Crescendo: A Utah Jazz MyLeague

[JazzMan]

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Jazz Fall to Hawks in Atlanta 105-97

The Utah Jazz finished their 4 game road trip with a loss to Atlanta tonight 105 to 97. The Hawks had a 10 point advantage in the 4th that led to the win. The Jazz led from the first quarter all the way through the 4th, where Atlanta went on a run to get a 12 point lead. The Jazz fought back to cut it within 4, but Paul Millsap and the Hawks put the game away before the Jazz could cut it any closer.

Millsap had 21 points, 12 boards, 4 assists, and 2 steals as he played his former team, Utah. Jeff Teague had 20 points and 9 assists, as well as 2 blocks.

Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward led the way for the Jazz offensively, as Favors had 25 and 8 and Hayward had 21, 2, and 6. Rudy Gobert had himself quite the game, finishing with 17 points, 17 boards, and 3 blocks. Alec Burks had 15, 3 and 7 off the bench. No other Jazz player scored more than 4 points.

Utah plays just their 3rd home game after playing 8 road games in their first 10. The Jazz have fallen to 5 and 5 on the season and 8th in the Western Conference.

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[trekfan]

Tough loss. Got killed on the fast break and at the line (69% ain't gonna cut it, Utah, need to up that!). Still at .500, though, but this is a young team -- stringing together some wins is a must, else the young bloods might put their heads down and tally a lot of losses.

[JazzMan]

Quote: Originally Posted by trekfan

Tough loss. Got killed on the fast break and at the line (69% ain't gonna cut it, Utah, need to up that!). Still at .500, though, but this is a young team -- stringing together some wins is a must, else the young bloods might put their heads down and tally a lot of losses.

Three point shooting has been shaky, too. We have some decent young shooters but they just haven't been able to get the shots to fall.

[JazzMan]

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WEEK 4 WRAP UP (6-6)

Another week, another one win, two loss performance for the Jazz. After winning all three games in week one, the Jazz have dropped two of three games in weeks one, two, and three since. Consistency is definitely an issue for this young Jazz team, who are just having issues stringing multiple wins together. They clearly have the talent: beating Indiana, Miami, Portland, and Toronto, but have struggled in games in between.

One issue that the Jazz have is depth. There's a pretty steep drop off from the Big Three of Hayward, Favors, and Gobert, as the next closest player to matching their talent is Alec Burks. Burks has been the main option off of the bench with 12 points a night, third on the team, but is shooting just 41% from the floor and 27% from three.

Thankfully, Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors have been picking up the offensive slack for Utah. Hayward is averaging a career-high 20.5 points a game, and Favors a career-high 16.8 points a game. Efficiency needs to be improved for both, but they have been playing very well offensively.

Defensively, the Jazz have been astounding from top to bottom of the roster. The team is now third in scoring defense at 93.8, trailing only Houston and Memphis. Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors have combined for 3.6 blocks a night. Gordon Hayward, Alec Burks, and Rodney Hood have done excellent jobs slowing down opposing wings. Nick Calathes has been a godsend defensively for the Jazz at the starting point guard spot. Even Trey Burke, Utah's worst defender last year, has seen improvement on the defensive end.

This week was truly an up and down performance for the Jazz. They lost a close one in Atlanta after leading almost the entire game. They then came home to Salt Lake City and beat up on the Raptors, 112 to 91, in a game where Hayward and Favors combind for 50 points off of 34 shots. The Jazz shot 47 (!!) free throws for the game, with Alec Burks receiving the most trips to the line with 10 free throws.

But then the Jazz traveled on the road yet again this season, their ninth road game in their first twelve games, and lost big time to the Mavericks 113 to 94. Dirk Nowitzki scored a game high 29 points in a throwback game. Former Jazz man Deron Williams put up 16 and 5 on his former team. Gordon Hayward fought valiantly with 27 points and 6 boards, but couldn't get enough help offensively from his teammates.

The Jazz finally get to play some home games now this season. This week they play OKC at home, the Clippers in Los Angeles, and New Orleans at home, followed up the next week by the Warriors, Magic, and Pacers all at home. This is the stretch of games where the Jazz need to take control of their season and string some wins together, even if the opponents are all, at this point, playoff teams.

