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Preseason Observations
Posted by: Nick Knows All on October 14th, 2012
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.There have only been 3 games thus far, but we’re starting to get a good idea of what this Jazz team is going to look like. Let’s talk about some of the stuff that we’re seeing.
For me, the preseason has been primarily about 3 guys: Marvin Williams, Enes Kanter, and Mo Williams. These 3 guys are going to get it done night in and night out. These 3 guys are seriously balling right now.
Yes, we played the Lakers without Howard, and the Thunder without Westbrook, Sefolosha, and Harden (Harden is reportedly very out of shape and playing extremely poorly–this is why he has been getting DNPs). Yes, we can expect a bit of a drop off once the regular season starts. But still, our guys are looking solid. It remains to be seen how Paul Millsap will play when he gets back, and how this will affect the rest of the team.
I’ve broken them into two tiers of production. Let’s check out their averages after 3 games:
Enes Kanter:
21 min, 12.3 reb, 12.7 pts
Marvin Williams:
23 min, 3.3 reb, 2 stl, 12.3 pts
Mo Williams:
22 min, 5 ast, 11 pts
Here is our next tier of guys:
Gordon Hayward:
19 min, 5.3 reb, 9.3 pts
AL Jefferson:
22 min, 6 rbs, 1.6 blk, 8 pts
Derrick Favors:
23 mins, 3.3 rbs, 2.3 blk, 5.7 pts
Jamaal Tinsley:
21 mins, 5.5 ast, 6.5 pts
Alec Burks:
14 mins, 1 ast, 6.7 pts
There are 2 players who have been playing very poorly. One in particular is just embarassing himself, and that is Randy Foye. He does play good defense, but his offense has been a joke. This supposed 3 pt assassin is shooting 0.05% from the floor, and no that’s not a typo, that’s 1 of 17. This makes CJ Miles look like Ray Allen.
The other is Jeremy Evans, whom as much as we all love, is a pretty awful basketball player.
We’ll have to wait and see how the rest of the preseason plays out, but if the first 3 games are any indication, our best players right now are Marvin Williams, Enes Kanter, Mo Williams, Gordon Hayward, Jamaal Tinsley, Al Jefferson, Derrick Favors, and Alec Burks, in that order.
And, perhaps the best part of all of this is that Tyrone Corbin is doing an all around outstanding job of coaching the team, and that includes handling rotations. Obviously, there are some who’ll disagree with that. But if you look at itobjectively and not from the standpoint of young players aren’t getting enough time, it’s very much apparent that Corbin really knows what he’s doing. My only concern is will it transfer into the regular season?
And my final observation is this: Jamaal Tinsley needs to be the backup point guard. Why he gets benched in favor of Earl Watson blows my mind. I really hope Tinsley remains the 2nd option even when Earl gets in playing shape. I don’t even think Earl Watson can get up and down the court as fast as Tinsley, and he certainly doesn’t facilitate the offense as well.
Thoughts, concerns?
Replies: 13
Views: 856
13 Responses
I still have hope for Foye, some players take longer to adapt to new systems than others. This is what the preseason is for, to shake rust and mold yourself within the system. I’m sure we will see him become the assassin he is labeled as soon enough.
I love Kanter and the Williams brothers…. thats it!
The one thing that sticks out above the rest and does not show up in the stats is how much swag the Jazz have!! Damn!! I really think Mo’s impact is a lot greater than stats show. Maybe even Kanter should get some credit.
I really think its imperative that Corbin starts Millsap and Favors on Tuesday. We would get a better look at Favors.
Lakers look way overrated to me. Nash was crashing into players throwing the ball away. Their spacing is horrible! To say they have scrubs for bench players, would be giving them to much credit!! They suck. If Kobe and World Peace are your spot up shooting 3 threat, Ill take that all day. In an 82 game season, MWP will have more bad games then good. ZERO outside shooting 3. I would like to see a zone against Lakers on Tuesday, just for a bit.
I’m excited to see the Lakers fall like a ton of bricks. They tried the super team setup before. Payton, Malone, Kobe? There just wasn’t any meshing. They can’t play as a team. Doesn’t matter how good they are.
Nice post, thx.
Agreed. I’ve been feeling bad for Randy Foye. Just out of sorts, but (fingers crossed), that’s what the preseason is for. I hope he’s not like Big Al or Devin Harris who took a long time to get acclimated to what the jazz are trying to do.
The best thing the jazz could do is get Kanter some offense training. The man is a rebounding magnet. Once he gets his footwork down, and has a true offensive game (moves), he will be a real force.
I’ve been disappointed in Favors. It just seems like the rebounds don’t come, and he really doesn’t seem to have improved at all offensively since last year. His defense is good, however.
Mo is like butter. LOVE HIM.
Marvin is clearly a good basketball player. He will flourish with the Jazz this year. He’s also very professional, and gracious, which are non-tangibles, but a sign of good character. He will do well here.
I wish Gordon was shooting better too. This has been disappointing to see.
