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I'm Worried About Clarkson

Saint Cy of JFC

Well-Known Member
2022 Award Winner
I know a lot of people are down on Utah right now, but for the most part I'm not at all. I'm pretty confident in this team to step up when it counts. That is, I'm confident in all but one player.... Jordan Clarkson.

The dude has looked flat out bad lately. And not just miss/make bad, but not able to get past anyone in the NBA bad. Looking like Rodney Hood at his worst bad. The worst part is that I don't even think it's injury related. I think teams just have a much better scouting report on him now and the moves he had in his bag of tricks have become predictable for opponents.
 
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I know a lot of people are down on Utah right now, but for the most part I'm not at all. I'm pretty confident in this team to step up when it counts. That is, I'm confident in all but one player.... Jordan Clarkson.

The dude has looked flat out bad lately. And not just miss/make bad, but not able to get past anyone in the NBA bad. Looking like Rodney Hood at his worst bad. The worst part is that I don't even think it's injury related. I think teams just have a much better scouting report on him now and the moves he had in his bag of tricks have become predictable for opponents.
I've thinking about this too. Defenders stay in the ground, get physical and he just seems to struggle to finish around the basket. He oftentimes ends up stuck below the basket, somebody else arms or trying a contested fade away. Right now he looks like bad Burks.
 
Looking at splits on basketball reference, he was actually a lot better in april than March. I was surprised. Either way it feels like he should take over a game here or there and it's been a minute. To be fair I don't get to see every game, so I could have missed something.
 
I've thinking about this too. Defenders stay in the ground, get physical and he just seems to struggle to finish around the basket. He oftentimes ends up stuck below the basket, somebody else arms or trying a contested fade away. Right now he looks like bad Burks.
Burks could draw fouls though. His attacking the rim style has mirrored Rodney Hood almost to a T recently. Just gets into the paint and tries to float a shot over his defender. Problem is he just can't get any separation so anyone with length dominates him.
 
JC will be okay once he’s back in the role that he fits best in when Mike and Donovan are back.

He hasn't been playing well for like the past 3 months. I don't think it has anything to do with Mike and Don being out and I don't think it's just a slump. I think this is the real Clarkson, an inefficient chucker, it's who he's been throughout his entire career. He scores a lot of points because he takes a lot of shots. I would love to be proven wrong but I think his hot start to the season was a fluke.
 
JC will be okay once he’s back in the role that he fits best in when Mike and Donovan are back.
This. He was excelling beyond expectations as the 6th man. He isn't up to being THE guy night in and night out. Once we get everyone back we'll get back into our groove. Not worried about him at all.
 
I'm much more worried about Donovan. That's a lot of games missed we dont know exactly how bad his injury is. He will be rusty when he comes back.
 
We know what Clarkson can do when he is on. That is why I was hoping Quin would've started him last night, and said to him. The ball is in your court, so do you thing and lead us to victory. Clarkson is best when he is given full independence; that is why he has flourished with the Jazz. But, unfortunately, Quin didn't see that as an option.
 
I've thinking about this too. Defenders stay in the ground, get physical and he just seems to struggle to finish around the basket. He oftentimes ends up stuck below the basket, somebody else arms or trying a contested fade away. Right now he looks like bad Burks.
Except burks almost always get by his man. Even bad burks was great at getting past his primary defender and getting to the hoop

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Except burks almost always get by his man. Even bad burks was great at getting past his primary defender and getting to the hoop

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using JazzFanz mobile app
True. But I think JC can also get all the way the basket, the problem is that he is not creating separation from his defender. The biggest difference is that at that point Burks would create contact (like @Saint Cy of JFC pointed out) while JC shies away from it. I see similarities in how both get into bad situations around the rim which is kind of tricky when you play below the rim. Burks used to turn easy shots into a bad ones (which kind of worked early on when we was athletic enough). I think JC struggles is a combination of forcing too many bad shots and teams scouting him better.
 
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Well, Bogdanovic and Niang have been playing better. Maybe that will help compensate if Clarkson is off.

Clarkson has struggled against better defenders. He got more or less taken out of the Nuggets series last year when Gary Harris was guarding him. But he beats up on guys like Jalen Brunson, CJ McCollum and Wes Matthews.
 
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He needs to be a decoy more often. Drive, draw and kick instead of forcing a shot. Once he proven he's willing to pass out of a double or when the defense collapses on him in the lane it'll open things back up for him.
 
I think Clarkson has a few nagging injuries - some we know about, a couple we don't. Remember he was playing with a cracked bone in his shooting hand for about a month before anyone knew about it. I wouldn't be surprised if his ankle still isn't 100 percent.
 
I think it's a valid concern. Since he became the leading candidate for 6 MOY he's definitely been scouted better than last season or in the beginning of this one. And with Donovan out he may get more attention from the opponents.
 
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