Our Long Term Problem is Our Stars are Limited

[Joncolton]

If we compare ourselves to the Warriors (and we should because they will be back next year).

Gobert = Draymond (DPOY)
Mitchell = Steph (scorer go to guy, Donovan actually had a much better 3rd season - largely due to Curry's ankle injury)
Ingles = our poor man's Klay Thompson
Conley = our Andre Igoudala (veteran who should be able to help a lot in the playoffs)
Clarkson = Shaun Livingston (surprising athlete off the bench who can change the game dynamic)
Bogdanovic = the rest of our Klay Thompson (gets buckets in bunches when hot).


When I look at it that way, I think we got a shot. Of making some noise in the playoffs, but this team needs to gel more.

 

[Ujfanatic]

That Warriors team was way more athletic than we are, and their comps are better than ours in every position except maybe Clarkson/Livingston.

 

[carolinajazz]

If we hit a decent percentage of our 3 pointers, we win.

 

[LogGrad98]

I don't think he avoids contact like a couple others said. I think the way he's built he absorbs the contact and they don't call it. He certainly doesn't look to do the BS jump into guys stuff or flopping garbage... and unfortunately it will limit how many calls he gets. He plays the right way and is punished for it. He is strong and it works against him... I've always though Lebron got way less calls than he should because he goes through the contact with strength rather than acting like he got shot.

LeBron is one of the most notorious floppers in league history. But point taken about Mitchell. I think in general we don't get the same calls other teams get, and the last 2 minute reports for the last several years prove that out.

 

[LoPo]

LeBron is one of the most notorious floppers in league history. But point taken about Mitchell. I think in general we don't get the same calls other teams get, and the last 2 minute reports for the last several years prove that out.

LeBron does both. He trucks right through people AND he embellishes contact when fouled. He uses the refs to his advantage. However, I don't think LeBron flops when he isn't fouled. He just overacts when he is fouled.

Mitchell could learn to do the same thing. He is strong enough to shed most PGs and SGs but needs to learn that body movement that draws ref attention to fouls. Not flop, but embellish the impact of the contact like LeBron does.

And with us being Utah, we got good refs in the days of Stock and Malone. Not against MJ who got every call every time, but against many others. I don't think Gobert will ever get the ref respect on the offensive end because how he acts and his lack of offensive polish.

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[Beer]

That Warriors team was way more athletic than we are, and their comps are better than ours in every position except maybe Clarkson/Livingston.

substantially better at every position other than Livingston.

 

[LogGrad98]

Our players have to find a way to block out the refs and just play ball. Well never get the calls. It isn't worth taking yourself out of the flow of the game worrying complaining or whining about it. They need to just get back down court. I think this is a decent chunk of what is throwing Rudy off his game. Instead of focusing on what he can control he is spending way too much time an energy on complaining. Snyder needs to step up here and take a few techs to defend the team.

 

[checkbookdoc]

I think our stars are good enough, but only if we have the perfect compliments with them. We don't have it this year. We need an upgrade at the 4 and to add someone like Lonzo Ball in place of Conley. I would be so excited for Lonzo Ball on this team!

 

[NAOS]

I think our biggest long-term problem comes back to how we emptied the magazine of bullets for Conley. At some point in this process, we needed to cash in some nickels for a dime. Instead, we ended up with fewer nickels.

So, from our new disadvantaged position (asset-wise), how do we generate another chance at a dime?

>> have to hope like hell that this gigantic stock of g-league talent actually has real value that’s moveable in a trade.

>> have to hope like hell that going forward we’re in the 95th percentile in terms of draft success. Basically every pick needs to bank value.

>> pray for unprecedented lures to SLC in free agency.

That’s a back-against-the-wall scenario for this core.

 

[Hekate]

Gobert's impact is enormous. His shots are effective. His rolls to the rim even if he doesn't get the ball still have the gravity that allows us to be the best 3pt shooting team in the league. We are wide open because of him. It's kinda surprising to see those who watch Gobert the most to fall to the national narrative. And he is still the DPOY.

 

[jom2003]

That's true but how do we add another star with the assets we have? We took our shot with Conley and now we're pretty much screwed. Toronto got a top 3 player in Kawhi, that's not possible for the Jazz.

then that's a FO problem. DM and Rudy are not the reason that we don’t have a dynamic wing on this team right now. We had more than 3 seasons to try our chances in the draft, trade and FA to invest in one but DL instead burnt all of his assets on a midget guard in Conley, which goes everything against the championship winning model in the modern game

 

[NAOS]

Gobert's impact is enormous. His shots are effective. His rolls to the rim even if he doesn't get the ball still have the gravity that allows us to be the best 3pt shooting team in the league. We are wide open because of him. It's kinda surprising to see those who watch Gobert the most to fall to the national narrative. And he is still the DPOY.

All true. And I’m ride-or-die with Rudy. But we need more from him in order to be contenders. That would involve improvement on the offensive end—obviously—since we can’t expect more on the defensive end.