babyjax13 wrote:GobertReport wrote:KqWIN wrote:At some point the Jazz will have to address their 4 traffic cone + Gobert defense. Everyone knows that the playoffs will exploit your weaknesses more than regular season. The weakness the Jazz have is not Gobert but the defensive scheme/talent that has 4 players who don't play defense. Gobert can do it all in the RS but the Jazz need to be more versatile down the road. Can't rely on him to defend everything himself.
It probably won't cost them this series (Jazz were just fine in game 1 as long as Gobert was out there), but I definitely have concerns on that end. It's an interesting matchup where the Jazz are giving up shots the Grizzlies are happy to take. The percentages would look to favor the Jazz, but it doesn't matter if Ja and Brooks continue to comfortable take and make these shots.
Val's presence is huge for MEM's offense even when he's not scoring. He's making it hard for Gobert to do his typical 1v2 in drop because of the pressure he's putting on the rim and on the glass. Even if Gobert contests Ja's floater and makes him miss he's giving up the free rebound to Val. Right now Gobert is keeping everything in front of him, but Ja is too good and sinking that floater. The Jazz on ball perimeter defenders aren't getting back into the play or having much of an impact at all.
If the Jazz had just one athletic combo forward sized player who could rotate and help rebound it would go a long way. They could have Gobert step up and scramble a bit more, but the Jazz don't have that guy and don't scheme that way so it's all Gobert vs Ja+Val in the paint. A lot of people see the Jazz as a strong paint defensive team because of Gobert's presence, but we've seen at times that leaving Gobert at the rim alone can be too much against very strong paint attacks. This isn't a Bucks type defense where they sell out to protect the paint.
Game one Gobert did fine, not fine when Favors was in. Game two Ja was magical and I also think the Jazz let their guard down consistently after getting to a big lead. First half was great, then the grizz scored on 15 straight possessions before Gobert more or less ended the game early in the 4th with some amazing two way play before MEM made another mini run to make it semi competitive. The Jazz just couldn't stop scoring themselves it didn't matter.
I'd give it another game to see if Ja and Brooks can keep hitting their floaters and mid range before I'm too concerned. Like I said, the percentages would suggest that they cool off but there's no time to wait. They both look extremely confident in getting to their spots and making those shots. At the very least, I would like to test their percentages from deep a little more. The Grizzlies have done their homework. They know what shots the Jazz like to concede and are performing. Ja is such a talent.
Man, I wonder who was pushing for an athletic wing on the Jazz forum and half the Jazz board told us to sit down and color...
I don't remember anyone objecting to the idea that we needed another athletic wing defender. I think the debate was if we needed that, or a better defender at power forward more, considering that our rotation there is Bojan and Niang.
A lot of guys were talking about ruining chemistry if we brought in a defensive minded player. Niang could be that guy if he lost 20-30 lbs, he's too chubby to guard athletic guys.
