Hi Dante, welcome back

MTJazzv3 · Post #1 » by **MTJazzv3** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 4:00 am

Dante did not blow up in his return after returning for the first regular season game this year. Only 14 minutes, 10 pts on 3-7 shooting, 3 rb and 2 assists in return v PHX. When he got loose in garbage time he was toying with guys going to the rack. He definitely has spent time in Joe & Rubio's head fake school. I will be shocked if Ex isn't the feel-good story in the playoffs. He looked stronger and savvier then when we last had a look.

babyjax13 · Post #2 » by **babyjax13** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 4:02 am

He definitely looks like an upgrade over Neto. I'm hoping Crowder takes some of Jerebko's minutes and Exum eats into Neto and Burks' minutes.

ForeverRDjazz · Post #3 » by **ForeverRDjazz** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 4:08 am

Freaking scared me on the layup. I thought it was blocking and Ex should'v shot FTs. Then the other end Jae was in place and couldn't get the call. Welcome back Exum.

KqWIN · Post #4 » by **KqWIN** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 4:17 am

He missed some bunnies and FT's, but the most important thing here is the way he played. He was aggressive and got to the rim at will. We've been waiting for this for years. So glad he's out there again.

MTJazzv3 · Post #5 » by **MTJazzv3** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 4:22 am

He looked great. Let the Dante comeback get some room on the board. And holy heck, I hardly even saw Spida get his 23 pts, which is simply an embarrassment of riches in Jazzland right now. Ridiculous how stacked they look while among other things competing for the best 26-game W-L record in Jazz history. You know which year team had the two records, right? Hint. Stockton-to-Malone.

BudTugly · Post #6 » by **BudTugly** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 4:26 am

I thought Quin really babied him with minutes but burdened him with responsibility. He was in there without Rubio or Mitchell a lot. Dante was a PG tonight and IMO that means something. Hopefully it means I was wrong and he will be a great PG.

MTJazzv3 · Post #7 » by **MTJazzv3** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 4:42 am

BudTugly wrote:I thought Quin really babied him with minutes but burdened him with responsibility. He was in there without Rubio or Mitchell a lot. Dante was a PG tonight and IMO that means something. Hopefully it means I was wrong and he will be a great PG.

Excellent point. I think the Jazz are going to see if Dante can be the leader of the bench unit. Effectively no let-up when Ricky/DM sit down. The end game is Dante finally being really good and the Jazz one of the more dangerous back-courts in the league. We can hope but it doesn't seem far-fetched at the moment. It is a nice counter to what GSW and HOU did with half the money.

Stern Fixer · Post #8 » by **Stern Fixer** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 4:42 am

People have challenged me on this, but I've always thought he was a freak athlete with a great first step and great length. Very raw coming in, with some terrible luck in the injury department. Ready to blossom now, welcome back kid. Time to make em proud in Oz and Zion and middle earth, the shire and points unknown. Now we have our X-Factor, just in time for the final stand and battle. :wink:

Watch on YouTube

MTJazzv3 · Post #9 » by **MTJazzv3** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 4:56 am

Stern Fixer wrote:People have challenged me on this, but I've always thought he was a freak athlete with a great first step and great length. Very raw coming in, with some terrible luck in the injury department. Ready to blossom now, welcome back kid. Time to make em proud in Oz and Zion and middle earth, the shire and points unknown. Now we have our X-Factor, just in time for the final stand and battle.

Watch on YouTube

You are definitely the best poster with appropriate gifs. Plus not alone having seen something in EX and how in fact the Jazz drafted him so high. Remember when people joked about the Jazz picking up Ingles to take care of young Dante? It was kind of true. And now Ingles is more than earning this year's contract. Jazz have some player development things figured out. I'm just glad the Jazz have first and final dibs on Dante this off-season and he bought into the Jazz rehab and coaching system.

BudTugly · Post #10 » by **BudTugly** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 5:02 am

Stern Fixer wrote:People have challenged me on this, but I've always thought he was a freak athlete with a great first step and great length. Very raw coming in, with some terrible luck in the injury department. Ready to blossom now, welcome back kid. Time to make em proud in Oz and Zion and middle earth, the shire and points unknown. Now we have our X-Factor, just in time for the final stand and battle.

Watch on YouTube

None of what you just said has ever been challenged. What was not known was the dedication and single mindedness to improve, those questions have been mostly answered IMO just from what we saw in SL and preseason. Dante has a handful of brand new moves that accentuate his physical gifts as far as scoring 1vs1.

What we still don’t know is if he is really a PG, if he can shoot, if he can play off the ball, if his team defense is there, all the little things plus can he stay healthy now. I gotta say though while his team anything looks way choppy compared to his teammates his moves look real good. All of these things will adjust with playing time, and he wasn’t a terrible anchor so he should get plenty.

