Game 54: Portland Trail Blazers ( 36-17 ) @ Utah Jazz ( 19-34 )

[FJS]

VS

Tuesday, 3rd February, 2015
Portland, Oregon
8:00 MWT
Moda Center





- Lopez - Aldridge - Batum - Matthews - Lillard






- Gobert - Favors - Hayward - Ingles - Exum




KEY PLAYERS FROM THE BENCH


- Kaman - Meyers - Wright - Afflalo - Blake



- Evans - Booker - Millsap - Hood - Burke

[FJS]

TEAM LEADERS:


PPG: L. Aldridge 23.6
RPG: L. Aldridge 10.3
APG: D. Lillard 6.3
SPG: D. Lillard 1.5
BPG: R. Lopez 1.6


PPG: G. Hayward 19.7
RPG: D. Favors 8.1
APG: T. Burke 4.7
SPG: G. Hayward 1.4
BPG: R. Gobert 2.2

[MHSL82]

Man, have I been looking forward to the break being over. This past week has been frustrating to wait for. Glad the wait is almost over.

[dautjazz]

Kind of weird how the rotations will be handled now without a backup center. Lets say you play Gobert 34 mins, then Favors 34mins, 28 mins would be left for Booker (and Evans). So basically Favors will need to play like 14 mins with Booker as the backup center, and 20 mins with Gobert as PF. I guess we can get a d-league center in the mean time, but it would be nice with we could get Tomic in the future, though I'm not sure Ante Tomic would like getting so little bit of minutes, unless Gobert or Tomic can play some PF minutes.

[dautjazz]

BTW it's nice to hear that Hood is back. Hope he can finally stay healthy, we need him bad at SG.

[JazzMatt13]

Takes Jazz less than 2 minutes to re-set the offense, on a fast break with 2 on 1. I am so sick of them doing that.

[JazzMatt13]

Kind of weird how the rotations will be handled now without a backup center. Lets say you play Gobert 34 mins, then Favors 34mins, 28 mins would be left for Booker (and Evans). So basically Favors will need to play like 14 mins with Booker as the backup center, and 20 mins with Gobert as PF. I guess we can get a d-league center in the mean time, but it would be nice with we could get Tomic in the future, though I'm not sure Ante Tomic would like getting so little bit of minutes, unless Gobert or Tomic can play some PF minutes.

That is what I was thinking when talking about keeping Kanter on bench, he would have to play minutes with Favors, which didn't seem to work. But now with Kanter gone, instead of a 4th big that I wanted as a Defensive Center to play with him on bench, we now have a defensive center, a quality pf who can score and defend, and 2 undersized guys.

Personally I like Evans at PF with Favors at Center. I think Favors will embrace the role since he gets to be so offensive while with Gobert.

[StocktonShorts]

Good things happen when they move the ball.

Less good things happen when they don't.

[StocktonShorts]

This team will be so much better with Burks + (new SG) getting the minutes the Jazz are currently giving to Ingles and Millsap.

[StocktonShorts]

Millsap just kills the offense when the ball swings to him and he can't/won't take the open three. In today's NBA it's tough to be a shooting guard if you can't hit that shot.

[StocktonShorts]

Trey Burke's 12-foot floater has been deadly this game. Nice to see him getting that shot instead of settling for long jumpers.

[stitches]

Trey Burke's 12-foot floater has been deadly this game. Nice to see him getting that shot instead of settling for long jumpers.

I saw some stat a while ago that the floaters are some of the worst shots in the league. There are very few who make them at a respectable rate.

[HolyToledo12]

Exum's lack of aggression really worries me. Snyder's u have 2 fouls u dont play is idiotic as Gobert should continue to play and when he fouls out thwn he doesnt play anymore. The only things I dislike about Snyder is conservative subbing players in foul trouble and hs love affair with Ingles.

[KDBG]

Trey Burke's 12-foot floater has been deadly this game. Nice to see him getting that shot instead of settling for long jumpers.

I saw some stat a while ago that the floaters are some of the worst shots in the league. There are very few who make them at a respectable rate.

