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The Jazz Need More OT Games
Posted by: John Hardman on November 13th, 2012
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.Every NBA game consists of 240 minutes. Unless of course you play for the Utah Jazz. Last year the Jazz played three OT games, one 2OT game, one 3OT game and of course the 4OT thriller in Atlanta. In doing so the Jazz are able to add an additional 25 minutes of playing time per overtime period. Last night we saw Mo Williams go for 50 minutes, something that could be concerning given his history of missing games due to injury. Other notable minutes were those of Derrick Favors who played 45 minutes. In fact, his next highest number of minutes was 42 coming on January 25, 2012. Coincidentally, this also came against Toronto in a 2OT game in which the Jazz lost. There is no doubt in my mind that the extra minutes were of great value to Favors, especially given the fact that he played a majority of the 4th quarter and all three overtime periods. However, there seems to be a great deal of concern among Jazz fans about Favors’s, as well as other players’ minutes.
It seems that the most common argument and discussion topic among Jazz fans circulates around the number of minutes allocated to different players. Whether you feel that Alec Burks needs more minutes or that Derrick Favors would be progressing more quickly offensively if he had more minutes. As mentioned before Favors was given a great opportunity to help the Jazz pull out a difficult win against a lowly Toronto team. However, amid the ecstasy of victory the fact that Alec Burks did not touch the floor may have been overlooked. I am in the camp that feels that Alec Burks will be a good player in the NBA. I don’t know if he will become an All-Star, however I do know that he is a lot of fun to watch.
My argument here is that if the Jazz were able to add 75 minutes (3 over time periods X 5 minutes per period X 5 players) to the previous total of 240 minutes then perhaps Jazz fans would be less concerned. Jazz fans clamoring for the young players to get more time to develop within the game, and those who would like to see the Jazz win this season should start a petition for the NBA to add an extra 12 minute period to each regulation game. Then everyone would be happy.
Replies: 5
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5 Responses
Hahaha. And even then Burks got a DNP?! There is little hope Im afraid.
…Or the Jazz could try getting it done in 48 minutes.
What I want to see from the subs is 120% effort, so much that Ty (if he were inclined) can’t take them out again because they are choking their opponents.
Burks’ problem is that he got minutes last year because he could create offense on an offense- and idea-starved team.
This year Mo, Randy and Marv are supposed to provide the same thing, so Burks has to reinvent himself and become a more rounded player (i.e. play great defense).
I am sure we’ll see more of him, though – the season is going to be long.
Maybe if they play more they will be at more risk an injury. I’m not hoping death and distruction on the team but think about what a small injury could do to help the line up and maybe a break-out game for Favors or Burks.
That’s a good point Bryce. In fact, some could be saying that an injury is just what the Jazz need to get some different players some time. Also interesting to note is that we now have Earl Watson being cleared for full contact. If we thought we had issues with a large 8 or 9 guy rotation before, we will definitely have one down the road.