Game 3: Utah Jazz (1-1) @ Oklahoma City Thunder (1-0)

[dautjazz]

8 way tied for first! We the best!!

[KqWIN]

Mitchell has been horrible so far. Hopefully he can step it up on both ends.

[Charlie_S]

It was a better game than the Wolves one, although that's a really low bar to clear. I did not like the endless complaining to the refs. Even if they are screwing you (which admittedly they were) at some point you gotta adapt, stop crying and start hustling more. Watching George "my toe hurts" Hill run circles around the Jazz in the 3rd was pissing me off.

You already talked about Donovan (the good and the bad). For a large part of the game Dort looked like the guy who just signed a max extension, but he came alive in the final quarter as he did many times in the past. He's been looking a bit out of focus to start the season but I believe he will figure it out. Maybe at some point he will even start getting some star calls lol.

Gobert I think had a very solid game. Had to be on a stretch big all game long but put he put his head down and worked hard despite not being involved nearly enough on the offensive end. He covered our wings' asses multiple times as they kept getting beat off the dribble. A few 3's from Horford and Muscala are a price I'm willing to pay for that. I liked Conley keeping the Jazz afloat in the 1st quarter too, as well as being a steadying offensive presence throughout the rest of game. Got burned a few times too many defensively but a good game nonetheless. Also good to see Bogey persevering and finally catching fire in the 3rd.

Off the bench, Clarkson was messy at times but he may even be the most important player on the team, I could say that I wished for him not to get tunnel vision as often as he does but that's just who he is. It's up to Quin to recognize when to unleash him and when to rein him in. Generally speaking, while I'm not a big fan of huge rotations I'm not convinced that running a 8-and-a-half rotation this early in the season is a great idea, especially if the "half" is Niang - who is not really looking like an NBA player right now. Jazz were struggling with their perimeter D while the Thunder were going very small, I would have liked to see Oni or even Harrison get a real chance out there.

[tugs]

Btw, Bogey was complaining non stop. Would have wanted less of his barrelling to the basket moves, initiate contact, stumble, then complain. Got a T for one of those

Mike and Rudy were the steadiest out of them all. And of course Royce was solid again

[red4hf]

Btw, Bogey was complaining non stop. Would have wanted less of his barrelling to the basket moves, initiate contact, stumble, then complain. Got a T for one of those

Mike and Rudy were the steadiest out of them all. And of course Royce was solid again

Bogey had a right to complain, he was getting hacked non-stop.......

[Charlie_S]

Btw, Bogey was complaining non stop. Would have wanted less of his barrelling to the basket moves, initiate contact, stumble, then complain. Got a T for one of those

Mike and Rudy were the steadiest out of them all. And of course Royce was solid again

Bogey did complain too much from the get-go and it was annoying, although he did have a point most of the time. I do prefer him to force some drives, even if that's not really his game, if that's what he needs to get himself in rhythm. The last thing this team needs is players being afraid to take on offensive responsibilities.

Good point about Royce, I forgot to mention him which is kind of typical when it comes to his contributions lol. I love his defensive versatility and hustle, limited as he may be offensively. I'm still kind of holding out hope that he can develop a semblance of an offensive game beyond the occasional spot-up 3 but at 27 this may be as good as he gets. Ideally he shouldn't be playing 30+ minutes but we have no better option right now.

[vryadli]

Mitchell has been horrible so far. Hopefully he can step it up on both ends.

There are one problem... outside this site he hardly ever was kept accountable for horrible stretches. If one read for example NBA recap, he can assume that DM won this game single-handedly.

[MTJazzv3]

Mitchell has been horrible so far. Hopefully he can step it up on both ends.

There are one problem... outside this site he hardly ever was kept accountable for horrible stretches. If one read for example NBA recap, he can assume that DM won this game single-handedly.

He pretty much did. He scored the Jazz's last 12 points in like 3 minutes. Yes, he sucked until then, but nice to have a closer like DM having an otherwise bad night. They are still figuring things out, including DM.

Conley - love what he's doing right now and a good sign for the grind ahead. Ingle is looking really bad in general - cooked/not interested/deep rotation guy at this point? Thank god for Clarkson who single handedly kept the Jazz in the game with his "never seen a shot I didn't want to take" ways. JC is the single best thing that happened to the Jazz in the last year to keep this team's nose above water.

[stitches]

Mitchell has been horrible so far. Hopefully he can step it up on both ends.

There are one problem... outside this site he hardly ever was kept accountable for horrible stretches. If one read for example NBA recap, he can assume that DM won this game single-handedly.

I mean... he **** the bed for most of the game but cleaned up his excrement of a game in the final minutes. Sure, there is some stink left from that performance and we probably need to wash the sheets, but at least we didn't have to throw them out. OK, this metaphor probably went too far at some point... Apologies

[vryadli]

Mitchell has been horrible so far. Hopefully he can step it up on both ends.

There are one problem... outside this site he hardly ever was kept accountable for horrible stretches. If one read for example NBA recap, he can assume that DM won this game single-handedly.

He pretty much did. He scored the Jazz's last 12 points in like 3 minutes. Yes, he sucked until then, but nice to have a closer like DM having an otherwise bad night. They are still figuring things out, including DM.

r.

Sure, all guys who fought hard all game kept it in striking distance are relatively insignificant. That exactly what I mean. And at some stage other guys can get that too. I mean, why they all have work hard first 45 minutes?

[tugs]

You can't be considered clutch if you just cruised the rest of the game. We'd rather he show up the first 40 minutes and keep our distance for an easy W than phone it in then decide to go hero ball

[ForeverRDjazz]

You can't be considered clutch if you just cruised the rest of the game. We'd rather he show up the first 40 minutes and keep our distance for an easy W than phone it in then decide to go hero ball

Clutch isn't the whole game. Disagree. Clutch is when the game is on the line. He was clutch when we needed him most in this game. Seen other games where he choked but this wasn't one of them.

[tugs]

We both agree on the definition of clutch though, I'm just saying I wouldn't call someone who was coasting.

If he was having an off night and it's clear as day that he was assertive and aggressive, then it's ok

[tugs]

And now Royce. Man these refs are sensitive