How do the Jazz improve their D?

[S2Minem]

Alright, I am going to destroy your argument if you don't mind.

1. +/- is an extremely flawed system, and even over a four game stretch the room for error is massive. Case in point, over a 4 game stretch against the Lakers, Deron Williams had a +/- of -48. Average -12 per game, that is awful.

Feel free to try. +/- is an imprecise statistic but I invite you to propose something better. Also, I never said that Fes should play completely instead of Boozer or anyone else. But he should've gotten more minutes.

In Deron's case, Derek Fisher played very aggressive defense and flustered him. IMHO, it would've been good for Gaines to get about 3 more per game, not Price. Deron went 0 for 7 in one game and was in foul trouble in another, so there was reasons to not playing him quite that much.

Also, given that Deron played almost all the time at the beginning of the game with Fesenko in the game, it shows that whatever non-starter (not at the beginning of the 1st and 3rd quarter) combination came afterward was even worse because Deron had a positive with Fes.

Lastly, you have to account for the fact that Price played mostly "rest" minutes (at the end/beginning of quarters). Price played a lot when Fisher, Bryant, and/or Gasol was out of the game, making his PT less comparable to Deron's. Fes, however, played almost all of his PT with Deron and Boozer on the floor, boosting the comparability to Fes + PM/CB vs. PM + CB and no center.

That being said, Price's +/- average was helped nicely by a run in Game 2 with RP-CJ-KK-PM-Koufos on the floor vs. Brown-Farmer-Walton-Odom-Bynum. This is a pretty weak Laker lineup, and maybe Phil Jackson was just toying with Utah, but it shows that Odom + a big can be stopped with a PF (Millsap and maybe Boozer) and a big (Fes/KK2). Things are different with Kobe and/or Pau, but my mantra all along is that Millsap and Boozer together doesn't work with the Lakers (and works only so-so against most other teams), and Sloan should've known this before the series started. +/- and play-by-play analysis only confirms this.

Ronnie Price had a +/- of +10, an average of +2.5 per game. So should Sloan have pulled Deron in favor of Ronnie Price, even though Deron was clearly the best player for the Jazz in the series?

See above.

2. It's obvious the only thing you've seen of Aldrich is this video. If you had seen him play in real game scenario's you would have seen that he is a far superior athlete to Fes in almost every way. While he isn't as tall as Fesenko (2 inches shorter in shoes) his wingspan is actually larger, and his standing reach is only a half inch shorter.

His lane agility is very good for a player his size. He recorded faster times than Derrick Favors, Hassan Whiteside, Greg Monroe, Daniel Orton, and Larry Sanders, all guys who are supposedly better athletes than Aldrich. He's a very quick leaper, something you can't say about Fesenko, he has good hands unlike Fesenko, he's a good passer unlike Fesenko, he's a good rebounder unlike Fesenko, he's has good timing unlike Fesenko, he's got a midrange game unlike Fesenko, he uses footwork to get where he needs to unlike Fesenko, he's a quality shot blocker unlike Fesenko, and he's got an above average NBA motor unlike Fesenko.

Seriously, other than weight and height, there isn't one thing Fesenko is better at than Aldrich. While Fesenko does have an ability to clog the lane during short stretches of the game, his lack of NBA skills and his poor physical conditioning prevent him from being anything more than a low minute player.

I'm sorry; I don't buy that Aldrich is an answer at the 5. He can dunk on college players, and he has OK agility, but he looks weak. He's a poor man's Nick Collison waiting to happen. No thanks. Hassan Whiteside and Ed Davis have more upside. Ekpe Udoh has more athleticism. Over Aldrich, I'd rather have any of these players defending Gasol or Odom or Bynum--and pretty much playing anytime up to them also.

It's very possible that any big that Utah drafts is going to be better than Fesenko, but the difference is more significant with those other players IMHO. That doesn't excuse Sloan from not using a better in-game strategy using the height and defense that he had--and not putting forth any minimal effort to get the bigs more minutes during the season.

The Okur signing was the big blunder because it was oh so tempting to play Okur, who looks like he tries hard, although the result is something that often looks like Okur is going in slow motion. It wasn't until Okur was injured that Fes got any meaningful minutes in the playoffs, and he still was a net positive. Unfortunately he was still raw and would've been much better if he had gotten meaninful time sometime over the past three years.

[dr0welf]

Homerism is to be expected, even anticipated, on a team forum page such as this. However, when the name Deron Williams is tossed into the same sentence with good or even average defender, you have crossed the line. Williams is a productive offensive player and a non-existent defender.

I disagree with this statement, Deron is actually pretty solid defender in many fashions. He puts in a ton of effort on the defensive end, he's an excellent help defender and he's superb defending the pick and roll with his size. He can switch on most pick and roll's and legitimately guard the bigger player in the post. He's also a very good transitional defender, he knocks away more balls of players on the fast break than anyone I can think of in the league. He's also become a solid rebounder for a PG with 4 rebs per.

this is right on the money! Deron is pretty solid on the defensive end, he moves his feet on defense and uses his body well. Where you think he is non-existent surprises me completely. If he could trust the middle more I believe he would be even better as he could play the offensive player more closely. He does have room for improvement, and he does have mental lapses still during games; but these are both typical.