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Jazz at Trailblazers 4/11 @8 PM Mountain Time

The biggest problem I have with Exum is that he's not playing like himself. I've seen him play long and athletic, I've seen him play fast, I've seen him play aggressive, I've seen him be creative. Right now he's none of those. He plays timid and with no confidence. He plays short, he plays stuck to the floor in the lane and never looks to attack the rim. He plays like he's 5'11' who's not allowed to jump'. There's no conviction and determination in his step. And his offensive skill-set to be fair looks horrible. Absolutely horrible. Absolutely nothing to do with what he used to do in U18 competitions. His handle is shaky and unreliable, his touch around the rim is quite bad, a lot of his passes are soft and telegraphed. He almost never uses his quick first step to attack and create advantage. His floater is ugly as **** and not very successful. He has virtually no pull up game. His whole offensive game looks incredibly awkward, which a complete opposite to what he used to be - he was described as a smooth skilled athlete who can get wherever he wants on the floor and finish around the rim and draw a ton of fouls. He was actually supposed to be a great offensive player with variety of moves(hell, he was even showing some post-up game in the FIBA WC), and with a suspect defense.

I am very very far from giving up on him and I still have high hopes on him, but that's definitely not because of anything he's shown on the offensive end this year. All my hope for him(offensively) is connected with what I've seen of him prior to the draft - him blowing past Elfrid Payton in the lane and throwing down a dunk in traffic, him attacking relentlessly the rim and drawing a ton of fouls against Spain, the crossovers and explosion to the rim at the Hoop Summit. For all the talk that there is limited footage of Exum prior to the draft, I can probably make a much better highlight reel showing off his best attributes from that limited footage than from 82 games in his rookie season. There have been some flashes, but they've been extremely rare - the blow by Jrue Holiday and finish at the rim(and-1), the crossover and blow by Ty Lawson, the preseason drive in traffic and finish against DeAndre Jordan(and-1), the drive against the Raptors where he actually went up, drew the foul, hanged in the air and finished. I can count them on the fingers of my hand. Am I missing something? A ton of 3pts I guess... Hell it just shows you that when he actually goes strong to the hoop with the purpose of attacking he will draw fouls(3 of the 4 'flashes' that I could remember of this season were situations in which he finished and drew a foul).

He has a ton of work in the summer but the biggest improvement needs to happen between his ears and with his attitude and confidence.
 
Stifle Tower said:
I just think of it this way:
WE drafted Hood this season and Gobert last year. Didn't have a pick in 2012, but got Burks in 2011 and Hayward in 2010. And traded a broken-down Deron for Favors. Found Booker at Goodwill and Ingles at a garage sale. And Millsap was left out on the curb by the neighbor on trash day and we re-purposed him. Not a bad start!

Burke, well he's like an American automobile made in Detroit. No matter how much the hype, he's still made in Detroit and was bound to disappoint. Exum was our Ferrari. You hang on to him because he's shiny, new and looks fast. But like mt brother-in-law once said, his spent more time in the shop. Just when he'd take it out for a drive to impress, it would have to go back in to the shop. So much promise, but he eventually sold it.
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I said this EXACT SAME THING when we were pondering Burke VS Schroeder in that draft.



Do we go for American Made or German Made????
 
The 2008 Jazz team was the best record-wise in the last 15 years. They went 17-24 on the road.

This year's Jazz team is now 17-23 on the road.
 
stitches said:
The biggest problem I have with Exum is that he's not playing like himself. I've seen him play long and athletic, I've seen him play fast, I've seen him play aggressive, I've seen him be creative. Right now he's none of those. He plays timid and with no confidence. He plays short, he plays stuck to the floor in the lane and never looks to attack the rim. He plays like he's 5'11' who's not allowed to jump'. There's no conviction and determination in his step. And his offensive skill-set to be fair looks horrible. Absolutely horrible. Absolutely nothing to do with what he used to do in U18 competitions. His handle is shaky and unreliable, his touch around the rim is quite bad, a lot of his passes are soft and telegraphed. He almost never uses his quick first step to attack and create advantage. His floater is ugly as **** and not very successful. He has virtually no pull up game. His whole offensive game looks incredibly awkward, which a complete opposite to what he used to be - he was described as a smooth skilled athlete who can get wherever he wants on the floor and finish around the rim and draw a ton of fouls. He was actually supposed to be a great offensive player with variety of moves(hell, he was even showing some post-up game in the FIBA WC), and with a suspect defense.

