Meet
Chad ford?
Posted by: Jonny4 on July 26th, 2012
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.Chad Ford came out with his off season rankings for each team. Does anyone know how he rated our Utah Jazz?
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I could not find any power rankings yet. He did update his offseason grades. He gave the Jazz a B+. Also the rumor central writer has the Jazz as sleepers in the west.
Yeah, can someone with Insider copy-paste the whole article to http://www.pastebin.com ?
It’s at http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story?id=8158678 .
Here it is: UTAH JAZZ
Key additions: Mo Williams (trade), Marvin Williams (trade), Jeremy Evans (re-sign), Kevin Murphy (draft), Randy Foye (FA)
Key subtractions: Devin Harris
The Jazz continue to quietly rebuild. They shocked just about everyone when they made the playoffs last season and did a few things this summer to make sure they stayed in contention for a seventh or eighth seed in the West.
Once again, GM Kevin O’Connor deftly used his assets to add depth to his roster. He turned Mehmet Okur’s trade exception into a starting point guard and turned Harris’ expiring deal into Marvin Williams.
Williams should be a significant upgrade over Harris. He is a better shooter, he plays the pick-and-roll much better than Harris, and his shooting stroke and defensive abilities give Utah some much-needed depth at small forward.
I also liked their second-round draft choice. Murphy was one of the best scorers in college basketball last season, and he has deep range on his jumper. He is not the strongest or most athletic guy, but he could give the Jazz a nice scoring bump off the bench.
Utah has significant assets going forward, with expiring contracts in Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson along with, most likely, the Warriors’ 2013 first-round pick. If the Jazz want to make another big deal, they have the tools to get it done.
But Utah’s real progress will be determined by the growth of its young players. Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward both have a chance to be special. Enes Kanter and Alec Burks could end up being solid as well. If they continue to improve, the Jazz are going to be tough to beat in a few years.
GRADE: B+
Here is the other one (notice the last line of the article and what will hold us back. You all do not believe me maybe you will believe him) Could a more balanced roster be the difference for the Jazz next season? Will it help Utah improve from the No. 8 seed status it held last season?
This Rumor Central writer thinks so, and here’s why: adding Mo Williams, Randy Foye and Marvin Williams immediately make the Jazz a more experienced team, improve and deepen their backcourt, and add much-needed perimeter shooting.
At least on paper, these three newcomers figure to be strong complements to the veteran frontcourt of Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap, and to the young nucleus of Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter, Gordon Hayward and Alec Burks.
Next year’s Jazz roster has fewer holes and will be less top-heavy. If there’s one main question remaining, we have to believe it will be whether they can stop anybody.
Thanks Dallan.
At best……2nd round exit, so long as we keep Al. Yes we will beat the Kings and Bobcats of the league, but in a 7 game series, where teams game plan and practice for specifically one team, Al’s P&R defense will be exploited, and offensively he will struggle against Perkins, Ibaka, Gasol, Bynum (Howard), Duncan, and even Splitter or Diaw. At best 2nd round exit with Al.
And ppl will say, “well why not sub out Al when we play those teams?” Well why not get rid of Al if we cant play him against the best teams. How is it that our highest paid player is the player other teams target to exploit?! And plays his worst games against playoff teams.
Al can score 1 on 1 on anyone in the league, that’s why he’s our top paid player. Our problem on offense last year was when he kept it through double teams or people not converting when he did pass out of them – our outside shooting was horrible so all teams had to do was load the paint.
The first year we got him he never passed out of doubles. Last year he was much better about it so I can only assume he’ll keep getting better. Favors in the starting lineup is a vast upgrade to Millsap at defense – anyone remember this?
http://www.nba.com/video/games/jazz/2012/04/24/0021100969_phx_uta_play3.nba/index.html
Which helps compensate for Al’s poor D. That said, Al obviously needs to try harder on D for us to make a serious run.
Even If we kept Al to play agenst bad teams I think Favors could diminate those teams too so there is no need for Jefferson on the Jazz.
Couple stats – Al can score:
Post Season:
- 3rd in FG% last playoffs (qualified) which is higher than any player who had more ppg.
- 13th in scoring per 48 mins in the playoffs (qualified) – if he got to the line a couple times more a game he would be in the top ten. Prolly needs more star status for that though, he and Millsap get hammered constantly.
