Jazz @ Suns Fri. Oct. 9th at 8pm MDT

[Getting Traded]

Alex Len turned the game around. He seems to have bulked up a lot since I last saw him play. He utterly destroyed Pleiss. And Lyles couldn't guard Leuer either.

But if it was regular season it would've been different because I think Quin would've substituted differently. They were playing amazing in the beginning of the game, but once he took the starters out, the tempo and momentum changed completely. This in part was caused by Cotton's poor play -- disrupting the offensive flow -- and Len playing way above his normal level.

 

[Hekate]

Looks like Favors's shot is more compact. He seems to get it up pretty quickly. Or am I imagining it?

 

[fishonjazz]

I think Lyles steps ahead of Booker in the rotation just as soon as he meets a couple fairly attainable goals in practice.

I couldn't disagree more

 

[fishonjazz]

Looks like Favors's shot is more compact. He seems to get it up pretty quickly. Or am I imagining it?

I sure hope so.
That slow release was one of his few weaknesses imo

 

[sirkickyass]

Some thoughts from watching this game yesterday:

1. The Jazz offensive set that sees the center initiate the first swing of the ball around the perimeter and then immediately set a screen on the ball handler's defender is interesting and creates a lot of motion in the high post and on the elbows. The problem is that only Gobert appears to be a good enough passer to make this work. Pleiss was simply a disaster in this phase of the game and it mucked everything else up the rest of the way.

2. Gobert hasn't figured out yet how to counter veterans' "old man tricks." There were several instances in the second quarter where Gobert appeared convinced he was about to block a driving player's shot and seemed confused that he couldn't get there because Tyson Chandler, who was behind him, was able to subtly move Gobert left or right by placing a hand on Gobert's hip. That kind of action is technically illegal but is essentially never called. Gobert is no longer a surprise and his continued effectiveness and development will, in large part, hinge on his ability to counteract this kind of disruption sent his way.

3. The three-wing lineups conceptually feel good in concept given our lack of quality point guard play. That said, they seem to enable the worst part of Burks and Hood's game (and I like both players). I worry that putting them in a position to dribble a lot is not putting them in the best position to succeed.

4. Quinn Snyder touches guys on the sideline a lot. Like enough that it's kind of creepy. I think this would bother me less if he was 30% less oily.

5. Withey and Cooley are not NBA players. The two of them were the bird in this photo compared to Alex Len.

6. Raul Neto is the spiritual heir to Pablo Prigioni. There must be something endemic to being South American that makes you try to steal every in-bounds pass.

 

[Revolution 9]

Love the insights kicky. I dont agree with the Withey assessment though. He's looked good in 2/3 games, and no one really wowed me in PHX. Lets see how he plays on Monday before we
write him off completely. I think youll change your assessment the more you see him.

 

[Krakdol]

5. Withey and Cooley are not NBA players. The two of them were the bird in this photo compared to Alex Len.
.

Withey played precisely 01:16 in the last game so I'm not sure where this comment comes from. Plus, he was superb in the first two games vs lakers where he DID play a lot more than 1 minute. You know, if Gobert had played this minute too, he couldn't have made a lot more with it either, because after all you rarely go triple double in 76 seconds.

I love armchair analysis as much as anybody but you can't hardly make anything of a few minutes in a single game. They were tired, they had just traveled from Hawaii in the night before. It's okay, that's why it's called preseason. They weren't the greatest players on earth after the lakers games, and now they're not the worst players either.

Quin Snyder is still here, Burks is still back, our core 3 is still as strong as ever, and the playoffs are still a real possibility this year.

As for the new players, the jury's still out, but I loved Neto's passing in recent games, and Pleiss actually didn't look that bad offensively and at rebounding. Until now, Withey looks better than him though (very active with a good defense).

Now we need more games to see what they're worth at this point.

 

[sirkickyass]

Withey played precisely 01:16 in the last game so I'm not sure where this comment comes from. Plus, he was superb in the first two games vs lakers where he DID play a lot more than 1 minute. You know, if Gobert had played this minute too, he couldn't have made a lot more with it either, because after all you rarely go triple double in 76 seconds.

He only got 76 seconds because he had no idea where he was supposed to be standing for any of them. That's not about fatigue, that was about actually having zero conceptual understanding of the scheme.

 

[fgcamel]

He only got 76 seconds because he had no idea where he was supposed to be standing for any of them. That's not about fatigue, that was about actually having zero conceptual understanding of the scheme.

Well if it's a problem with understanding, then he should be given a chance to learn. It's not like the guys from last year picked up the schemes instantly. At this point I think he has shown the talent to be effective for us, and deserves a chance.