Crescendo: A Utah Jazz MyLeague

[JazzMan]

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Favors Drops 41 & 11 in 98-92 Win

What a game for Mr. Favors. Utah's Derrick Favors shattered his career-high for points by 10, as he finished with 41 points, 11 boards, 2 assists, and 6 blocks with 15-22 shooting from the floor and 11-14 shooting from the free throw line. Favors played 37 minutes tonight, a team high, and scored nearly half of Utah's points. He just could not be stopped. He was hitting mid range jumpers off picks, he was posting up and hitting hook shots, fadeaways, drop steps, he was dunking in transition, he was cleaning up the offensive glass and getting put back fouls... but maybe most of all, he was getting to the line. Favors shot 11-14 from the free throw line tonight.

The Jazz held Charlotte to just 39% shooting on the night. Kemba Walker had 21 points off of 8-23 shooting, Marvin Williams had 15 off of 5-12 shooting, and Nic Batum had 10 points off of 4-8 shooting. If not for turnovers committed by the Jazz, this game could have been a runaway game the way the Hornets were missing.

The Jazz have now improved to 21-20 on the season, and have won 8 of their last 10. Utah takes on the Knicks in New York on Wednesday, followed by a back-to-back trip against Brooklyn and Washington to close out the 4-game road trip.

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[trekfan]

There we go, a winning record! Utah making its way up the playoff ladder. Really good win against the Hornets (they have quite the rotation of big men) and the rest of the schedule for the next couple of weeks looks very much in the Jazz's favor.

Let's grab some easy wins ... let's also get more from Burks and Burke (cause that's not gonna fly, those single-digit points).

[JazzMan]

Quote: Originally Posted by trekfan

There we go, a winning record! Utah making its way up the playoff ladder. Really good win against the Hornets (they have quite the rotation of big men) and the rest of the schedule for the next couple of weeks looks very much in the Jazz's favor. Let's grab some easy wins ... let's also get more from Burks and Burke (cause that's not gonna fly, those single-digit points).

Don't know what's up with Burke this season. This was his year to step up with Exum injured and prove his worth, but he's shooting under 40% yet again and his scoring is down altogether.

Burks has been terrific all season, so I'll give him a pass for a bad game or two. He's third on the team in scoring and he's in 6MOY contention.

[AC]

Really great so far. Following.

[JazzMan]

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BREAKING: Conley Traded To Milwaukee

Woah. I did not see that one coming.

The Grizzlies are losers of 7 straight games and are now at a sub-.500 record of 21-24. While this coincided with the ankle injury of Mike Conley that kept him out of action for 19 games, the Grizzlies front office has decided to part ways with the upcoming free agent. While Conley has been a key cog in Memphis' success the past few years, you can't deny that the haul that they got in for him is worth it.

Milwaukee is sending journeyman point guard and former Grizzlie Greivis Vasquez, rookie Rashad Vaughn, a 2016 1st round pick, and a 2018 1st round pick to Memphis for the 28-year-old point guard. Conley will bring experience, leadership, playmaking, and tough-nosed defense to the table for Milwaukee, who is sitting in 9th place in the East with a 19-27 record.

Trading for Conley is a bit of a gamble for the Bucks, as Conley will be a free agent at the end of the year. But the Bucks front office is very optimistic about being able to resign Conley at the end of the season. The point guard will almost certainly receive a max contract, and Milwaukee will have to spend up in order to retain him.

Memphis is also sending Jarnell Stokes, a prospect big man, and a 2nd round pick to Milwaukee. Their return of 2 1st round picks and a former 1st round pick in Rashad Vaughn should help them cope with the loss of Mike Conley.

Now that their star point guard is gone, what does Memphis do from here? Do they dare trade Marc Gasol or Zach Randolph? What about Tony Allen, Courtney Lee, and Jeff Green? The Grizzlies look they could be a major player going into the trade deadline now that they appear to be setting up for a rebuild.

[vinaa23]

Really loving your work thus far. The presentation is really nice with those images, box scores etc.
Man, you should have traded for Conley hahaha. I think he would fit really nice in this Jazz team (I won't even tell how many hours I already spent in that friggin ESPN trade machine bringing up possible scenarios to send him to SLC).

Hoping you make the playoffs. This young team could use the experience, just like IRL. I'll be following.

