Utah Jazz

This past year, many Jazz fans saw it as a waste of a season.  The Jazz deferred to trading either Sap or Al and didn’t play the core four (who many see as the future) enough time.  In fact compared to others that were drafted in their respective drafts only Hayward is in the top 10 in minutes.  Favors should have had 30 a game this season but for some reason Corbin elected to go with Millsap.  Kanter didn’t get a lot of time for the 3rd pick being behind Big Al and Burks finally started getting time but not until the 2nd half of the season. So the question is: where would the Jazz have landed if they gave the majority of the minutes to the core 4?  Obviously it’s not easy to project due to different factors but the results might’ve surprised most including Jazz management and especially Ty Corbin.  If the Jazz started Mo, Burks, Hayward, Favors and Kanter and they stayed healthy all season and had backups of Al, Sap, Tinsley, Marvin and Foye the Jazz would have performed better on paper.  It’s hard to say for sure since the majority of minutes the core four were playing against the opponents bench, but the offset should work with the starters outperforming the other teams bench as well. The Jazz finished with a 43-39 record, good for 9th place in the Western Conference.  They averaged 98 points a game and gave up 98.1 with a 1.53 assist to turnover ratio.  The offensive rating was 103.6 and defensive rating 104.3, the only players with a positive net rating was Gordon Hayward, Alec Burks, Enes Kanter, DeMarre Carroll and Jeremy Evans.  Derrick Favors barely missed the cut but in my opinion that was due to trying to make up for the lack of D that Al played. Per 36 minute stats with the entire team the core four with Mo are in the top 7 of points, Favors and Kanter lead in rebounds and blocks, and all but Favors is in the top 5 of threes.  The best four fast break guys on the Jazz are Mo, Burks, G Hay and Kanter.  Together those four average 12.4 points per 36 minutes and the team only averaged 10.2 this year per game.  The best four players on the plus minus side for the Jazz were Demarre at +120, Kanter at +115, Hayward at +105 and Burks at +99.  Sap was a +2 and Al a -158. I know Dennis Lindsey is a big fan of advanced statistics so I’m sure he already knows all of this, so why didn’t the Jazz try switching it up more throughout the year?  It seems to me that pride and trying to keep the so called “veterans” of the team happy outweighed the good of the team.  I know a lot of this is hindsight for not making the playoffs, but most fans were calling for a change early on and it rarely ever happened.  It’s also the reason why most fans are down on Paul Millsap now is because we weren’t playing well and we had options off the bench but they elected to go with the undersized and awful defensive Millsap over Favors.  What’s done is done, but just know what the Jazz will do this next season is what they should’ve done this past season.

