What's new
By:

The Season of AB

I've been rewatching Georges Niang from summer league and pre-season. He could be a factor for us by end of season. He's got some of the same appeal as Joe Ingles and can play at the 4. He just needs more time with main rotation players.

Regarding Burks, I think he's good enough to start for a number of teams. Love the way he rebounds for a guard/wing, and I love the way his mid-range is now more under control. His 3-pt range also goes out to 28 ft now.
 
Mitchell and Joe are entrenched as heavy minute players and Quin has a tough job getting consistent minutes for all of our bench wing options (Crowder, Allen, Exum, O'Neale). I've been impressed with Burks, but I just don't see how he gets the minutes to be considered for 6th man. I guess it's conceivable that Rubio struggles and Mitchell plays a bunch of PG with Burks at SG.

As for trade, I don't think Burks gets us a current player who provides us value. If we were to trade him, which I highly doubt due to how much teammates love him, he would be traded for a worthless expiring and some pick in the future. Something like a top 10 protected 1st in like 2022 from some Eastern Conference team like Detroit.

Burks is the 2018/19 version of Favors. He's had a couple rocky years and now he will play really well in his contract year. Like Favors, Burks is loved by his teammates and the organization. Unlike Favors, Burks plays a position where there is a ton of competition for minutes. I'm happy to keep him throughout this season so we can make a run for it, but I just don't see a way he stays with us long term should he keep playing this well.
 
He's earned his spot back in the rotation. Lets hope he can keep it.

We will be scary AF is AB is killin it.
 
Allen is looking more and more like the odd man out. And Sefolosha too. Royce, Alec, Dante and Jae look like the main guys off the bench. Lots of guys deserving of minutes. No matter what, someone is going to get the short end of the stick.
 
I'm happy for AB, but Imma just dip my toes in teh "AB is back" waters for now. If he's playing well I think it reduces the chances we trade him. If he had done this last year or had another year left on his deal and started playing well he'd be a good trade chip. I wouldn't want to trade him for some middling draft asset then have an injury where we wish we had him back.

AB stays ahead of Allen in the rotation and he can get spot minutes in clean up duty and when there are injuries.
 
There always seems to be a dream-period where we envision him turning the corner almost every single offseason since he's been on the team.

His passing has improved however and he looks a lot more at home in the offensive scheme than he had before, whereas he kind of just put his head down and drove in seasons past. He kind of was a ball stopper but I'm not getting that vibe anymore from the second half of last season and the preseason.
 
jazzfan1971 said:
I still don't trust him.
Click to expand...
This.

However I remain cautiously optimistic. If he can find a groove, play solid D, and hit the 3 with regularity, as well as add his normal spark, he could be special. He is one of those aggravating guys that has all the tools, and the attitude, but just can't seem to put it together for anything but short bursts, or a game here or there. I know injuries have played a part with AB, but I also think he is one of the lower BBall IQ guys on the team, and it shows in that he tends to make bad decisions. If he can settle that down, play within the offense, and go off-book when it makes sense, he could be 6th man material. Would love to see that.
 
Jazz Traveler said:
Allen is looking more and more like the odd man out. And Sefolosha too. Royce, Alec, Dante and Jae look like the main guys off the bench. Lots of guys deserving of minutes. No matter what, someone is going to get the short end of the stick.
Click to expand...
This is actually what I really like about our bench. So the standard bench rotation might be Jae first off the bench, possibly Royce and maybe even Alec, but I think it will be Jae first to spell either of the big men, then we would see Royce and Alec come in around the same time, maybe for Rubio and Ingles. Then we would potentially have Mitchell, Burks, Royce, Jae and let's say, Favors. That is a solid and scary group right there. That could be a starting 5 tbh, maybe not top tier, but easily as good as a phoenix or sac starting 5 (ok let's be honest, either of those teams would be ecstatic to have a starting 5 like that). Then we bring Donovan and Favors off the floor, and the full bench 5 is...well now you have a lot of options.

We could run with:

Neto (when he gets back from injury)
Burks
O'Neal
Crowder
Udoh

or you could see:

Burks
Allen
O'Neal
Crowder
Udoh

or maybe a small ball lineup for real with:

Burks
Allen
Sef
O'Neal
Crowder

I mean we have lots of options there. The real plus is our bench guys are all solid team players to the last man. We have no bad egg. You know when they call Sef's number, even if it is only for 5-10 minutes in a game here or there, he will be ready and will provide solid 3&D. Allen, while still developing of course, has such a good stroke from 3 I could see him being the offensive punch in a lineup with better D around him while he finds that part of his game (Like Crowder, Udoh, Sef or something).

This, by the way, is a great problem to have. We will not be an easy out for any team in this league. I think we can truly stand toe to toe with the biggest and best, and we are really 1 or 2 minor break-outs from being THE top team in the league. Man it has been a long time since we have had a team this exciting with this much potential.

GO JAZZ!!!!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page
Back
Top