Regular Season
- 15th in scoring
- During the regular season of the 14 above him in scoring only 4 had a higher FG%
So…he can score and he can score efficiently, regardless of the teams we play.
You’re making it sound like Al can’t get it done just based off last season. The reason that is, is because we had no perimeter threat to lighten his load. We’ve added some perimeter scoring so now teams will have to focus more on that, than just Al. It isn’t his fault that we only had one offensive play and teams knew it.
So, can anyone paste the whole article yet?
@kevin
right on. That is truth.
First off, their is only 96 minutes between the C and PF position, so NO Favors cannot protect Al all game long because if Millsap gets 30 minutes, then Favors and Al will only be on the court together for about 15 minutes (+ or – Six minutes), so basically Favors has to protect Al for 15 minutes cuz he cannot guard the P&R, and with most playoff teams, Favors would spend his other 15 minutes protecting Millsap if he is outsized.
Al is not efficient for a Center at all (50% for perimeter players is awesome, but for Centers average); Al (49.2%) is not even top-ten in FG% among Centers (Al is behind Chandler (67%), Howard, Pekovic, Bynum, McGee, Gortat, Monroe, Noah, Hibbert, Duncan). Trade Al.
Okay, lets compare Al to scorers: the 7 players that take more shots than Al are top-ten scorers in the league (6 are 1-6, and 7th is number 9 scorer), Al is 16th. Basically, only 7 players take more shots than Al, yet 15 players average more points than Al?! Does not add up, unless Al is not an elite scorer and is inefficient. Pretty much, if any average center took as many shots as Al, they would average as many points as Al, so then why are the Jazz paying him 15M for something an average center can do?? McGee, yes McGee, takes 9 shot attempts to get 11 points, so if he took 18 shots he would get 22 points. Kanter has a better Offensive game than McGee, If Kanter took 17 shots, in his 2nd year as an NBA player, Kanter would average like 16 points, and get paid like 4M.
Al’s FG% against the top West playoff teams last year:
42% vs. OKC
46% vs. Spurs
29% vs. Lakers
49% vs. Clippers
55% vs. Grizzlies
57% vs. Nuggets
45% vs. Mavs
In 2012-13 with Al, defensively Jazz cannot stop Lakers, OKC, and Spurs, and offensively Al with be a non-factor. The less minutes Al plays the less vulnerable the Jazz will be, so if we are not trading Al, I would settle at most for Al 20 minutes, Kanter 16, Favors 30, Millsap 30. We do not lose much on the offensive end with Al on the bench, he takes 17 shots to get 19 points. The line Id want from Al would be like,
20 minutes 6/10, 2/2, 8 rebounds, 3 assist, .5 blocks, 14 points. Teams won’t game plan for a player averaging 20 minutes per game.
That highlights of Favors blocking would not of happened if Jefferson was trying on defense just look at him stand there.
Go watch the chase down block Harris had on Parker and watch Al stop at half court while Devin is farther back and runs all the way back to at least try.
Watch the video where Al scores 8 in a row to clinch a playoff birth vs. Phoenix. He is a cold blooded assassin.
@Omar. That logic is completely flawed seeing that Kanter can barely get a shot off against anybody without getting blocked. That is what makes Al a good offensive player is that he can get his shot off almost whenever he wants. Its a rare quality.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6CUeQFHuRU
Oh and Dallan I thought it was funny how you said that Jefferson’s style of play would drive everybody away from the Jazz then I read this quote from Randy Foye today when asked why he chose Utah.
“I played with a big man that got doubled last year and wanted that again.”
So he came here because we have a dominant big man. I wonder who that is?
@JRN, exactly, against the Suns, Frye and Gortat. Again, Als ONLY 30 point games came against @Bobcats, Wizards, Pistons, GSW, Cavs. His worst games against playoff teams @Lakers, Lakers, Blazers, Mavs, Clippers. Who are we more likely to see in the West playoffs from each set of teams???? Al ia great against bad teams, and bad against great teams, so are we trying to win games or championships??
Kanter is so big and strong, that despite his offensive uneasiness, STILL commands a double team! When teams do not double Kanter takes his time and scores. Lakers dont double, Kanter had his best game against Bynum, who Al had his worst games against.