I don't know how closely you are following the NBA Playoffs since the Utah Jazz did not make it. But here's a quick refresher: the four teams left are the San Antonio Spurs, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, and Indiana Pacers. The final four of the NBA isn't always the four best teams -- this is the case with the NCAA as well. But they are the teams that win at least 8 playoffs games in the same season. Let's go a bit farther back and look at the final four of the NBA for the last 20 years. NBA Final Four Year Western Conference Eastern Conference 1 1994 Houston Rockets Utah Jazz New York Knicks Indiana Pacers 2 1995 San Antonio Spurs Houston Rockets Orlando Magic Indiana Pacers 3 1996 Seattle Supersonics Utah Jazz Chicago Bulls Orlando Magic 4 1997 Utah Jazz Houston Rockets Chicago Bulls Miami Heat 5 1998 Utah Jazz Los Angeles Lakers Chicago Bulls Indiana Pacers 6 1999 San Antonio Spurs Portland Trail Blazers New York Knicks Indiana Pacers 7 2000 Los Angeles Lakers Portland Trail Blazers Indiana Pacers New York Knicks 8 2001 San Antonio Spurs Los Angeles Lakers Philadelphia 76ers Milwaukee Bucks 9 2002 Sacramento Kings Los Angeles Lakers New Jersey Nets Boston Celtics 10 2003 San Antonio Spurs Dallas Mavericks Detroit Pistons New Jersey Nets 11 2004 Minnesota Timberwolves Los Angeles Lakers Indiana Pacers Detroit Pistons 12 2005 Phoenix Suns San Antonio Spurs Miami Heat Detroit Pistons 13 2006 Dallas Mavericks Phoenix Suns Detroit Pistons Miami Heat 14 2007 San Antonio Spurs Utah Jazz Detroit Pistons Cleveland Cavaliers 15 2008 Los Angeles Lakers San Antonio Spurs Boston Celtics Detroit Pistons 16 2009 Los Angeles Lakers Denver Nuggets Cleveland Cavaliers Orlando Magic 17 2010 Los Angeles Lakers Phoenix Suns Orlando Magic Boston Celtics 18 2011 Dallas Mavericks Oklahoma City Thunder Chicago Bulls Miami Heat 19 2012 San Antonio Spurs Oklahoma City Thunder Miami Heat Boston Celtics 20 2013 San Antonio Spurs Memphis Grizzlies Miami Heat Indiana Pacers As you can see, some of the same teams keep popping up. Team Final Fours Team Final Fours San Antonio Spurs 9 Indiana Pacers 7 Los Angeles Lakers 8 Detroit Pistons 6 Utah Jazz 5 Miami Heat 6 Dallas Mavericks 3 Boston Celtics 4 Houston Rockets 3 Chicago Bulls 4 Phoenix Suns 3 Orlando Magic 4 Seattle / OKC 3 New York Knicks 3 Portland Trail Blazers 2 Cleveland Cavaliers 2 Denver Nuggets 1 New Jersey Nets 2 Memphis Grizzlies 1 Milwaukee Bucks 1 Minnesota Timberwolves 1 Philadelphia 76ers 1 Sacramento Kings 1 Not all of these teams have actually won the ring though. In fact if you look down the list the teams that get to the final four the most have star power, a great defense, or both. The teams with the great offenses and star power seem to falter in the ultimate goal (Phoenix, Utah, Seattle, New Jersey, Milwaukee). So I guess if your main deal is to build a championship team you need some stars to help you win the close games and you need good defense. The Miami Heat have their hands full with the Indiana Pacers (tied 1-1 right now with the next 2 games in Indy). Miami plays great defense too, but here we see that defense can be the equalizer. The Pacers don't have the stars that Miami has but they have the players and system to win games against the super impressive Heat. In fact, Indy could be up 2-0 at this stage as the first game went into overtime. I'm going to break down the offense, defense, pace, and success rate of all of these 20 years worth of NBA Final Four teams after this season is over. But right now our current Utah Jazz team is

After watching a video of the Hoop summit i have to say.. Schroeder is my top choice for PG for the jazz this year.. i have read a couple spots where people have said he is a Better shooting rondo clone.. so here is my idea now 13th pick – Trade with Dallas for it  pick up schroeder 13th pick – Schroeder 14th pick – Tim Hardaway jr 21st pick – whitey or dieng 46th pick – Best available player or fill gap if not 13th pick 14th Schroeder 21st Hardaway jr 46th Trade or draft best available player.

Take a listen and find out: The financial podcast fiancail podcast cas

As you can tell from the list I posted a few days ago that can be seen right here http://purpleandblues.com/2013/05/22/disappointed-the-utah-jazz-didnt-win-the-lottery-dont-be/, there are a lot of possibilities for the Utah Jazz in the draft this year. Today I want to take a look at two of the big men that could be available at 14 and 21, Rudy Gobert and Steven Adams. Both are foreign born players, Gobert from France and Adams from New Zeland. Adams however did play 1 season of college ball at Pitt so more information is available on him. Both are athletic, young bigs with a lot of upside and would be intriguing to see what they could do alongside Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter. Steven Adams was a Freshman Center for the Pitt Panthers this past season. He measured in at just under 6’11″ without shoes and 7’0″ even with them. He has a nice 7’4.5″ wingspan and a 9’1.5″ standing reach. He has a standing vertical leap of 28.5″ which is pretty average for a guy his size. He weighs 255 lbs, has big hands and during his lone college season was known mostly as a defensive player. He averaged 7.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg, and 2 bpg. He showed that athletic ability and defensive prowess at the combine but also surprised everyone with a smooth jumpshot and much improved offensive game. This has led to him shooting up mock drafts and big boards everywhere. Before the combine he was projected to go in the 20s, now many (including me) project him to go in the lottery. This obvious improvement and the fact that he is only 19 years old has many believing that he has the upside to be a hot commodity on draft night. I can see his skill set fitting in nicely forming a tough 3 man rotation with Favors and Kanter. Rudy Gobert is a giant of a man. He measured at a legit 7’0.5″ without shoes and 7’2″ with them. He has an outstanding 7’8.5″ wingspan and a 9’7″ standing reach! He can literally almost touch the rim by just standing underneath it and reaching up. He only weighed in at 237 lbs but when you look at his body, he definitely has the frame to add on another 20-25 lbs. He also only had a 25″ standing leap but at that size who care? He played ball this past season for Cholet of the French Pro A Basketball League. His numbers will not wow you as he only averaged 8.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg, and 1.9 bpg in 23 mpg. As with Adams he shined on the defensive side of the ball at the combine as a force to be reckoned with. He is young, tall, athletic and can get a lot stronger. The combination of athleticism and height is what is catching people’s attention and pretty much securing his place as a 1st round selection. As everyone from Frank Layden to Kevin O’Conner has said, “You can’t teach height!” I would be very curious to see what sort of havoc Gobert and Favors could wreck together on the defensive side of the ball. Both players run the floor well for big men, are good rebounders and would add athleticism and length to the team. They fit right in with Dennis Lindsey’s taking a step back to take two steps forward philosophy. They both appear to be teachable and willing to put in the work to become better. Don’t be surprised to hear the Jazz draft Adams with the 14th pick or Gobert with the 21st pick. If Adams is available at 14 I would not be surprised at all to see the Jazz go small and draft Shane Larkin at 21. This draft has so many possibilities and these two young big men could very well be pieces to the puzzle the Jazz are putting together.

