Millsap improving our interior D?

GP · Post #1 » by GP » Fri Dec 12, 2008 7:38 pm

I think this is an interesting issue, there are some people who claim boozer's defense is horrible. With Millsap, a player that most consider to be superior defensively, playing for boozer, is our interior defense improved? What do you guys think?

The Sheik · Post #2 » by **The Sheik** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 8:48 pm

Look at the suns and Minnesota game. There is your answer.

hoops4life · Post #3 » by **hoops4life** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 11:04 pm

He did get a few silly fouls last night, it is improving though.

The Sheik · Post #4 » by **The Sheik** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 11:40 pm

hoops4life wrote:He did get a few silly fouls last night, it is improving though.

How? We played a jump shooting team last night. The last 2 opponents we have faced ate us up inside and on the glass. Hell so did the Blazers as far as the glass goes. Millsap hasnt improved sh^+. He has shown that he can for the most part replace Boozers stats, but the notion that he would be a better defensive option hasnt really been proven IMO.

Especially the term "interior". Millsap is 6'6" and is a weakside help defending shot blocker just like AK. If you want an example of improving our interior D look at Koufos. Im not saying he should start or that he is better then Memo or anyone, but he is the only player I have seen improve the interior D because he can clog up the lane and change or alter the shots as well as block the shots of players driving. Thats the kind of improvement we need. Whether its from Koufos or someone else.

Jazzfan Bayamon · Post #5 » by **Jazzfan Bayamon** » Fri Dec 12, 2008 11:57 pm

Even though I mostly agree with you Sheik, I think another reason why we are more dominant on the boards with Boozer is because he has Millsap backing him up. Right now, our lineup of Okur and Millsap does a preatty good job on the boards (maybe not Boozer-Okur level, but good). The problem is when we go to our bench, which is AK and either Millsap (very small lineup) or Okur. Normally, Boozer-Okur clean up the glass, and Millsap comes in and keeps it clean. I think that has to be taken into acount.

Also, our team D has improved IMO, if that has to do with Millsap or not is debatable, but the fact is we've been defending better as of late. Hopefully all good can continue once Boozer (finally) returns.

The Sheik · Post #6 » by **The Sheik** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 12:27 am

I agree JFB. AK is a very weak rebounder and to put a frontcourt that has heights of 6'6", 6'7" and 6'9" you're asking for trouble on the glass.

I agree that the team D has looked better at times and I really stress the at times. Its not a constant effort. There was a good stretch during both the 3rd and 4th QT that Utahs Team D looked amazing.

I think people always forget rebounding is a big part of D. We are giving up to many O boards and 2nd chance pts.

CAE15 · Post #7 » by **CAE15** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 5:31 am

The Sheik wrote:
hoops4life wrote:He did get a few silly fouls last night, it is improving though.

How? We played a jump shooting team last night. The last 2 opponents we have faced ate us up inside and on the glass. Hell so did the Blazers as far as the glass goes. Millsap hasnt improved sh^+. He has shown that he can for the most part replace Boozers stats, but the notion that he would be a better defensive option hasnt really been proven IMO.

Especially the term "interior". Millsap is 6'6" and is a weakside help defending shot blocker just like AK. If you want an example of improving our interior D look at Koufos. Im not saying he should start or that he is better then Memo or anyone, but he is the only player I have seen improve the interior D because he can clog up the lane and change or alter the shots as well as block the shots of players driving. Thats the kind of improvement we need. Whether its from Koufos or someone else.

Damn only player I know of that keeps getting shorter.

The Sheik · Post #8 » by **The Sheik** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 6:36 am

New Jazzy Nets wrote:
Damn only player I know of that keeps getting shorter.

Have you ever seen Millsap in person? If he is 6'8" then I will genoursly make myself 6'0".

CAE15 · Post #9 » by **CAE15** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 7:00 am

The Sheik wrote:
New Jazzy Nets wrote:
Damn only player I know of that keeps getting shorter.

Have you ever seen Millsap in person? If he is 6'8" then I will genoursly make myself 6'0".

No nba player is their actual height. give me a player and his exact height to compare to millsap.

The Sheik · Post #10 » by **The Sheik** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 8:07 am

Ive meet him next to Ronnie Brewer and they were the exact same height. Now maybe Ronnie is really 6'7". Everbody even the Jazz pre-game analysts all know and talk about Millsap being short. Im not saying its a bad thing, he just isnt 6'8". Factor in AK not using his big frame to rebound and Harps general ability to suck and you are gonna get hurt on the glass. Especially since Harp is guarding PFs because in that lineup AK is guarding the Roys and Kobes of the world.

erudite23 · Post #11 » by **erudite23** » Sat Dec 13, 2008 11:37 pm

Yeah, Millsap measured at 6' 7 1/4" at the NBA predaft camp. He's 6'6" without shoes, but the measurement that is used is a player wearing shoes. Malone, btw, was under 6'8" as well.

As for our interior D, I haven't really seen that much of an improvement. Most of the improvement I've seen is our willingness to hustle on the wings and get in people's face. Don't look now, but the Jazz are 7th in defensive efficiency. And, while that is a little misleading due to the fact that the gap between us and 6th ranked Houston is as big as the one between us and 14th ranked NO, we have been trending upward. Two weeks ago we were at 13th, and earlier in the season--before D-Will came back--we had been maintaining a top 5 ranking.

