"You Gotta Love It Baby" Official Jazz thread

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Agreed. I don't think there's much difference between him and Jeff, so either one is available. Sap is obviously more attractive to another team at his salary. Jazz are already low on draft picks having given up a few in the Jefferson trade, etc. So any move besides Sap will be difficult.

What's your prediction on the rotation? I can't see Sloan continuing to change it every night. But, as I think you've said before, I think he needs to be more drastic. Benching Bell is obvious. But starting Fess might be an improvement, as bad as that sounds. Harder now with Memo back though. I wish he wouldn't leave the starters in so long during the 1st...especially Bell. I have no prediction as to what he'll do. But I think he's lost them.

I'm not predicting any of this happens.

I'm beyond done with this staff. You've got Sloan refusing to make a change forever even though the Jazz couldn't start a game out well, talking about how he didn't want to make a change unless he was sure it would help, and that he didn't want to disrupt rotations. And then Phil Johnson is on the radio yesterday saying, "We've always said it doesn't matter who starts. That just isn't that big of a deal. We expect whoever starts to play well, and whoever comes off the bench to accept it, play with energy, and play their best."

So which is it? It does matter or it doesn't? Guys just need to be ready, or you have to coddle them and not disrupt the eternally delicate balance of a rotation? You've got to have guys that play with energy, but you continue to value someone who makes zero plays because he maybe makes fewer obvious errors, like having a lousy PG who has a great a/to ratio because all he does is dribble down the court and pass off to an open shooter but never drives or creates.

Can't wait for Greg Miller to tweet that he's spent a lot of money, he really wants to win as badly as the fans, and that Jerry Sloan is infallible and will coach forever.

[Jacob]

I'm beyond done with this staff. You've got Sloan refusing to make a change forever even though the Jazz couldn't start a game out well, talking about how he didn't want to make a change unless he was sure it would help, and that he didn't want to disrupt rotations. And then Phil Johnson is on the radio yesterday saying, "We've always said it doesn't matter who starts. That just isn't that big of a deal. We expect whoever starts to play well, and whoever comes off the bench to accept it, play with energy, and play their best."

So which is it? It does matter or it doesn't? Guys just need to be ready, or you have to coddle them and not disrupt the eternally delicate balance of a rotation? You've got to have guys that play with energy, but you continue to value someone who makes zero plays because he maybe makes fewer obvious errors, like having a lousy PG who has a great a/to ratio because all he does is dribble down the court and pass off to an open shooter but never drives or creates.

Can't wait for Greg Miller to tweet that he's spent a lot of money, he really wants to win as badly as the fans, and that Jerry Sloan is infallible and will coach forever.

On Phil Johnson, I heard a different interview a week or so ago that also turned me on him. The question was whether the close wins and comeback wins were sustainable or whether this was a problem that pointed to the Jazz record indicating that the team was actually better that it really is.

Instead of conceding that the slow starts and close wins are a major concern, he claimed that even the best Stockton Malone teams had lots and lots of close wins. And that people don't remember what really happened. That we suppose they must've blown everybody out.

Well, I for one never supposed such a thing Johnson apparently misremembers (we all do). Of course, there were games where those good teams lost to mediocre teams or barely beat bad teams. There are off nights. But I'm certain (don't have the stats) that a true analysis would show that the Jazz margin of victory was significant and that there were fewer close calls than Johnson was imagining.

[Blueintheface]

I'm just pleased that I can focus on the Cougs this spring and my yard when the tournament is over. You'll let me know when Greg and Gail put this team up for sale?

[MarkGrace]

If you're looking for someone to blame for the Utah Jazz's recent struggles, don't point your finger at Deron Williams.

The All-Star point guard is frustrated these days, and rightfully so. He's doing all he can to keep the 27-18 Jazz relevant in the Western Conference this season, which is no easy task. Though he may not admit it, he's finding it increasingly difficult without Carlos Boozer at his side. No, Steve Nash isn't the only elite point guard in the West who has missed the company of an All-Star big man this season.

But like Nash, Williams is realizing he can't do it all by himself, despite his best efforts. Instead of wallowing in Boozer's absence, the 26-year-old point guard has responded by playing some of the best ball of his six-year career. Williams' 22.8 player efficiency rating, 59.9 true shooting percentage and 118 offensive rating are all career highs. If he continues at this torrid rate, he'll join Chris Paul as the only players to average 21 points and nine assists since Tim Hardaway in the 1992-93 season for the Golden State Warriors.

