It's Time to Move Sap To The Bench

[freakazoid]

You can move the furniture around all you want, but it won't turn a dump into a 5 star hotel.

[Gyp Rosetti]

Listening to one of the radio shows a few weeks ago, they had a weekly chat with the "NBA scout." About the most emphatic thing he said about the team is that the Jazz have to realize that Sap is not a starting PF in this league.

And yet he started for us all last year en route to the playoffs.

[PKM]

You can move the furniture around all you want, but it won't turn a dump into a 5 star hotel.

So no matter what we're a dump. That sucks.

[freakazoid]

So no matter what we're a dump. That sucks.

No. We just need to buy some nicer furniture, do some cleaning and painting, and then sell the place and move somewhere else entirely.
.


We'll be fine.

[m3at]

I think Millsap can be a starter on almst any low-rank playoff contender. I don't think he is starting-caliber on a team contending for a championship. I have no trouble moving him to the bench in favor of Favors.

I used to believe this, but the argument could be made that a player like Millsap would thrive on a team with better talent and bigger stars (like most players do), thus taking focus and pressure off of him. He's currently a Utah Jazz "star" and there are some expectations that come with that role, not to mention that he's a focal point in the offense (after Al of course, which I'm sure is a thorn in his side) and opposing teams have scouting reports on him.

I could see him succeed on a Lakers, Heat, SPURS, type of teams because of the focus being on the big stars of the team.

[m3at]

Since Al is a "known quantity", would you like to characterize him with respect to playoff and championship contention? How about your feelings regarding his benching?

The difference with Al is that he can create/get his own shot, but obviously that comes with a huge down side. I would rather keep Millsap than Al because of the later's downside. With Paul, he works well in a system where he's utilized or where he's a 3rd/4th option and/or more of a clean up guy.

Al's upside to scoring is great, but he doesn't make anyone else around him better...AT ALL.

[zman1527]

And yet he started for us all last year en route to the playoffs.

Whoo-hoo, lets start Sap, be 8th seed, and get swept and humiliated. Wow, mediocrity defined.

[NUMBERICA]

No way we'll ever see Al sitting meaningful minutes on the bench, barring injury.

And yet, there's been this obsession over Paul's ego for not necessarily wanting to come off the bench when a worse player gets such a status.

[Gameface]

And yet, there's been this obsession over Paul's ego for not necessarily wanting to come off the bench when a worse player gets such a status.

But Al off the bench is still just Al, he'll get the ball down low and take his jump shot. Sap off the bench creates a scary good second unit, imo. Sap can be part of a much more dynamic squad.

[NUMBERICA]

In a vacuum, I'm not opposed to having Millsap come off the bench. In fact, I hope that is what his eventual role is on this team. But this roster's path is to be a team that runs harder and faster than any other team (Is it any mystery that our bench suddenly knows how to play in transition and the starters can never make it work?) and runs a real offense and there's one player that guards the bridge and he happens to make the most money and play close to the most minutes, and takes the most shots.

That player has improved his ball movement, and I'm not sure Corbin knows how to implement an offense, but he has one player that knows the offense he wish he knew and knows it in his sleep.

Anyway, back to the point, this is about Millsap vs Al, not Millsap vs Favors, and you know my answer.

[cctrackstar]

I think Millsap can be a starter on almost any low-rank playoff contender. I don't think he is starting-caliber on a team contending for a championship. I have no trouble moving him to the bench in favor of Favors.

Sure, 50% of the time he is. Everyone complains about how inconsistent CJ was or AK was or Hayward is, but Paul -in my eyes- is just as inconsistent, and is undersized for his position to boot. Add to that that his production went down when he was moved to the three and the answer becomes the bench or gone. Finally, remember he's going to demand a 13 to 15 mil contract at the end of the season and I really think that there's no hope for him to get us to the promised land.

[Gyp Rosetti]

Whoo-hoo, lets start Sap, be 8th seed, and get swept and humiliated. Wow, mediocrity defined.

Trust me, I'm with you 110%. I was simply pointing out the obvious.

[billyshelby]

In a vacuum, I'm not opposed to having Millsap come off the bench. In fact, I hope that is what his eventual role is on this team. But this roster's path is to be a team that runs harder and faster than any other team (Is it any mystery that our bench suddenly knows how to play in transition and the starters can never make it work?) and runs a real offense and there's one player that guards the bridge and he happens to make the most money and play close to the most minutes, and takes the most shots.

That player has improved his ball movement, and I'm not sure Corbin knows how to implement an offense, but he has one player that knows the offense he wish he knew and knows it in his sleep.

Anyway, back to the point, this is about Millsap vs Al, not Millsap vs Favors, and you know my answer.

The bench does run a little better and it plays better team D, but it can't run an offense at all. The bench offense is even more inept than the 1st unit offense.

[franklin]

Sure, 50% of the time he is. Everyone complains about how inconsistent CJ was or AK was or Hayward is, but Paul -in my eyes- is just as inconsistent, and is undersized for his position to boot. Add to that that his production went down when he was moved to the three and the answer becomes the bench or gone. Finally, remember he's going to demand a 13 to 15 mil contract at the end of the season and I really think that there's no hope for him to get us to the promised land.

I'm guessing the inconsistency with Millsap hurts the team far less than what CJ did. Millsap disappears in the scoring column; CJ chucked. Millsap doesn't take shots that aren't there for him and does other things to help out. Still though, his erratic scoring is hard to game plan around.

If anyone knows of a good metric to measure this stuff by then I'd appreciate you sharing it. Last offseason, I put numbers into a spreadsheet by hand --that's a bitch.

[m3at]

The bench does run a little better and it plays better team D, but it can't run an offense at all. The bench offense is even more inept than the 1st unit offense.

From my observational point (on my couch), every time the bench came in during the clippers games we stopped runs and went on our own runs. More than a few times throughout the games I've seen the bench bring the Jazz back into it. Do my eyes deceive me?