Game 82: Utah Jazz (48-33) @ Portland Trailblazers (48-33)

[KqWIN]

From my eye Crowder did most of what he is supposed to do. He did fail critically on several defensive possessions IMO but at least he’s was willing to shoot. Everyone else became timid besides Mitch after the 1st quarter. There is a lot of fail in this game but from my first impression it would be hard to lay much on Crowder. He did suck on back to back rotations that I saw though.

Crowder just bothers me because he gets credit for things he’s not good at and sometimes really bad at. He’s not a hustle guy, he’s not a good defender, and he’s not a good shooter by any means. I suppose he didn’t play too far from his level, but that is the problem. He just isn’t very good, or at the very least, he’s not been good for the Jazz.

He's pretty average all around but he does seem pretty tough and he stands up for his teammates.

Everyone in the NBA is a fake tough guy

[DusterBuster]

I remember a young Carmelo with Denver ,super talented but shoot Denver out of the playoffs with bad volume shooting ,Mitchell reminds me of Carmelo's early Denver days in the playoffs.

[BudTugly]

Crowder just bothers me because he gets credit for things he’s not good at and sometimes really bad at. He’s not a hustle guy, he’s not a good defender, and he’s not a good shooter by any means. I suppose he didn’t play too far from his level, but that is the problem. He just isn’t very good, or at the very least, he’s not been good for the Jazz.

I guess the comparison I would make is being mad at Dante for not carrying more. Both of those dudes are getting more usage than they specifically deserve but clearly the Jazz feel these guys are the future. Neto was great but does anybody buy his Jersey?

Sure, Crowder has too big of a role, but why does he still get credit for being a good defender and hustle guy? The guy is neither. He also had a much smaller role in Cleveland, which would theoretically be the perfect role for him. All he had to do was play defense, hustle, and make open shots. He was terrible at all of it. Now he’s getting more shots in a bigger role, still terrible. I’m sure there’s a middle ground here, but the fact is that he’s just not a good player.

Tonight was not because of him, but it does represent his caliber as a player.

Hey, I’m with you. My only counter was that at least Jae would shoot when he was open which made him less bullied than most of the rest of the team. I know Jae is overrated. He is a decent role player whose contract is slightly paying him less than he is worth. Jae is easy to root for emotionally since he has the daddy thing and he was all pumped to be here. But he’s not really that good IMO. I mean, he’s better than Booker was but not by enough that he deserves all the fan praise he receives.

Still, though, in the role that is laid out for him he was much less awful than many of our other players. IMO.

[BudTugly]

Neto was great but does anybody buy his Jersey?

Poor Neto wasn't great ......they took turns shooting over the top of Neto from what I saw

Neto was amazing in the context of what his role was and what can be expected. He got time because your boy Dante could not keep the ball in his hands.

[tleikheen]

Neto was amazing in the context of what his role was and what can be expected. He got time because your boy Dante could not keep the ball in his hands.

Looks like you didn't even watch the game ...Exum 1 TO in 20 minutes and that was his 1st posession

[bondom34]

Hey guys, no clue how this series goes but here's to a fun and healthy one!

[TO11]

Hey guys, no clue how this series goes but here's to a fun and healthy one!

4-1 OKC?

[LesGrossman]

Not a good game but i dont get all the anger. Bad matchup, b2b vs. rested guys on a losing streak. Also dont get the Crowder hate, its getting kinda ridiculous when it seems to be more about his hair than his game. Leave the man alone, he works hard and is not selfish. Mitchell's chucking hurts but to me it also - and i come back to what i said often - comes down to Ingles playing heavy minutes but refusing to take open shots for whatever reason. Look at this:
Favors 27 4-8
Ingles 28 2-7
Gobert 32 5-11
Rubio 24 5-12
Mitchell 34 6-23

The shots Ingles wont take (tries to score on assists) will end up as Mitchell, Rubio or Crowder shots. When Gobert takes more shots than Ingles, something is really broken. As written before, this is a lack of execution and discipline that should have been addressed in the regular season because the bad habits that have been developed now will come back to haunt us. Its very easy to take one Mitchell out of the game, much easier than to take 2 or 3 guys out at the same time.

[Joao Saraiva]

Well... against OKC without HCA. Don't feel good about it but we'll see.

[sipclip]

As usual Quin can't get these guys up to play a huge game. Two years ago it was the clippers at home with all their starters resting but we lost and it cost us the playoffs. Last year game 6 at home against the clippers and somehow we don't show up. I just don't get how these guys aren't up for these games.

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[WEB IV]

As usual Quin can't get these guys up to play a huge game. Two years ago it was the clippers at home with all their starters resting but we lost and it cost us the playoffs. Last year game 6 at home against the clippers and somehow we don't show up.

They won game 7 on the road, so why does game 6 qualify as a "huge game" but not game 7?

[sipclip]

Because having your team not show up to a game 6 at home is pathetic. This team is regularly had massive let Downs in big games.

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[Crunch 99]

I am not that upset by this loss. In a way, it was predictable and a trap game. The Portland losing streak and the Jazz winning streak were both destined to end. The Blazers, losers of four in a row, had been playing below who they are, and the Jazz, winners of six in a row over non playoff teams plus the injured Warriors, were playing above who they are by winning every game. The Blazers are too good to lose five in a row, especially with the fifth game at home, playoff seeding on the line and the need to re-establish their identity, and the Jazz are not good enough to win every single game, including games against playoff teams on the road who have everything to play for.

The Jazz probably came in to this game a bit over confident from their recent six game win streak and blowout victory over the Warriors. The Jazz shots were going down too easily in that Warriors game. Mitchell had one of his most efficient shooting games of the entire season and was destined to regress back towards his averages.

