Game Thread Feb 06, 2024 07:00PM MT: Jazz vs. Thunder

[sip]

Hopefully last nights game opened Presti's eyes to the fact that they badly need another solid big and Olynyk would look pretty damn good with them.

 

[HermanG]

Hopefully last nights game opened Presti's eyes to the fact that they badly need another solid big and Olynyk would look pretty damn good with them.

If Presti just sits on his hands its going to be such a head scratcher. Healthy years when your team performs great arent guaranteed... so he definitely shouldnt sit on his massive pile of picks this DL.

Its not like there arent contract dates and tough decissions coming up in their future.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

If Presti just sits on his hands its going to be such a head scratcher. Healthy years when your team performs great arent guaranteed... so he definitely shouldnt sit on his massive pile of picks this DL.

Its not like there arent contract dates and tough decissions coming up in their future.

There was a tweet from Tony Jones last night that OKC wants to see how their young core perform in the playoffs before making big moves. I assume that is mostly saying they aren't going to make a Lauri type move.

I do think they are well positioned now to make a run and agree with you that they shouldn't take the opportunity for granted. If I were them I would try and shore up their rebounding and add some size to at least have some minutes to throw at Jokic.

 

[TheGoldStandard]

My eyeballs say Simone has been in a major slump lately so I decided to run the numbers. Turns out he is in a slump but its not that bad/drastic as I thought. I went back 15 games and these are the shooting numbers:

49-115 from the field for 42.6%. 27-76 from three for 35.5%
For the season he is at 45% from the field and 39.1% from 3.

So not a HUGE dropoff but definitely a bit of a slump.

Nothing like last season though at least when he shot 36.9% from the field and 33% from three. That is horrendous and pretty much unplayable especially considering he doesn't get to the line or set up his teammates like a guy like Keyonte when he struggles with shooting.

Good to see it hasn't been as bad as I thought.

Compared to last year he is more tightly guarded and he is making and taking more difficult shots. Hia gravity is bigger opening up the floor for others.

His defense, rebounding and hustle have been good.

His passing is so much better than last year.

 

[HermanG]

Ya its seems like his rebounds are rarely the easy ones that just fall in his lap. They are almost always very difficult rebounds that, like you said, we dont get without his effort and hustle. Good post.

This is so true. And so weird. I thought he played amazing last night but as he was out there kicking butt I was watching the score of the game and there was almost no effect on the score cause OKC would just score on the other end basically negating all these great offensive scores he had.
22 points (9-15 from the field) and 9 rebounds and he ends up as 1 of only 4 players with minus in plus minus joining KO, Clarkson, and Luka.

I'm mostly on board with Collins having meh impact, but lately he has been improving.

This game he actually was much better than his +- indicates. He took a big role in holding up the fort early in the 4th quarter when Lauri, Kessler and Dunn were taking a rest after that great 19-3 run.

Collins played with JC, Key, Sexton and KO so it was about as horrible of a defensive lineup we could put out, and he scored 8 of our 13 points with 100% shooting during that stretch and due to that they only lost those minutes by -4. That was really important, as them hanging on to the lead by the skin of their teeth allowed our closing lineup to play less minutes in the 4th and be better rested during the clutch minutes, when we then ran away with the game.

 

[HermanG]

There was a tweet from Tony Jones last night that OKC wants to see how their young core perform in the playoffs before making big moves. I assume that is mostly saying they aren't going to make a Lauri type move.

I do think they are well positioned now to make a run and agree with you that they shouldn't take the opportunity for granted. If I were them I would try and shore up their rebounding and add some size to at least have some minutes to throw at Jokic.

Yeah its not like the have to make a blockbuster move, but they have deficiencies especially in big man depth. What if Chet gets injured? What happens to that evaluation process then?

 

[sip]

If Presti just sits on his hands its going to be such a head scratcher. Healthy years when your team performs great arent guaranteed... so he definitely shouldnt sit on his massive pile of picks this DL.

Its not like there arent contract dates and tough decissions coming up in their future.

They are so close right now that it would be a real head scratcher to see him do nothing. They have so many future assets that burning that clipper pick for Olynyk makes so much sense. He would be the perfect fit for them and I think he would re-sign there as well.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

They are so close right now that it would be a real head scratcher to see him do nothing. They have so many future assets that burning that clipper pick for Olynyk makes so much sense. He would be the perfect fit for them and I think he would re-sign there as well.

Agree that they should do something. Disagree that it KO is a good fit there. They have tons of shooting and playmaking, they need rebounding.

 

[sip]

Agree that they should do something. Disagree that it KO is a good fit there. They have tons of shooting and playmaking, they need rebounding.

You can never have too much shooting and playmaking. Also KO certainly helps with the rebounding. Overall he is a massive upgrade over Jaylin Williams as the backup center.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

You can never have too much shooting and playmaking. Also KO certainly helps with the rebounding. Overall he is a massive upgrade over Jaylin Williams as the backup center.

He would be an upgrade, for sure, but I just think they should go a different direction for backup center. I've mentioned Kevon Looney who I think would be much better for what they lack right now. FWIW according to Tony Jones OKC is not in on KO, so they seem to agree with me.

 

[fishonjazz]

we still need creators though specially when Hardy’s game plan doesn’t work. But I do agree he has been inefficient and turnover prone and just hope it’s mental thing. If not then reduce his minutes sit him longer

I dont think creating turnovers and missed shots is very difficult though.