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What a difference a week makes. Going in to last Saturday's game against Miami the Jazz were tied with GS for the best record in the league at 7-1 and the Heat were second best in the East at 6-2, only one half game behind leader Philly. Fast forward one week and both teams have lost three of the last four games. The Jazz dropped to third place in WC, only one half game ahead of sixth place, and the Heat dropped to sixth place in EC. Both teams need the win this afternoon to right the ship. The home team Jazz are favored by seven. Go Jazz!

ESPN Gameday page. 3:00 PM MTN time tipoff.
https://www.espn.com/nba/game/_/gameId/401360009

I got my negative covid test yesterday, and I'm going to this game. Not sure if Jimmy Butler is going to play or not. As far as I can tell, the Jazz's struggles have mostly been with a couple guys not shooting the ball well. Bojan and Jordan could easily be adding another 10+ points per game if they'd make more of their open looks. The Jazz's defense has been pretty solid for the most part.

The Indiana game was interesting. Several of our guys looked like they were taking the game lightly. The Jazz were out hustled on just about every play. That said, Indiana followed the tried and trusted formula for beating the Jazz, which is to switch 1-5 on defense, play 5-out, move Rudy out of the paint, and attack our guards off the dribble.

The Jazz could really use a dependable 2-way wing, tbh--someone with more offensive creation than Royce and more defensive tenacity than Bojan and Joe. It's possible that Rudy Gay can do that, or that Paschall can continue to grow in his role.

The Heat is another team with a lot of guards and forwards who can give us fits. I hope they'll come out ready to play. There is also a Lowry-Conley battle, we'll see who performs better. As for Rudy Gay, I don't really consider him a two-way player, especially at his age. How many 35 year old two-way players are there? I get people are excited to see Gay play but I think there are some expectations of him to be a defensive solution of some sorts, which I don't think he is.

Yikes. A lot of losses lately. I don't get concerned about one single loss here and there but they've been piling on lately and we're clearly not in the best of places right now.

Also, Gobert had another (slight) altercation, this time with Dedmon. After the scuffle with Turner he said that nobody was going to fight or throw punches (I'm paraphrasing), which, while kind of obvious, is also kind of weak. Makes him look like a fake tough guy, which may contribute to other players starting to antagonize him more.

We sucked big time.

We need to wake up as soon as possible


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We are supposed to be in the easy part of the schedule. The second half of the season should be more challenging so this is the time to rack up the wins and have a cushion.

We were supposed to inflict payback on Miami at home after they beat us a week ago in Miami and failed. And to lose to them without their superstar Jimmy Butler playing makes this home loss even tougher to take.

I think this team needs a trade to inject some new blood. Joe Ingles should definitely be on the block.

GobertReport wrote:I think this team needs a trade to inject some new blood. Joe Ingles should definitely be on the block.

I love Joe (don't we all?), and have a hard time believing he's cooked, after playing so well last year + the Olympics. I think it's likely the guy is just tired. Wonder if the team would consider giving him a couple weeks off, especially while the rest of the roster is healthy & able to absorb his loss (in theory). They need his playmaking & shooting. I don't see a trade out there that makes them a better team.

Joe isn't the team's issue, though. The only reason an entire team's shooting sucks for this long, when they have so many good shooters, is because they are in their heads. They need to figure that $hit out. Also, the D effort is slipping as their shooting struggles, which makes things even worse.