General questions about JAZZ personnel

[Dr. Jones]

Not that your question/survey needed to tell you this but shooting is the Jazz' biggest tangible weakness, now if there was just some way to measure defensive intensity or correlate it to one of the other tangibles so the Jazz could add some of that (also good screens on offense would be nice).

Sorry kinda got side tracked.

Mine kinda matches Cyrone's but maybe on the 7's I'd go 6.5 (cause it's kinda depending on the matchup) and I'd also rather put Burks in there now that everybody is injured but it hard because being a rookie it depends on the game.

I think Burks is very important in the scheme as he seems among the most likely to create something on the offensive end with his disruptiveness of the defense. He's the best (or most aggressive) slasher on most nights (that he plays). Having Burks in the lane, collapsing the d, and having a kick-out to shooters with an option to dump down low for an oop, is one of the bright spots on this team. It's just that when we slash, there's not many shooting options .. which, in turn, makes it even more difficult to get into the lane.. Sorry, reeling it back in now, Burks is a bright spot in what I am intending to discuss in this thread.

 

[mellow]

To preface my response, just let me say that I generally exaggerate for effect, and my soul is poisoned with sarcasm.

Would like to get some input on a few very basic questions. As simple as they seem, your answers are of interest to me, so I appreciate anyone's patience that plays along.

You fail to understand the fundamental principles of Jazz basketball. All this talk of dribbling and driving is foolishness.

1) At each of the first four positions on the floor (PG through PF), how would you rate our guys at taking their man off the dribble?

Irrelevant. As Jerry has said, dribbling is for people who are too lazy to pass. And as Ty Corbin has quoted Jerry, saying: “We are trying to play one on one, and we don’t have players good enough to play one on one.”

2) Adding to the question above, how well are those same guys at finishing at the rim?

This is a good question because every Jazz fan knows that the hierarchy of shot selection is: lay-up > Jump-shot > 24-second violation > 3-pt shot. But remember that far more important than ability to finish is the ability to get open. Jazz history demonstrates that guys who get open are rewarded, regardless of ability to finish.

3) How are we, at those same 4 positions at shooting the long ball?

Irrelevant the 3-pt shot is the least desirable of all shots. Do you really want players taking shots that will fail 2/3rd of the times? Far better to take shots that fail only 50% to 60 % of the time.

4) At each of those positions, how well do we pass in tight traffic?

Terrible question. The ball is passed in traffic only when the offense breaks down and players are out of position. Or when a player tries to play with a dribble. Very bad.

5) Do you think the leaves, in the fall, are pretty?

Yes, the moist red and yellow ones, but not the dried brown ones.

 

[Dr. Jones]

Awesome response Mellow. I laughed, I cried, I cussed .. perfection! Rep'd.

 

[mellow]

According to George Costanza I should leave this thread and never post again. End on high note. But the original post was so intriguing that I can't leave it alone. So, in a more serious frame of mind, PKM makes great points about where the game is heading. I heard one of the Jazz commentators, perhaps it was Phil Johnson, saying that the way the game is evolving that NBA teams would soon be made of all most all players being long and athletic of about 6'-6" to 6'-8" who can dribble, penetrate, and shoot. He speculated that pgs and Centers would only continue to exist if they were exceptionally skilled. That sounds like the Miami Heat to me.

While I believe this trends will continue, I doubt it will be a league wide change. It works for Miami and Kentucky because they are the best. But not even good teams like Kanas or Ohio State could field a team like Kentucky, they had to have players that played more traditional roles. And so too in the NBA, many teams will continue to field rosters with the traditional 5 positions because they have to. The Utah Jazz while not trend setters, have fallen into the trend a little by basicly eliminating the distinction between 2 & 3 and just calling the position a wing. Now if they can just figure out that three point shot thingy......