homeytennis
Well-Known Member
I suspect that whoever plays the best defense, limits offensive turnovers and isn't a total bricky ricky on offense will make Lauri look the best. I know that's going out on a limb.
Making Lauri better
- Thread starter jazznik
- Start date
It's really hard to draw conclusions from statistics the last two years. The extreme tanking measures and the team pretty much quitting the second half wrecks the stats.
To some extent, that's true. On the other hand, tanking and quitting could muddle the data along the edges but it would not dramatically change the playing styles and fits: good passers would not magically turn into bad ones, bad 3-point shooters would not become snipers and start creating the space for the teammates.
The stats that I saw confirm the eye test: Lauri needs teammates who can find him in a good position with precise, timely passes and those who can create spacing for his drives to the basket. And, since he at best a neutral defender, he needs either good perimeter defenders or, at least, players with size - because Lauri is not Kessler and cannot effectively stop guards and wings who got free and are rolling to the hoop.
The problem that I see for the Jazz is that they traded away or let go ALL players who have these characteristics and now their best players and most promising young guys - Kessler, THT, Sexton, Collins - don't have those qualities and do not mesh well with Markkanen. Keyonte kinda does (mobile, can pass) but he is a wide-open sieve on defense and does not have a good size for a SG. The only player who theoretically should match really well with Lauri is Filipowski and we still do not know if he will be good enough defensively to play as a starter.
The Jazz will need to turn almost all of their current roster over to find players who would multiply the impact of the guy that they want to build around. Isn't it strange?
Here are the stats for the season before the All-Star break, when the team has not been taking yet (net rating, min>100):
2-player lineups
Lauri-Dunn +8.5
Lauri-Olynyk +6.5
Lauri-Fontecchio +4.6
Lauri-Kessler +3.3
Lauri-Clarkson +1.8
Lauri-Agbaji +1.4
Lauri-Sexton +1.3
Lauri-George +1.0
Lauri-THT +1.0
Lauri-Collins -4.3
The stats for that part of the season are pretty much mirroring the data for the entire season: all three players who played the best with Lauri were traded. Kessler is doing a bit better and Collins is even a bigger negative outlier (he really struggled in the beginning of the season). When it mattered, Dunn was playing with Lauri infinitely better than any other guard.
I was curious and decided to look who complemented well another important player on the Jazz, Kessler. We all know that he can be very effective but he needs good players to maximize his impact, at least on offense. Pre-All Star breaks best net rating for Kessler.
Kessler-Dunn +18.7 (!)
Kessler-Fontecchio +5.1
Kessler-Markkanen +3.3
Kessler-THT +0.7
Kessler-Olynyk -0.1
Four out of the five players who meshed with Kessler the best are gone now.
And Dunn is a very special case. Five best offensive pairs for the Jazz pre-All Star break were the ones with Dunn (with Markkanen, Fontecchio, Kessler, Sexton, and Clarkson). When Kessler played with Dunn they was putting the 124 offensive rating, which is pretty bonkers - and they also had the second best defensive rating for the team. Dunn was also the player with whom 8 Jazz players reached the highest OFFRATING (Markkanen, Fontecchio, Kessler, Sexton, Clarkson, Collins, Hendricks, George). He was simply making almost everyone on the team (even Kessler!) much, much better both offensively and defensively and the Jazz could have resigned him for very little money.
Kessler-Dunn +18.7 (!)
Kessler-Fontecchio +5.1
Kessler-Markkanen +3.3
Kessler-THT +0.7
Kessler-Olynyk -0.1
Four out of the five players who meshed with Kessler the best are gone now.
And Dunn is a very special case. Five best offensive pairs for the Jazz pre-All Star break were the ones with Dunn (with Markkanen, Fontecchio, Kessler, Sexton, and Clarkson). When Kessler played with Dunn they was putting the 124 offensive rating, which is pretty bonkers - and they also had the second best defensive rating for the team. Dunn was also the player with whom 8 Jazz players reached the highest OFFRATING (Markkanen, Fontecchio, Kessler, Sexton, Clarkson, Collins, Hendricks, George). He was simply making almost everyone on the team (even Kessler!) much, much better both offensively and defensively and the Jazz could have resigned him for very little money.
I tend to agree with others that the numbers deep dive might be futile given the circumstances…but I think we all know the deal with Lauri. He’s the best off ball offensive player in the league and has natural synergy next to ball handlers. He makes there job easier and if the better they are it makes his job easier.
As far as making Lauri better, I initially thought about how he might improve as a player rather than making him look better. I think he’s one of the most portable players in the league that’s going to help in ever team situation. I don’t think we need to overthink which players (especially when we’re talking about role players) that he needs to be surrounded with. But there are areas I think he could potentially improve in with his personal play.
The first place I see potential improvement for would be doing things with the ball in his hands. That could be scoring with the ball in his hands or improving his ball handling/handoff game to create some for others. I’m not sure if he has it in him, but to me this season would be a perfect chance to let him explore and expand his game as wins are not the priority.
The other area is defense. I think he’s a neutral defender, but I think he can be even better. Personally, I see more potential for him if he moves more towards being a big rather than perimeter player. If he can enable more small ball ish lineups by offering more big man value himself it could be super valuable.
As far as making Lauri better, I initially thought about how he might improve as a player rather than making him look better. I think he’s one of the most portable players in the league that’s going to help in ever team situation. I don’t think we need to overthink which players (especially when we’re talking about role players) that he needs to be surrounded with. But there are areas I think he could potentially improve in with his personal play.
The first place I see potential improvement for would be doing things with the ball in his hands. That could be scoring with the ball in his hands or improving his ball handling/handoff game to create some for others. I’m not sure if he has it in him, but to me this season would be a perfect chance to let him explore and expand his game as wins are not the priority.
The other area is defense. I think he’s a neutral defender, but I think he can be even better. Personally, I see more potential for him if he moves more towards being a big rather than perimeter player. If he can enable more small ball ish lineups by offering more big man value himself it could be super valuable.
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