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Game 69: Spurs 104, Jazz 97 (OT)
Posted by: TACOREV on March 22nd, 2013
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.The Jazz can’t hang on long enough, losing to the Spurs (53-16, 30-4) in San Antonio.
Tony Parker posted 22 & 5 in his return from injury, with Kawhi Leonard putting in 21 & 8. Tim Duncan finished with 19/16/5, with Danny Green scoring 15 for first-place San Antonio.
Mo led the Jazz with 23 & 8, Jefferson had 18 & 13, Burks scored 14, and Millsap contributed 11 & 6.
The Jazz played hard and fought til the end, but were taken down fairly handily during the extra period — after Marvin’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer send the game into overtime.
Favors threw down a monster dunk early in the fourth, absolutely posterizing Matt Bonner. Favors played great D, swatting four shots to go with six points and eight boards.
Not to be outdone, Burks had a sick jam shortly after Favors’. Corbin being Corbin, benched them both shortly after that.
How clear is it that Jefferson and Millsap aren’t getting it done at the end of games? They give up easy baskets at the hoop on the defensive end, and miss outside jump shots on offense. Favors and Kanter guard the paint exponentially better and deserve a chance to win for their team.
While we’re on that subject, Jefferson’s 18 points came on 23 shots. Millsap’s 11 came on 13 shots. The two combined for 76 minutes.
Rough night for Hayward, shooting 2-for-10 for just five points, though he did have six boards and five assists.
One thing I have to credit Corbin for — DNP’s for both Watson and Tinsley! It’s only taken two-plus years…
Also, I liked the play he drew up for Marvin’s 3 at the end of regulation. It was more than the typical “pass it in and whoever gets it dribbles around for a while, then takes a crappy off-balance outside jump shot”, like the one he ran on the play before. No, Marvin’s play was an actual drawn-up play where they rotated the ball all the way around, drawing defenders at each pass, until it arrived at Marvin in the corner who faked out Ginobli and knocked down the shot to force OT.
But no Burks, no Favors in overtime hurt us.
We’ve fallen below .500 for the first time since Jan. 2, having lost 11 of the last 14, now two games behind the Hated Lakers for the 8th spot in the West.
In fact, at 34-35, we’re just a single game ahead of both Dallas and Portland.
And those Mavericks are up next, as we finish this three-game Texas road trip up on Sunday in Dallas (33-36).
Jazz player of the game: Alec Burks
Replies: 27
Views: 455
27 Responses
Call me crazy, but I like the way things are headed. Yes we will most likely miss the playoffs, but I’m talking bout next year.
It appears that Big Al/Millsap are ready to pack their bags, leaving the way for our prized tandem.
Corbin has steadily improved all season as coach, and although he still has work to do, he is starting to look serviceable.
Burks was a G tonight. No other way to say it. Gotta hope he improves in the offseason the way he has in season.
I have been pleased with Marvin lately. I was beginning to think his contract would be a burden next year, but maybe he can be our veteran leader. He carries himself really well off the court as well.
With this slide, we could possibly slide below Dallas and Portland and get that solid pick.
*Draft watch* Marcus Smart’s team loses in the first round so we’ll see how far he slips because of that.
TacoRev
What’s up with the Tinsley DNP luv. The stats clearly show that the Jazz score between 4% and 5% better with Tinsley on the floor than they do with Mo or Burks. Some of the close losses could easily have been wins based solely on the scoring difference when Tinsley is in the game. That scoring differential includes the fact that Tinsley doesn’t score, but everyone else is much better. Tinsley is a true point guard. Mo isn’t and Burks has a long way to go.
At this point we really need Ty to keep coaching and playing the vets. Get the best draft position possible, right?
As for this game, I was pleasantly surprised by the effort. They actually looked like a team trying to win a ballgame. Less Mo Hero Ball, but still enough at times I thought it hurt us a bit. I still feel Al was overplayed and Favors and Burks were underplayed, but it was probably the second-best game by the Jazz after the Memphis win.
First quarter Jazz down 14-4, no surprise there right, vets looked like they had already given up. Favors enters at the 6:39 mark, and Spurs score FOUR points the rest of the quarter. Favors protects the rim and rebounds in traffic—Al DOES NEITHER!! Trash.
