and ripped through the Kings D like they hadn't done at any other point in the game.

This team needs to get back to be an offensive machine (which probably won't happen as long as you are forced to play AK and Brew together for such extensive minutes) and see a sports psychologist. Other than that, it just needs roster changes to seek out better complements as I mentioned a few pages ago.

[MarkGrace]

Could we be without both Deron and Price tomorrow? That would really suck. I don't even know who would back up Maynor. Maybe AK, I guess.

[Donuthole]

Could we be without both Deron and Price tomorrow? That would really suck. I don't even know who would back up Maynor. Maybe AK, I guess.

Here's hoping this is the beginning of Deron's "injury" problems that keep him out most of the year.

[TripletDaddy]

Good news! Paul Millsap is on this year's All-Star ballot!

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705343575/Millsap-a-surprise-on-ballot.html

He will probably get a lot of votes.

[Blueintheface]

Oh goody, Brewer may be used at the point tonight. Maybe Fes can give him some pointers.

http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_13762610

Wanna hear a joke?

Ronnie Brewer is a starting 2 guard in the NBA.

A guy who can't shoot outside of 6 inches and who can't dribble if his life depended on it is the starting Missing Guard for an NBA team. In 20 less min per game, an undrafted free agent has shown the ability to dribble, make the midrange shot, and shoot a higher percentage than the highly paid guy who starts ahead of him. Will his minutes increase even without Korver and Miles? Of course not. It would make too much sense.

Go Jazz!

[MarkGrace]

Deron shouldn't play even if Price can't go. Play Maynor, Brewer, AK, whatever...but it's not worth it to send Deron out there if he's not feeling right.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Back issues are serious, ask 97-98 David Robinson. The Jazz should take this thing very seriously, I think hold DWill out until late March is wise.

[MarkGrace]

Back issues are serious, ask 97-98 David Robinson. The Jazz should take this thing very seriously, I think hold DWill out until late March is wise.

There's not a guy on this team that doesn't have back problems at this point. AK goes through it every season, Memo, Brewer early this season, and now Deron.

What the crap is going on?

[Surfah]

There's not a guy on this team that doesn't have back problems at this point. AK goes through it every season, Memo, Brewer early this season, and now Deron.

What the crap is going on?

It was kind of interesting to me thinking about this very thing with the latest injury casualty Eric Gordon on the Clippers. Sometimes I wonder if it's the trainers, strength and conditioning coaches or what. But don't some teams seem cursed?

[MarkGrace]

It was kind of interesting to me thinking about this very thing with the latest injury casualty Eric Gordon on the Clippers. Sometimes I wonder if it's the trainers, strength and conditioning coaches or what. But don't some teams seem cursed?

The Jazz started training with this facility called P3 in Santa Monica prior to last season. Not all the players went, but the ones who did raved about the workouts and how they felt stronger, quicker, healthier, etc. Then the season came around and the Jazz went through a rash injuries greater than anything I can remember.

I've always wondered if the injuries have to do anything with the training, but it's hard to tell.