I am very very far from giving up on him and I still have high hopes on him, but that's definitely not because of anything he's shown on the offensive end this year. All my hope for him(offensively) is connected with what I've seen of him prior to the draft - him blowing past Elfrid Payton in the lane and throwing down a dunk in traffic, him attacking relentlessly the rim and drawing a ton of fouls against Spain, the crossovers and explosion to the rim at the Hoop Summit. For all the talk that there is limited footage of Exum prior to the draft, I can probably make a much better highlight reel showing off his best attributes from that limited footage than from 82 games in his rookie season. There have been some flashes, but they've been extremely rare - the blow by Jrue Holiday and finish at the rim(and-1), the crossover and blow by Ty Lawson, the preseason drive in traffic and finish against DeAndre Jordan(and-1), the drive against the Raptors where he actually went up, drew the foul, hanged in the air and finished. I can count them on the fingers of my hand. Am I missing something? A ton of 3pts I guess... Hell it just shows you that when he actually goes strong to the hoop with the purpose of attacking he will draw fouls(3 of the 4 'flashes' that I could remember of this season were situations in which he finished and drew a foul).

He has a ton of work in the summer but the biggest improvement needs to happen between his ears and with his attitude and confidence.
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Because of the prior evidence and the level of the passivity, I think Exum has been coached this way to an extent. Probably something along the lines of learn the offense, practice your handle. BECAUSE he has played so much, he would otherwise ruin the offense if he pushed harder. That would be at the expense of the others' growth and as a group. And it is due to not risking mental or physical injury to someone sp young. I agree with the conservative approach, the "red shirt year" approach as green has stated.
 
I don't remember the exact number, but if I'm not mistaken, prior to this season, Exum has played 23 games against high level competition. So from 23 games to 82 is one HELL of a jump. Even at 19 yo that's gotta gas a guy. I'm pretty confident that he will have a drastically better sophomore campaign.
 
Wow, Booker and Hood and the bench won the game for the Jazz. I think people are overreacting when it comes to Dante. The kid just turned 19 years old at the beginning of the year. I know he was the 5th pick but expectations need to be lowered a bit. He has had to deal with being away from his home, a MAJOR jump in competition and he is learning the hardest position in basketball along with playing for a new coach and teammates. I don't think Dante will ever be a great scorer but I will wait a few years before I start worrying about his performance.

I think a summer of working out, getting his body in better shape and studying the game will make a world of difference next year.

Just one other comment, Rodney Hood is becoming one of my favorite players on the Jazz, there is no way the Jazz would trade him. He is showing that he can play some PG with his ability to create his own shot. Booker was a man last night. Just a great win after such a tough home loss. The Jazz road record has been pretty impressive for such a young team. Now they just have to start dominating at home like they use to do. Playoffs here we come next year. I just love this team.
 
KD's Framily said:
Actually, Kobe and Dirk's rookie years were lightyears ahead of Exum's. Sheldon Williams, Kwame Brown, and Joe Alexander were all terrible and are no longer in the league. Anthony Bennett and Austin Rivers are both currently terrible.

I'm not arguing against having hope, and there's a case to be had for Exum being different than others who were terrible at 19, but the cold fact is, you're going to come up dry if you try to find 19 year olds that had worse rookie seasons than Exum and ended up becoming stars.

