Meet
Problem, Meet Solution
Posted by: Nick Knows All on November 17th, 2012
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.I talked a lot during the offseason and after the trades about how this team was going to experience some growing pains. That that this team would need a while to gel, and that it wouldn’t be until mid to late December that the team would get going. This frustration and exasperation that we are all feeling right now is a direct result of these growing pains.
A few things:
1. We have a new point guard, shooting guard, and small forward
2. We have a new offensive system, and even a new defensive one (hard to believe I know)
3. Our team is loaded with talent
4. We have a head coach with relatively little experience
Coach Tyrone Corbin does some things very well, and some things poorly. Often times, coaches don’t get the credit when things go right, and get the blame when things go wrong. I still believe Corbin can be a good head coach, but he’s not there yet.
Corbin’s biggest fault is pure stubbornes, and a fear or unwillingness to take risks, or experiment during games. Corbin has a very rigid and predictable rotation. Corbin’s lineups are reactive rather than proactive. In other words, instead of setting the pace and tone, Corbin is almost following it. This effectively allows opposing coaches to control the flow of the game.
To Corbin’s credit, he places a lot of confidence in his players. This in turn gives them the confidence to come out and play hard. The downside is, some players have too much confidence, and some don’t have enough. You shouldn’t bench a player for missing a shot, or blowing one play, but when a pattern starts to emerge, you need to do something to change it.
There are 3 main problems with our starting unit:
1. They can’t defend
2. They can’t shoot
3. They don’t compliment each other
The primary culprits are 2 PAIRS of players.
Pair 1: Al Jefferson/Paul Millsap (good offense, terrible defense)
Pair 2: Marvin Williams/Gordon Hayward (mediocre offense, mediocre defense)
Now, all 4 of these players are good. But they are not good when they are together. As a unit, they play decent offense and very poor defense. Adjust the lineup to miminize their weaknesses and maximize their strengths. How do we do this? Break up the unit and combine the players who fit best within the system.
Pair 1.: Gordon Hayward/Paul Millsap
Good offense (post, midrange, and perimeter scoring) and improved defense (quicker defensive reactions)
Pair 2. Al Jefferson/Marvin Williams
Good offense (allows Marvin to be active in the paint) and improved defense (length and size)
But that’s only 4 players. Here are 2 lineups that would match the skills of all the players involved, and give us a balanced offensive and defensive output.
Unit 1:
PG: Mo Williams
SG: Randy Foye
SF: Gordon Hayward
PF: Paul Millsap
C: Derrick Favors
Unit 2:
PG: Jamal Tinsley
SG: Alec Burks
SF: Demarre Carrol
PF: Marvin Williams
C: Al Jefferson
The two keys here are that Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson do not play together for the majority of the game, and that whenever Al Jefferson is on the court, either Demarre Carroll or Derrick Favors HAS TO BE ON THE FLOOR to pick up the defensive slack.
Decide if you need an offensive or defensive emphasis, and sub accordingly. Utilizing both lineups for 24 minutes would give teams fits. Alternately, just stick with the lineup that’s playing well, and use the other unit so they can rest.
I believe this is the best way to win games until a trade happens.
Replies: 5
Views: 407
5 Responses
I believe that to…. through 18 games counting pre season Al is shooting 44% from the floor! So if he is nt giving is offense which is why he is on the floor right?? Then why does he not slide his butt onto the bench?? I asked Locke this question and his simple answer was “it is not best for the team”. So apparently even though we get a ton better defensively and would get better production from him against 2nd tier guys it is not better for the team.
You can keep moving the pieces around, but you still have the same players with the same strengths and weaknesses.
The Jazz need to make a deal to really make a significant change. I personally feel the smartest thing to do would be to move some of the veterans for packages that include possible lottery picks. The best bet for this team to land a star is through the draft, and not via free agency or trade. See if you can move a Millsap, or a Jefferson to a lower rung team like Washington, Toronto, or Charlotte in exchange for an unprotected first round pick. We would take a significant hit in the short term, as far as having a winning record, or making the playoffs, but long term it would probably pay off. Sometimes you have to be real bad before you can get real good. If the Jazz stay the course they are on now, they will continue to be a middle of the pack squad each season.
@Jason – I totally agree with looking to the future and I dont think the win/loss ratio would take that much of a hit without Al. I cant see it happening with corbin as coach.
Jazz are not getting star potential for the pieces they have through trade, only way to get better was to fail miserably last year and make trades to possibly move up. Too bad the vets got injured and the rookies won some games.
Possible trade is with Dallas Millsap for Collison, or Golden State Jefferson for Bogut(if tradeable) reasoning is that if he is injured (as he is missing games now) at least your young bigs get minutes and if he is healthy what a defensive combo in favors and bogut
Yeah, I’m not saying that these are long term solutions. But we’re already pretty bad and Corbin should at least experiment with different lineups.
The big lineup of Sap Jeff and Faves is the worst defensive lineup in the NBA (111 pts per 100 posessions). You can’t have AL Jefferson and Paul Millsap on the court together because it turns our defense into a steaming pile of sh**t.
But now that alternating his starting lineup has failed miserably, I expect Corbin to overreact and revert back to the old lineup immediately.
Now he can say he gave it a shot and it didn’t work. Al Jefferson gets slower every game. We need to move him while we still can. He only played 1/4 quarters of basketball tonight.
Forget my idea about putting Randy Foye into the starting lineup, though. I thought that as the 2 he would be able to hit some sport up 3s.
That was a disaster. Foye played for 17 minutes and had a stat line of 3 turnovers and 2 points.
However, Gordon Hayward and Marvin Williams played well coming off the bench. I think Hayward needs to be in the starting lineup, but come to think of it, Gordon has historically played better coming off the bench.
Point is the starters need to know that if they suck they can and will lose their jobs. Hopefully Lindsey is man enough to pull the trigger on a trade.
We have a lot of really talented players. At some point, you need to wonder if it’s the players or the coach.