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Review on the Jazz from NBA.com
Posted by: Dallan Forsyth on September 21st, 2012
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.The Jazz were the surprise team in the Western Conference last season, earning a playoff spot with a very good offense and a defense that was decent enough at home.
They were not a very good shooting team, but the Jazz took care of the ball, got to the free-throw line, and crashed the glass. They ranked second in the league (behind Chicago) with 1,021 second-chance points, which comprised about 16 percent of their total scoring.
This summer, the Jazz replaced Devin Harris, C.J. Miles and Josh Howard with Mo Williams, Marvin Williams and Randy Foye. Changes on the perimeter won’t affect Utah’s ability to grab offensive boards, but the point guard switch could affect their turnover rate and shooting.
Harris committed 16.4 turnovers per 100 possessions used last season, not a great rate, but better than average for starting point guards. Mo Williams actually had a lower turnover rate (12.1), but wasn’t playing the point much with the Clippers. If you go back to his last two years as a starting point guard, his turnover rate was in the same range as Harris’.
Mo Williams, of course, is a much better shooter than Harris, especially from 3-point range (40.1 percent vs. 31.6 percent over the last five seasons). And that’s where the Jazz need the most help offensively. They ranked 27th in 3-point percentage and 28th in total 3-pointers last season.
Foye and Marvin Williams have both been pretty inconsistent from beyond the arc over the course of their careers, but they each shot 39 percent last season. And if the Jazz can complement their interior dominance with improved shooting, they can be an elite offensive team.
Utah’s defense will improve if Derrick Favors takes more minutes from Al Jefferson. The Jazz allowed just 94.7 points per 100 possessions in 466 minutes with Favors and Paul Millsap on the floor together last season, vs. 104.9 in 1,818 minutes with Jefferson and Millsap on the floor.
Replies: 11
Views: 858
11 Responses
Thank you Dallan and thank you ESPN!!! Thats per 100 possession in total minutes 466, so that includes common opponents and games were Al AND Favors in the same game. These numbers reinforce the numbers in Al’s DNPs.
Favors is the best defender and Al is the worse defender on the current roster. So NBA.com is only proposing the logic solution: take minutes away from the worse defender and give it to the best defender. Why is this so hard for others to see?!!!
Thats okay though, cuz the clock is ticking. Jazz sign Evans to 3.7 deal, then offer Millsap extension know Favors deserves 30-35 minutes AND need to develop #3 pick Kanter AND NO extension offer to Al AND a Jazz roster with 15 player, a roster with two 3rd string PGs and Raja still under contract?! Al will be gone by Halloween. Top 5 defense!!! Cannot wait!!!
*ESPN is where I get my stats that NBA.com confirmed by pointing to those defense numbers.
We NEED Al Jefferson in the last five minutes of close games. Check out David Locke’s recent blog on Locked on Jazz concerning Al Jefferson. Some of the stats he throws out are a real eye opener for Jefferson detractors.
The BIG LINEUP is the best way to go against most opponents. It gives Favors, Jefferson, and Millsap starting roles, and allows for Kanter to see significant minutes off the bench. Marvin Williams would make a terrific sixth man.
Millsap proved last season he could more then hold his own against most small forwards. It’s also are best defensive lineup by far.
We will not have very many close games if we play the defense mentioned in the article. I have seen the stats and I was posting that in the middle of the year how Al somehow finds a random switch in the final couple minutes and he can all of a sudden try on defense. That is one of my problems. He has the ability he just does not try till he wants to. He could play that way all game and that would be great. I have said this before I want effort from the moment you step on the court. He just does not give it on the defensive end.
He does not need to play 35 mins either so if need be that he has no energy to play defense cause he plays minutes then cut him to 25 mins and say play defense now. If he does not cut him another 5 till he gives a constant effort all game.
Also I believe that stat covers overtime as well and we played A TON of overtime games as well. Not diminishing the stat cause I believe it I am just saying that could play a role in it.
