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Start Tinsley
Posted by: Adam on February 3rd, 2012
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.Ok, I know I am jumping the gun on this after one game and I am not necessarily being completely serious when I say start Tinsley, but this is a shoutout to a great game from Tinsley. He had only played 45 total minutes for the Jazz on the entire year. The Jazz signed him after he had seemingly disappeared from the league. Going into this game I was kinda nervous about our point guard situation. Earl Watson and Devin Harris were both out with injuries and we were left with this old 3rd string point guard who hasn’t played much at all. But oh my heck. Tonight was amazing. The man was the only Jazz player on the court that seemed to care tonight. He had 9 points, 13 assists, and 6 rebounds. He was only one point away from a double double and one point and four rebounds away from a triple double. Yes, you read that right. The man almost had a triple double tonight. And 13 assists is great. If you look back in history, the Jazz is a team that has always had a true point guard. A floor general who gets a lot of assists. John Stockton of course and Deron Williams are two examples. Right now Devin Harris is not that type of point guard. Devin Harris hasn’t even got 10 assists in a game yet. His high is 8. Jamal Tinsley tops Devin Harris in just one start. He looked like a true Jazz point guard out there tonight. I don’t know where that came from but the man needs more minutes.
And now there is one thing that I don’t keep a secret. I don’t like Devin Harris. I don’t like him at all. Never have. Now he was good at Dallas, but never as the stud starting point guard. He got his first chance to be a true point guard and a true leader of a team in New Jersey and he fell flat on his face. When it was announced that the Jazz traded D-Will to the Nets and the only Point Guard compensation we got back was Devin Harris, I was rather angry. I had no hope for him as a starter. I didn’t believe he would be very good at all for us. He would never lead our team to greatness. He is an average point guard that would serve best as a backup point guard. Those were my thoughts when we got him. And as is the case in most of my opinions on this site, I was beaten to a bloody pulp when I expressed my distaste for Devin. Yes, there was a good crowd that also was with me, I know that. And so far Harris has done nothing to prove me wrong. He can’t even act like a true point guard. He hasn’t even reached a double double yet. His high on the year is 8. 8 assists. His average is 4.5. That’s pathetic for a starting point guard. I don’t want him. He’s not a leader. Yes, he can score and yes he is fast, but I’ve never been a fan. And did I mention his facial hair is butt ugly? That alone is reason to cut him from the team.
So now with that rant on our starter out of the way, you can see why I would be a fan of us starting Jamal Tinsley. Tonight I saw everything I want to see in a starting point guard. Which is something that I have never seen in Devin Harris. So yeah, I think we should start Tinsley. I’m officially on the Tinsley bandwagon. The problem is that Earl Watson is the man. As I said in a blog post here a while back, he’s Earl “The Man” Watson and I don’t want to throw him in the doghouse just because he got hurt and Tinsley played good and I know that when Devin Harris is healthy, he’s going to get some playing time, so its quite the situation we have now at point guard. But Tinsley certainly deserves more minutes after what he showed us tonight. I would solve this by trading Devin Harris and relying on Tinsley and Watson to lead us.
But maybe that’s just me. What do y’all think? What should the Jazz do with Tinsley once Harris and Watson get back?
Replies: 25
Views: 551
25 Responses
Im thinking we should go with earl and jamal and trade harris this game sold me on that. Not just with jamals play but burks can get more minutes as well. I also think we should be trying to deal miles with harris and see what we could get for them I like cj but, the last two games he hasn’t drove the ball to the hole he either needs to be more aggressive every game or get out of here im sick of the three balls
Harris is not our PG of the future, I would be for trading him away in favor of playing Tinsley, Watson, and even giving Burks some time at PG this season, with the primary purpose of getting the future PG in the coming draft (e.g. Kendall Marshall). What KOC ought to do is lay in wait for one of the top contending teams to suffer a long-term PG injury, and offer up Harris for a draft pick or two, and another TE. Long term-wise, that would be addition by subtraction
Not trading him away for pg of the future your not goin to get any pg of are future. For harris with out trading away someone like favors with him as well but, maybe trading him and miles for a solid sf or sg
Wouldn’t hear me crying over a trade involving CJ or Harris. The only problem is who wants them? Even for draft picks and or a solid SF, who wants them. CJ has an expiring contract, but that’s not a whole lot. Harris’s expires next season but that’s a stretch.
Ideally it would be great to find one or two teams to trade with to find an up and coming (true point), and a solid Sf. Tossing in CJ, Harris, and even the trade exception would be great, but where is the ideal our there? Guess you could hope for an injury to a playoff team in need of a Vet PG, who has what we seek in draft picks, and dreams but I don’t see it happening.
The only thing I know for sure, if its out there, KOC will find it. If not, there is always next seasons free agency and for some the weak PG draft.