You're right, for most players it is, yes. But like Tony Parker, Trey just looks comfortable doing it (no, not saying Trey's even close to having as good of a floater as TP either). The same goes for other small/non-freak athletes like Chris Paul.

I'm not anti-analytics by any means, but players have just got to play to their strengths, imo. Not solely on NBA trends. Trey has taken 0 3s so far this game, surprisingly. Pretty much all of his shot attempts have been the floater, and the midrange jumper off of ball screens. If he can utilize those strengths more, and shoot more from the corner 3 which he has a way higher percentage than from the top of the 3 point line, he'll be much more efficient of a player. Also, we all know he needs to pass the damn ball more, and have a better general court awareness.

I just don't buy the fact that every single point guard in the league should be shooting only 3s and shots at the rim, regardless if analytics say those are the best shots to take. And this isn't a knock on you stitches, you're a smart dude. I sincerely do have a respect for analytics. But I'm just making a point that some players are just built differently. It's like asking Al Jefferson to get most of his points rolling to the basket off the pick and roll. It's just illogical, even in the modern era of basketball. Some guys just are more comfortable playing old school basketball. And that's okay if they can strike some sort of balance between having respect for the advanced numbers, but also not trying to do anything out of your comfort zone. Trey for most of his career has been trying to play like Lillard, Irving, etc. And he's sucked because of it, cause he just doesn't have the same skill set. He needs to play more like an old school point guard, with little elements of an advanced stats sort of game sprinkled in.

[StocktonShorts]

Hayward and Burke both manage to miss Gobert on the break.

You've gotta reward the big men when they outrun guys on the break. And you've got to throw lobs to Gobert.

[JazzMatt13]

It is obvious to me that (after people point it out), Millsap and Ingles are the reason our back court is weak. Exum and Burke are doing OK, they aren't bad, but they obviously tremendous talent.

Our SG situation is so bad. I thought Novak was a lock on this team, I don't understand why we gave him up. SG to me, as far as bench goes, is hardcore D only, or 3 point shooting only. None of them can. Ingles is like a 34% of Hayward player without his aspirations to be as good as Lebron. And Millsap is probably the last person I would get to help this team at SG.

[JazzMatt13]

The reason I somewhat respecting Philly's Sixer Ball is, at least they are playing dogs who turn into assets. Millsap and Inges will never be used outside Utah. Even if we overplayed them to show them off, no way we can trade them like Philly did with KJ and MCW.

[BudTugly]

You're right, for most players it is yes. But like Tony Parker, Trey just looks comfortable doing it (no, not saying Trey's even close to having as good of a floater as TP either). The same goes for other small/non-freak athletes like Chris Paul.

I'm not anti-analytics by any means, but players have just got to play to their strengths, imo. Not solely on NBA trends....

100% with you on this. I'd go further and say that teams who gameplan to analytics can and will get deepfried by players who are real good at taking the shots analytics-based defenses give them. It's why I want a guard who is great shooting off of screens. Teams just give you that 16-18 foot shot.

I remember Devin Harris being an unreliable shooter but Corbs used to run this handoff play to him from Al and he'd sink that shot every time seemed like. Sadly you didn't see that play more than maybe twice in a game.

[JazzMatt13]

If you go rewatch the Spurs game last night, you can visually see the team work, by the way the players move, and the way they pass the ball. Spurs are always moving with a purpose, and every time they have an up one on offense, they go after it. They aren't moving the furthest or the fastest, but it is seriously like a mechanism ran by Parker, anchored by Duncan.

I really hope Trey focuses on Tony Parker's game. Tony Parker is a hustler, and he has incredible ball handling skills especially in tight situations, along with a solid penetration and paint game. Trey is a better shooter and is good in clutch, but the ball handling is not there, nor is the leadership.

When Trey does that one handed layup from feet back, that is a signature Tony Parker move. I think in 2 years he could have all the tools Parker has. I might be generous to Burke, but I really think he has what it takes.

[StocktonShorts]

Burke just doesn't know when to NOT shoot. It's maddening.