Apr 12, 2013; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz point guard Randy Foye (8) shoots a three-point shot over Minnesota Timberwolves small forward Andrei Kirilenko (47) during the second half at EnergySolutions Arena. The Jazz won 107-100. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports 178.  That’s the entire reason the Jazz should resign Randy Foye.. 178 made three pointers!  That was 50 more than the previous best by a Jazz man ever, Memhet Okur.  The Jazz attempted the third least amount of three point field goals this past season, only taking more than Memphis and Chicago.  They did however connect on 37% as a team which actually put them at 23rd in the league for makes at 507.  This means that Randy Foye by himself made 35% of the entire team’s three point field goals.  The year before that the entire Jazz team made 273 three pointers, just 95 more than Randy this season. When Randy Foye made at least 2 three pointers  the Jazz were 31-25 and 16-11 when he made at least 3.  Of those 11 losses,  8 of them came down to a 3 point loss or less.  Now I disagree that he should be a starter, yes he can do more than shoot threes but so can Burks.  Burks should get the start but it would be nice to still have Foye play 15-20 minutes a night and make 2-3 threes a game.  Every team needs three point shooters and letting Randy go would be a mistake. The Jazz should also go after Kyle Korver again and have those two come off the bench in 5 minute spurts and just tell them to pass it around til they get an open three and shoot away.  If you watch San Antonio, their bench comes in and takes three after three and same with Miami.  The Jazz should develop the same system in which the Jazz bench is solely there to shoot threes.  Matt Bonner, Gary Neal, Patty Mills, Manu Ginobli just launch away and it works.  Start the core four and whoever the point is and then have a combination of Mo, Foye, Korver or DeMarre, Marvin and a center off the bench.  It’s not the most glamorous team but it will be effective more than most would give the Jazz credit for.