Agreed but at this piont to be honest anyone is looking better then those two to me they cost us more games then they are worth. I would drop cj for draft pics and, harris since you need a player I would take someone like a ronnie brewer or a deshawn stevenson. I don’t know if you could swing a trade for those two but, I like the way those two play. Maybe even look to denver and try to get a rudy fernandez or cory brewer they are way deep at sg and sf especially if jr and chandler plan on coming back next season.
Tinsley is more a Harlem Globetrotter than an NBA player but hey !! at least he know how to pass the ball……
Start Tinsley… Send Kanter back to Turkey
Well at least for one thing you did not cry about not drafting Jimmer!!
I never looked at Devin to do as many assists as Dwill was capable of or even to score 20 plus a night like he could either, but I was expecting Harris to help take the load off Millsap and Al by maybe scoring around 15 a game. But it hasn’t happened.
In fact when I was expecting him to really kick on this season, after his trade and injuries last year, he’s scoring less. I’ve always been a fan of Watson since the day I saw him in a Jazz uniform. When the first five couldn’t get a first quarter win last season it seemed to to be Watson with a poor bench and a couple of inexperienced rookies that got the team back into the games in the early season. Without him engineering recoveries I really think the Jazz would have had a far worse season than they went on to do. Even when the wheels came off he was saying all the right things and trying to do the right things.
I just haven’t seen that same attitude and energy from Devin, and I wanted him to do well. As the games go past I have been looking at him as a liability, without him scoring, and there are nights when he doesn’t seem to even try, the Jazz are too predictable, and it only takes Millsap or Al to have a poor night and the win gets harder to achieve.
Last night I knew Watson was out before the game and I was already thinking the game was lost against Curry and Ellis. Then I saw Harris was out and I had no hope.
I had earlier in the day advocated ditching Tinsley and bringing up Millsap’s brother from the D league on a short term contract because Tinsley wasn’t getting any playing time this season. That wasn’t a slight against Jamaal, but a just a comment on his playing time chances for the remainder of the season.
Well that just goes to show you what I know about the game of basketball. Even last night when I saw he was playing I didn’t hold out much hope for his level of performance. Lack of minutes I thought would mean lack of cohesion in his shot and spacing of the floor and lead to him struggling to keep up with a quick opposition.
One good game by Jamaal though doesn’t make Harris expendable, I still can’t see anyone taking Harris off our hands for anything that we may want. But maybe if Devin doesn’t step up to something more along the lines of what he is capable of Watson and Tinsley might be the guys to lead this team for a few games while he gets his game back.
@Steven: Thank you for a good intellegent post. This team will be developing all year. I think if a smart deal comes around you pull the trigger. CJ is in the same boat. Hot or Cold. He has done better this year but he still does the same thing.
The French Dude is back…awesome.
Tinsley really struggled defensively in the ball game, as Curry went for 29, and we lost by almost 20 points.
You want to start Tinsley why?
Don’t get me wrong…the fact that he’s more of a pure point guard is appealing, but the guy is on his last legs as an NBA player. You can’t build around him for the future. Also, you don’t increase Harris’s trade value, by not starting him, or playing him less.
Miles had been playing very well over a 6-8 game period, and just happened to have a bad game last night. Howard had been playing terrible, before having a good game last night. Why cry to trade one, and not the other?
It’s amazing how fans want to do drastic things to our lineup based on a couple losses.
@utah jazz king why in the world would we send Kanter back to Turkey. I hope that was a joke.
@LK That is the key, it has to be a good deal. I would argue that with all that Harris has offered this year, an inconsistent CJ has brought more to the table this year than Devin.
CJ is a player that frustrates me no end, because I look at him and see all the skills that he has and I feel like he should be able to do it more consistantly. But for whatever reason it doesn’t happen. That said I wouldn’t want to see him leave, as long as he’s going to be nothing more than a bench player he can have his 2 – 3 good games out of 6 which can contribute to wins along the way.
Harris though has been missing in action pretty much all season. I expect more from him and I’ve tried being patient but its not been coming. If the Jazz could address another area of the team that needed work by trading Harris away and we had to rely on Watson, Tinsley and Burks splitting the PG duties for the rest of the season I would be tempted to do the trade. But only if that incoming player could be expected to put up some numbers that help Al and Millsap, and take some pressure of Hayward and Miles.
Up until now the argument against putting Watson on in place of Harris is that Watson isn’t a natural scoring PG, but right now Harris is having nights where he can’t score and looks so shell-shocked he doesn’t try. The problem with ditching Harris for no PG will mean we will have to no choice but to go looking for one in the summer.
