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How Bad will the Jazz Defense Be This Year?

I think it's hard to know how good we were because we have not played a normal defense for the last 7+ years. I think Olynyk-Vando-Markkanen is a better defensive frontcourt than you might expect. It won't be the Rudy show anymore, but we'll have multiple big bodies and more importantly we won't have 4 players who play no help defense.
 
We are about 10% in to the season and the Jazz have the 8th best defensive rating. This is blowing my mind a little.

It seems like our defensive strategy is to foul on every possession and the refs will get tired of blowing their whistle eventually.

Really though, it's been impressive. We have some length and players are being disruptive and playing hard and physical.
 
SoberasHotRod said:
We are about 10% in to the season and the Jazz have the 8th best defensive rating. This is blowing my mind a little.

It seems like our defensive strategy is to foul on every possession and the refs will get tired of blowing their whistle eventually.

Really though, it's been impressive. We have some length and players are being disruptive and playing hard and physical.
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Markannen has been a revelation on defense, way beyond advertised. Maybe he can sustain it, but likely he will regress at least a little toward the mean. But at this point, who knows? Could keep it up all year and be in the running for everything, MIP, DPOY, and MVP.
 
LogGrad98 said:
Markannen has been a revelation on defense, way beyond advertised. Maybe he can sustain it, but likely he will regress at least a little toward the mean. But at this point, who knows? Could keep it up all year and be in the running for everything, MIP, DPOY, and MVP.
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This... as impressive as the offense has been I just thought he was a Bogey like sieve on D. Very much the opposite. Doesn't block a ton of shots but moves his feet and gets in the play. The way he competes for boards has been wildly impressive to me. He always gets back in the play and competes on the glass... so if he doesn't get it someone else can swoop in and nab it.

Overall the kid looks like he has matured and is like a perfect market fit (not the white guy thing per se.. the fact he has a young family is serious and looking for his opportunity to take more of the spotlight... the cold mountainous climate may not bother him either).

Just an FYI he is not extension eligible and wouldn't sign one if he was. He will likely double his salary when his current 3 year deal is over. The cap will have gone up by like 50% in addition to his improvement. I can see him being very interested in staying here though as it seems to be a great fit.
 
LogGrad98 said:
Markannen has been a revelation on defense, way beyond advertised. Maybe he can sustain it, but likely he will regress at least a little toward the mean. But at this point, who knows? Could keep it up all year and be in the running for everything, MIP, DPOY, and MVP.
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Yes, let's double down on this ridiculous over-reactive fantasy. The Jazz end the season at 64-18, far and away the best team in the league. They have the #1 seed throughout the playoffs. Markannen puts up a stat line of 26/11/4/2/2 with only 2 TO per game and leads the league in DBPM and most other defensive stats, and he wins MIP, DPOY, and MVP and finals MVP all in the same season. And he comes off the bench for exactly the number of games he needs to and wins the 6MOY as well. First major award sweep in league history. And Hardy also wins COTY. And 5 Jazz players make up the all NBA 1st team. Yes, that is definitely where this is all headed! **** the tank, I am on the Lauri-train mother****ers!!! Choooo-choooooooooo!!!
 
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LogGrad98 said:
Yes, let's double down on this didiculous over-reactive fantasy. The Jazz end the season at 64-18, far and away the best team in the league. They have the #1 seed throughout the playoffs. Markannen puts up a stat line of 26/11/4/2/2 with only 2 TO per game and leads the league in DBPM and most other defensive stats, and he wins MIP, DPOY, and MVP and finals MVP all in the same season. And he comes off the bench for exactly the number of games he needs to and wins the 6MOY as well. First major award sweep in league history. And Hardy also wins COTY. And 5 Jazz players make up the all NBA 1st team. Yes, that is definitely where this is all headed! **** the tank, I am on the Lauri-train mother****ers!!! Choooo-choooooooooo!!!
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Sounds good to me. The kool aid is strong...... and yummy.
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
This... as impressive as the offense has been I just thought he was a Bogey like sieve on D. Very much the opposite. Doesn't block a ton of shots but moves his feet and gets in the play. The way he competes for boards has been wildly impressive to me. He always gets back in the play and competes on the glass... so if he doesn't get it someone else can swoop in and nab it.

Overall the kid looks like he has matured and is like a perfect market fit (not the white guy thing per se.. the fact he has a young family is serious and looking for his opportunity to take more of the spotlight... the cold mountainous climate may not bother him either).

Just an FYI he is not extension eligible and wouldn't sign one if he was. He will likely double his salary when his current 3 year deal is over. The cap will have gone up by like 50% in addition to his improvement. I can see him being very interested in staying here though as it seems to be a great fit.
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LM is a great example of the importance of letting athletes compete for their countries in the offseason. Dude played for god-awful NBA coaches who parked him in the corners -- the Finnish team unlocked his potential and built his confidence through the summer, and he massacred his opponents in the process.

Hardy should get credit for continuing his momentum and giving him opportunities to succeed, but the lion's share of credit goes to Lauri and the Finnish coaching staff
 
George W said:
LM is a great example of the importance of letting athletes compete for their countries in the offseason. Dude played for god-awful NBA coaches who parked him in the corners -- the Finnish team unlocked his potential and built his confidence through the summer, and he massacred his opponents in the process.

Hardy should get credit for continuing his momentum and giving him opportunities to succeed, but the lion's share of credit goes to Lauri and the Finnish coaching staff
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True, but he learned a little something something about elite defense in Cleveland last season, playing next to Mobley and Allen. That coach was limited in his options, besides playing his #3 overall future superstar at the 4 , but he saw enough in Marky to play him at the 3 all season when noone else ever did it previously. I think the Cavs are probably feeling a little bit stupid right now, despite how good Spida has played without Garland available. If Marky had played this great in Cleveland they could have probably kept Agbaji and still got the Spida.
 
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