I think my problem more then anything stems to two things
1) heart and effort- I do not see it from him 95% of the time
2) money- We pay him a very large amount to go out there and be the guy that can be the go to guy and give the heart and effort and straight up most nights it is the guy making the minimum playing the hardest
@JC, I think thats a fair point, but my biggest problem with Al is how horrible he plays defense the entire game. I would like to see opponents FG % against the Jazz in late close games when Al is on the floor; Im willing to bet Al’s 15M it is better than Al’s FG%. A lot of the games Jazz lost, and a lot of the OT games were due to the fact that the Jazz could NOT get stops. Jazz can win games by getting stops just as well, and if they have an elite defense that gets multiple stops in a row, Jazz will be great in close games, just like the 4.4 margin of victory games in Al’s DNPs.
I am sure Al is helped because the late game shots he takes are run through the same offensive system the Jazz play all game, every game. Thats why when Millsap and Harris and Hayward looked out of sync trying to take the game winning shot, because the team looked out of place cuz our only offense is iso throw-in to Al. I am sure if the Jazz spent a whole month, camp, practice, and played a new offense through out the season, an offense that has some type of movement, the Jazz would have multiple players and plays that will be just as effective and efficient, in the same way the Spurs always get a great shot end game.
Since it’s football season, I’ll use a football analogy:
In football, a short yardage specialist, like on 3rd and 1 yard, 4th and 1 yard, goal-line, a one-dimensional player is not a hinderance; so running in a straight line for one yard a short yardage running back looks great. But as soon as that play is over, the coach pulls him out for the “every down back.” In football you cannot run fifty 2 yard plays to drive 99 yards, and expect to be an efficient offense. And even against good teams, that specialist does not always get that 1 yard. Well, that is Al. He is not an “every down back.” So you begin to see that over the course of an entire game, Al is mediocre, shooting worse than 10 other centers. AND he plays HORRIBLE defense. In an 82 game season, Al’s bad play will really hurt the Jazz.
Steve Kerr is a specialist, even Big Shot Bob, Robert Horry, is a superior clutch shooter than Al, and Horry did that in the playoffs against great teams when it matters, Al has NEVER done that (plus Horry is a great defender)…..AND still I would NOT run my offense through Robert Horry, I would NOT pay Horry the highest salary on a roster, I would NOT play Robert Horry the most minutes, and I would NOT have Horry take the most shoots. If Al got paid like 6M, played like 20 minutes, and took like 8-10 shots, then I would not have a problem substituting Al in late game situations, but that is not the case, and he is in the last year of his 15M contract, and Jazz used a #3 pick on Kanter, and their best defender can play Center, so trading Al is a no-brainer. He is a complimentary player that gets the 19th highest contract in ALL the NBA?! Makes no sense.
I am sorry but do we really have anyone on this team that puts a 100 % effort every time they get on the floor ? I think that if you watch all games you would see that even our work horse Milsap does not play with effort all game . Hence that is where we got hurt with lazy fouls , players just jackin up shots ( Cj is not the only one that ddid this sorry guys , not the games I was watchin ) which really hurt us in close games .
So I am sorry but Big Al is not the only culprit that we have on this team . So if we get rid of Al then maybe we should do that to all because they have all been there and done that .
That is my 2 cents .
Go Jazz !!!!
@Jay I understand that you do not have energy to go every play 100% but there is a difference between trying and just giving the PG a walk down the lane like your his chaperone. Or giving up in a playoff series before it is even over. I am not saying I want him running around like a rabbit all the time but more effort the whole game just trying to be in position to affect a play woukd be nice.
He never fouls and he could let some people know you are not coming in here and not getting a free flow right to the basket. But he does not even seem to care half the time they are scoring it is just like oh was that not supposed to go in there?? I thought that orange round thing goes in da circle.
jay, the answer to your question is Demare Caroll.
No one talks about Carroll too much. I would like to see him become a regular rotation player. A full season with the same team would help him. He might be the one to push the other wings to their “A” game.. However he might also be a throw in to go with Bell on a trade. Along with Murph he will be one of the lower paid players on the team unless math works in to make trade I see him staying with the Jazz.
Nice post Dallon. I have to agree with most of what you said. The thing people fail to remember is by the end of last season everyone focussed on both Paul and Al. Given some extra help from the perimeter as we all hope our new player will give. Paul and Al will seem to spring to life this season since they wont wear down as much with the other teams playing a bit more honest.
That coupled with better play from our young and up coming possible All Stars, we should see a much different team this season. Give them some time to gel, and many will forget their searches for the supposed All Star. We have more depth, and a more rounded game than we have had for years.