But even then, I heard a lot of ppl on this site defend Evans new contact, not because of his offensive game but because of how he impacts a game. They compared him to Dennis Rodman, a HoFamer that averaged 7 points and 13 rebounds. I dont want Kanter ball dominanting and shooting 17 shots like Al, Iwant him to do what he does exceptionally well defend and rebound.
Al averaged 34 minutes to get 9.6 rebounds, thats 1 rebound per 3.5 minutes.
In Kanters rookie year (a year with limitations), Kanter averaged 13.2 minutes to get 4.2 rebounds, that 1 rebound per 3 minutes. In 34 minutes, Kanter would average 10.9 rebounds. And for those 34 minutes play better D than Al, wwaayyy better P&R defense. AND Kanter would not kill the offensive flow, and if need be, still command a double team, Al is absolutely expendable.
He will change his mind when he plays with him and realizes the offense we run is horrible and he will get the ball with 3-5 seconds left and be forced to make a shot.
@JRN also everyone keeps saying he can get his shot off against anyone. NO HE CAN NOT. Teams with a Center who he can not get a shot off
Orlando,Lakers,Knicks,Portland,Denver,San Antonio,Indiana, Celtics, OKC, Philly, Dallas,Sacramento, New Orleans all those teams have people that will just man handle him and proved that last year. That is almost half the teams and I am sure I forgot someone. The best part is that some of the players like Joel Pryzbilla are not even that good but because Al is a pushover he just allows them to push him around
We need to start talking playoffs, not just regular season.
Its July, and I am already frustrated by a Lakers vs. Jazz playoff series. The Lakers own us again. That might be our worst matchup. Lakers do not double bigs, so forget about Al creating wide open shots. 1-on-1 Bynum and Gasol stop Al, he shot 29% against Lakers. Nash murders Al in the P&R, Nash averaged 12 assists per game against Utah, one game he had 16 assists, with far less talent.
And the answer is NO!! Lakers will move Gasol to the 5, play Jamison as a stretch 4, like the Spurs did with Bonner, P&R with Nash and Gasol, Favors out on the perimeter. Nash might average 16 assists per game against Utah in playoffs.
Spurs, OKC, and Lakers will not double team. Those 3 teams own Al, and their guards play the P&R excellently. Lakers would be us in 4, Spurs in 5, OKC in 5, so long as Al is getting 25+ minutes.
Omar, Nash averaged almost 11 apg game last year, averaging one more against Utah in a sample size of a few games and you’re saying we got murdered = you’re being ridiculous. Nash does this to everyone, which is why he’s a two-time mvp. Al is a capable defender but he obviously needs to try harder.
Are we really judging Al by whether he gets 30 against elite teams? It’s insane to think Kanter is an Al upgrade. The only reason teams double Kanter is because they know it’s a guaranteed strip – trust me, they’re not scared of his offensive game.
Dallan, are you freaking kidding me? Al chasing down Tony Parker? Al gets dominated by half the teams in the NBA? What?!
I give up.
“Al can score 1 on 1 on anyone in the league, that’s why he’s our top paid player.”
“Are we really judging Al by whether he gets 30 against elite teams?”
@Jupit Crush, actually Al cant even get 30 point games against lottery teams that are not the worse 10 teams!!! @Bobcats (1), Wizards (2), Cavs (3), GSW (7), Pistons (9). So no, I am not judging Al by the 30 point games against elite teams he had. NOT ONE 30 point game against any playoff team, not against any team with the 20th best record or above.
So apparently, Al doesn’t score 1-on-1 against anybody, just against the worst teams in the league and usually at home.
Gortat and Frye are nowhere near being AllStars, and are not champions, as opposed to Gasol and Bynum who are. Add Nash, who kills Al, to Bynum and Gasol, who kill Al, Al plays 34 minutes, Jazz will lose in 4.
It is not the point he needed to chase him down and block him it is the fact that he just gave up. He gave up to many times! Do you not remember Jupit what happened when Bynum played against Kanter? Kanter schooled him!! Multiple times in the playoffs against Duncan while Al was shooting 18 foot jumpers Kanter was dropping in shots over Duncan go watch the tape since you will not believe me. You guys see what you want to and by the end of next year will be saying you were right why did we keep him?? It is the same thing that happened with AK a few years ago. I am just ahead of the curve
If people really think Al is going to change go look at Lockes tweets today. He showed how no matter what team or system you are in the player is the same. Al will never change the way he is. Which means for our team to reach its peak he needs to go.
