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Without Kanter

Stifle Tower said:
Great post, KD.
Perhaps we can survive by just getting some offensive improvement from Gobert and Exum and inserting Burks into the lineup. However, I'm a bit hesitant to declare our offense is okay in the post-Kanter era. Trey has been playing out of his mind of late. Averages suggest it is not sustainable.
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Averages sure.

But upon his benching and leading the second unit he began to produce immediately. I think as long as he is against second units he will continue to shine.
 
Stifle Tower said:
Great post, KD.
Perhaps we can survive by just getting some offensive improvement from Gobert and Exum and inserting Burks into the lineup. However, I'm a bit hesitant to declare our offense is okay in the post-Kanter era. Trey has been playing out of his mind of late. Averages suggest it is not sustainable.
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Is anybody claiming that our offense is okay? Did anybody claim that it was okay when Kanter was in there? I sure as hell hope the answer to both of those questions is a resounding No. The bottom line, for me, is that the eyeball test indicates we took a big step in the right direction when we traded Kanter.

As for our offense, we need big improvement at three positions: 1, 2, and 5. (FWIW, I would have said something very similar before the Kanter trade, and I would have named Kanter as a candidate for improvement; his offense is waaaay overrated by some on JFC).

*Obviously the 5 spot is Rudy's. So, you're counting on him to improve.
*I think the starting 1 will be Exum for the rest of this season, and I think it'll be his to lose next season. So, you're obviously counting on him to improve
*The other guard/wing needs to complement Hayward. What kind of player complements Hayward? I think this guy needs to help create offense, spread the floor, and TAKE shots. Special bonus points if he can really defend. Neither Ingles nor Burks is a great fit here, to be honest. Wes Matthews would be a great fit. Wes Matthews would be a huge upgrade offensively.

The offense is a long ways off.
 
So I decided to look into the offense a little bit more, and found something else that's pretty interesting.

The Jazz are shooting extremely well in the 9 games Gobert has started. In fact, their true shooting percentage would be top 10 in the NBA (54.7%).

The problem is they are turning the ball over on a staggering 16.9% of their possessions. That is roughly 1 turnover for every 6 possessions. And turnovers are a double edged sword, because they often lead to easy fastbreak points for the other team. Frankly, it's remarkable how amazing the defense has been given all the turnovers.
 
No argument from me, NAOS. Gobert is THE ANSWER at the 5. His stifling defense compensates for whatever he doesn't do on offense. If he never develops beyond put-backs and alley-oop dunks, that would be ok (obviously I hope he can eventually do more). He's our franchise player. I also think Favors and Hayward have shown enough to have them be part of the core. So if the Jazz are to build around those 3, they need improvement at the 1 and 2, specifically guys who can hit 3's. You may be correct that Burks is not the answer. Matthews does seem like he'd be a great fit as a FA. Burks could then come off the bench or be traded.

As for PG, I'm not sure what the answer is. Dante is giving Utah very little right now. But it's too early to give up on him. Burke APPEARS to have taken a step forward but is still ignoring everyone else when he plays. If the right veteran were available, I'd probably say trade for him and make Dante earn his playing time.
 
I really want to see if we can go til the end of the season holding opponents to under 90 on average.

That would be 29 games without Kanter if my math is right. And if we can go that long holding teams to under 90 on average, wow, just wow.

Memphis is first this year at 95.7. The Bulls were first last year at 91.8. Memphis led the year before at 89.3. The Bulls before that at 88.2. So yeah, under 90 per game is crazy elite, no matter the pace.
 
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QuinSnydersHair said:
I really want to see if we can go til the end of the season holding opponents to under 90 on average.

That would be 29 games without Kanter if my math is right. And if we can go that long holding teams to under 90 on average, wow, just wow.

Memphis is first this year at 95.7. The Bulls were first last year at 91.8. Memphis led the year before at 89.3. The Bulls before that at 88.2. So yeah, under 90 per game is crazy elite, no matter the pace.
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I was listening to pregame before the Bucks and Locke looked up I believe defensive pts per 100 possessions. He said the Robinson/Duncan spurs were the greatest defensive team ever. They were 90.X in a 56 game lockout season. The Jazz over the past five are like 85.X. Locke was chatting himself as he looked it up on air.

It started because Britton Johnson was comparing Faves and Rudy to the Robinson/Duncan combo defensively, so Locke had to check the stats. I will post up if I can find the exact numbers.
 
I want to see Gobert face up when he gets the ball free-throw-line extended, and then take the freaking jump shot they give him every game. He has that shot every time he touches the ball there, I say let him shoot it. He is a decent free throw shooter and I bet we can expect a good 40%+ rate from that spot on the floor which would be enough to start drawing his man defensively away from the basket.
 
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