Jazz at Clippers Dec 29--8:30
- Thread starter mellow
- Start date
Yep, shameful. To quote the late, great Bill Hicks:
"By the way, if anyone here is in advertising or marketing, kill yourself. No, this is not a joke: kill yourself . . . I know what the marketing people are thinking now too: 'Oh. He's going for that anti-marketing dollar. That's a good market.' Oh man, I am not doing that, you ****ing evil scumbags."
InGameStrategy
Well-Known Member
No, it's not all matchups and rotations; it's personnel, too. And development, too. But this roster is one of the better that Utah has had, and the repeated first-quarter slumps have been remediable and Sloan has done little about them except when injuries and fouls have required him to.
BTW, if the Jazz had 5 losses, they wouldn't be on pace for 70 wins. (However, San Antonio--also a relatively small-market team that has a deep but aging roster and is coached by someone who understands and implements player development, play-for-performance, managing minutes, and in-game adjustments--is theoretically on pace for a 70-win season right now.)
I don't understand the penchant that you and certain other JazzHacks have for taking arguments to a ridiculous extreme that the originator wasn't claiming. That being said, with better coaching (and better preparation by players, but that's always a given anyway), at least this squad would be a solid top 2 or 3 in the West.
The offer stands.
(Damn! I ended it again that way! Yet I maintain that I wouldn't have if VJ (Very Jealous?) hadn't brought it up.)
Gyp Rosetti
Banned
Can we get a game thread going for tonight? I won't pretend like I'd make a good one but someone else needs to get on the ball.
Popovich implements player development? Examples, please.
To me what sets Pop apart from the Jazz is his respect for shooting and the 3-ball. They are always loaded with guys who can fill it up. While the Jazz pick up (or keep) Hart, and Palacio, and Brewer, and Jeffers, and Price, and AK.
Maybe that happens because they have Tim Duncan, who still tends to command inside attention and leaves the outside open.
InGameStrategy
Well-Known Member
That's a fair challenge. Pops is especially good at player selection, given that he been in the GM role also for part of his time in San Antone. DeJuan Blair was a bargain late in the 1st round. Ginobili and Splitter were obscure overseas finds. And yes, it helps to anchor a team around TD for so many years. Gary Neal was plucked from the Euroleague, so some of his development was already there.
You could look at someone like George Hill, who was a finalist for the Most Improved Player award, but some of the credit would go to his assistants, and much of it--surprise--goes to Hill's work ethic in the off-season. I would only be speculating as to how much influence Pops had on Hill.
The real strengths of Popovich are building relationships and in-game management. So far, Pops has been able to keep Duncan's PT below 30 per game. He has more players who have played at least 200 minutes (just a random number) than Utah does; by contrast, Sloan has boosted some of the minutes of the starters, which is not good because it can wear down players and stems the motivation and development of the backups.
Sloan probably gets along with players (except the ones that he disenfranchises), but I am not aware of any examples from Sloan close to the extent of rapport that Pop has invested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c98DECN6QI&feature=player_embedded#!
I'll give you Hill, but other than him being a first round pick with all of the contractual ties, is he any different than Wesley Matthews?
As for Manu and Splitter, they were not obscure European finds. They were both well known European players with well known bad European contracts that San Antonio had the luxury of waiting for. And if you are giving Pop the credit for being in control of finding these guys, how about ripping him for giving Luis Scola to Houston? Don't get me wrong, I think Pop is a Hall of Fame coach, but I'd like to see how he does without the luxury of having Tim Duncan.
As for Manu and Splitter, they were not obscure European finds. They were both well known European players with well known bad European contracts that San Antonio had the luxury of waiting for. And if you are giving Pop the credit for being in control of finding these guys, how about ripping him for giving Luis Scola to Houston? Don't get me wrong, I think Pop is a Hall of Fame coach, but I'd like to see how he does without the luxury of having Tim Duncan.
Well, he "blundered" his way into how many rings? Nuff said.
LifeOnaPlate
Well-Known Member
Is there a video of said action you can show me so as to better inform me of this play?