Game Thread Jun 16, 2021 08:00PM MT: Jazz vs. Clippers - Game 5

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Mitchell has been schemed out. Kawhi and PG has been schemed out. It almost always gives advantage to the other players. It's on others to take advantage.

Remember the sentiment when Clips first busted out the zone. We all thought that wasn't sustainable because Jazz have great shooters and that threat opens up driving gaps that we can attack plus Rudy is there if they miss. It didn't happen though, Jazz got stagnant, played iso ball and no one stepped up consistently. Rudy has his limitations on offense for sure but he still has his gravity. When we attacked the rim 3-4 times, he got putbacks, when we don't he battles 2 guys plus guys crashing down from perimeter. It's not really possible to get offensive rebounds if guards can't break down the defense.

On defense. It's just the nature of perimeter defense. Simmons, the best perimeter defender in the league right now, gets 39 put on him, Kawhi looked ridiculous against Mitch at times. Giannis got punked, Jrue turned into Bledsoe. Everyone gets scored on the perimeter and Rudy doesn't even have the benefit of rim protection behind him. He is still playing great defense. Guys score it happens, Jazz need better defense from everyone else. Just like Mitchell can't carry the whole offense, Rudy can't stop everyone.

A big issue with Don's health is that he cant split the double consistently like he usually can. I think teh Jazz strategy is to have the better shooters in the corners on those doubles so Mitchell can split and kick to them, but he ends up getting trapped and having to kick to O'Neale.

 

[latin jazz]

I'm not saying Rudy is trash. I'm saying his impact isn't great against small teams. If we could find a way to keep him AND add what we need on the perimeter, I would do it.

But he is such a large chunk of our cap that I just don't see how we can continue to partner him with Don. Just doesn't work in the today's NBA playoffs.

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He would be more effective with a real PG. His rolling open up the offense for his teammates.

The clippers are just trapping/double teaming Donovan way outside the 3pt line, leaving Rudy open for a second (and having a guy rotating from the corner to defend him). The pass is there but its a difficult one because it's pretty long and can be intercepted. It requires moving the ball quick (to the side or to Rudy who needs to get a bit closer). Donovan has been unable to make those reads. And when he did, it was to a indecisive Royce who didn't know what to do with the ball. We are predictable and playing tight. I'm surprised Q has been unable to exploit the Clips defense so far (I put some blame on the players being unable to make the reads/plays)

On defense, can't put all the blame on Rudy. He can't do it all. His job would be much easier if guys could stay in front of their man at least half the time. He is always trying to cover other players' mistakes, protecting the paint or rushing to defend the corner 3. If I were him, I would be pretty pissed.

Long term, both Rudy and Donovan are cornerstones. We need better defenders on the roster (obvious from last year) and someone like Conley back. Donovan is not a real PG (although he has improved from last year).

 

[trentban22]

I'm officially calling the Conley acquisition a complete failure. We knew he had injury issues. He was redundant and didn't fill an actual need. And we left a huge gaping hole in our biggest weakness. It's a complete bust.

At the end of the day, if he doesn't impact this series then you're correct

This times 100,000,000,000.

The solution? Keep the league's best paint protector IN THE PAINT!!! Adjust so that others guard the perimeter more aggressively. 4 out, 1 in. Nuf said.

MAKE AN ADJUSTMENT QUIN!!! DONT SAY THIS IS OUR DNA AND RIDE IT TO THE GRAVE!!!

I have been saying that Ersan should play over Miye Oni for sure and maybe Niang, but now I think he should come in as the back-up center instead of Favors. I really like Favors and usually he does a few things at the end of games to help the Jazz win. But in this series he is providing no defense and no offense. At least Ersan can contribute on offense and his defensive impact won’t be any worse than Favors.

Not that Ersan is a secondary rim protector but he is the only thing even close. At very least needs to play Niang's minutes with Gobert/Favours at C. His 3pt shooting cannot be any worst than Niang right now plus he gives help on D, MUST DO

 

[Jingled]

Rudy’s salary the next 5 years:

35.3M
38.2M
41M
43.8M
46.6M

I don’t know man.

I love Rudy but man, that is rough...especially when we haven't proven we can win with him in the playoffs.

 

[LoPo]

I guarantee if we ban Lopo the Jazz win game 6 and 7

I guarantee you Conley was a trade we shouldn't have made.

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[Jingled]

 

[The Thriller]

Exemplary of the clippers pulling gobert out and basically just having free shots. They stopped attacking gobert in the paint and instead pulled him to the perimeter where they take wide open shots on him. FISH OUT OF WATER!

ADJUST QUIN!!!

In Snyder’s defense, the logical move here would be to go small and take Rudy out of the game. Sadly, we don’t have enough athletic wings to go small ball with. If we had a jeff green/Tobias harris like player, then we could downsize and take away this advantage from them.

 

[The Thriller]

He’s not wrong. A bunch of us were saying that we were playing poor basketball but it was disguised by unreal shooting.