Utah Jazz Stats - 15-16
Player	GP	MIN	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TPG	FPG
G. Hayward	12	35.2	20.5	4.6	4.7	0.9	0.7	48.7%	31.4%
D. Favors	12	31.2	16.8	9.0	1.4	1.5	1.3	47.5%	0.0%
A. Burks	12	24.9	12.0	3.1	3.3	0.7	0.6	41.4%	27.0%
R. Hood	12	25.4	11.1	2.3	1.9	0.5	0.3	48.4%	40.5%
R. Gobert	12	31.0	9.9	12.6	1.5	0.7	2.3	67.1%	0.0%
T. Burke	12	21.5	7.2	1.4	2.8	1.3	0.1	35.0%	29.3%
T. Lyles	12	9.5	4.7	2.6	0.5	0.3	0.3	50.0%	0.0%
N. Calathes	6	21.3	4.3	2.3	4.3	1.2	0.0	39.3%	12.5%
J. Ingles	12	10.1	3.9	0.5	1.3	0.4	0.2	46.9%	55.6%
T. Booker	12	13.5	3.6	4.8	0.9	0.3	0.4	34.7%	33.3%
R. Neto	6	22.0	2.7	0.7	3.7	1.0	0.0	27.8%	33.3%
T. Petteway	6	10.3	2.2	1.2	1.3	0.3	0.0	21.7%	0.0%
J. Withey	11	7.5	1.3	2.0	0.1	0.1	0.5	62.5%	0.0%
T. Pleiss	1	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0%	0.0%
D. Exum	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0%	0.0%

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NBA Standings - Updated: Nov 21, 2015
EAST PLAYOFF RACE	W	L	GB	DIV	CONF
Indiana Pacers	10	3	--	3-1	8-2
Atlanta Hawks	9	6	2.0	3-1	7-3
Cleveland Cavaliers	8	5	2.0	4-1	7-4
New York Knicks	8	6	2.5	1-0	4-5
Miami Heat	7	5	2.5	2-0	4-2
Chicago Bulls	6	6	3.5	0-3	4-4
Toronto Raptors	6	8	4.5	1-2	4-3
Washington Wizards	4	6	4.5	1-2	4-4
Detroit Pistons	5	8	5.0	2-1	3-2
Orlando Magic	5	8	5.0	1-1	2-4
Milwaukee Bucks	5	8	5.0	0-3	5-7
Boston Celtics	4	8	5.5	2-1	3-5
Charlotte Hornets	4	9	6.0	0-3	2-7
Brooklyn Nets	4	9	6.0	0-1	2-5
Philadelphia 76ers	4	10	6.5	1-1	4-6
WEST PLAYOFF RACE	W	L	GB	DIV	CONF
Oklahoma City Thunder	12	1	--	1-0	5-1
Los Angeles Clippers	10	2	1.5	4-2	9-2
Memphis Grizzlies	10	4	2.5	1-1	8-3
Dallas Mavericks	8	5	4.0	2-1	6-3
San Antonio Spurs	8	5	4.0	0-2	3-4
Portland Trail Blazers	8	6	4.5	0-3	6-6
New Orleans Pelicans	7	6	5.0	2-1	4-4
Golden State Warriors	7	7	5.5	1-2	4-6
Phoenix Suns	6	6	5.5	3-1	5-5
Utah Jazz	6	6	5.5	1-1	1-3
Minnesota Timberwolves	6	7	6.0	2-0	3-2
Houston Rockets	6	8	6.5	1-1	4-5
Sacramento Kings	6	8	6.5	2-3	2-6
Denver Nuggets	4	9	8.0	2-2	3-9
Los Angeles Lakers	2	10	9.5	0-2	1-5

Nets owner Mikhael Prokhorov has reportedly put his majority ownership of the Brooklyn Nets (80%) up for sale. Thus far, no names have been linked to the purchase of the Nets.

The injury woes continue for Golden State, who lost Leoandro Barbosa for 4 to 6 weeks with left knee tendinitis. However, a bigger blow was dealt after Klay Thompson suffered a concussion in practice and will be out for 2 to 4 weeks. A stretch with Curry, Thompson, and Barbosa out could spell disaster for the reigning NBA champions.

After Joel Embiid was declared to be out for the season in week one, the 76ers put him on the trade block. Multiple offers have reportedly been sent to the Philly for the former 3rd overall pick of 2014, who has yet to play an NBA game. Embiid is clearly talented but has issues staying healthy and rehabilitating his foot injury. Sources say that the front office for the Sixers are not happy with Embiid's work ethic and ambition to recover from a foot injury that he suffered during his only year of college basketball two years ago. Rumored teams to have sent Philly trade offers for Embiid are the Lakers, Celtics, Mavericks, Jazz, Grizzlies, Wizards, and Timberwolves.