The Utah Jazz will be flying down to Orlando again this year, like every season since the Vegas Summer league killed the Rocky Mountain Review. (We're a team that holds grudges, just ask any team that's every leaked a deal with KOC) The schedule and all the cool new info on the set up of this league can be found at Orlando Pinstriped Post, courtesy of Evan Dunlap. There are some cool format changes and I encourage you to visit our sister blog there. As for the Jazz, we'll play 5 games, and each game will be 40 minutes long. And just like last year, Alec Burks will not be allowed to play any point guard -- so it will be a complete surprise when everyone of our ancient guards get injured again and he has to play. Btw, NOT playing him at PG in training camp, preseason, or the summer league = developing him according to some observers : ) Here is the full Jazz schedule: Date Game Time (MT) Sunday July 7 Miami Heat vs Utah Jazz 11:00 AM Monday July 8 No Jazz Game Tuesday July 9 Utah Jazz vs Houston Rockets 1:00 PM Wednesday July 10 Utah Jazz vs Brooklyn Nets 9:00 AM Thursday July 11 Indiana Pacers vs Utah Jazz 9:00 AM Friday July 12 "Championship Day" I'm interested to see how we do against the Nets because they'll be bringing Marshon Brooks back, and he and Burks had a pretty good head to head matchup. Of course, you'd want Burks to dominate him because he was the lotto pick . . . but that didn't happen last year. You may remember that two drafts ago I was pretty high on Brooks as a non-lotto pick, and he had a good rookie year. Then the Nets got Joe Johnson, and that ended his misadventure of being a rotation guy. And here is the full schedule for all the teams: Date Game Time (MT) Sunday July 7 Houston Rockets @ Philadelphia 76ers 7:00 AM Sunday July 7 Boston Celtics @ Orlando Magic 9:00 AM Sunday July 7 Miami Heat @ Utah Jazz 11:00 AM Sunday July 7 Oklahoma City Thunder @ Indiana Pacers 1:00 PM Sunday July 7 Detroit Pistons @ Brooklyn Nets 3:00 PM Monday July 8 Oklahoma City Thunder @ Orlando Magic 9:00 AM Monday July 8 Philadelphia 76ers @ Indiana Pacers 11:00 AM Monday July 8 Boston Celtics @ Detroit Pistons 1:00 PM Monday July 8 Brooklyn Nets @ Miami Heat 3:00 PM Tuesday July 9 Indiana Pacers @ Boston Celtics 9:00 AM Tuesday July 9 Detroit Pistons @ Oklahoma City Thunder 11:00 AM Tuesday July 9 Utah Jazz @ Houston Rockets 1:00 PM Tuesday July 9 Miami Heat @ Orlando Magic 3:00 PM Wednesday July 10 Utah Jazz @ Brooklyn Nets 11:00 AM Wednesday July 10 Oklahoma City Thunder @ Philadelphia 76ers 1:00 PM Wednesday July 10 Boston Celtics @ Houston Rockets 3:00 PM Thursday July 11 Indiana Pacers @ Utah Jazz 9:00 AM Thursday July 11 Miami Heat @ Detroit Pistons 11:00 AM Thursday July 11 Houston Rockets @ Brooklyn Nets 1:00 PM Thursday July 11 Philadelphia 76ers @ Orlando Magic 3:00 PM Championship Day Friday July 12 6th Place @ 5th Place 6:00 AM Friday July 12 4th Place @ 3rd Place 8:00 AM Friday July 12 2nd Place @ 1st Place 10:00 AM Friday July 12 8th Place @ 9th Place 12:00 PM Friday July 12 10th Place @ 9th Place 2:00 PM I'm really interested to see how the championship day goes. It starts pretty early for you Jazz fans in Utah (and in more Western time zones . . . like PST, or . . . Australia . . . ). It's going to be an interesting two weeks (one of practice first). I can see Alec Burks being requested to attend this. Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors may be in Las Vegas at this time for USA Basketball responsibilities. Enes

First of all, lest this be recognized as the anti- Utah Jazz blog, congratulations to Al Jefferson for receiving 20 point total votes (119 people are voting in this), with 1 first place vote (those are worth 5 points each). It's a remarkable achievement for an individual who is a bigman who failed to shoot 50%, failed to grab 10 rebounds a game (no double double here), and did not get a chance to show his stuff in the playoffs (where he's actually quite good). I have more on the All-NBA teams coming up today, but congrats again to Big Al -- the only Utah Jazz player on the complete list (via NBA.com). No Mo Williams, or Paul Millsap, or anyone else. This is a star driven league, and it's important to have a star in order to do well when the games count the most. No, I don't mean the 4th quarter of a home game to an Eastern conference team on a long road trip; I mean in the playoffs. Getting All-NBA recognition is the first step to getting the respect from the league. And kudos to Big Al for doing that. But we still need to get better. By this one metric Big Al was the #8th best center in the league (behind the hard to pin down Tim Duncan, Marc Gasol, Dwight Howard, Brook Lopez, Chris Bosh, Joakim Noah, and Al Horford), however that ranking is quite speculative. Some of the people voting were voting for guys who you would normally think are PFs (Bosh, but now a center in Miami at times), or that the general principle is dumb (Duncan is both a PF and a C whenever it helps him the most). Also according to this vote Big Al was ahead of Tyson Chandler and Roy Hibbert. I think those two guys are ahead of him in reality so Jefferson is a Top 10 center. In order to advance farther as a team I think we need our best player to be a Top 10 or Top 15 player for the entire league. Not just Top 10 in their position. Meh. We need to get better. . . And I think many neutral NBA writers (aka not Jazz employees) feel like we can get better. The NBA's Sekou Smith just wrote an article trying to predict the future All-NBA team for the 2015-2016 season. I'm going to spoil it a bit here by saying that he does have a member of the much maligned street gang "The Core Four" on it. And I don't mean on the honorable mentions list -- he has a C4 member being an All-NBA player. (Which almost assumes an All-Star spot, as there are more All-Star spots than All-NBA Team spots) I think that kind of potential is what our scouts saw in these players, even if the Jazz run media wants to take a dump on them all day long. (How sad is it that we've gotten to the point that the most honest assessment we get about our team comes from national sources?) The player? Derrick Favors, to be a part of the 2015-2016 All-NBA Third Team: "F Derrick Favors, Utah Jazz: Favors has been on a steady climb since moving into a starting role for the Jazz after Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap departed the premises during the free-agent summer of 2013. A no-frills performer who avoids the media glare at every turn, Favors has a hard time doing the same on the court. The league’s leading rebounder in each of the past two seasons (15.3 this season), Favors also averaged 16.3 points, 3.4 blocks and 1.9 steals for a Jazz team that battled all the way down to the last week of the season for the eighth and final spot in the West. He finished third in the voting for the Kia Defensive Player of the Year award and is living up to the hype that suggests he might be a young Dwight Howard." - Sekou Smith, NBA.com Yep. Sounds about right. This is actually getting better, and hopefully Favors too knows he has work to do to get there. . . Last night Jeremy Evans was putting in work too. He knows he has to get better. Of course, it wasn't on his ball handling or his jumper. It was at Electronic Art's latest FIFA game. (No doubt, the Gordon Hayward influence) Congrats to Evans who is making quite the trophy collection for himself. (Also this whole tweet by Evans sparked a cool co

