Scrimmage Thread

[babyjax13]

Assuming we probably don't need a game thread for every scrimmage, considering that there was not one for the first scrimmage. Team played loose, lots of mistakes but there were also times the offense looked like it normally does. Defensive end was a mess, hopefully they lock in. Overall, the first game was fine.

[babyjax13]

Also, Miye Oni looked like an NBA player tonight, and Rayjon Tucker plays more nervous than anyone I've ever seen.

[Catchall]

Watch on YouTube

[Catchall]

A few notes:

** Donovan Mitchell looks really good. He played under control, handled the ball pressure and made good decisions most of the time. He also scored nearly at will and could have taken over more offensively if he wanted to. He's very comfortable shooting the 3.

** Mike Conley is still small and a bit jittery, but he settled in during the 2nd and 3rd quarters and started picking his spots. He missed his first couple 3s and took the ball to the rim the rest of the night. It just seems as though he's too small to make plays unless things are set up perfectly for him.

** Jordan Clarkson was a bit hyper (more than usual). He wasn't quite in rhythm on his drives, but got more focused as the game went on.

** Rudy was only playing at half speed. It was pretty obvious on the defensive end.

** Tony Bradley was moving very well on defense and had some nice contests. That's huge for him. He even played some minutes at the 4 without getting killed. He's starting to look like a legit energy big.

** Mudiay can still get to the rim pretty consistently.

** Ingles was handling the ball too much in the first quarter and it looked like it was wearing him out. We're relying on him too much to be a primary initiator, and it means he can't spot up to shoot.

** Brantley gave good effort on defense. I loved his block and coast-to-coast take. He scored two buckets over Chiek Diallo who is 6'8". Brantley could be our new Paul Millsap if he'll give consistent effort on defense and go hard to the boards. I like how he held off Frank Kaminsky who was trying to post him up.

** The Jazz really need a player who is about 6'9", really rebounds and defends, and drills 3s on the other end. The Jazz were giving up 3 or 4 inches at several positions on the floor tonight, and they got badly outrebounded by the Suns. They really have to give maximum effort to compensate for being undersized.

[SoCalJazzFan]

I watched the first 3Q. Other than Mitchell it was loose and sloppy, but still fun to watch. I find it odd that the Jazz would be tempted to use a two big man combination of Gobert and Bradley. I have a hard time thinking of a worse big man duo, and I don’t think they looked good together at all tonight.

[KqWIN]

- Bradley playing at the 4 was...interesting. He must be showing some things in practice, there's no way Quin would even try this otherwise. I guess there's something about having a guy who just plays hard on the court.

- None of the key rotation players played defense. It was a layup drill..who cares it was a scrimmage

- Tucker is a serious athlete, but he is still very visibly afraid to shoot. Hopefully his nice dunk will give him the confidence to start playing and stop thinking.

- Oni and Brantley showed some nice things. I'm hopeful for them in the future.

[Catchall]

I watched the first 3Q. Other than Mitchell it was loose and sloppy, but still fun to watch. I find it odd that the Jazz would be tempted to use a two big man combination of Gobert and Bradley. I have a hard time thinking of a worse big man duo, and I don’t think they looked good together at all tonight.

The Jazz were getting killed on the boards. The rebounding differential was 22-14 at half time. That's the main reason we lost the game. Just putting Tony Bradley's size and length out there helped our defense in the 3rd quarter.

Mike was guarding Ty Jerome and giving up 4 inches.
Donovan was guarding Devin Booker and giving up 3 inches.
Royce was guarding Cam Johnson and giving up 4 inches.

[Catchall]

- Bradley playing at the 4 was...interesting. He must be showing some things in practice, there's no way Quin would even try this otherwise. I guess there's something about having a guy who just plays hard on the court.

- None of the key rotation players played defense. It was a layup drill..who cares it was a scrimmage

- Tucker is a serious athlete, but he is still very visibly afraid to shoot. Hopefully his nice dunk will give him the confidence to start playing and stop thinking.

- Oni and Brantley showed some nice things. I'm hopeful for them in the future.

Tucker dug in defensively against Jevon Carter and got a couple stops. He's at least starting to focus on that end.

Oni is an NBA athlete with the size, length and lateral quickness to be a wing stopper. He just needs to contribute enough on offense to stay on the floor. He's like where Royce O'Neale was 2 1/2 years ago. Nice pickup in the late 2nd round.

[KqWIN]

I guess the other thing to note is that the Jazz tried quite a bit of zone. I anticipate that this will become more popular as the smarter teams are already doing this. Getting our perimeter guys in the mindset that they actually have to help and rotate is a good thing.

[Catchall]

So Rudy dominated today, but he was going up against Meyers Leonard. Butler and Bam didn't play for Miami.

Mitchell's shot was off today, but he was more concerned with moving the ball and only seemed to shoot as an afterthought.

Clarkson and Niang were slinging 3s to give the Jazz the complementary scoring they needed.

Mudiay looked good. He was defending, rebounding and slashing for buckets.

Jazz as a whole did a good job of generating looks from 3pt range; ~50% of their attempts were 3s.

Jazz also did a much better job of rebounding than they did on Thursday, outrebounding the Heat by 5 for the game.

It feels like the Jazz just need one or two more quality guys in order to be competitive. Ingles hasn't been able to score in the re-start.

[Catchall]

In terms of +/- Tony Bradley was -17 in just 14 minutes. That's pretty eye-opening.

Rudy and Royce were +15.

Bradley finished with zero points on 0/1 from the field, 2 rebs. and 4 fouls in 14 mins. He really struggled against Olynyk.

Looking at the highlights though, the Jazz's second unit was off on several of their defensive rotations that weren't really Bradley's fault.

Watch on YouTube

[sipclip]

Mudiay looks really good. I still think there is a chance that he ends up being the longterm fit with Mitchell in the backcourt.

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[dautjazz]

Glad to see some connections between Mitchell and Gobert. I didn't see any highlights between the two in the Suns game. I really hope they put the COVID thing behind them. Gobert took a ton of heat for it, deservingly so, now it's time to move on.

[KqWIN]

Much better offense this time, and Rudy was more engaged to fix the defense. Bench was still trash

I hope the guards stay willing to pass it to Rudy. It opens up everything when that is their first option and not the floater.

[DelaneyRudd]

I'm not enthused so to speak by the scrimmages, but I can't imagine any other team is in a groove right now.

[Inigo Montoya]

Yeah, I can't say I missed it. I'm over this season, quite frankly.

[zero24gravity]

Happy to have some Jazz ball to watch. I'm excited!

but ........ overall, they've looked like hot garbage in both scrimmages, IMO.

I would have liked to see the coaches pushing major minutes out on Brantley in all 3 scrimmages, just to see what happens, since they have major size issues and the only "4" on the roster is Niang, who can't jump over a piece of paper. Bogy was far from a 4, but going even smaller has been ugly so far .... and NO WAY Bradley is going to help at that spot. Good lord I miss Favors.

[Catchall]

Mike, Rudy and Donovan all looking good, all scoring easily. Joe looking for his shot. Royce is rebounding well.

[DelaneyRudd]

I like the studio set up for the court. The lack of noise is odd but it feels more like Olympics meets Pro-poker or billiards than a practice or summer league court. I only hope that playoff emotions can erupt organically. I mean flexing and screaming towards a camera, giant LED screen or your work friends is cheesier than towards a crowd of fans.

[SoCalJazzFan]

Mike, Rudy and Donovan all looking good, all scoring easily. Joe looking for his shot. Royce is rebounding well.

The bench has looked pretty bad overall during the scrimmages, though, which is a concern.