Despite the 6-3 start, it was hard to know where the Jazz really were. Too many wins were close wins against mediocre teams missing their best players. But the schedule has a way of balancing itself. First the Lakers last night. And then the next 15 games are against: New Jersey, Denver, Clippers, Dallas, Minnesota, Toronto, Dallas again, Sacramento, Portland, Clippers again, GS, Lakers again, New York, Indiana, and Oklahoma City.
That's a set of games more reflective of an entire season: some bad teams, some decent teams, some championship contenders. The good news is they only play five of those games on the road and only three back-to-backs. If they are going to take their early successes and make them sustainable habits, this will be the time we see it.
When you look at the current roster, the number of young guys on the team, the depth of this upcoming draft, and everything else, I don't think it's saying too much to claim that the future of the team will be based a lot on how the next fifteen games go.
The Derrick Favors Assist Watch continues.
To date he's played 216 minutes in ten games, with no assists. Out of curiosity, I went through the entire history of the Jazz to figure out who has contributed the least number of assists in each of their 37 seasons. To make it a bit fair, I looked at guys who played at least half a season and at least 10 minutes per game. The winner is ... Greg Ostertag. In 1995-96 (his rookie year), the Big O played 681 minutes (12 per game) and contributed 5 assists.
Indeed, Ostertag's low assists totals were truly epic, and I don't think we all appreciated them as we ought.
During the shortened 1998-99 season he gave us the highest number of minutes per game for a team low assister: 28 minutes per game, 23 total assists. He is also in the number two spot for his 96-97 season: 24 minutes per game, 27 total assists. I find this second season actually more impressive, considering he played more games and more total minutes.
Ostertag was also dead last on the team for his first five years (to the 1999-2000 season). Sadly, in his sixth season Quincy Lewis managed to break his streak. Thus, depending on where you want to begin your decades, you may not be able to say Ostertag gave out the least assists for the Jazz during two different millenia.
Favors had 39 assists as a rookie last year, which tops all but Ostertag's top 5 seasons. So Favors may have to really dedicate himself to break Tag's incredible run.
The highest low assists were given by Mr. Korgasm himself. In 2009-10, Kyle Korver was last on the team with 89 assists (using the minutes/games rule). Yes, that team passed like hell and was unbelievably good when healthy. Sigh.
More fun low assist trivia will come in subsequent Yucca Downbeats. Assuming Derrick can continue some level of assist futility and not go all Gordon Hayward on us.
Once again, the Lakers beat the Jazz last night. Once again Al had a bad game against them. For his career Al has shot only 42% against the Lakers, averaging 15 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 31 minutes. Last night he put up 11 points on 17 shots (on 29% shooting), 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 3 blocks.
In another familiar strain, once again Millsap had a good game in a losing effort against the Lakers. For his career he's played 25 minutes, scored 11 points off 50% shooting, and 6.4 rebounds and 1.1 assist. Last night he gave the Jazz 29 points (58% shooting), 9 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 steals.
And nobody can figure out why he was inbounding the ball on the last possession while Al was on the court. Maybe Coach Ty didn't know Sap can hit last second three's. Maybe Coach Ty headed for the exits early in last season's Miami game, certain that the Heat had wrapped up the win.
Anyway, if Millsap could just give Al a few tips on how to score against the Lakers' twin 7-footers, we'll have a decent chance to get a win next time we play them. Particularly with this team's newfound interest in effective defense. It was a much better game than the season opener.
The foursome I like to call "the kids" played 45 combined minutes last night. They took 17 shots and 2 free throws. Their average before the game was 75.2 combined minutes, 22.8 shots and 9.4 combined free throws. It could have been just one game (a game in which Hayward, in particular, was not playing great). It was also the first close game against a historically good team.
Looking at the schedule, there will probably be more games like this in the coming weeks. Will Ty give the kids increasing roles and minutes as they go? Or will he rely on the vets more and more? Millsap and Howard have been consistently good, and it will be tempting to give them all the PT. It will be something to watch for during the next 15 games.