In a Darwinian sense, Williams has evolved to adapt to his new surroundings. The Jazz hoped to replace Boozer's production by promoting Paul Millsap to the starting lineup and acquiring former Minnesota Timberwolves center Al Jefferson to man the center position. Millsap has filled in nicely but he's not as lethal in the pick-and-roll as Boozer, who was the fourth most efficient roll man in the NBA last season, according to Synergy. (Boozer scored 1.28 points per pick-and-roll finish last season, while Millsap has scored just 1.14 this season.)

As a result, Williams has moved away from ball-screen attacks and migrated toward creating offense for himself. He's shouldered more responsibility on the offensive end, raising his usage rate -- the percentage of team possessions a player uses while on the floor -- from 23.8 percent last season to a career-high 26.4 percent in his Boozer-less campaign.

How has Williams maintained his efficiency while taking on more offense? The versatile point guard has put a greater emphasis on the two most efficient weapons for a scorer: getting to the free throw line and raining from beyond the arc.

No point guard can match Williams' overwhelming combination of strength and speed. As such, he has elected to take his man off the dribble and to the rack far more than he's done in the past. According to Synergy, Williams has upped his share of isolation plays from 18.7 percent to 23.3 percent of his offense, which ranks as one of the biggest increases in the league.

Defenders are finding it near impossible to stop his inertia once he gets into the lane. The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder is earning seven trips to the free throw line per game, which is an incredible mark considering where he was four seasons ago. In the 2006-07 season, Williams was a below-average foul-drawer and averaged 3.7 free throws per game. Now, Williams finds himself among the very best at his position in free throw rate (free throw attempts per field goal attempt). When defenders send a career 81 percent free throw shooter to the line, it's the equivalent of relinquishing a wide-open layup -- only they pick up a foul, too.

Williams is embracing his long-distance stroke, as well. The point guard has always been a formidable 3-point threat from downtown, but the Jazz didn't need him to flash that part of his game as much with Mehmet Okur, Wesley Matthews and Kyle Korver manning the arc. But without them, Williams has become the team's leading 3-point shooter, with 4.9 attempts per game at a 37.4 percent clip. Last year, he took just 3.4 3-pointers a game.

Williams has taken his game to the next level, but you may not have noticed with fellow point guards Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose improving by leaps and bounds this season. Rest assured, Williams is padding what was already a top-notch resume this season and making the summer of 2012, when he can become a free agent, all the more intriguing.

With Williams already expressing concern over the direction of the team, the Jazz's front office better hope Jerry Sloan can right the ship soon or they risk jeopardizing the future of their franchise, one that should revolve around their star point guard.

[ame="http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=haberstroh_tom&id=6060559"]NBA: Utah Jazz PG Deron Williams is only getting better - ESPN[/ame]

[MarkGrace]

What's your prediction on the rotation? I can't see Sloan continuing to change it every night. But, as I think you've said before, I think he needs to be more drastic. Benching Bell is obvious. But starting Fess might be an improvement, as bad as that sounds. Harder now with Memo back though. I wish he wouldn't leave the starters in so long during the 1st...especially Bell. I have no prediction as to what he'll do. But I think he's lost them.

I have no idea what to expect. Not to be a Sloan apologist here, but I'm not sure there's an easy move that fixes the problems. That said, you've got to start trying stuff, because the ship is sinking. I think there needs to be at least one permanent change in both the frontcourt and backcourt. To me those moves are taking out Raja -- and I think CJ is a suitable replacement -- and Sap. So you move Jefferson over to the 4 (where he belongs in my mind), but who at the 5? I guess you maybe give Fess a shot (and I feel like his size is always a positive factor), but the kid is always going to be a mixed bag. But the biggest problem if you ask me is that Sloan just doesn't know how to bench Raja and Sap.

But I think the problems are more fundamental than changes in the starting lineup. Right now the Jazz suck on both offense and defense. The defense is mostly expected, but the team in the D-Will era has constantly made its mark by being among the most efficient in the league. What has changed? In my mind it is the following:

Screening - the is bar none the worst screening Jazz team I've seen in years, and we all know the motion offense is set up on a series of screens and counters. Our guys either (1) set a screen that is way too soft or (2) don't hold and slip (this happens the most often). The motion relies on creating space through screens to get the ball ahead of the defense, and that's not happening. You need a firm screen that takes the defender out of his crouch, or you haven't created enough space to start the ball ahead of the defense.

