Above all else, this Truth must be understood:
Any NBA team can beat any other NBA team on any given night.
This is why I still watched the Jazz after the Deron trade—even though I knew the team was dreadful. This is why San Antonio could lose to a disgusting Trailblazers team the same season in won 59 games and cruised to the championship.
As much as individual games can be hyped, they really don't mean all that much. Really, single games are meaningless except in how they relate to the other eighty-one individual games of the season. The two magical ingredients called context and sample-size.
It doesn't really matter that the Jazz beat Bucks. Just like it didn't matter that they lost to the Spurs.
What matters is consistency. What do the Jazz do time after time after time, in game after game after game?
I thought of this when I posted a few snarky twitter comments after the Jazz beat the Hornets.
So now winning isn't good enough. The wins have to be the right kind of wins for people to be satisfied.
So went the criticism.
The funny thing is, cut the sarcasm and this is correct. Winning a game literally isn't good enough. It never has been, and it never will be.
If the Jazz are to change from the team they were last year post-Trade to the team they hope to be (a contender) they must change the context of their wins and losses. They must change what they consistently do—from consistent losing habits to consistent winning habits.
That's why the New Orleans win felt so hollow to me. I didn't see anything change about how the Jazz approached games. They just happened to make more shots this time, and NO happened to make dreadful decisions in crunch-time. Just lucky flukes—the random fluctuations of a season going nowhere.
No, winning wasn't enough. It was far more telling to me that 1) all the losing habits things persisted and 2) they actually came close to losing that game. The game showed the team was staying their dreadful course.
* * *
With that in mind, the Bucks win felt better. It was, to me, much more encouraging. All things considered, the Jazz should have walloped them by about 50. And yes, Brandon Jennings and Captain Jack both made courageous runs at earning the game ball with their shot "selection."
And some bad habits persist. I still can't fathom why Al Jefferson should command 25% of the team's entire shots (true story: Al's usage this year resembles the Mailman's during his second MVP season). CJ's decision-making seems worse every game. The more you look, the more you see a lot of the same ugly things in that Bucks win.
But there were a few nice things. At least Al's 17 shots weren't all flop-around-the-key-weazies. He seemed to focus on high-percentage shots. Raja's minutes are disappearing, and Alec Burks is starting to be freed. Or at least let out of the cage while still wearing a chain. Hayward played with confidence again. Millsap shot a decent percentage again. The team looked decent in the first half when Kanter/Favors/Burks were doing their thing.
* * *
But it was just a game. So many bad habits, so many good developments, but a whole lot more context needed to understand this team.
But it was enough to hope.
Which is more than some putrid wins can provide.
0 recs | 8 comments
Rec'd.
A single game is a snapshot of a moving picture.
Dyl - January 5, 2012
I agree with the main point of what you are saying, but I am (as always) more positive.
It is true that you can’t put too much wait on these games, but after the San Antonio game the sky was falling and now after winning 2 games that we were supposed to win at home, people think sunshine is here forever.
To me I also would love to see consistency, which has been lacking, but in a scrambled up season like this I will settle for improvement. The Jazz effort to me has gotten better after the first 2 games. Even in the Spurs game, they showed better effort, but with Manu’s left hand breathing fire it was all for not and they broke us down, on the second night of a back-back. So even though the effort gave out, it was better than in the first 2 losses.
The home games to me have shown a lot of positives. The NO game gave guys a great deal of confidence down the stretch and we won the game on solid defense down the stretch and making plays that needed to be made on offense. Really watching the last couple of minutes to that game the plays that won it for us were, taking a charge, an assist by Josh Howard, a three by Harris, a defensive play by Harris and a pin point pass by Harris. All of are game winning plays down the stretch were things that guys are supposed to struggle with. I look at that as guys are working to do the right things and improving.
The Bucks game the Jazz played well as a team. Big Al shot well and got to the foul line, along with being more active on D, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Millsap went after every board like it was 2007, Hayward played more aggressive and Alec Burks played a lot of important 4th quarter minutes. I think all of those are reasons for optimism.