The Jazz should just take this game as a learning experience and a good indicator for what it will take to win playoff games on the road. They should use the game as motivation to buckle down, refocus and continue to get better. Go Jazz!

[Crunch 99]

Congratulations to Stitches for correctly predicting this loss and winning the regular season Guess the Score contest! A new contest is beginning for the playoff games.

[KqWIN]

Just gotta hope Billy Donovan doesn’t watch any tape on the Jazz whatsoever. POR’s defensive gameplan, which is the same as ours, really takes us out of our offense. They drop the big and play the PnR 2v2. No help. It’s why we struggle with SAS and ATL as well.

They make the game about making shots off the dribble. Mitchell isn’t able to make those shots, even if there’s no one in front of him. Rubio is a good mid range shooter, but it’s still the most inefficient shot in the game, and it’s not in his mentality to consistently put up 20 shots in a game. Ultimately Rubio wants to draw the defense and hit a teammate for a good look, but this style of defense takes that away.

We’re going to struggle against anyone who drops the big. OKC is a much more aggressive defense who tries to get into passing lanes. That plays into our game, but if B.Donovan makes the adjustment it’s gonna be hard to score.

[Crunch 99]

Just gotta hope Billy Donovan doesn’t watch any tape on the Jazz whatsoever. POR’s defensive gameplan, which is the same as ours, really takes us out of our offense. They drop the big and play the PnR 2v2. No help. It’s why we struggle with SAS and ATL as well.

They make the game about making shots off the dribble. Mitchell isn’t able to make those shots, even if there’s no one in front of him. Rubio is a good mid range shooter, but it’s still the most inefficient shot in the game, and it’s not in his mentality to consistently put up 20 shots in a game. Ultimately Rubio wants to draw the defense and hit a teammate for a good look, but this style of defense takes that away.

We’re going to struggle against anyone who drops the big. OKC is a much more aggressive defense who tries to get into passing lanes. That plays into our game, but if B.Donovan makes the adjustment it’s gonna be hard to score.

I thought I saw Mitchell missing some wide open threes in this game, more wide open threes than the threes he was dropping in the Warrior game.

[KqWIN]

Just gotta hope Billy Donovan doesn’t watch any tape on the Jazz whatsoever. POR’s defensive gameplan, which is the same as ours, really takes us out of our offense. They drop the big and play the PnR 2v2. No help. It’s why we struggle with SAS and ATL as well.

They make the game about making shots off the dribble. Mitchell isn’t able to make those shots, even if there’s no one in front of him. Rubio is a good mid range shooter, but it’s still the most inefficient shot in the game, and it’s not in his mentality to consistently put up 20 shots in a game. Ultimately Rubio wants to draw the defense and hit a teammate for a good look, but this style of defense takes that away.

We’re going to struggle against anyone who drops the big. OKC is a much more aggressive defense who tries to get into passing lanes. That plays into our game, but if B.Donovan makes the adjustment it’s gonna be hard to score.

I thought I saw Mitchell missing some wide open threes in this game, more wide open threes than the threes he was dropping in the Warrior game.

He was missing everything. Wide open catch and shoot 3’s, wide open off the dribble 3’s, mid rangers, floaters, layups, put backs etc. It was not his night.

That was one of his worst games as pro. Not every night will be like that, but anyone who has done the scouting should no how to make it tough on him. POR did/does a great job of forcing undesirable shots.

[pickIBL]

I remember a young Carmelo with Denver ,super talented but shoot Denver out of the playoffs with bad volume shooting ,Mitchell reminds me of Carmelo's early Denver days in the playoffs.

The year before they won 17 games. Young melo was the best thing to happen since the mutombo/english 80s and 90s.

Bzdelik wasnt much of a coach offensively. My memory says they couldnt score well at all from the perimeter. You could sag off andre miller and voshon leonard and joe barry just didnt cut it at the two.

The question always was who would come in and be the second option offensively and Denver failed to provide that. Young melo would abuse the little guys (like bruce bowen) on the block and freeze the bigs with killer jumper/first step on the perimeter.

If the nuggets kept the pace up, slid melo to the 4, and brought in wing/guard help it would have been interesting. But they spent on kenyon martin instead.

Carmelo did become a ball stopper, and now he's really going down hill.

Mitchell isnt a ball stopper and he's not lazy on D. The problem is the jazz need more offensive firepower.

And dear god their drafting outside of melo was... skita, rodney white, julius hodge...

[SoCalJazzFan]

The silver lining is that the Jazz have often rebounded strongly after an embarrassing loss. This would be a good time to do that.

[vryadli]

I remember a young Carmelo with Denver ,super talented but shoot Denver out of the playoffs with bad volume shooting ,Mitchell reminds me of Carmelo's early Denver days in the playoffs.

The year before they won 17 games. Young melo was the best thing to happen since the mutombo/english 80s and 90s.

Bzdelik wasnt much of a coach offensively. My memory says they couldnt score well at all from the perimeter. You could sag off andre miller and voshon leonard and joe barry just didnt cut it at the two.

The question always was who would come in and be the second option offensively and Denver failed to provide that. Young melo would abuse the little guys (like bruce bowen) on the block and freeze the bigs with killer jumper/first step on the perimeter.

If the nuggets kept the pace up, slid melo to the 4, and brought in wing/guard help it would have been interesting. But they spent on kenyon martin instead.

Carmelo did become a ball stopper, and now he's really going down hill.

Mitchell isnt a ball stopper and he's not lazy on D. The problem is the jazz need more offensive firepower.

And dear god their drafting outside of melo was... skita, rodney white, julius hodge...

I don't remember - did Melo played any defense at that time? Anubody remembers?