Fourth quarter Jazz up 71-68 at the 8:34 mark (at that point, Spurs have 5 fourth quarter points) when Favors exits and its Sap and Al the rest of the way—Spurs score 22 points in those 8:34!!!! WTF!! Gee, I wonder why that is….hhhmmmm. spurs went 7/8 in those last 8:34, with 4 turnovers—two of which where not forced by Jazz. So they shoot near 100%?! Thats NO defense!
In OT, Spurs go 5/8 with one missed shot being a block. And Spurs shoot over 50%?!
Mo shot pretty well (relative to his previous games), but damn he tried to Hero-ball a ton. On 2 fast breaks, (at least) on he had Hayward running ahead of him with his hand up and Mo didnt make the pass and took a contest layup he missed, and one where Burks was ahead of the pack and Mo didnt pass the ball.
Burks was balling, and Corbin didnt ride him or Favors that dominated the paint. This is unacceptable! Burks is my favorite player, hes just a straight up baller with swag and yet, Corbin dorsnt trust him to finish?! Im gonna be Burks even after he leaves the Jazz, as with the other C4.
When Mos shot is not falling, hes does not impact the game in a positive way, like Al as well. Favors can dominate the game with 6 shots, as does Kanter even if he doesn’t well, they always impact the game positively! As does Hayward (Foyes shots were assisted by Hayward); and Burks!
JYD is not resigning if Corbin is the coach.
Als interior D is $hit. Sean Elliot was clowning Al for getting blown by at free throw-line, and not moving from there as the play develop. Als slap-down is ssoooo lazy, and he gave up running and didnt his slouch body “ah man” hands slap your hips little kid not getting the toy he wanted body move, ALL WHILE Leonard was hitting a 3?! CHALLENGE THE DAMN SHOT AL!!! WTF!!!
@Lucky:
Tinsley may be decent when it comes to running an offense, but like the case of Jefferson, Tinsley’s strengths do not outweigh his weaknesses. He turns the ball over regularly on offense, and on defense he gets destroyed consistently.
In short — he’s old, and quite frankly he’s a scrub and doesn’t belong on the floor, especially if it comes at Burks’ expense (which it often has).
Can you guys imagine a full game with Favors, Hayward, Kanter, and Burks as the starters? It might not be the most polished offensive lineup but their D would be dominant.
FAVORS dunk was so sick!!!
Speaking of Favors’ dunk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzYbdaSyw7U
I like how “Jefferson’s 18 points came on 23 shots. Millsap’s 11 came on 13 shots. The two combined for 76 minutes.”
But then “Hayward has a rough night.”
I’m not trying to defend Jefferson or Sap, but give me a break. Hayward was less efficient than either of them and had 3 turnovers. He had 6 rebounds and 5 assists? Big woop, Jefferson amd Sap had other stats also.
Also, it’s sad that now after 2 and a half years we are excited that Corbin is showing improvement… Why in Gods name would Corbin put Millsap over Favors on Duncan to start the game, and over time? That alone negates any good coaching he did in this game.
Another one of countless heartbreaks this year. The Jazz are taking years off my life. Next year can’t come soon enough.
What do you want me to do, crap all over Hayward for having a bad game? I said he went 2-for-10. I also said, “Jefferson had 18 & 13… Millsap contributed 11 & 6″ at the top.
Millsap (lately) and Jefferson (always) have been extremely inefficient. Hayward has bad games now and then, but he’s been arguably the best player on the team over the recent stretch of games, and over multiple other stretches throughout the season. So I’m not really sure what you’re complaining about with that.
The rest of what you’re saying I can agree with.
Just about to mention the same thing as Colten. Hayward is hardly held accountable. Its pretty much everybody on here that does it too. He made a very stupid turnover again getting stripped by tony Parker with 3 minutes left in the 4th also. He is not a good ball handler at all. I never ever want to see him have the ball late in a game either. That is one of Corbin’s worst reoccurring offenses this season. Dont put the ball in his hands late in the game.
Those other two have been our best players over the last 2.5 years but that hasnt done anything for them.
“While we’re on that subject, Jefferson’s 18 points came on 23 shots. Millsap’s 11 came on 13 shots. Haywards 5 points came on 10 shots. The three combined for 110 minutes.” ?
Best players at what? Playing the most minutes and taking the most shots?
I’ve never said anything to make me into some blind Hayward-lover that you guys are insinuating that I am. I’ve said multiple times that Hayward struggles late in games, and has played really poorly in some games like he did tonight (which I acknowledged in the post, so I’m not sure why we’re even having this conversation).
