We Got Swindled by Sexton (And Eddie Zero Sucks)

[Release the Kraken]

Plenty of bad decision-making last night to go around. I attribute that largely to fatigue. But Kessler should have seen the floor in the 4th as part of a 3 7-footer lineup to try to slow down Embiid, that is on the coach, but also more poor decision-making. Really what we need to get over the top is a true secondary play-maker that can spell out Conley, but we just haven't found anyone on the team truly capable of that yet. Some with sparks of it, but no one we can rely on. We really need a prime Joe Ingles type to fill that role. A prime Joe Ingles on this team would shine.

As far as THT vs Sexton goes, both have a LONG way to go to be anything close to their potential. Sexton is raw speed and talent, THT is chaotic neutral in his approach to the game, both giving us great plays and garbage plays in nearly equal measure. Sexton is more predictable, from the stand point of his team mates knowing what to expect, which is more conducive for the brand of team-ball we have been playing to win. But THT brings an energy and aggression we need from time to time. He can swing a game either way, depending on his D20 roll at the moment he enters the game, it feels like. Either he is a bull in a china shop and destroys everything or he is gladiator swinging the tide of a losing battle. He has not much in between. I think both to this point have been overall net positive players for us, although THT has more potential for destruction than Sexton does. I expect both of them to get better as the season progresses and as they work with the coaches. Hopefully Conley can help Sexton learn to at least tap into some level of true PG abilities, and Horny can help THT develop a more reliable jump shot. Either way if we are talking about these guys as the wild cards on the team, that isn't a bad spot to be in. Could be much much worse.

As far as a backup playmaker, I think THT has made great strides to fill that role. Didn’t he have like ten assists in limited minutes in Washington Saturday night. He’s able to do this because his shooting and decision making are vastly improving IMO. THT and Sexton should not be compared IMO because they are currently filling different roles. THT is not the right choice as a microwave scorer and likewise, Sexton is not the right choice as our backup playmaker currently.

 

[HeatCheck]

I looked at play by play and Sexton shot 3/4 (75%) before the ill fated layup against Embiid. If his role is 6th man scorer then he actually did his job and helped keep them in the game when Conley, JC and THT couldn't buy a shot last night.

 

[HermanG]

The deeper I dig the more I dislike these stats. They kinda confirm what my eyes tell me as well though.

In October, Markkanen averaged 22.6 points per game, and in November it has been 20.9. So slightly down. Nothing big.

However get this:
His touches per game are down by 10 (52.9 to 42.9), his FGA are down by 3.3 per game (17.0 to 13.7), while his shooting % are up (50/31/83 to 55/38/83).

So he is scoring almost the same despite not getting nearly as many opportunities. I post this here because... well what I wrote earlier is why.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

The deeper I dig the more I dislike these stats. They kinda confirm what my eyes tell me as well though.

In October, Markkanen averaged 22.6 points per game, and in November it has been 20.9. So slightly down. Nothing big.

However get this:
His touches per game are down by 10 (52.9 to 42.9), his FGA are down by 3.3 per game (17.0 to 13.7), while his shooting % are up (50/31/83 to 55/38/83).

So he is scoring almost the same despite not getting nearly as many opportunities. I post this here because... well what I wrote earlier is why.

Yup, Collin Sexton is the equivalent of fast food. Yes, it's quick and easy, and sometimes satisfying. But if you eat too much fast food you are going to go to ****. We got to get back to cooking our meals.

 

[Eddie Zero]

Yup, Collin Sexton is the equivalent of fast food. Yes, it's quick and easy, and sometimes satisfying. But if you eat too much fast food you are going to go to ****. We got to get back to cooking our meals.

where do you come up with this garbage?
I have kind of followed Sexton since college, mainly because of my frustrations with his obvious potential (pre injury), but on badly organized line ups in Cleveland mind you. And how he rarely did more there to create offense, than go get buckets in iso as their tank commander. However in watching his game closer than apparently most Jazz fans, I can tell you I am seeing a natural scorer, that has a lot of trouble passing up open looks he can make, for the sake of just making a pass. (As if making a pass and creating another open look is somehow better than passing up your own). Not a good trait by most metrics, if you are on a team full of unselfish floor stretchers. However, he never has been on one of those yet. This team has played solid team ball overall, and he could be more of a part of that if they were willing to let him go outside his current skill level. They are clearly not willing to develop him to be a playmaker, despite his willinglness to do so since signing in Utah.
I think he is a 6 already, and maybe given his meh defense should have been better developed as a the next Jazz starting 1. But that is not going to happen while they are winning.
I would try to trade him as soon as he can be traded if they are not going to develop him to be a starter.

 

[sip]

The deeper I dig the more I dislike these stats. They kinda confirm what my eyes tell me as well though.