Poll:
0 recs | 46 comments
Don't be so hard on Favors
Usually athletic scoring big men like that are not taught to pass, but to drive it in the bucket. In addition, just because he does not have any assists yet, it does not mean he does not pass the ball. An assist occurs when the pass resulted in a made shot. he probably passed to open players who have yet to make a shot and considering how poor the Jazz are from the outside, that’s not too far of a stretch.
Jeffrey Thompson - January 12, 2012
Oh I love Favors
I’ve argued he’s ready to start and be the primary post scorer right now. And I know there are major context issues regarding his assists.
But still, the 0 assists is kind of amusing to me.
Yucca Man - January 12, 2012
Few Chances
It seems like Favors, when in the game, is such a minor part of the offense that when he finally touches the ball in the post, the only thing we want him to do is shoot anyway. With increased minutes and involvement in the offense, things will obviously change, so for now I agree with Yucca, it’s amusing and also harmless.
CJ's Smokehouse - January 12, 2012
Exactly
From what I’ve noticed, most the time Favors gets the ball down in the post. He’s big and long enough that he should be able to score almost whenever he wants down there. Im totally fine with him pounding the ball down on the block so long as he’s not passing up obvious cutters.
TurboJazz224 - January 12, 2012
Looks like there's an X's and O's post in this
See what sets we run with Favors in, and see if the offense being used is a factor here. The plays may be designed in a way that he gets the ball and is expected to shoot, or only handles the ball early in a play, if at all. He may not have the same off-ball motion that Al or Sap get
TazzJazzFan - January 12, 2012
No doubt.
I know I’ve seen him pass multiple times, only to have the person he passed it to (I think it’s been Hayward several times) miss the shot.
Bebop - January 12, 2012
hehe you said "hard on"
Sorry, I watched way too much Beavis and Butt-head when I was younger.
flibbidy - January 12, 2012
With Hayward playing fairly poorly,
and Howard playing so well, anyone think G-Time might be getting moved back to the bench? While I think it could damage is already frail seeming confidence, playing against second units, and with the future core could actually do him and the team some good.
Bebop - January 12, 2012
His confidence, not is, lol.
Bebop - January 12, 2012
What's wrong with Hayward?
Last year, Hayward’s signature play was his dunk to finish a sweet victory over the Lakers. This year, he’s been given the starting role and every chance to succeed, but he is very inconsistent and playing very passively instead of making aggressive plays like that dunk. He does make his teammates better generally, but he hurts the team at times by not aggressively attacking and finishing at the basket.
CJ's Smokehouse - January 12, 2012
Exactly
Maybe playing with other young guys he won’t feel the need to defer to the vets as much. Besides, he and Favors have awesome chemistry already
Bebop - January 12, 2012
What's up with him getting to the rim
And yhen just passing it off. He needs to take the shot when he gets there and draw the foul.
thatdoolinkid - January 12, 2012 via mobile
Yeah, I'm not sure...
If it’s confidence or if he feels he needs to defer too much. I love his playmaking ability, but sometimes he’s a little too unselfish. Maybe it goes along with Bebop’s comment above that he feels like he has to defer to the vets and would be better with the 2nd unit?
flibbidy - January 12, 2012
I think people are over exagerating Haywards athelticism.
Don’t get me wrong, Hayward is a heck of an athlete, but he’s not exactly Dwayne Wade. He doesn’t really have a quick first step, and his ball handling skills aren’t quite good enough to take it to the rim every play. If you watch him play, he frequently tries to penetrate, but often times his defender just stays right in front of so he has to pass it off.
TurboJazz224 - January 12, 2012
I think its more that he's way more athletic than he looks
not that he’s an elite level athlete.
Bebop - January 12, 2012
Needs to be stronger
We’ve seen that he has enough athletic ability to finish strong at the rim by dunking the ball, rather than finger roll. And whether he can get to the rim every play or not, it’s just frustrating that when he does do it, he passes off unselfishly when the more correct play would be to either finish or draw a foul.
CJ's Smokehouse - January 12, 2012
I think he needs a teardrop.
JazzHype - January 12, 2012
I think he just needs to learn to travel
then like Dwayne Wade he’ll be able to get the rim at will.
