I went to the Jazz game (ie. paid good $ for a ticket) and I am glad they got the win.......but
You can't tell me if Burks would have gotten Bells 27 minutes that a) the Jazz would have lost. Or b) Burks' would have had as terrible of a line as Bell.
In fact, had Burks played all of Bell's minutes, I believe this game isn't nearly as close as it was in the 4th, Stuckey doesn't look as dominant, and, most importantly, Corbin would have sent the message that HE is the coach and HE desides who plays, NOT a whinny bitch-*** player.
I can see where you are coming from. I like Burks a lot and he should become much better than Bell ever was. I don't agree with everything the coach does and I look at the future.
But I can see where Corbin is at too. What he's trying to do is get a playoff rotation. He believes he needs Bell to start in the postseason. He wants vets who know what they are doing and he wants them to know each other. Corbin wants to establish some regularity. He is not concerned about next season. He knows that these young guys are under contract for several years to come and isn't worried about pissing off rooks and sophomores let alone fans who want so see said players more.
There have been a lot of people looking to scrutinize and criticize Corbin's handling of the roster as far as who plays when. This is natural. I do too. But you have to recognize that Corbin has been very much willing to reward players that do their jobs.
The only players that haven't had a real chance to earn more minutes are Tinsley and Evans. Evans is our 5th big and Tinsley is the 3rd point. Burks got more minutes earlier and was destructive to the offense as far as sticking to the play. He's looked a lot better and that might have something to do with getting benched.
Howard was really on and off until getting the nod at starter and since then has looked much, much more efficient. Favors actually had a starting job that Sap promptly played back into. CJ has been much improved but only at home. Harris lost a ton of minutes to Watson and since has elevated/adapted his play and has been looking quite good for a little while now. Bell was on a major roll before he was hurt. Jefferson is the best player on the team and also wants to win more than anybody else except maybe Millsap.
There are, I'm sure, more reasons but they probably boil down to the goal of advancing as far as possible into the postseason. This year. We know that Corbin has the support of the GM and the owner. There is no amount of angry internet posts or grumpy emails that will bring him down. The fans that are deluded into thinking that anyone in the organization is against what Corbin is about are wasting their time at least until the end of next season. Which as it turns out has the Jazz in a very leverage-able situation.
I wonder what the haters and long-rangers would think about a Jazz situation where their hated coach is fired, all the vets they despise expire, and the youngn's are entering their years when players typically blossom. Hmmm.
Edit to add: I didn't mention Kanter. Sorry. Kanter has looked a lot better than I expected and IMO what he does well might transfer better to the playoffs than what I've seen from Favors. Seriously. But so far he is still pretty clueless on offense and raw. In the regular season I would be in favor of giving him about 1 more minute in the 4th to keep Al from gassing late.