But like with the other young guys, Hayward and the core four can’t really be fairly or accurately evaluated until they are able to play unshackled from Corbin’s stupidity and unburdened by an offense that goes exclusively through inefficient mediocre vets (Jefferson, Millsap).
Until then, I’ll give them a little more leniency.
I’ll agree with that.
What do you think are the real chances of Corbin being fired this year if the Jazz finish the season with a losing record and out of the playoffs?
@Colten: If you’ve been following along at all this season, I’ve been pointing out Jefferson’s inefficient shooting frequently. So this is part of an ongoing thing. Millsap hasn’t been playing well since the All-Star break either. Then I added Hayward in the next part as a follow-up, in the same vein as their struggles, except that Hayward’s efficiency struggles have not been chronic like the others’ have. Anything else you don’t get? It’s not complicated, you’re just complaining about semantics.
You just said yourself that you are giving the c4 (Hayward) more leniency than Al and Sap. That was my whole point. If this were a recap of the year, I wouldn’t have said anything. In THIS game, Hayward sucked just as hard as Sap and Al.
In THIS game, he sucked even harder than those two. But I don’t feel like he’s been chronically inefficient like Jefferson, or mailing it in since the All-Star break like Millsap, plus the whole youth leniency… so I don’t feel like I need to crap all over him for a bad game now and then.
Regarding Corbin’s chances of actually being fired, it’s hard to say. I would have said zero percent before this last abysmal stretch that put us out of the playoffs (possibly for good). But with the recent slide, and a lot of recent criticism from the local media (finally), I think there may be a slight chance if the struggles continue. The FO would have to at least give it a strong consideration.
Hayward gives his full effort on both sides of the ball. Same can’t be said for Al (always) and Paul (since all star break). That’s #1 in my book, followed by #2 production. Yep, his turnovers late game are bad. But I don’t think a turnover trying to create something is as egregious as a Hero shot from Mo or an Al Jefferson ‘feet glued to the floor because someone penetrated the lane’. Hayward at least has the concept right and plays within the team and turnovers for young guys improve over time.
Side note. It’s a weird thing. Paul used to be the embodiment of ‘Play hard always’…wonder what happened tbere? Too much praise and now he’s entitled? Too much Al rubbing off on him? Too much Corbin “You’ll get your minutes no matter what because you’re a veteran” no accountability strategy? Its actually really weird. Plus Millsap passed up a ton of open loks tonight. Not really sure what’s going on with P-Mill.
Be glad for the biggest improvement Watson/Tinsley DNP…
Why would we need to crucify all the players the same? Hayward still has a lot of room to grow, and although he makes mistakes, he hustles. The same cannot be said about Al and Paul.
JRN just hates Hayward for some reason. He only posts when G-Hay has a bad shooting game. Maybe he’s Delonte West in real life.
In the month of March,
Al is taking 15.5 FG attempts to score 14.3 points per game
Mo is taking 11.0 FG attempts to score 10.2 points per game
Hayward 11.8 FG attempts to score 15.4 points per game
So Hayward shooting poorly is not the norm (and Id say due in large part to Mo and Al getting over 40 minutes against the Spurs); whereas, Al taking as many shots as points is the norm.
*Burks is taking 7.7 FG attempts to score 9.6 points per game.
*even Favors—the player some consider to have an offensive game not good enough to start or finish games—is taking 7.3 FG attempts to score 8.4 points per game. So basically Favors is offensively more efficient than Al and Mo—the two players that are taking the most shots most games during this awful stretch.
*Kanter is taking 7.3 FG attempts per game to score 11.0 points per game.
So basically against these winning teams in March in must win games, the C4 are offensively more efficient than Al and Mo, the two players that dominate the ball and take the most shots?!?! No wonder we keep losing. And Al is the worse defender on the roster. just Corbin being Corbin though.
“That’s just your numbers game. You’ve never coached at this level”
-Ty
LOL, HEY TY,
I’m continuing to working hard and continuing to get better as I continue to get work hard getting better hard work continuing to get better!
@Kevin: “Why would we need to crucify all the players the same? Hayward still has a lot of room to grow, and although he makes mistakes, he hustles. The same cannot be said about Al and Paul.”
BINGO! Thanks for putting that so clearly. Yet some will still struggle to comprehend the concept.
Nice breakdown Omar. Have a good look at what Omar posted, JRN/Colten.