Good point Jason Cranell. I know that it isn’t good to jump to conclusions and make rash decisions after just a game, but in my defense, I’ve been wanting to get rid of Devin Harris since day one. And as far as CJ goes, I’ve been hoping for several years now that the Jazz would dump him. True, Tinsley didn’t play great defense but neither did anyone on our team so you can’t point the finger for that one. I know we wouldn’t get much out of Harris, but there might be a team or two that would be willing to give away a second round pick or two and a backup SG/SF. No, Tinsley and Watson are not our future, but for the present they might be able to do a better job and then we can pick a point guard in the draft with the picks we’ve been stocking up on and then Tinsley and Watson can be a great mentor to that young point guard. And remember also that I’m not making these decisions based on one game. I’ve been wanting the Jazz to make a move or two for some time now, even when they were doing good. And the word on the street is that the Jazz put Devin Harris on the trading block a little while back anyways, so its not a rash decision. It’s a smart one that will help us in the long run.
Tinsley was barely ever an NBA-level player throughout his career, and now at 33 with a year of rust you’re suggesting for our team to START him on a regular basis because of one mediocre appearance? Yeehaw, he compiled a lot of Assists, git ‘im in there! He also shot 4-10, didn’t manage to get to the FT line a single time in over 34 minutes on the court, and got annihilated on all of his defensive assignments.
It’s absolutely frightening to imagine a backcourt of Tinsley+Hayward being a regular occurrence. That’s a truly horrific defensive duo.
I don’t think anyone is expecting Tinsley to start, or is even an answer long term as a back up, but what is for certain is Harris is not contributing in a way even Devin himself expects.
The whole team defended terribly yesterday but against back up PG’s on other teams Tinsley should be able to handle himself well enough.
Typical Jazz fans that think they know how to manage a basketball organization.
Devin Harris and Earl Watson so far has given us wins.
Sure Tinsley played well, but he’s 0-1 against a Golden State team.
Please think before making idiotic comments about starting Tinsley and Earl people… And who you gonna trade for harris without getting rid of one of the bigs?? That’s what i thought.
be patient and come next year or the year after the Jazz will be scary good and will go deep. Let’s not change the Organization around to trade for players from the D-League because they have a good attitude.
@jason, back episodically at least……… i’m not dead yet, but my computer is, since 3 month, so no internet for me since that moment, and my work don’t let me so much time to do something about it……. but i try to stay in touch with the Jazz, not so easy, i didn’t even knew we sign Josh Howard before a pair of games…… but nothing really change, the ESA is still hotter for many teams, Paul is still a beast, CJ is still decreasing his percentages ( 38 and 27, oups), my good old Jazz are still in the battle……..
Wish someone could figure CJ out. He can get to the rim for a highlight shot but then be a dud for the rest of the game.But yes Tinsley is just a bandaid fix but for right now seems to be ok..
Chfis what are yyou talk about tinsley started for the pacers for like 3 or 4 years he isn’t a player that just barely made it into to league and barely been able to stick around. Three years ago he was a very solid player. Its not the best idea but, its better then having harris for the rest of the season. I believe he was the first jazz man this year to get double digits in assint in on game this year as well. Something to give him props on. I don’t know what we are going to do with the pg positionfor a long term fix though.
Finally this is what I have been writing about for some time to go with Tinsley or Watson. Devin never really fit with the Jazz system in any other system he might be efective but enough is enough. But Tinsley can play and most important make others better, he simply fits the Jazz.
Ok, I have had multiple doubts about Harris all along. He makes me so mad sometimes. However, I think it would be very, very hard to say that Tinsley deserves to hurdle two spots on the depth chart based off of one night’s performance in an 18 point loss. Yes his stats were very, very good. But we lost. And there were too many factors (other injuries, 2nd night back to back) that made this game hard to judge that he should be the starter. Maybe he should start, maybe he shouldn’t, but one game like last night’s is not going to tell us that, in my opinion.
But Kudos to Tinsley for being ready to play! Hopefully we get on of our other pg’s back for tomorrow so we can run the offense with the 1st and 2nd unit.
I feel its not about tinsley hurdling two spot I believe its more like one spot u spilt time equally between him and watson. The only reason I wouldnt say start watson and have jamal back him up is I don’t think watson and tinslley would be productive playing that many minutes. Plus I think that would aviod injury, they are grant hill old but they are older and vets tend to get hurt when playing alot of minutes
You know if we were heading toward a title, I might agree with some of what you guys say about Tinsley or Watson. The truth of the matte is, we will be lucky to make the playoffs this season. Tinsley and Watson neither one will be the future for the Jazz, they are both aging. So, what do you do? You either give Harris a chance to get his legs and change his game, or you start working a young guy in.
Its been said that Burks is expected to play both the PG and SG in the future. Should we start working him in while we have someone here to teach him? He could learn much from Tinsley, Watson, and Bell… Its either that, or bring in someone who could be the future, which we may need to do anyhow. Who would that be?
a double double with 12 assists after collecting rust on the bench. jamaal is our only real point gaurd. Earl and Harris are atrocious passers. Earl can make a nice lob but needs to make more passes in the paint. the only people who should have the ball coming up the court are jaamal, Hayward, and Burkes because they can create spacing, shift the defense, and look to make the best play available.