I loved that you pointed out that Al’s usage this year is like the Mailman’s second MVP year. It got me to look things up and usage wasn’t the only similarity between the 2. Just look at the stat lines PER 36 Minutes:
49% shooting to 49% shooting
9.1 rebounds to 9.5 rebounds
Assist to turnover ratio of 1.21 compared to 1.125
1.2 steals to 1.1 steals
0.6 blocks to 1.8 blocks
22.9 points to 20.7 points
So even with close usage rates (Malone’s 30.5 to Big Al’s 27.8) they are not that far apart. So we should be pleased with what Big Al is putting up this year… Plus if you throw out the first game, Al actually has a higher TS% than the Mailman, 58.98% to 57.7%. So to be clear Al is playing at Mailman MVP levels this year, even including the stinker in LAL, and these last 4 games he is putting up slightly better numbers than the Mailman’s lockout shortened MVP campaign. So thanks Yucca for pointing out just how much Big Al is playing like the MVP Mailman. True the sample Size is small, but if you look at his numbers from last February this is really a pickup where he left off only he is playing much better Defense this year.
BobbyD31 - January 5, 2012
I don't know where my paragraph breaks went.
BobbyD31 - January 5, 2012
with stats even to back up the argument
nice play Bobby. I think i’ve been on the Al doesn’t fit band wagon, and still i believe that his offensive play style has a hard time to fit into the offense. However i can’t deny that he is playing better than last year and trying harder to do more of the right things. those dunks and layups he was making made me have hope because that is what jazz basketball is about, not one passing into the post so he can flop around against triple teams, but giving him open looks 2 feet from the basket so he can just put it in. i think i might reserve judgement on him for this year, see how he improves.
gubihero - January 5, 2012
I can't stress enough that there will be long losing streaks this year
I have an 8-game losing streak at the beginning of February, a 5-gamer at the end of March, and plenty of 2 and 3-gamers mixed in. I don’t have any win streaks longer than 2 games besides this one if they beat Memphis. It will be a long, difficult season.
I prefer to view each game as an individual work. For instance, the Miami game last year is still awesome despite the fact that the team tanked horribly. Similarly, the first Matrix is still awesome despite the overall mediocrity of the trilogy put together.
I also call the statement about winning not being enough “fan entitlement”. It’s all over BYU football boards right now. Even if BYU wins 10 games next year with a much more difficult schedule, there’s a contingent of fans who won’t be happy because the promise of an undefeated season under Heaps is gone. In the context of their hopes and dreams being an undefeated season and a BCS bowl victory, a 10-win season with an almost BCS type of schedule isn’t any consolation.
I don’t understand that viewpoint. I think winning 27 games this year is a major accomplishment. If they are really strong enough to bounce back from that 8-game losing streak against teams they have no business beating and win the games they can and should thereafter, I will be impressed and count it as a success. If they can steal a game or two in which they’re huge underdogs, that’s success.
Being a fan shouldn’t just be about sharing in the joy when a team wins a championship and the relentless pursuit thereof, but in watching the team develop into a unit that is capable of that kind of success, sharing the accomplishments in all the little successes along the way.
JazzHype - January 5, 2012
Let's get one thing straight
BYU’s schedule next season is a far, far cry from being “almost BCS type”.
tyrantking - January 5, 2012
You're right. They don't play enough teams like Troy and Jacksonville State
What a silly thing to nitpick about. 4 BCS conference teams + Notre Dame + Boise State, with 4 of those 6 games away.
Can’t believe that out of my whole post, you’re choosing to comment on that. I even included the qualifier “almost”. Just ridiculous.
Look at UConn’s 2012 schedule and tell me that it’s harder than BYU’s. And UConn’s isn’t an anomaly. Lots of ACC & Big East schedules look like theirs.
JazzHype - January 5, 2012
For me, I will measure success largely on assists, turnovers, consistency and defense. ( er overall discipline I guess.)
Turnovers – Hard to believe we could win that game with 24! I think in most cases, if we can’t keep it under 15(?) we can expect to lose. Turnovers are a big reason we had to watch Denver get so many dunks!
Assists – shows we’ve learned how to run the offense. I will be watching Harris here. (needs some improvement or he’ll be gone? ) Al needs to try to get more when he gets double teamed too. (He needs guys to cut or move to get open though!!) I’m excited about Burks and Hayward.
Consistency – Over the years, I have seen many games where we loose because we have one bad quarter. (esp on the road) Shows maturity if we do well. I am sure we’ll see some ugly quarters though.
Defense – I don’t expect to shut down the stars, but if the other team is getting lots of points in the paint and wide open looks I will be disappointed!
If they can do a reasonable job in these areas, I will be able to deal with a loss. It would prevent a lot of blowouts too!
Big_B - January 5, 2012
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