For the record I think Exum will end up becoming decent. But I am not holding out hope on him becoming a star.
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How many 19 years actually started their rookie years? The problem is that some people were overhyping Dante and that is why many people are disappointed. The next Kobe.. was laughable and still is. Kobe is in the discussion as a top 10 player of all time. Have people forgotten that Stockton didn't start for a few years because the Jazz had Rickey Green. Dante most likely would not be starting if the Jazz had a Rickey Green type player. Some Jazz fans are the most impatient fans I know, start complaining in two years if Dante is still passing the ball away when he should take it to the basket. Give the kid some time.
 
stitches said:
The biggest problem I have with Exum is that he's not playing like himself. I've seen him play long and athletic, I've seen him play fast, I've seen him play aggressive, I've seen him be creative. Right now he's none of those. He plays timid and with no confidence. He plays short, he plays stuck to the floor in the lane and never looks to attack the rim. He plays like he's 5'11' who's not allowed to jump'. There's no conviction and determination in his step. And his offensive skill-set to be fair looks horrible. Absolutely horrible. Absolutely nothing to do with what he used to do in U18 competitions. His handle is shaky and unreliable, his touch around the rim is quite bad, a lot of his passes are soft and telegraphed. He almost never uses his quick first step to attack and create advantage. His floater is ugly as **** and not very successful. He has virtually no pull up game. His whole offensive game looks incredibly awkward, which a complete opposite to what he used to be - he was described as a smooth skilled athlete who can get wherever he wants on the floor and finish around the rim and draw a ton of fouls. He was actually supposed to be a great offensive player with variety of moves(hell, he was even showing some post-up game in the FIBA WC), and with a suspect defense.

I am very very far from giving up on him and I still have high hopes on him, but that's definitely not because of anything he's shown on the offensive end this year. All my hope for him(offensively) is connected with what I've seen of him prior to the draft - him blowing past Elfrid Payton in the lane and throwing down a dunk in traffic, him attacking relentlessly the rim and drawing a ton of fouls against Spain, the crossovers and explosion to the rim at the Hoop Summit. For all the talk that there is limited footage of Exum prior to the draft, I can probably make a much better highlight reel showing off his best attributes from that limited footage than from 82 games in his rookie season. There have been some flashes, but they've been extremely rare - the blow by Jrue Holiday and finish at the rim(and-1), the crossover and blow by Ty Lawson, the preseason drive in traffic and finish against DeAndre Jordan(and-1), the drive against the Raptors where he actually went up, drew the foul, hanged in the air and finished. I can count them on the fingers of my hand. Am I missing something? A ton of 3pts I guess... Hell it just shows you that when he actually goes strong to the hoop with the purpose of attacking he will draw fouls(3 of the 4 'flashes' that I could remember of this season were situations in which he finished and drew a foul).

He has a ton of work in the summer but the biggest improvement needs to happen between his ears and with his attitude and confidence.
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Thanks for posting that, it gives renewed confidence that he can bring it. It has not been easy to watch him this year. The promise is evident, but the timidity is very perplexing. Never seen anyone play so many minutes like that.
 
I'm not worried about Dante at all. If he shows no improvement next year then I'll start to be a little worried.

What a game.

Even then I'll be high on the kid.
 
Jamezz said:
I'm drunk. Go Jazz. Was Portland's home court advantage guaranteed before this game? If not, we're gonna start kicking some mfing *** next year.
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Portland lost home-court advantage last night because they couldn't handle seven rookies and a dude who is most famous for a trick shot, on their home floor. No Aldridge for Portland, but no Favors or Hayward for the Jazz. First win in the Rose Garden (I still call it) in four games, and what a win!
 
Jose_Ortiz_fan said:
Portland lost home-court advantage last night because they couldn't handle seven rookies and a dude who is most famous for a trick shot, on their home floor. No Aldridge for Portland, but no Favors or Hayward for the Jazz. First win in the Rose Garden (I still call it) in four games, and what a win!
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Yea you Aldridge, Afflalo and Matthews.

But no Hayward, Favors, Burks and Burke for the Jazz. Portland can spin it how they want but the got beat by rookies and D leaguers on their home court when they needed a win badly. And tried to win.

Jazz are all in on Gobert, Hood and Exum right now.
 
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