If we can keep up our defensive effort that we've given so far while getting our offense in gear like we had it in the second half of last year, we might have a legit shot at this thing, despite all this early season heart break.

leventuysal · Post #12 » by **leventuysal** » Sun Dec 14, 2008 9:15 am

The Sheik wrote:I think people always forget rebounding is a big part of D. We are giving up to many O boards and 2nd chance pts.

Rebounding IS defense, but you should see defense in two parts: the first is legitimate D, where you deny your man the ball, or if he has the ball you deflect or block the shot. That's pure D. If you let your man shoot, or if you hurry inside to grab a rebound to boost your stats instead of playing help defense, the defensive rebound is a compromise rather than logical D. It's called egotism, it's called laziness, you name it...

That's what Booze does.

GP · Post #13 » by GP » Sun Dec 14, 2008 10:28 am

The Sheik wrote:Especially the term "interior". Millsap is 6'6" and is a weakside help defending shot blocker just like AK. If you want an example of improving our interior D look at Koufos. Im not saying he should start or that he is better then Memo or anyone, but he is the only player I have seen improve the interior D because he can clog up the lane and change or alter the shots as well as block the shots of players driving. Thats the kind of improvement we need. Whether its from Koufos or someone else.

I agree, IMHO I really haven't seen any improvement with our interior defense at all, which surprised me. I wanted to make sure I wasn't alone in my observations. I am starting to wonder if our defensive schemes in general are not that great or if our player are just inadequate at defense.

S2Minem · Post #14 » by **S2Minem** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 5:27 am

GP wrote:
The Sheik wrote:Especially the term "interior". Millsap is 6'6" and is a weakside help defending shot blocker just like AK. If you want an example of improving our interior D look at Koufos. Im not saying he should start or that he is better then Memo or anyone, but he is the only player I have seen improve the interior D because he can clog up the lane and change or alter the shots as well as block the shots of players driving. Thats the kind of improvement we need. Whether its from Koufos or someone else.

I agree, IMHO I really haven't seen any improvement with our interior defense at all, which surprised me. I wanted to make sure I wasn't alone in my observations. I am starting to wonder if our defensive schemes in general are not that great or if our player are just inadequate at defense.

I agree that the Jazz are not great at interior D, and I agree that Koufos is a promising interior defender. KoKo is currently tied for 2nd with Brewer with the best (lowest) opponent's point production, at 12.1 per [48] minutes. Only AK is better.

Meanwhile, Millsap is at a decent 15, and Boozer is at a subpar 21.1. Okur sits about in the middle of the two. In fairness, this is from about 21 games, and Boozer has played in only 11 of them. But you'd expect more from an All-Star and a backup Olympian.
http://www.82games.com/0809/0809UTA.HTM

Lastly, look at 5-man combinations. Of the top 10 five-man floor units by minutes so far this season, only half have a +/- significantly greater than zero, and Millsap is in every one of them. Boozer and Okur are only in two each. Price-Miles-Brewer-Boozer-Okur (the starting lineup for much of Deron's injury) has a significantly negative +/-. However, Price-Miles-Brewer-Millsap-Okur (with the only difference being Millsap for Boozer) is slightly positive. Coincidence? I don't think so.
http://www.82games.com/0809/0809UTA2.HTM

In other words, Millsap is the least of Utah's interior worries. Booze and Okur are both subpar interior defenders, and Man has earned a steady spot in the 3-man rotation at the 4/5. If he can learn to pick-and-roll better, and foul a bit less (he already has), and score better around the rim, then he will more closely replace Boozer on the offensive end also.

GP · Post #15 » by GP » Mon Dec 15, 2008 8:26 pm

S2Minem wrote:I agree that the Jazz are not great at interior D, and I agree that Koufos is a promising interior defender. KoKo is currently tied for 2nd with Brewer with the best (lowest) opponent's point production, at 12.1 per [48] minutes. Only AK is better.

Meanwhile, Millsap is at a decent 15, and Boozer is at a subpar 21.1. Okur sits about in the middle of the two. In fairness, this is from about 21 games, and Boozer has played in only 11 of them. But you'd expect more from an All-Star and a backup Olympian.
http://www.82games.com/0809/0809UTA.HTM

Lastly, look at 5-man combinations. Of the top 10 five-man floor units by minutes so far this season, only half have a +/- significantly greater than zero, and Millsap is in every one of them. Boozer and Okur are only in two each. Price-Miles-Brewer-Boozer-Okur (the starting lineup for much of Deron's injury) has a significantly negative +/-. However, Price-Miles-Brewer-Millsap-Okur (with the only difference being Millsap for Boozer) is slightly positive. Coincidence? I don't think so.
http://www.82games.com/0809/0809UTA2.HTM

In other words, Millsap is the least of Utah's interior worries. Booze and Okur are both subpar interior defenders, and Man has earned a steady spot in the 3-man rotation at the 4/5. If he can learn to pick-and-roll better, and foul a bit less (he already has), and score better around the rim, then he will more closely replace Boozer on the offensive end also.

Thanks for the numbers, it was interesting to go back to full seasons and compare.

http://www.82games.com/0708/0708UTA.HTM

http://www.82games.com/0607/0607UTA.HTM

Going by the stats you mentioned, Boozer is actually the least of our worries for interior defense and our best offensive option. (last year, of the 3 players, Millsap was the worst defensively)

*DISCLAIMER* I honestly don't know about these numbers in general, but for the sake of arguement, this is what they state.