Shaq and Charles were vindicated tonight.

 

[trentban22]

Worst thing is we have just had Bogey's 1 in 6 breakout game and still had a loss. This is 2021 Bogey, we really need 2020 Bogey

 

[Elizah Huge]

This ain’t it Rudy. Especially with your *** getting cooked continually.

 

[Hekate]

A big issue with Don's health is that he cant split the double consistently like he usually can. I think teh Jazz strategy is to have the better shooters in the corners on those doubles so Mitchell can split and kick to them, but he ends up getting trapped and having to kick to O'Neale.

Yeah, I thought he held onto the ball too long and that extra second the ball stopped took us out of our flow. He would consistently beat the double teams or he would be already be on the move. But he still passed out of those and Royce didn't make many good plays out of them. Quin put Bogey at the top later and it got us a few looks but couldn't convert them.

 

[LoPo]

He would be more effective with a real PG. His rolling open up the offense for his teammates.

The clippers are just trapping/double teaming Donovan way outside the 3pt line, leaving Rudy open for a second (and having a guy rotating from the corner to defend him). The pass is there but its a difficult one because it's pretty long and can be intercepted. It requires moving the ball quick (to the side or to Rudy who needs to get a bit closer). Donovan has been unable to make those reads. And when he did, it was to a indecisive Royce who didn't know what to do with the ball. We are predictable and playing tight. I'm surprised Q has been unable to exploit the Clips defense so far (I put some blame on the players being unable to make the reads/plays)

On defense, can't put all the blame on Rudy. He can't do it all. His job would be much easier if guys could stay in front of their man at least half the time. He is always trying to cover other player's mistakes, protecting the paint or rushing to defend the corner 3. If I were him, I would be pretty pissed.

Long term, both Rudy and Donovan are cornerstones. We need better defenders on the roster (obvious from last year) and someone like Conley back. Donovan is not a real PG (although he has improved from last year).

You make valid points. I'm not saying he has no value. I just feel that the window to get Rudy the ball on the extended screen and roll is too small. If it wasn't, Joe and Rudy could run it if Don is getting trapped.

And once again on defense, he does do great things but he also gives up very costly 3 pointers.

By biggest issue with Rudy is that it's always somebody else's fault. "He needs a PG", "he needs more perimeter help", etc. He doesn't dominate. Ever. He impacts a game, but hell, so does everybody in their own subtle way.

He's a $40 million player who can't dominate a playoff game.

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[Sean]

Meh... I'm not going to hate but at the end of the day this team is no different than the Rocket and Denver loss playoff teams. This is our pinnacle.

I've said for years that the ceiling for this franchise is the semifinals. Seems even with the number one seed, an opponent whose best player is out, an 2-0 lead and a must-win game five at home, we're still unable to advance beyond the semis. That's our lot in life.

 

[LoPo]

Once again Rudy blaming other people.

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[infection]

I have been saying that Ersan should play over Miye Oni for sure and maybe Niang, but now I think he should come in as the back-up center instead of Favors. I really like Favors and usually he does a few things at the end of games to help the Jazz win. But in this series he is providing no defense and no offense. At least Ersan can contribute on offense and his defensive impact won’t be any worse than Favors.

Quin isn't trying out new material in an elimination game.

 

[Goodluckchuck]

I’m not agreeing like this is on Rudy. This is on the coaching staff. Rudy is our most important player. He needs to be the focal point of our game plan. His defense dictates how well we play. A quiet Gobert means a quiet offense. Our offense runs efficiently by our defense strangling teams. I’m tired of half assed game plans. We need to throw a wrench in and either play zone, or throw Favs in with Rudy and play defense two towers style.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

I honestly thought Mitchell would go for 40 pts tonight. He was averaging 37 ppg and didn't have Kawhi to go through on his way to the rim.

Clearly, he's not healthy.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Yeah, I thought he held onto the ball too long and that extra second the ball stopped took us out of our flow. He would consistently beat the double teams or he would be already be on the move. But he still passed out of those and Royce didn't make many good plays out of them. Quin put Bogey at the top later and it got us a few looks but couldn't convert them.

I thought that too, but I dont think it really matters. If he cant split it then nothing positive is going to come if you have Royce being the release valve. Maybe that's an adjustment Quin can make now that we definitely know Mitchell's health is ****ed to the point where he can't be making those kinds of plays consistently.

 

[latin jazz]

I guarantee you Conley was a trade we shouldn't have made.

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Conley doesn't get injured, we get all the way to the finals with a good chance at winning. We were a freakin machine with him on the floor. You keep Crowder, Allen and picks, you set a very low ceiling on the team.

You roll the dice, live by the result. This postseason we had (still have) a chance to win a chip...it's declining due to players' health.

I think it was a good trade. The problem? the moves around the corners. Not getting players who could step up in situations like these.

 

[yamers]