EVERY national writer I have read articles about the Jazz on in the last month have said the same thing… Can they stop anyone? Can they get Al to play defense? If not they will not make the playoffs. Which guess what?? It is true
maybe you should give up, on defending Jefferson. Who is the player that’s going to be gone at the PF C position it’s going to be Al who is the worst defender Jefferson he may be a good offensive player, but he’s not going to work out in utah. he did great things for Utah but he is always going to be the guy who teams base their offense around him for a few years while they rebuild because most bad teams have no offense at all and need a guy that demands so much of the ball he is always going to be a good player on a bad team which is why Jazz will trade him.
lol
Its still clutch though Omar. The season is on the line. If we lose there is no playoffs. Al takes over every facet of the game in the last 3 minutes and we cruise to an improbable playoff birth. Going on 8-0 run by himself in that situation is something that superstars do. Al may not be a superstar but he is the closest we have.
@Dallan
Its funny that you say that because Locke just showed that with Lebron Mo williams was much better than without. So doesnt that kind of kill your argument? What about Foye being a terrible PG in Minnesota then becoming a solid spot up shooter in LA? Also Locke was saying that Marvin Williams can reinvent himself in Utah. I do agree that he will eventually need to go to reach our peak. But if we do it this year it trashes our winning environment. We have a better chance of making the playoffs with Al’s bad defense than without his great offense. So if you want to set us back 3 years as a winning team then trade Al. If you want to make a smooth transition between playoff team and contender then give him an extension for a few years. Hayward is a nobody right now. He is a good role player with potential but nothing more at this juncture. Favors will most likely need to grow into his starting role for a year or two. Millsap cant carry a team. Neither can either of the Williams. So do we just trade Al and throw in the towel? We need a leader that can handle the load on a nightly basis. We only had one consistent player on our team last year. Except Miles who consistently sucked.
So he is still great offensively even though he is below average in pretty much every offensive metric?? How does this work?
Yes JRN they get better when they play with a SUPERSTAR who in the heck was better when Al was in the game last year when he was getting all the touches?? NO ONE!! Who has Al ever made better? Name one person? Was it Kevin Love? Oh no that is right they traded Al cause he made Love worse. Was it Paul Pierce?? Oh nope he did not make him better they traded him for a better big man. A DEFENSIVE BIG MAN!! Who sets the tone for the Celtics? The big man!! Who set the tone for the Mavs the year they won? Oh only Tyson Chandler what position does he play again?? Oh ya the Center position. We would not be down for three years if we traded Al. We would be a better TEAM right away because we would not run an Iso post based offense like we run right now. What happened when Al was gone for his Grandma funeral? Oh ya Favors and Kanter took over. Kanter took over against the 2nd best Center in the league. The same guy that Al shoots 29% against. If you are saying Al is a superstar you need to find a new hobby besides analyzing anything to do with basketball. There are probably less then 10 superstars in this whole league. Lebron, Kobe, Duncan, Durant, Howard, CP3, Rose. Those are the only Superstars. Then the next step is All Star and he does not even fit into that category cause he is not an All Star player.
Once again do you want to make the playoffs as the 7-8 seed every year? Or do you want to win a championship? Why is everyone so content with just making the playoffs? Who cares about winning a game in the playoffs lets just make them. Lets just be stuck in mediocrity for 50 years.
Hayward is a nobody?? But he made the Sophmore All-Star team and everyone raved about him. Everyone raved about him in Vegas playing against the greatest wings in the world and guess what? He held his own against them! Favors is ready for the starting role right now so I do not know what the heck you are talking about.
When does anyone making 55% of his shots against bad teams and 45% of his shots against good teams qualify as consistent? It does not qualify when you can only dominate the worst players at your position.
You all always want to seem to give Al a break for his Defense by saying well all his energy goes into offense. Ok well then how about with Hayward when he is running around guarding Lebron, Durant, Gay, Kobe, Ginobli, Parker and making them play horrible on the offensive end. He is always responsible for guarding the best player on the other team and he does a dang good job at it. Scott Brooks said the best person that guarded Durant all year was Hayward. So should he not get a pass some games on the offensive end? I mean Al gets a break every game on defense right?