Daniel Smith - January 12, 2012
1. Even with the wins, I expected this team would eventually falter, especially when the schedule gets tough later in the season. After last night? Maybe this team is better than we thought. I still expect them to struggle down the stretch when they’re playing more road games and teams are battling for playoff seeding, but they may not struggle as much as I anticipated.
2. While I definitely want to see him pick up a few assists, I’m not too worried. It’s not like we see him constantly taking bad shots or trying to fight through double-teams when he has a teammate open, unlike what we’ve seen from Big Al at times.
3. Al’s problem is that he’s undersized and not that mobile. Millsap has so many moves and ways to slip around bigger guys. I’m not sure Al has those skills. Still, Al could take a few tips from Paul. It’s astounding how different their points-per-shot numbers are, especially in last night’s game.
4. We’ll probably continue to see a mix, but if Raja keeps playing well and Howard keeps playing well, Burks may continue to struggle to get minutes. Hayward may see his minutes dwindle as well, but he should still see quite a bit of time, especially if CJ continues to struggle.
flibbidy - January 12, 2012
In what world is 15/ 10/ 2 a bad average for a big man?
Granted the 42% is low, but it seems like nitpicking to me.
prodigal punk - January 12, 2012
5-17 shooting is a really bad shooting game
Yucca Man - January 12, 2012
I think we should have gone with Favors matching up against Bynum
He’s much faster than Bynum and could get around him like Millsap was running circles around Gasol. Al just couldn’t get past him and he isn’t big enough to power through him either.
thatdoolinkid - January 12, 2012 via mobile
All in good time
Favors probably would have made it more difficult for Bynum to get the easy put back late in OT. The argument is made that Jefferson makes Bynum work more on D, but I think the Lakers have Jefferson figured out at this point, and defending him is not that hard for them. Down the line, we can see that a Favors/Millsap pairing will be tough to handle on both ends.
CJ's Smokehouse - January 12, 2012
It's the shooting pct. compared to his career average
He’s done significantly more poorly against the Lakers.
Yucca Man - January 12, 2012
Still, he is far from the reason the Jazz have done so poorly against the Lakers.
But, if we go any further, I’m not going to have anything for the Long Recap. Haha
prodigal punk - January 12, 2012
4) I’d like to see about 28ish minutes a game from our vets and 20ish minutes a game from our young guys. It’s not as much as some of us would like for the young guys, but it would help to keep everyone fresh and injury free while giving the young players significant PT.
thatdoolinkid - January 12, 2012 via mobile
3/4 Wasn't a fan of coaching decisions last night
Didn’t like the minute allocation. I’m not even close to a Big Al hater, but he shouldn’t have gotten that many minutes in this game the way he was playing or being taken out of his game.
Didn’t like the lack of timeout at the end. As others have said, it’s a different situation when you’re Jerry Sloan and you have John Stockton or Deron Williams on the floor. With this crew, bad judgment call.
And seriously, how was Millsap not the one taking the last shot? Even if the ball goes to someone else, have him on the floor. Instead, you have him inbounding? I don’t think anyone but Millsap should’ve taken the last shot.
moni - January 12, 2012
Should've led with this, but great job Yucca!
moni - January 12, 2012
And what was up with Burks getting 2:48 of PT while C.J. Got 16:31? At the very least Burks was doing an awesome job of rebounding. For every one of his rebounds I asked myself, where did he come from? He was just so fast and long he got to a couple really quick.
thatdoolinkid - January 12, 2012 via mobile
Burks definately could have gotten Gasol or Bynum in foul trouble too
Mexican Jazz Fan - January 12, 2012
I thought CJ played well. He drew two offensive fouls in about 5 minutes. He plays hard.
clarkpojo - January 12, 2012
10:30 in the 4th
Bringing back both Millsap and Jefferson at the 10:30 mark of the 4th quarter was a little too soon I thought. Favors was holding his own as was Kanter.
CJ's Smokehouse - January 12, 2012
Seriously. If it ain't broke don't fix it. They deserved more time.
Hestari - January 12, 2012
Yep, it was crazy early.
Those pressure situations are where the young guys will learn the most too. Can’t just lean on the vets every time those situations come up.