Stern Fixer · Post #11 » by **Stern Fixer** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 5:42 am

MTJazzv3 wrote:
Stern Fixer wrote:People have challenged me on this, but I've always thought he was a freak athlete with a great first step and great length. Very raw coming in, with some terrible luck in the injury department. Ready to blossom now, welcome back kid. Time to make em proud in Oz and Zion and middle earth, the shire and points unknown. Now we have our X-Factor, just in time for the final stand and battle.

Watch on YouTube

You are definitely the best poster with appropriate gifs. Plus not alone having seen something in EX and how in fact the Jazz drafted him so high. Remember when people joked about the Jazz picking up Ingles to take care of young Dante? It was kind of true. And now Ingles is more than earning this year's contract. Jazz have some player development things figured out. I'm just glad the Jazz have first and final dibs on Dante this off-season and he bought into the Jazz rehab and coaching system.

Thank you, you're much too kind. Sleep deprivation, long week at work (first year teacher almost retirement age, obviously loco a la cabeza). And yeah I agree, he's been a project but well worth the wait I think.

Bud Tugly wrote: None of what you just said has ever been challenged. What was not known was the dedication and single mindedness to improve, those questions have been mostly answered IMO just from what we saw in SL and preseason. Dante has a handful of brand new moves that accentuate his physical gifts as far as scoring 1vs1.

What we still don’t know is if he is really a PG, if he can shoot, if he can play off the ball, if his team defense is there, all the little things plus can he stay healthy now. I gotta say though while his team anything looks way choppy compared to his teammates his moves look real good. All of these things will adjust with playing time, and he wasn’t a terrible anchor so he should get plenty.

Good point Bud. Obviously the Jazz Brass was impressed with his physical gifts and work ethic as he was so raw and unproven coming in. At the time I wanted Julius Randle, but not really what we needed at the time I guess. As you say, Exum is a good kid with a strong work ethic. I believe in him, and think he'll pay dividends for us moving forward.

erudite23 · Post #12 » by **erudite23** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 8:42 am

Exciting stuff tonight. Ex looked much more confident and assertive than I’ve ever seen in a regular season setting.

Gonna have to temper my excitement and see what he has for us next time.

lobishome · Post #13 » by **lobishome** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 10:56 am

Glad for him and it's a very good new for the team, he arrives in the right moment for get a good shape for the playoffs.

stitches · Post #14 » by **stitches** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 2:17 pm

Read on Twitter

He looked good. Got a horrible call against him as always. Handle looked a bit shaky, passing was nice, aggression was nice. He looked a bit rusty compared to how he looked to me during pre-season, but oh well.. it's understandable. Hopefully he gets into the flow of the game with more minutes he gets.

Crunch 99 · Post #15 » by **Crunch 99** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 3:21 pm

I am delighted that Dante made it back in time to play in our four game stretch against losing teams. This is probably going to be a great opportunity for Dante to get minutes, shake the rust off and find his game without big pressure to perform great right off the bat. Also, with Neto having just gone out with an injury, the timing of his return was doubly fortuitous. Go Jazz!

pickIBL · Post #16 » by **pickIBL** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 3:29 pm

He was sucking wind but showed why he was drafted.

tleikheen · Post #17 » by **tleikheen** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 4:18 pm

Every layup and attack to the rim was under control and looked easy for him to get into the lane. Also he added some power to his speed looking more graceful as he went up.

Post #18 » by **Inigo Montoya** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 5:16 pm

Glad to see Exum back on the court. Even happier that he made it out of the game in one piece.

KqWIN · Post #19 » by **KqWIN** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 5:57 pm

This may be the perfect situation for him to reintegrate into the team. We have some easy games coming up, injuries give him a guaranteed role, and he has upward potential for minutes (from Royce).

Not to set expectations, but hopefully by the end of the season we can head into the with Dante ready to be a regular contributor. A playoff rotation can come down to 7-8 guys. I could see it being the starters + Crowder and Exum as the main rotation.

MTJazzv3 · Post #20 » by **MTJazzv3** » Fri Mar 16, 2018 6:59 pm

KqWIN wrote:Not to set expectations, but hopefully by the end of the season we can head into the with Dante ready to be a regular contributor. A playoff rotation can come down to 7-8 guys. I could see it being the starters + Crowder and Exum as the main rotation.

Totally could see that. I think some forget Dante is a very young veteran raised in the Jazz system. He is already ahead of Crowder by a mile in that regard. If he even flashes Summer League/pre-season Dante by the end of the month things could click in the playoffs. Nice to have, (with Crowder), two roster upgrades heading down the stretch!