Another home game . . . another home win. It’s just like old times, except now we’re getting come from behind victories while the other team is playing without their top scorer from last season. This time we came from behind to deal a killing blow to the wounded Grizzlies. They were without Darrell Arthur and Zach Randolph. As a result, the Jazz were supposed to feast inside on the hungry bears. The Jazz did indeed feast: 52 points in the paint, and 30 free throw attempts. That was a difference of +10, and +9 respectively.
Memphis had solid games from Marc Gasol (21/11/6 blocks), and Tony Allen (21 points, 10 FTA). O.J. Mayo went 3 for 12 off the bench, and was a major factor in the Jazz keeping the lead in the fourth quarter. Gasol was destroying Big Al, and stubborn mule-like Al kept trying to prove his point by shooting contested shots instead of passing to open men. Didn’t Al mention he was going to pass more? He still needed 18 shots to get to 20 points.
The Jazz continued to get nothing out of their starting wings (Gordon Hayward 5 points, Raja Bell 3); but there was a good lift off the bench (Josh Howard 13, Alec Burks 7). Big Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap both were close to having double doubles, but just missed out on a few rebounds. The big story of the night was the play of our point guards Earl Watson (11 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal), and Devin Harris (11 points, 3 assists, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 1 block).
Harris started off sloppy, and Earl pushed the tempo, found guys cutting to the basket, got his guys easy shots, and played tenacious defense. Harris seems to play best when pushed by Earl, and Earl did a lot of pushing for more playing time in this game. Harris responded by getting to the line 6 times (most in "opponent has to foul mode" at the end of the game), but he went 6 for 7. Harris also had a great defensive sequence where he shut down Mike Conley.
The Jazz fans in the game thread and tweeting were upset with some of the calls that went against us. Two in particular stand out: Josh Howard being called for a foul when it should have been an ‘up and down’ call; and Alec Burks getting a dunk taken away because a Grizzlies player blocked it, while his hand was in the cylinder. That said, the Jazz did go to the line more, but left 10 freebies at the table. This game could have been even less close if the Jazz we dialed in from the free throw line.
Still, there are a lot of concerns for this team moving forward. We can’t continue wining with a "we can only score in the paint" style attack. Poor floor spacing and making only 2 threes in a game will doom us if the other team decides to go into a zone. We wouldn’t be in this game without the efforts of the younger guys (and Earl) – slow starts will also doom us, and already have this season (look at all our losses).
0 recs | 20 comments
I think Corbin is really coming around as a coach.
I have been impressed by:
a) How he has gotten the team to play harder as the season has went on so far.
b) How he is teaching defense, and how the team is improving on D.
c) How he is sticking to an 11 man rotation. It showed tonight that the Jazz wore down the Grizzlies and I think that trend will continue. The only other teams who seem to be going this deep are maybe Denver and Cleveland (who also has a surprising record).
I still would like to see about 5-10 mins/game taken from Millsap and Al and given to the young bigs, and see Raja’s minutes redistributed among Burks and Hayward (sorry Raja, it’s time). Other then that, I like a lot of the progress made in the last five games.
Frank5 - January 6, 2012
Agree on all accounts. Corbin has been playing things really well lately.
clarkpojo - January 6, 2012
Playing Time
Really the only thing that has bothered me about Corbin, and it’s bothering me a lot, is playing Al 35 minutes while Favors only plays 15. I don’t think there is any situation that Favors should be playing less than 25 mins a night unless he is in foul trouble. Even then, let him foul out. #LetFavorsPlay
BigGreen - January 6, 2012
agree agree agree
+25
MTN - January 7, 2012
Can we please
make a “TFFTEDF” for that ridiculous Tony Allen flop on Hayward? It was priceless.
DWest - January 6, 2012
Flops like that will keep him in the best defensive player of the year discussion.
hamfist - January 6, 2012
Good game..
I loved most of the effort tonight.
However one thing I did not love was the pick and roll between Harris and Jefferson with a little over 3 mins left in the game. That has to be by far the worst looking offensive sequence of the year that I’ve seen. I think Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels would approve.
I agree with Coach Ty doing well thus far especially giving so much playing time to bench players and reserves. Still would like to see more Evans but I think that won’t happen unless someone gets injured.
Hopefully they can keep the momentum going.
utahspazz - January 7, 2012
Can someone move hayward to the 2 yet?
I’m tired of watching him struggle at the 3. Awesome game by the bench though!
thatdoolinkid - January 7, 2012 via mobile
Do you think it would work if we played Hayward and Burks as both of our guards?
It would really give us a size advantage against other teams on defense. On offense, they both could share the point guard duties. Hayward has played point-forward at times so he should be fine there. Burks played the 1 as well in college for stretches. I think it might just work. Then, we can use GS’s pick to grab a small forward in this draft and our team of the future would be Burks, Hayward, GS pick, Favors, Kanter.
thatdoolinkid - January 7, 2012 via mobile
How about this? Position: Starter, Bench
PG: Earl, Devin (Earl is just a better facilitator and I want him to start, and with him and hayward managing the offense, it should help CJ, Millsap and Big Al score. Harris can be that offensive push off the bench and can still be a decent passer)
SG: Hayward, Burks
SF: CJ, Howard (or switch them?)
PF: Millsap, Favors
C: Al, Kanter
11th man: JEREMY EVANS!!
Bryan Chang - January 7, 2012
I think last night's 4th quarter lineup is something Ty is thinking of starting
Devin, Hayward, Howard, Millsap, Al.
I honestly was happy to see it and think it’s a sign of things to come. Hayward is just better, particularly on offense, when he’s not out-lengthed and out-sized.
Yucca Man - January 7, 2012
I agree
Did anyone else notice that within 30 seconds of playing 2 instead of 3 Hayward was playing BIG on offense . He just plays better when he is matched up against smaller players.
Daniel Smith - January 7, 2012 via iPhone app
I did
It was instantaneous. Gordon’s simply a SG with a little extra height (but not reach).
Interestingly, I don’t think Hayward’s D suffers when he guards longer/bigger SF’s. But his O does.
Yucca Man - January 7, 2012
I think it does against some SFs
He doesn’t defend in the post very well, and he doesn’t post up very well. So when he is matched up against 3s that like to post up he can sometimes have problems.
Daniel Smith - January 7, 2012
That's very true, about his post D
That’s probably why Hayward did well against Gay. Gay isn’t a post-beast, he likes to out-athleticism you 1-on-1.
Yucca Man - January 7, 2012
I honestly believe the Hayward/Burks backcourt is the future.
I’m hoping to see it occasionally this year.
Yucca Man - January 7, 2012
I agree
but I don’t think you will see Burks getting much time at all at 1 this year. I think he won’t even start that experience until his second year when he knows the offense much better.
Daniel Smith - January 7, 2012
It was a fun game
Positives:
Things that still need improving
Yucca Man - January 7, 2012
Oh, and the Jazz free throws were disgusting
Without Harris and Howard, the Jazz would have been at about 50%. Even from guys who ought to be making about 80% of them (CJ, Hayward, and Earl)
Yucca Man - January 7, 2012
burks does look out of control at times
But he often gets to the line with those crazy shots. The kid is a contact magnet.
motes - January 7, 2012 via iPhone app
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