JazzHype - January 12, 2012
4) So long as the Jazz keep up their winning pace
Ty will stick with the veterans during close games against good teams, I believe.
I noticed a few people wondering why Ty was sticking with Big Al last night during crunch time. I don’t disagree, but let’s face it: The Jazz are going to live and die with Big Al whether we like it or not, particularly this year. Perhaps the young bigs will get a little more burn on back-to-backs. But so long as the Jazz are in the playoff hunt, Big Al will be relied upon during crunch time regardless if he’s being ineffective.
allen aoki - January 12, 2012
In the 3rd Q
When Mike Brown went Zone the 2nd unit couldnt break the zone down. They played great D and kept the score close against a pretty crappy 2nd unit for the Lakers. I would have liked to see them get more minutes, but when they cant figure out the zone I understand why Corbin went with the vets.
They need an outside shooter bad. Hayward isnt getting it done right now.
EcERyda69 - January 12, 2012
I'd like to see Burks hit some from the corner
thatdoolinkid - January 12, 2012 via mobile
Big Al & D. Harris need to GO!
I really struggle to see how Big Al & Harris make our team better as starters. I think we should limit their minutes and try to trade them. Our young guys look great. They have a long ways to go, but with more minutes they will improve much quicker. Plus, I think that if we really want to be contenders in the next 3-5 years we need to land quality talent in this years draft.
I’m am totally fine watching a team play hard and grow while losing than watch a team stunt growth and allocate minutes to non-producers for the sake of a few extra wins.
chicagorilla - January 12, 2012
Millsap/Watson/Bell need to STAY!
Millsap should be part of our future plans. He may not be the best of the best, but he show up every night and plays hard. This type of attitude is infectious on young minds. I would much rather have the young bigs following his example than Jefferson’s.
Watson may not be the most athletic PG, but he is smart and plays hard. Great back-up. Sometimes I think he should start.
Bell has struggled since his return to Utah. But, I think last night proved he still has potential to help. My biggest reason for wanting to keep him though is veteran leadership. Having somebody who has built his career on defense is a valued asset in our locker room. I think we will see him coaching someday.
chicagorilla - January 12, 2012
Play big
I would have loved to see three bigs out there. Jefferson (5), Favors (4), Milsap (3). Have we experimented with this line up yet? it would feel good to beat the Lakers with height and length.
vespafish - January 12, 2012 via mobile
In regards to the assist thing.
The whole team has had way less assists than they should have. They just aren’t passing it as much as they should, or aren’t making shots that they should. Also Favors does not get a ton of plays called for him so he doesn’t have the ball in his hands on offense all that much. As has been joked, he has to get offensive rebounds and put backs to get involved in the offense.
hamfist - January 12, 2012
Just a random thought
Is anyone better than Watson at defending 2 or 3-on-1 fast breaks? It seems like he always at least forces the opposing team to a tougher shot than they might normally have. I’ve seen him strip the ball in those situations a few times and last night he did it again, but was robbed by a bad call.
flibbidy - January 12, 2012
Agree with this
His positioning and anticipation is amazing.
TazzJazzFan - January 12, 2012
Nice job Yucca!
very impressed with your first DB!
I wasn’t able to watch the game, but our friend shandonfan kept texting me updates. Since I didn’t watch I can’t have too strong of an opinion. I’m glad we were competitive but sounds like we could have played smarter. Sad we reverted back to last years mistakes and the same mistakes we always make against the Lakers.
dianaallen - January 12, 2012
It is very difficult to build and NBA team
I’m fine with Big Al for now. He’s clearly just filling space while the younglings learn. My only worry is that Corbin will lean too hard on the vets and their bodies will break down / the development of the younglings will be stunted, Really, what’s the point of having depth if you don’t use it on a back to back night?
Also, anyone who gets a sweet block on Kobe, like the one Big Al had last night, gets a total pass in my book. I was more frustrated with the plays Corbin drew up at the end of overtime than anything else.
tyrantking - January 12, 2012
The reason was that the Lakers didn't use their bench.
Check the box score. Very few minutes. Corbin matched them. I don’t necessarily agree with it, but that’s what he was doing.
JazzHype - January 13, 2012
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