[JazzMan]

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WEEK 13 RECAP (23-21)

Yet another 3-1 week for Utah as the Jazz start to pick up a little bit of rhythm. Utah is now 10-3 in January with 3 more games left in the month. A fun fact for this stretch: the Jazz's only losses the past 13 games have come on the 2nd game of a back-to-back. Eliminate those games and Utah could be going on a pretty big run. But alas, everybody has to play back-to-backs in the NBA.

Monday night saw the Jazz drop Charlotte on the road behind the huge efforts of Derrick Favors. Favors had a career-high and Jazz season-high of 41 points, while also adding a stellar 11 rebounds and 6 blocks. There was just simply nobody that could guard Favors, and it's starting to seem like that's becoming the theme here the past week or 2. Over the last 9 games, Favors is averaging 25.7 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks off of 74% shooting. Those are MVP-like numbers. Obviously the shooting percetnage is going to dip off, but imagine if Favors can sustain those numbers the rest of the season.

Wednesday night saw another win for the Jazz, this time coming in New York against the Knicks. Utah got the 101 to 77 victory through the play of Derrick Favors, Gordon Hayward, and Rudy Gobert. The defense held New York to just 36% shooting from the floor, while the team outrebounded the Knicks 50 to 42.

Staying in NYC, the Jazz went to Brooklyn to play the Nets and came away with a 124 to 111 win Friday night. Hayward and Favors combined for 63 points, and Alec Burks and Trey Lyles combined for 30 off of the bench. Utah shot a blistering 61% from the floor in the win.

However, last night on the 2nd game of a back-to-back, the Jazz traveled to Washington to take on the 13-28 Wizards. The Wizards were 6-4 in their last 10, and had been playing improved basketball under the watch of Kevin McHale. However, this was a game that the Jazz should have won. John Wall shot a porous 5-14 from the floor and mustered just 14 points, 12 assists, and 5 turnovers, but Jared Dudley's heroics off the bench (15 points in 22 minutes) did the Jazz in in a 98 to 93 loss. Favors had just 16 points on the night as the Jazz were led by Hayward with 19 points.

Now the Jazz have a 6-game homestand where they can really put some wins together. They play Detroit, Charlotte, and Minnesota this week, then Chicago, Denver, Milwaukee, and Phoenix next week. None of these games are guaranteed wins, but Utah should be able to come away with a 4-2 record at the very least.

Utah Jazz Stats - 15-16
Player	GP	MIN	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3PT%
Gordon Hayward	44	34.9	20.6	5.3	5.1	1.5	0.8	46.0%	38.3%
Derrick Favors	44	31.4	18.0	9.0	1.4	0.9	1.7	51.6%	0.0%
Alec Burks	44	24.3	13.6	3.0	3.1	0.9	0.3	48.8%	35.5%
Rudy Gobert	44	31.4	9.3	13.0	1.4	0.6	2.3	59.4%	0.0%
Rodney Hood	36	24.5	9.3	3.0	2.4	0.6	0.2	41.1%	35.0%
Trey Burke	40	20.2	8.1	1.5	3.2	0.9	0.1	37.8%	33.9%
Shelvin Mack	48	17.8	6.5	1.8	3.1	0.7	0.0	43.7%	43.6%
Trey Lyles	44	12.7	5.3	3.3	0.7	0.3	0.4	47.9%	25.0%
Joe Ingles	44	10.2	3.6	1.4	1.2	0.4	0.4	39.3%	37.5%
Raul Neto	33	21.1	3.6	1.2	4.3	0.9	0.5	28.7%	24.4%
Trevor Booker	25	10.5	3.3	3.3	0.8	0.3	0.4	37.5%	22.2%
Jeff Withey	43	12.3	2.8	3.4	0.3	0.2	0.5	44.3%	0.0%
Tibor Pleiss	4	3.3	2.0	1.5	0.0	0.0	0.3	42.9%	0.0%
Terran Petteway	16	6.2	1.9	0.9	0.6	0.2	0.1	28.6%	15.4%
Dante 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: Jan 24, 2016
EAST PLAYOFF RACE	W	L	GB	DIV	CONF
Cleveland Cavaliers	30	12	--	5-1	20-7
Miami Heat	30	14	1.0	4-4	18-8
Chicago Bulls	27	16	3.5	5-5	18-10
Atlanta Hawks	27	18	4.5	5-3	18-9
Indiana Pacers	26	18	5.0	6-3	16-8
New York Knicks	25	21	7.0	7-1	16-15
Toronto Raptors	22	21	8.5	4-4	14-14
Orlando Magic	19	23	11.0	7-2	14-13
Charlotte Hornets	19	25	12.0	2-7	10-15
Milwaukee Bucks	19	27	13.0	1-7	11-17
Detroit Pistons	18	26	13.0	4-5	10-13
Brooklyn Nets	16	28	15.0	3-6	10-18
Washington Wizards	14	28	16.0	4-6	12-15
Boston Celtics	13	32	18.5	6-5	9-23
Philadelphia 76ers	11	34	20.5	3-7	8-19
WEST PLAYOFF RACE	W	L	GB	DIV	CONF
Oklahoma City Thunder	32	13	--	7-3	19-8
Los Angeles Clippers	31	12	--	6-2	21-6
San Antonio Spurs	30	14	1.5	3-4	16-8
Houston Rockets	29	16	3.0	5-4	16-12
Minnesota Timberwolves	28	17	4.0	7-2	17-9
Dallas Mavericks	24	21	8.0	5-5	15-12
New Orleans Pelicans	23	20	8.0	7-2	16-12
Utah Jazz	23	21	8.5	4-5	12-15
Phoenix Suns	23	22	9.0	4-4	13-15
Sacramento Kings	22	21	9.0	8-4	13-14
Memphis Grizzlies	21	24	11.0	2-7	11-16
Golden State Warriors	19	25	12.5	5-6	11-15
Portland Trail Blazers	17	29	15.5	3-7	12-19
Denver Nuggets	13	31	18.5	4-8	8-25
Los Angeles Lakers	12	34	20.5	1-8	8-22

