Andy Larsen's Article from Last Night - A Local Guy Going Hard

[sahlensguy]

The lack of effort here from the two time defensive player of the year is startling. And it's definitely not just Rudy, no one looks like they're even trying right now.

I don't get scapegoating the only guy who plays defense. Sure he didn't impress there. If everyone else wasnt standing around, Conley was getting knocked around.

The guy is gassed. No surprise. He's never been given much help.

 

[homeytennis]

I can't imagine Karl Malone putting in a similar effort tired or not.

 

[carolinajazz]

The FACT of the matter is this: We were playing GREAT basketball at the end of last season with Rubio and Favors on the team! We just needed a few more decent outside shooters and we could have gotten them fairly cheap without breaking the bank going for Conley! Adding Clackson and Bogy would have done the trick and made us almost unbeatable this year! The big dummy is really Snider who insisted on unloading Rubio to supposedly get a better shooting point guard who never materialized! When you win 20 out of 25 games you don't need to gut the team and make wholesale changes! Now were losing home games at an alarming rate with no end in sight! We've got 2 more homegames left on this gig and then we play 2 chump teams on the road after that. We could recover if we can win all 4. I'm not holding my breath!

 

[KqWIN]

This isn't really going hard on them. This roster was a team that was built with championship aspirations. Was that ever viable? Probably not, but it's clear that true contention was the goal of this season.

And yet, the reason this team is failing is the refuse to compete. The players admit this, Quin admits this, anyone who can see will tell you this. This team would rather get embarrassed every night than put in the effort to win. Whatever it is that they're prioritizing, it isn't winning. Multiple players have alluded to players' minds being focused on the wrong things.

This is the softest, most selfish team I can remember.

 

[sahlensguy]

This isn't really going hard on them. This roster was a team that was built with championship aspirations. Was that ever viable? Probably not, but it's clear that true contention was the goal of this season.

And yet, the reason this team is failing is the refuse to compete. The players admit this, Quin admits this, anyone who can see will tell you this. This team would rather get embarrassed every night than put in the effort to win. Whatever it is that they're prioritizing, it isn't winning. Multiple players have alluded to players' minds being focused on the wrong things.

This is the softest, most selfish team I can remember.

Donovan has a new line of underwear...

 

[JimLes]

I can't imagine Karl Malone putting in a similar effort tired or not.

Can you imagine Karl Malone out there with 4 people who don't give a ****?

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

The lack of effort here from the two time defensive player of the year is startling. And it's definitely not just Rudy, no one looks like they're even trying right now.

Yes and no... Dan is kind of annoying... he might want to mention he had 3 fouls at this point... so some of those are getting light contests... some of it is lack of effort.

Dans replies are super annoying though.

 

[Jingled]

Yes and no... Dan is kind of annoying... he might want to mention he had 3 fouls at this point... so some of those are getting light contests... some of it is lack of effort.

Dans replies are super annoying though.

I get that he had 3 fouls but he still could've done a lot more to try and contest some of these shots without fouling.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

I get that he had 3 fouls but he still could've done a lot more to try and contest some of these shots without fouling.

Right but he’s being kinda dickish with people and he provided no context... that first one becomes a foul if he contests hard... the middle ones could have contested harder... the last one is kind of damning but I need the high def review because I’m fairly sure Baynes has him in a bear hug.


He’s done this before... sometimes he relies on reputation and doesn’t contest super hard... tries to get the rebound... It’s energy conservation sometimes and frustration others times. Even the great ones pick their spots... he just never dialed it up last night.

 

[Jingled]

May not change the world but let's do two things...
1- Joe or Mike come off the bench... pick your poison Quin... I'd choose Mike, but we may not want to hurt his trade value (I kid... we'd never trade him)
2- Niang and Bradley are not allowed to be in the same lineup... again pick one. If you absolutely think Niang's shooting has to be in the lineup (it doesn't) then use Morgan as the backup center. I'd prefer to just do Brantley and Morgan together and just see what happens... not like many guys are executing the game plan... may as well have it be because of ignorance versus selfishness or willful disregard.

This definitely needs to be addressed. We have too many poor perimeter defenders in the starting lineup. We're having to put Joe on the other teams best player every night and he's clearly lost a step defensively and isn't capable of guarding guys like Booker, Lilard and Harden anymore. I would also choose to bench Mike but I think we all know the Jazz aren't going to do that, so they need to stop delaying the inevitable and just put Joe back on the bench already. Royce has been pretty awful defensively as well lately but he's still the best option we have.

 

[rjfan]

Nice work... I continue to enjoy that we start the worst option because of this narrative that it gives us the most upside. Eye test, logic, and data tell a totally different story.

May not change the world but let's do two things...
1- Joe or Mike come off the bench... pick your poison Quin... I'd choose Mike, but we may not want to hurt his trade value (I kid... we'd never trade him)
2- Niang and Bradley are not allowed to be in the same lineup... again pick one. If you absolutely think Niang's shooting has to be in the lineup (it doesn't) then use Morgan as the backup center. I'd prefer to just do Brantley and Morgan together and just see what happens... not like many guys are executing the game plan... may as well have it be because of ignorance versus selfishness or willful disregard.

At this point, if Mike were to opt out of his final year, we'd be in a better position.

I'm all for bench Mike and bring Brantley and Morgan to the rotation

 

[rjfan]

This definitely needs to be addressed. We have too many poor perimeter defenders in the starting lineup. We're having to put Joe on the other teams best player every night and he's clearly lost a step defensively and isn't capable of guarding guys like Booker, Lilard and Harden anymore. I would also choose to bench Mike but I think we all know the Jazz aren't going to do that, so they need to stop delaying the inevitable and just put Joe back on the bench already. Royce has been pretty awful defensively as well lately but he's still the best option we have.

We have too many poor perimeter defenders on the entire roster. Who we got outside of Royce to throw out there expecting to get stops, be able to consistently stay in front of their guys, and to be active and strong on getting the rebound if Rudy is forced out of the paint to contest ? One 2nd rounder (maybe two and one or other g-league guy) ?