Walker Kessler’s Defense Thread

[fishonjazz]

This was a very well timed thread. Kessler had 4 blocks in the first quarter tonight.

Finished with 6. I think they missed two though.
Also had a team high(again) +15

Collins with a team low minus 12. Only players not in the plus for the jazz were Collins, Ochai, Dunn, and KO (KO was exactly even at 0)

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[Bawse Dawg]

Why the low minutes?

 

[Elizah Huge]

Why the low minutes?

He’s coming off the bench.

 

[HermanG]

I'm a huge fan of Kessler, and I promise I'm not trying to ruin your thread, but what is the offensive rating of the last 11 teams we played?

Maybe it's not as bad as I'm thinking, but feels like we have mostly played really bad offensive teams over the last 11 games.

Those 11 teams averaged for 113.6. Two top 10 offenses, 6 mid 10 and 3 bottom 10.

The numbers are a bit sugarcoated by schedule since we didnt play any of the top 5 supercharged offenses on that stretch and few of the cupcakes (Pistons, Blazers and Spurs), but its not dramatic really.... since its balanced out by only 4 of those 11 games being played at home.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

Those 11 teams averaged for 113.6. Two top 10 offenses, 6 mid 10 and 3 bottom 10.

The numbers are a bit sugarcoated by schedule since we didnt play any of the top 5 supercharged offenses on that stretch and few of the cupcakes (Pistons, Blazers and Spurs), but its not dramatic really.... since its balanced out by only 4 of those 11 games being played at home.

I challenge you to find an easier 11 game defensive stretch on our schedule this year.

 

[HermanG]

I challenge you to find an easier 11 game defensive stretch on our schedule this year.

Are you trying to diminish and downplay our improvement or what is your play here? You asked for a number, I gave you one.

Providing an easier defensive 11 game stretch is super easy as we have already had that, by A MASSIVE margin. Only 1 above .500 team in this stretch, and ZERO top 10 offenses, with FIVE games against BOTTOM 3 OFFENSES. This is also 6 home 5 away stretch.

Sat, Nov 11	@Memphis
Wed, Nov 15	vsPortland
Sat, Nov 18	vsPhoenix
Mon, Nov 20	vsPhoenix
Wed, Nov 22	@Los Angeles
Thu, Nov 23	@Portland
Sun, Nov 26	vsNew Orleans
Tue, Nov 28	vsNew Orleans
Thu, Nov 30	@Memphis
Fri, Dec 1	@Minnesota
Sun, Dec 3	vsPortland

You could also cut that stretch to strat from the previous Memphis game (dropping last 5 and adding the previous 5), and it would still be easier than the one @Elizah Huge was talking about.

 

[HermanG]

Interesting and related information about the 8-3 stretch from NBA.com Power Rankings writeup:

Jazz rank eighth defensively over this 8-3 stretch, which started when the Jazz started playing a lot of zone, including a good amount of box-and-one. For the season, they’ve allowed 0.95 points per zone possession, a mark which ranks third among 12 teams that have played at least 75 total possessions of zone, according to Synergy tracking.

As much as people hate the zone, 0.95 points per zone possession is a fabulous number.

 

[fishonjazz]

He’s coming off the bench.

While I agree that is part of the problem/cause, Clarkson also came off the bench and had well over 30 minutes

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[SoberasHotRod]

Are you trying to diminish and downplay our improvement or what is your play here? You asked for a number, I gave you one.

Providing an easier defensive 11 game stretch is super easy as we have already had that, by A MASSIVE margin. Only 1 above .500 team in this stretch, and ZERO top 10 offenses, with FIVE games against BOTTOM 3 OFFENSES. This is also 6 home 5 away stretch.

Sat, Nov 11	@Memphis
Wed, Nov 15	vsPortland
Sat, Nov 18	vsPhoenix
Mon, Nov 20	vsPhoenix
Wed, Nov 22	@Los Angeles
Thu, Nov 23	@Portland
Sun, Nov 26	vsNew Orleans
Tue, Nov 28	vsNew Orleans
Thu, Nov 30	@Memphis
Fri, Dec 1	@Minnesota
Sun, Dec 3	vsPortland

You could also cut that stretch to strat from the previous Memphis game (dropping last 5 and adding the previous 5), and it would still be easier than the one @Elizah Huge was talking about.

Well done, that does look worse.

My only point is that it's easier to look good at defense against bad offenses. I think Kessler is great and appreciate how much he means to our team defense.

 

[HermanG]

Well done, that does look worse.

My only point is that it's easier to look good at defense against bad offenses. I think Kessler is great and appreciate how much he means to our team defense.

I get that but the defensive improvement has been clear. I said the other day that getting better at zone rotations has likely been the key, and looking at those zone numbers it feels like a valid reason.

 

[HermanG]

Why the low minutes?

Hardy is switching his closing lineups a lot. He wants to start with better offensive players to get the flow of the offense going, so he goes with Collins there.

Kessler has just recently had a 12 minute 4th Q (@TOR) and a 0 minute 4th Q (vs MIA) in two wins. Against Miami KO was super hot and Hardy rode him and used Collins/Tech/Lauri with him as that was working. We won that quarter by 8 points. Against Toronto, Hardy played Kessler, Lauri, Ochai, JC and Dunn for all of the 12 minutes basically, and we won that quarter by 20 points.

 

[Agent#00]

View: https://x.com/GrantAfseth/status/1742044786998333465?s=20

Seems like zone works