Couple of concerns

[jimmy eat jazz]

I went to the Jazz-Blazers game the other night. Needless to say, not the experience I hoped it would be.

I noted what I believe to be the continuance of trends that I find worrisome.

1. D-Will's assist totals are falling. I haven't kept track, but I'm guessing in the recent 10 games or so, his average assist numbers are down--he seems to be getting fewer double assist games. While his scoring is up, his assists have fallen. Personally, I'd rather see him getting more assists than points, because this means that he's getting others involved, and they are making their shots. I think we're a much better team over the long-run when Deron is dishing dimes rather than relying on him to be our primary scorer. I'm not sure what the causes are (though I have some ideas, see below), but I see it as an area of concern.

2. Related to the above, I've grown to dislike the pairing of Deron and Watson, with Waston as the primary point guard. I think this combo worked well earlier on, but it does not seem to be working nearly as well lately. Plus, it appears takes Deron out of the flow in terms of setting up his teammates for scores. I'd really like to see Deron as the primary PG when he's on the floor. Let Watson play off guard, but he's not the distributor D-Will is.

I do not have stats to back this up. I am relying only on casual observation. Perhaps someone can provide stats to show I'm off base. In any case, I'd really like to see D-Will get his assist number back above 10 on a regular basis, even if he scores fewer points in the proces. I think we're in trouble as the season progresses if D-Will remains the primary scorer.

 

[carolinajazz]

....somethings not clicking with Deron this year, that's for sure! Probably involves the loss of Boozer, who like it or not, knew how to run the pick and roll with Deron almost to perfection. Big Al, is more of a school yard unpolished basketball stud type that just doesn't have the brains to pickup on the pick and roll like Boozer did. So Deron doesn't have that "security" blanket without Boozer. But we're winning just as much if not more than last year.....and things may improve somewhat although Jefferson probably is who he is....which will never be as polished offensively as Boozer.

 

[Gyp Rosetti]

Jimmy-

Regarding number one, good point. The Jazz are 13-2 when Deron has 10+ assists. It's an arbitrary number really but it probably is telling.

 

[Jazz4ever]

The Jazz have ran a lot with two point guards this year, using Deron as a 2 guard. He plays the position very well, and is incredibly accurate on catch and shoots I noticed. I wouldn't be worried about the assists at all.

 

[vegas]

The only trouble with Watson as a 2-guard is that he is not a jump shooter. However, I agree that at times we are just stagnant on offense for long periods and it seems like Deron puts the team on his shoulders and does the scoring himself. It seems like Hayward has been moving more on offense when the team is standing/waiting. Hopefully it will become contagious. When the Jazz run the offense and hustle they seem invincible through these rose colored glasses.

 

[jope]

Derons assist totals are down because no one can make their baskets. A perfect pass to a botched layup is an assist dwill should've had but didn't get. That happens several times a night it seems. When the offense isn't executing there are no cutters for easy baskets and if dwill has to pass to someone who refuses to fight for good position I think he knows they don't have the capacity to be lethal from the perimiter while guarded, and with no cutters he is forced to create his own shot since he is the only one capable of doing so. Points up, assists down.

Just a guess.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

AK also helps the flow of the offense. If he's out, people just stand around because there isn't a 2nd facilitator on the floor with the ability to make a pass to an open cutter. It make a world of difference for the Jazz to have another guy on the floor who can make a read and pass the ball in motion.

Other than that, Millsap's numbers have been dropping during this same time frame that D. Will's assists are down. I wonder if teams are figuring out how to defend him and keep him off his favorite spots.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Looking at the stats, it's probably not related too much to Millsap.

 

[vslice02]

In the past, Deron's got a majority of his assists from getting Boozer open 15-footers off high-screen roll or dunks off side-screen-roll, Ronnie Brewer back-door layups, Korver an open 3's in tranisition, Memo open weakside 3's off screen-roll, or Wes Matthews a fastbreak layups filling the lane.

That's not there anymore. The Jazz run very little screen-roll and have very few catch-and-shoot players. Bell and Miles are inconsistent and Millsap is often hesitant to pull the triggle on 17-footers. A perfect example was in the 2nd-half of the Grizzlies game where Deron made the same pass that would be a Boozer left-hand slam in years past but Al double-clutched at the rim and got 2 FT's instead. Add in the fact that Deron is also playing about 6-8 minutes per game at SG and it's easy to see why his assists are down. Hayward's dunk in the final minute (a DWill assist) used to be a routine play for Ronnie Brewer off Deron's penetration - but Bell's a spot-up shooter.

It's not like Deron isn't getting other players involved, but there's only so much he can do. He can't force Al to start making 8-footers consistently or AK to start making 3's or Bell to start making open jumpers or Millsap to start slipping screens quicker. Jope is correct, it's not Deron it's his teammates.

 

[carolinajazz]

In the past, Deron's got a majority of his assists from getting Boozer open 15-footers off high-screen roll or dunks off side-screen-roll, Ronnie Brewer back-door layups, Korver an open 3's in tranisition, Memo open weakside 3's off screen-roll, or Wes Matthews a fastbreak layups filling the lane.

That's not there anymore. The Jazz run very little screen-roll and have very few catch-and-shoot players.

...exactly! And even though we seem to be winning as much....the games are hard on the eyes....sometimes unwatchable.

 

[vslice02]

And even though we seem to be winning as much....the games are hard on the eyes....sometimes unwatchable.

Yes, the Jazz from 2006-10 were an elite team offensively and that comination of top-5 offense and middle-of-the-pack defense produced exciting and high scoring games. It also allowed them to dominate at home - where the energy from the crowd allowed them to get out and run and blow games wide-open. This year we have to grind out wins - last night's Grizzlies game being a prime example where the Jazz didn't have the firepower to extend that 10-point lead and let Memphis back into the game. The 2010-11 Jazz are much improved defensively - which I love because that's the foundation you need to build on towards a championship, but the offensive efficiency is the worst it's been since the 2005-06 season.

That said, I'd rather be trying to fix our offense than our defense - because as we learned from previous seasons team-defense isn't something that's easily improved.

 

[NUMBERICA]

vslice hit it on the head, the problem is the teammates, not Deron. Deron prefers to distribute, but this team just doesn't score easy baskets like it used to.

Deron playing 2 shouldn't diminish his ability to make others better. It just adds an angle to the offense that makes it more dynamic and harder to defend. The idea that plays have to be made in one pass from the PG is erroneous. Being a secondary ball-handler facilitates shots that come within the flow of the offense, not PG stat-padding.