In October, Markkanen averaged 22.6 points per game, and in November it has been 20.9. So slightly down. Nothing big.

However get this:
His touches per game are down by 10 (52.9 to 42.9), his FGA are down by 3.3 per game (17.0 to 13.7), while his shooting % are up (50/31/83 to 55/38/83).

So he is scoring almost the same despite not getting nearly as many opportunities. I post this here because... well what I wrote earlier is why.

This is exactly why I have been frustrated that Hardy isn't making him the main focal point of the offense. Lauri has spent the last 3 years as more of a spot up shooter and afterthought so his mindset was always more passive. Being the man on the Finnish team definitely helped build his confidence and be more aggressive but it is a process that he can backslide from if he doesn't get the touches. A lot of the time players have a game that can't match there ego so they think they are better than they actually are. In Lauri's case he has the game of a star but the ego of a role player. The goal for this season should be trying to build up his ego to match his game. Right now he is at 15.5 shots and trending down. We need to make an effort to keep him around 18 shots a game. In the end we may find out that he is simply incapable of stepping up and being the GUY but at the very least we should make it a priority this year and see how it goes. Worst case scenario is we find out he just doesn't have that type of mindset and is best as a #2 or 3 and we have to build our team accordingly.

 

[Eddie Zero]

I'm not sure Sexton will ever be a good enough or willing enough passer and playmaker to be a good starting point guard, and he's really too small to be a starting 2 guard. He's probably best suited for the JC role from the past few years, microwave scorer off the bench.

Not on that contract. You are right that is his game on a contender and will be his game here if Danny buys at the deadline instead of sells. If h sells though Sexton has to get a lot of usage a the starting pg and you live with the failures and ups and downs of it to close out the season headed for the high lottery if he chokes, because you need his replacement in the draft anyway if that happens. If he continues to be a 6 and they have no interst in developing him as anything else, I say trade him asap. This team is really not a contender at all as is, they have to do something via trade.

 

[sip]

Not on that contract. You are right that is his game on a contender and will be his game here if Danny buys at the deadline instead of sells. If h sells though Sexton has to get a lot of usage a the starting pg and you live with the failures and ups and downs of it to close out the season headed for the high lottery if he chokes, because you need his replacement in the draft anyway if that happens. If he continues to be a 6 and they have no interst in developing him as anything else, I say trade him asap. This team is really not a contender at all as is, they have to do something via trade.

There is no doubt Sexton has his faults but to me his strengths far outweigh them. I also think a lot of his faults are fixable with experience and more minutes. A lot of the time when guys are coming off the bench they are pressing from the get go because they feel like they have to make an immediate impact. In Sextons case his current job is to be ultra aggressive and provide a spark and I think he has thrived in that role so far. Long term that may end up being the role that fits him best but I really want to see him get extended run as a starter where he can hopefully slow down a little bit and let the overall flow of the game come to him and he can pick and choose a little bit more when it comes to being ultra aggressive. The kid is still really young but seems to have a good head on his shoulders and there is no doubt he has one hell of a work ethic.

 

[HermanG]

For what its worth, Sexton coming from the bench as a spot scorer is not the root cause. But JC and Sexton cant both play iso ball and look past our best scorer.

JC is the starter and more experienced guy. He is the one who should go back to what he was doing in the first month of the season when we were hyped about both him and Lauri and the way they played.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

where do you come up with this garbage?
I have kind of followed Sexton since college, mainly because of my frustrations with his obvious potential (pre injury), but on badly organized line ups in Cleveland mind you. And how he rarely did more there to create offense, than go get buckets in iso as their tank commander. However in watching his game closer than apparently most Jazz fans, I can tell you I am seeing a natural scorer, that has a lot of trouble passing up open looks he can make, for the sake of just making a pass. (As if making a pass and creating another open look is somehow better than passing up your own). Not a good trait by most metrics, if you are on a team full of unselfish floor stretchers. However, he never has been on one of those yet. This team has played solid team ball overall, and he could be more of a part of that if they were willing to let him go outside his current skill level. They are clearly not willing to develop him to be a playmaker, despite his willinglness to do so since signing in Utah.
I think he is a 6 already, and maybe given his meh defense should have been better developed as a the next Jazz starting 1. But that is not going to happen while they are winning.
I would try to trade him as soon as he can be traded if they are not going to develop him to be a starter.

Bro he is a terrible passer. If THT can come in the game and pop off 9 and 10 assist games Sexton has no excuse for regularly having 0 or 1 assist games where he has more turnovers than assist.

Plus Sexton typically plays in more talented lineups whereas THT has to share nearly all his minutes with Rudy Gay.