Every analyst states Al is a weak link on the defensive end for us so how do you explain that JRN? They are the experts. I have been saying it all year. They come out and say it and it means nothing either? They say we are not going anywhere till we can learn to stop someone. Huh maybe you need to take your blinders off. In fact maybe you are Al. Maybe you are his girlfriend. That would make a ton of sense
Haha yeah Dallan. “Experts” picked Marshon brooks, Markieff Morris, Landry Fields, Paul George, and Jeremy Lin over Hayward in that Rising stars draft. Hayward was taken 14 out of 16 picks. He will be good dont get me wrong he just isnt quite there yet. Potential does not equal skill. Hayward is a role player right now. Nothing more.
Please give me the names of those Offensive metrics you are referring to. I would like to look them up myself. And if you read my post again you will see that I said Al was not a superstar.
Many analysts also say that Al is one of the best big men in the league. And want to know another funny thing? That synergy website that you dont care about is what analysts use to watch film. Ask David Locke.
I know for a fact I have never justified Al’s defense by saying his energy go into offense. You keep making stuff up… Like always
Lastly, Paul Millsap is a much better player because of Al. Al draws away defense from paul opening up the lane for him. Paul will always need to be the #2 in the paint to be successful.
I think its important to note… chad ford wrote this article before the addition of Randy foye! I know his name is included in the additions, but he wrote it and gave us the same grade before we added foye!
So i’m sure if he were to re-write and re-grade, we’d have to be A- material! Not only did we upgrade certain areas of the game we needed but also added depth at positions we needed AND still kept our financial flexibility next year!
I honestly think the jazz deserve to be included in the Top 3 of most improved teams during the offseason!
Ok sorry I did not single you out and say that you did not say that. But many people on here have said well he plays so hard on offense why should he have to play defense. Which is utterly ridiculous.
In PPS he is at 1.12 which is ranked 263rd. How about EFG%? 49% that is 184th in the league. What about TSP% he is at 52% that is 215th in the league. All of those are offensive metrics and he is no where near the top. He should be as well because he is a CENTER so his butt is in the lane. How is that elite?
There are your offensive metrics you wanted and as you can see he is not even a top 150 player in any of those. If you want to go just by our team last year cause you think they all are horrible on offense and there is no way they could score without him here you go with that. TSP% he ranks 8th. EFG% he ranks 8th on our team. In PPS he ranks 9th on our team. That was for the regular season. Guess what in the playoffs his PPS went down from 1.12 to .84 that ranks 10th on our team!!
So how do you explain all of these stats that show he is not great offensively?
So if those 4 constitute most of the offensive metrics then that means there are only 7 out there? No chance. That is not most of the offensive metrics. There are more where Al is top 20 in the league than your measly 4. You are ridiculous Dallan.
Then show me! You can type that I am wrong all you want. The only thing you ever talk about is PER and most basketball statistic people always talk about how PER is very flawed and needs to be used objectively. It is just like +/-. You could look at just his regular FG % which is average for a big man as well. So besides PER let’s see something that shows he is elite offensively
Alright, Al Jefferson is good offensively bad defensively is one of the best offensive centers if that the best and is one of the worst defensive centers in the league. He did a lot for the Jazz last year and they would have not made the playoffs without him but this year Jazz got more weapons and arnt as young and I believe that Jefferson’s iso ball is not needed anymore in Utah and all that Jazz will need is there young players to get a little better and more consistent and jazz will be a 4-7 seed this year depending on how well they develope and how there new players perform.
Why most Jazz fans wan’t Jefferson gone. I think most fans want jefferson gone is because they know 1 big has to go and know it’s between Jefferson and Millsap. Most Jazz fans are attached more to millsap because of how long he’s been here and his clutch plays and hard work. Jefferson who has not been here as long does not show that energy that Jazz fans love which makes him less disirable. I think If Millsap left the team and his team was playing the Jazz on there homecourt Millsap would be cheered. Jefferson would get nothing and a guy like C.J Miles would get booed. For me most of it is I don’t want to see Jazz playing iso ball any more it’s really quite boring and I also have a little millsap fever myself. Either was I think the Jazz will be a force to rechon with in the future.