Obviously the big story this week is the Mike Conley trade. Conley was traded last night to Milwaukee for Rashad Vaughn, Greivis Vasquez, and two 1st round picks. Sources around the league are saying that this move will likely start a rebuild for the Grizzlies, who have an aging roster and have had their championship window abruptly close. One source close within with Grizzlies camp stated that Memphis is very likely to make another trade or two before the trade deadline.

Marc Gasol is reportedly not happy with the Grizzlies front office after the move. Gasol commented, "Mike was like a little brother to me. We've grown up together, we've competed together, we've bled and cried together. It sucks losing him... I feel like we lost the heart of our team. I feel so deflated right now." Is it possible that the long-time Grizzlie is on his way out of Memphis? He signed a big contract in the offseason to stay, but will he accept going through a rebuild?

Golden State just continues to suffer injuries. Draymond Green suffered a high ankle sprain and is expected to miss up to a month of action. Should the Warriors just shut down their stars since Steph Curry is likely out for the year? It would benefit them to get a high draft pick this summer.

How about those Wizards? After firing Randy Wittman, the Wiz looked helpless, lost, and hopeless. However, the hire of former Rockets head man Kevin McHale has started a revolution of sorts in DC. The Wizards have won 7 of their last 9 and are slowly climbing back up the Eastern Conference standings.

The Bucks could make a push for the playoffs now that they have acquired Mike Conley from Memphis. However, with Greg Monroe out yet again with another injury, their depth on the frontline will be a bit thin with John Henson and Jabari Parker starting up front.

Some officials within the 76ers front office actually believe that the team is winning too many games. They're considering trading or shutting down JJ Barea for the year to compensate. Barea joined the Sixers earlier this season from a trade. He's averaging over 10 points and 5 assists a game this season, nearly career-highs for the 31-year-old veteran.

Trade talk between the Sixers and the Nets has picked up. Brooklyn is looking to acquire injured big man Joel Embiid, but is looking for a team to dump Brook Lopez on.

[JazzMan]

Quote: Originally Posted by vinaa23

Really loving your work thus far. The presentation is really nice with those images, box scores etc. Man, you should have traded for Conley hahaha. I think he would fit really nice in this Jazz team (I won't even tell how many hours I already spent in that friggin ESPN trade machine bringing up possible scenarios to send him to SLC). Hoping you make the playoffs. This young team could use the experience, just like IRL. I'll be following.

I'd have liked to get Conley, but with the team playing so well and Exum coming back late this season/next season, I don't really wanna ruin any of the growth for my young team.