If you can't use screeens, you have to beat guys in iso. And as we know, we only have one guy capable of doing that, which is why he's still getting it done whether others aren't.

Passing - this team has an awful habit of passing to a guy once he's in a spot, instead of leading him to the spot. Again, ball is not ahead of the defense, and the space closes down. You're getting little to no separation on screens, and not gaining anything from the passes.

Cuts - again, hard cuts are a hallmark of motion, and this team cuts way too soft. Long routes and round routes instead of hard angles.

Personnel to run motion and SnR - this pains me to say, but Harp was masterful in our offense. Unfortunately he didn't has a high level of skill, but his execution in our motion was second-to-none. I've seen the same off-ball screens and pindowns run for at least a dozen other guys and none of them get the space Harp could. Last year Korver had some skill within these sets, and hit a lot of those elbow J's. He couldn't get the space Harp did, but he had an added skill in that he anticipated a pass off those pindowns really nicely. This year we have no Harp or Korver to run those plays. You know who's the best on our roster at it? Deron. Which is why Sloan has put him at the 2 -- it's a bread-and-butter Jazz play he's been the only one able to consistently pull it off (side note: Denver employed the same defense against CP3 in the '09 playoffs as they did against Deron last year -- hard trap, force the ball out of his hands, etc -- only Deron could play off-ball and CP couldn't. Was any play more automatic in the 1st round than Deron running those same plays as Harp once the ball was out of his hands?).

In terms of the SnR, again lacking the weapons we had last year. Everyone knows the Jazz crunch play is the "High C." Two picks set with Memo and Booz, Deron has the option with either, defenses freeze because of Booz's ability to go to the hoop and Memo's to step all the way out. I think we were all concerned about Jefferson's ability to run the SnR, and thus far he's certainly not as adept at it as Booz. The guy has never played in a structured offense so maybe he'll come around, but at 25 you worry about how much he can progress with this stuff.

So far Sap seems more comfortable with the SnR than Jefferson (probably because he's grown up with it in NBA terms), but again he doesn't have the size or versatility to be the varied type of scorer that Booz was.

Defense - this team is ok man-to-man, but they are beyond awful playing team defense. Bad help, late help, uncomitted help, and never seem to have a clear understanding of what they're doing against SnR situations or other ball screens (which teams are using to just rip them apart).

This team is a mess, and no one player is at fault. They've got a lot to figure out in terms of their execution on both ends.

[Jacob]

I agree that there is no easy solution. I'm the guy who said at the start of the season (after the perfect pre-season) that the Jazz bench was probably the worst in the league. Not too many options.

Another thing I've said before: There is rarely a reason to have all 4 starters on the bench at the same time, so the depth argument is not as big of a concern for me as the starters. Except for the fact that Sloan insists on playing the B team as a unit. I don't think other good teams do this very often.

[TripletDaddy]

That is a very complimentary article about Darren's stratospheric game.

On an unrelated note, I predict the jazz lose their sixth game in a row tonight.

[MarkGrace]

Another thing I've said before: There is rarely a reason to have all 4 starters on the bench at the same time, so the depth argument is not as big of a concern for me as the starters. Except for the fact that Sloan insists on playing the B team as a unit. I don't think other good teams do this very often.

It would be interesting to see how other teams distribute their minutes among the bench. My guess is the Jazz aren't that far outside of the norm. I don't see a reason to play the second as one unit, but I would think most teams are going 10 or so deep during the regular season.

[MarkGrace]

Wait, so the CJ experiment ended at one game? Goodness.

[MarkGrace]

CJ, how's Splitter been? He's definitely not getting the minutes I thought he would. Does he look ok when he's out there?

[MarkGrace]

2nd unit really killed the mojo tonight. Otherwise this is a decent game.

[MarkGrace]

Ugh.

[Surfah]

That double flop is the worst thing I have ever seen. Manu and Raja should both get ejected for that.

[Sizzle]

That double flop is the worst thing I have ever seen. Manu and Raja should both get ejected for that.

That would be a Jazz fans dream.

[MarkGrace]

Do we get a moral victory for this one?

Raja was downright Fisher-esque in his contributions tonight. In fact, this has to be the best line since Fisher's 34 minute doughnut hole. Dude just fouled out in 32 mins, and racked up 1 rebound, 1 assist and 1 blk. Ho. Ly. Shit.