Burks is still burks. Confident, out of control, and black hole #2 on the team (jefferson is #1)
The team is looking very interesting. Its going to be a great year.
Random thought: I wish bell wasn’t still taking up a roster spot.
Justin
Oh yeah, and totally agree on the Tinsley comment. I’ve always thought he should be the backup guard. He really can play. (His #s vs. the lakers weren’t totally off of Mo’s, for example)
Where did you hear that on Harden? That is kinda scary and interesting. If it is true he might lose some market value if he comes our and plays poorly.
Once again though the way everyone is playing I just do not see how you get people time in these games. Sometimes to much depth is an issue.
Has anyone else noticed how Darnell Jackson has gotten in quite a bit lately? I wonder if they really like him and are trying to figure out a way to keep him.
@Justin Gordon shot good last game. And the reports are Favors does not have his legs under him. He also played pretty good last night. No he is not dropping in 15 points but we need him in the lineup for his defense. Plus are any plays ran for him? Makes it hard to score if you do not put the guy in an opportunity to score. Mo had Favors in 4 P&R last night and did not end up passing it to him. His rebounding is not a concern to me. He is not openly getting beat for rebounds. Other people are just collecting them.
They had two a days in between the GS and Thunder game. So they have not had a day off since TC started. So they have been going hard and tough. This could also explain why Foye is struggling.
I would also hope we can see Favors and Millsap together. Maybe on Tuesday/Wednesday we give Al the two days off since Paul got some days off this weekend for the Funeral. That way we could see what the team looks like with and with out each. That way if a trade comes in we can make a decision on whether to take it or not
@Dallan: Sorry man, I can’t remember exactly where I read it, but it was in a blurb I read discussing Harden’s extension with the Thunder, saying he got to camp in not as good of shape as he should he have been, and then he promptly injured his groin. I’m not 100% certain though,l since I can’t find any other info about it.
@Justin and Dallan: Yeah, I really like Darnell Jackson and Chris Quinn. Signing those two would make this deep team even deeper. We would have no shortage of guys ever–we could throw in Quinn when Tinsley got tired, or if Burks and Foye aren’t cutting it at point guard.
I wish Bell weren’t still on the roster, because then we would have 2 available roster spots. I’ve been very impressed with Darnell Jackson as well. The guy is huge and a real banger in the paint.
Say we do trade Millsap or Jefferson, then our dominating frontcourt will have been considerably weakened. We could throw in Jackson to make life difficult for opposing forwards. I love Jeremy Evans, but the guy is just too tiny to have much effect as a PF.
I was impressed with Jackson’s ability to bang in the paint and clog the lane. Only concern with him is he’s very foul prone. But his physical toughness would fit well on the Jazz.
Quinn just seems like a solid PG who gets the job done. I’d take him over Watson. Also, he’s definitely outplayed Randy Foye thus far.
Good post. There’s not much else to say except agree and reiterate what you said.
Enes has looked great. He came ready to ball.
Mo Williams talking trash to the OKC bench after nailing a three has been my highlight of the preseason so far.
I like Marvin Williams at SF. It’s great to add size at a position, and he’s a solid player.
I think Al has looked better on his handling the P&R, and he’s still amazing offensively. I have hope!
Derrick Favors looks like he didn’t hardly work on his offensive game this offseason. Would like to see him in more pick and roll plays instead of post plays.
Jeremy Evans has looked BAD. I hope he realizes he needs to add a jumper if he’s going to make it in the NBA. You gotta have the counterpunch to your go-to move.
Tinsley needs to play with the guys who need to have the ball delivered to them to be successful. Like Favors right now.
Burks can get to the rim and the foul line. Great late-shot-clock option for the 2nd unit, IMO.
I want to see Foye getting the ball for the spot-up three more. He’s not a great ball-handler or decision-maker or offense-runner, at least not from what I’ve seen so far (which admittedly is not much).
@Nick Knows All “This supposed 3 pt assassin is shooting 0.05% from the floor, and no that’s not a typo, that’s 1 of 17.”
It is a typo… 5.8%… not 0.05%. To get to 0.05% you would need to take 2000 shots and make 1.
Just wanted to boost his reported % by 100 times… But, the point is that 5.8% is still not good.
It’s also not the regular season yet, lets at least wait until the season is under way before we decide to tarnish players with failure. There is a reason that we see games during the preseason, it helps dust down the cobwebs.
@Michael: lol yeah you’re right. Interesting, cause I pulled that stat from NBA.com…maybe it was a typo on their end? it certainly wasn’t MY fault
@ Nick thats interesting about Hardin. Im not too worried for him . He had zero rest going from the finals to the Olympics. He probably just took some extra downtime before camp which would be good to heal up if he had any small body bang ups before another long season
And it drove me completely insane watching Earl play over tinsley last year. Even with less defense than Earl Tinsely is a catalyst on offense making players around him better. where i feel like Earl is … well…. shot clock. nuff said.