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ESPN Power Rankings

This week Utah moved up 2 spots to #22 (ahead of Indy, Charlotte, Boston, Orlando, LA Lakers, Detroit, New York , Philly and Minnesota).

It had this to say (which will bug some people hahahaha!): "Gordon Hayward's lone visit of the season to Charlotte reminded us yet again how well he's lived up to the Hornets' max four-year offer sheet that Utah opted to match. On a really young team, in a truly brutal conference, Hayward shoulders lots of responsibility and sports a PER of 19.9"
 
This week Utah moved up 2 spots to #21 (ahead of Indy, Charlotte, Boston, Orlando, LA Lakers, Detroit, New York , Philly and Minnesota).

It had this to say (which will bug some people hahahaha!): "Gordon Hayward's lone visit of the season to Charlotte reminded us yet again how well he's lived up to the Hornets' max four-year offer sheet that Utah opted to match. On a really young team, in a truly brutal conference, Hayward shoulders lots of responsibility and sports a PER of 19.9"
Fixed.
Wouldn't be surprised to see them move as high as #17 by the end of the season. They might be better than every non-playoff EC team (and maybe even a couple that DO make the playoffs). In the WC, they could overtake Denver and Sacramento.
 
lol this weeks summary...

"The Jazz put together their first winning streak since February with a pair of wins in Florida, but couldn't extend it to three games in Charlotte because their defense stinks. It's particularly bad when Enes Kanter is defending a pick-and-roll. He doesn't hedge hard all the time, but when he does, it's an invitation for a straight-line drive into the paint."
 
ESPN moved Utah up a spot to #19 this week, they said:

"We're starting to get those increased doses of Rudy Gobert next to Derrick Favors in support of Gordon Hayward. And we're starting to see these kids, in a conference the brochure says will devour its young, scratch out a few W's. Six in the past eight games, to be exact, with only a couple of cupcakes in that stretch."
 
Moved up one more spot to #18

"Starting with a mid-December trip to Florida, Utah's kids have shown some resilience, sweeping the Heat and Magic to launch a 5-4 road run that includes narrow Ls to the Clips and OKC. Rudy Gobert's campaign for second or third behind Jimmy Butler in the MIP race, meanwhile, is getting real."
 
Jazz moved up 5 spots to #17. Tied with the Pelicans for the biggest jump.

"You can debate whether the Jazz have gotten enough back for the three quality big men they've surrendered since July 2013: Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap and Enes Kanter. What can't be debated is that their Rudy Gobert-anchored team D was as good as we saw from any club in February"

Boom!
 
Jazz moved up 5 spots to #17. Tied with the Pelicans for the biggest jump.

"You can debate whether the Jazz have gotten enough back for the three quality big men they've surrendered since July 2013: Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap and Enes Kanter. What can't be debated is that their Rudy Gobert-anchored team D was as good as we saw from any club in February"

Boom!

And the perpetual rebuild continues, boo hoo. Stupid Jazz should have kept every player and never let anybody go, boo hoo. Imagine how awesome we'd be with Al and Sap leading the way with Gobert and Faves getting a few minutes off the bench, boo hoo. We could have ruled the world! (boo hoo)
 
And the perpetual rebuild continues, boo hoo. Stupid Jazz should have kept every player and never let anybody go, boo hoo. Imagine how awesome we'd be with Al and Sap leading the way with Gobert and Faves getting a few minutes off the bench, boo hoo. We could have ruled the world! (boo hoo)

Who are you arguing with? Kanter was the least popular guy on the team, and nearly everyone wanted him gone after his trade request.
 
Yes, our defensive potential with this group is extremely exciting.

Good athletes at all five spots next year. Look at the wingspans:

Dante - 6'9"
Alec - 6'10"
Gordon - 6'8" (shorty)
Favors - 7'4"
Gobert - 7'9"

Yessir.

I like the stamp that DL and Quin are putting on the team. Sure, Burke's move to the bench boosts the second unit, but I don't think Dante would be starting if he wasn't playing great defensively. The Kanter trade IMO shows that we are all-in on a defensive identity.
 
Yep, our defense is no. 1(along with Milwaukee) in the league for February, 97 Def Rtg

https://stats.nba.com/league/team/#!/advanced/?sort=DEF_RATING&dir=-1&Month=5

We've been improving our DefRtg every month. November 107.2, December 107.1, January 102.1, February 97...

And here's Rudy's minutes by month - November 15.8 mpg, December 21.7 mpg, January 27.6 mpg, February 27.7

Correlation?

Correlation yes, but not the sole cause.

Example: Millsap joined the team and had an increase in minutes along that spread as well. This Jazz D is not solely paint D.

I'm loving it though!! SO excited for this team.
 
Who are you arguing with? Kanter was the least popular guy on the team, and nearly everyone wanted him gone after his trade request.

I think Freak was referring to people who complained about us letting Big Al & Millsap go without much in return, etc.
 
It's amazing our defense is ranked that high as we're only going to improve.


And continue for as long as we put Gobert and Favors on the court. Seriously, with those two out there you KNOW you are going to have a great defense with just a little help from the other 3. And this can go on for years. Exciting. Jazz can build around those two alone (not that there are not other good pieces right now) and be a challenger for several years. I don't think I am hitting the koolaid too hard saying that.
 
It's amazing our defense is ranked that high as we're only going to improve.

Just imagine if we had drafted Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, and the Greek Freak instead of Hayward, Burks, and Burke.

Exum/ Back up?
George/Greek Freak/Millsap
Leonard/Greek Freak/George
Faves/Leonard
Gobert/Favors

We would be holding teams to like 70 points per contest.
 
Just imagine if we had drafted Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, and the Greek Freak instead of Hayward, Burks, and Burke.

Exum/ Back up?
George/Greek Freak/Millsap
Leonard/Greek Freak/George
Faves/Leonard
Gobert/Favors

We would be holding teams to like 70 points per contest.

I know Hayward sucks so bad. Dammit!
 
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