I think you need to stick with the defensive identity that allowed you to be so successful at the end of last year. Exum was for sure a big part of that, but Millsap's role is underrated A LOT. In a game like that, the Jazz needed something to turn the tides and slow McCollum or Lillard down. It was obvious we couldn't play the same create your own shot game they were playing and catch up, it just couldn't happen. We needed stops, the Jazz feed off big defensive stops, and Millsap can provide that on the perimeter. Sure he individually cancels out with his terrible offense, but as he a team he brings a lot of positives on the defensive end and Quin said it himself, the offense wasn't the problem it was the defense.
Jazz win the low 80 games. Those are the games they want. There is a reason Millsap is in the NBA. I like him as a Tony Allen type player (no he's not AS good but he makes a difference on the defensive end like Allen). I know the trick is to find a way to be top 10 defensively and offensively, that's the ticket to the playoffs/championships. Millsap doesn't have to get 20-25 minutes a night but having a guy on our bench that we could throw in games where we just need physicality on the perimeter is there and we didn't use him last night.
Millsap does foul a lot, he plays physical. Even if he did foul out in 12 minutes (which apparently your crystal ball is telling you?), those 12 minutes could have gone a long way in taking Lillard out of his game.
Unrelated but I was saying all game McCollum was the x-factor. He had a better game than Lillard, the focus should have started with stopping him really.