 

[HermanG]

Yeah he ranks 9th in our team in assists per 36 min at 2.9. Behind literally every other guard (SG or PG) by at least 2.3 (NWA 5.2 second worst).

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Sexton is doing fine... He scores at a very high clip and does so efficiently... If he can make a few more simple reads per game that would be great. If not his production and minutes are fine.

If he makes some low hanging improvements in the passing department and if they take the offseason and teach him to play at different speeds I think he could improve quite a bit. His game isn't really super nuanced its hard fast straightline drives. If he gets a slight change of pace he will draw even more fouls and maybe open up other parts of the game.

On a night when JC and Mike went 5/22 we are worried that Sexton made an ill advised layup attempt and missed some free throws.

 

[seattlejazzfan]

Sexton is doing fine... He scores at a very high clip and does so efficiently... If he can make a few more simple reads per game that would be great. If not his production and minutes are fine.

If he makes some low hanging improvements in the passing department and if they take the offseason and teach him to play at different speeds I think he could improve quite a bit. His game isn't really super nuanced its hard fast straightline drives. If he gets a slight change of pace he will draw even more fouls and maybe open up other parts of the game.

On a night when JC and Mike went 5/22 we are worried that Sexton made an ill advised layup attempt and missed some free throws.

especially considering he's a good FT shooter. who gives a **** if a good FT shooter misses a few FTs in a given game especially if it doesn't impact the outcome. if it's a continuous problem, sure be concerned about it. in this case it's one game of a guy shooting 80% on the season and 83% for his career.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

especially considering he's a good FT shooter. who gives a **** if a good FT shooter misses a few FTs in a given game especially if it doesn't impact the outcome. if it's a continuous problem, sure be concerned about it. in this case it's one game of a guy shooting 80% on the season and 83% for his career.

There are exactly 4 "bench" players scoring more ppg than Collin... Poole (30M), Russ (47M), Wood (13M), Mathurin (rookie salary)

On a per minute basis Collin scores as much and is roughly as efficient as Herro, Simons, Randle... All of which make like 10M more per year and some would benefit their teams if they took the bench role.

I don't understand why some single out Sexton as the scapegoat when we lose but whatevs. He's fine already... go ahead and let him develop and see what happens.

 

[HeatCheck]

Clarkson was averaging just over 2 assists a game his first 12 seasons in the league and has been able to finally up that total this season.

I think both JC and Sexton are scoring 6th men at their core and assume one of them eventually gets dealt and the remaining one will be the 6th man here. In two years I am also going to assume neither Conley or JC are the starters in the backcourt and 1-2 of the frontcourt guys will also be replaced thru the draft/smart trades.

It's nice the team is winning but it is going to be dramatically different in 2 years as Danny keeps churning the roster.

 

[fishonjazz]

Yeah he ranks 9th in our team in assists per 36 min at 2.9. Behind literally every other guard (SG or PG) by at least 2.3 (NWA 5.2 second worst).

Imo this is by design.
He is being told to come into the game and put the ball in the hoop. Much like clarkson when he was 6th man


Sent from my iPad using JazzFanz mobile app

 

[HermanG]

Imo this is by design.
He is being told to come into the game and put the ball in the hoop. Much like clarkson when he was 6th man


Sent from my iPad using JazzFanz mobile app

Yeah I agree. My issue is not with Sexton, but more about having a ballhandler outside of Conley who also feeds our bigs more.

And on the record (if it wasnt obvious), the 4th quarter disparity I'm highlighting falls more on JC. He is not the one who I want averaging 6+ shots in the 4th. He shoots great from open looks, but in the 4th he starts taking contested shots instead of passing the ball around.

 

[The Midnight]

Yup, Collin Sexton is the equivalent of fast food. Yes, it's quick and easy, and sometimes satisfying. But if you eat too much fast food you are going to go to ****. We got to get back to cooking our meals.

Hahaha .. hotttnickkk would have rep’d this post.. lol

 

[Eddie Zero]

Bro he is a terrible passer. If THT can come in the game and pop off 9 and 10 assist games Sexton has no excuse for regularly having 0 or 1 assist games where he has more turnovers than assist.

Plus Sexton typically plays in more talented lineups whereas THT has to share nearly all his minutes with Rudy Gay.

THT wouldn't even be in the league since he can't reliably shoot, if it were not for his ability to see the floor. Having Gay who is still a threat on the outside.
Sexton is overthinking everything still, not having a starting role, and rarely ever taking risks valuing ball management, except when JC is out there with him and his job changes to feeding JC.

 

[MT Steve]

THT wouldn't even be in the league since he can't reliably shoot, if it were not for his ability to see the floor. Having Gay who is still a threat on the outside.

THT is shooting a higher % from 3 than Rudy Gay, on more attempts.