[JazzMan]

Hornets Trade Struggling and Benched Big Al

The Charlotte Hornets dealt Al Jefferson this morning after just his second double-double of the season. Jefferson was benched last week after a disappointing start to his 2016 season, and just four games after his benching, he has been traded to the Dallas Mavericks in a three-team trade.

Charlotte sends Al Jefferson and Aaron Harrison to Dallas. Dallas trades Zaza Pachulia and JJ Barea to Philadelphia, and the Sixers trade Hollis Thompson and Robert Covington to Charlotte. The Hornets will also receive a 2nd round pick in 2017 from Dallas.

Jefferson is averaging just 10 points and 8 boards a game while shooting a poor 39.7% from the floor. The trade not only brings in young shooters in Covington and Thompson, but also allows Cody Zeller and Frank Kaminsky to take the majority of the minutes at the center position.

Dallas gains a true center in Jefferson, but lose their leading rebounder. They also gain a young prospect in Harrison and shed Barea's 4 year $16M contract.

Philly loses two of their young wings, but gain two mentors for their young roster. The move was sorely needed for them as their locker room has no leader or mentor.

[trekfan]

Surprising move by Dallas, especially considering how they sit in the conference, but I like it. Big Al will occupy the paint and led Dirk shoot to his heart's content outside the arc, which will let Al get his points and rebounds.

Harrison is a good, young prospect, one that Dallas definitely needs. Hornets get rid of Jefferson and get back Covington, who isn't to be overlooked.

Questionable move for the Sixers. I like Zaza, don't get me wrong, but he's another center on a roster with a glut of big men. Philly needs to figure out what they're doing with Noel and Embiid (I'm assuming Okafor is untouchable at this point but, being Philly, he probably isn't).

As for the Jazz, they need help on their second unit -- they might be able to snag someone early in the trade season who's unexpectedly found their way to the bench. With Utah's youth and prospects, there will be plenty of teams offering up mid-20 something vets on decent deals.

[JazzMan]

Quote: Originally Posted by trekfan

Surprising move by Dallas, especially considering how they sit in the conference, but I like it. Big Al will occupy the paint and led Dirk shoot to his heart's content outside the arc, which will let Al get his points and rebounds. Harrison is a good, young prospect, one that Dallas definitely needs. Hornets get rid of Jefferson and get back Covington, who isn't to be overlooked. Questionable move for the Sixers. I like Zaza, don't get me wrong, but he's another center on a roster with a glut of big men. Philly needs to figure out what they're doing with Noel and Embiid (I'm assuming Okafor is untouchable at this point but, being Philly, he probably isn't). As for the Jazz, they need help on their second unit -- they might be able to snag someone early in the trade season who's unexpectedly found their way to the bench. With Utah's youth and prospects, there will be plenty of teams offering up mid-20 something vets on decent deals.

Covington and Thompson have been subpar shooters thus far this season. Both are shooting under 40%, Philly decided to cut its losses and get two veterans who can mentor the young guys. Barea will more than likely start for them and help the young guys in the starting lineup develop, noticeably Stauskas, Grant, Noel, and Okafor.

Addition by subtraction for the Hornets. Zeller and Frank have been killing it and they still have a ton of front court depth. Thompson and Covington are the icing on the cake.

Dallas needed a low post presence, Dirk isn't that guy anymore. Plus they had 4 point guards playing really well, needed to ship one out to get more playing time for the other 3.

[JazzMan]

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Jazz Embarrassed At Home, Blown Out By OKC

Well, that got a bit out of hand. The Utah Jazz were at .500 coming into a matchup with the best team in the league, the 13-1 Oklahoma City Thunder. On paper, they had a chance. The Jazz have played most teams very tough this season despite their average record, and are one of the best defensive teams in the league.

However, that was not the case tonight. The Jazz gave up a embarrassing 133 points to the Thunder en route to a 47 point loss. Ouch. The Jazz defense just couldn't make a stop when it needed to. And the offense couldn't keep up with the Thunder.

It's best for the Jazz to just forget about this game and move on to the next one. They drop to 6-7 on the season, and now have to play the 11-2 Clippers in Los Angeles. This is a big game for the Jazz, as they will need to be resilient and have a short memory.

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