No maybe or probably, the Utah Jazz WILL draft 14th and 21st in the June 27th NBA Draft.  The Jazz do have the ability to trade up or down in the draft if they want a certain guy.  Just for this article’s sake though let’s pretend the Jazz stay put at those two picks.  It’s no surprise the Jazz need a point guard either through the draft or free agency. At 14 three point guards are likely to already be off the board: Trey Burke, Michael Carter-Williams and CJ McCollum.  If this happens this will leave the Jazz in an interesting position as the next batch of point guards aren’t projected til the 20′s.  These point guards are: Shane Larkin of Miami who posted a 44′ vertical at the combine but who sorely lacks at the defensive end, Dennis Schroeder of Germany who is said to already be promised to a team and Isaiah Canaan of Murray State who is in my opinion will be the next Ty Lawson. The question is if the Jazz like one of those 3 or one of the first 3 fall to them will they take them at 14 or will they risk it and see if they fall to 21.  The only guys I see the Jazz really liking at 14 other than a point are Dario Saric of Croatia, Cody Zeller of Indiana, Kelly Olynyk of Gonzaga or possibly Tim Hardaway Jr of Michigan.  If those guys are available at 14 then it’s possible they will forgo the point guard and take one at 21. I do see them taking a center if available with one of their two picks and a point guard with the other one.  In the second round I don’t think it matters but I could see the Jazz taking the hometown guy Brandon Davies of BYU.  My gut is telling me that the Jazz will not resign Al or Sap and that these draft picks should be a piece in the Jazz’s puzzle when it’s all said and done.  Just 35 more days til we know for sure.

Kevin Durant and Zach Randolph are stars whose play and personalities match the cities they play for. Will the Jazz find a player like that? Facing a stream of questions this offseason, the Jazz might take note from the journey of All-Star forward Zach Randolph. In a recorded interview with ESPN and Grantland.com’s Bill Simmons earlier this season, the Grizzlies’ All-Star forward revealed what helped him go from well-traveled and unwanted to beloved citizen and athlete in Memphis. “[Memphis] is a place where people work hard,” Randolph said. “Ain’t nothing given to them easy. I’m that  type of guy…They respect real people. It’s a blue-collar town and I’m a blue-collar player. It’s a perfect fit.” It’s no coincidence Randolph’s seamless fit in Memphis led to the Grizzlies’ rise in the Western Conference. Yes, Randolph is talented. Yes, he has talented players around him. There’s something else at play with the combination, however. It’s both subtle and overwhelming. It’s the point when a team’s star and a city’s personality reflect each other, lifting the franchise to an identity that breeds success. It’s not just Randolph and the Grizzlies. Oklahoma City was ready to support an NBA franchise. No question. But for a city renowned for college sports, the Thunder’s college-age star core couldn’t have been a better fit. Ditto for LeBron’s fun-loving showmanship and Miami. Tim Duncan’s almost-boring consistency is the glove to San Antonio’s almost-boring lifestyle. Oakland has embraced Stephen Curry’s cross-over, a move seen often in the city’s playgrounds. There’s a reason Golden State has embraced Stephen Curry so feverishly. Oakland is pickup hoops heaven. Its streets produced Gary Payton and Jason Kidd for crying out loud. So when Curry is pulling off double-crossovers and splashing step-backs from 25 feet out, the crowd isn’t just entertained. It’s more than that, more than merely an entertainer and his audience. In his best moments, Curry represents a fan base, a community. It’s the kind of connection that has fans nodding their heads when they talk about him. Yeah, that’s our guy. The Jazz had that for 18 years in Stockton and Malone. They weren’t flashy, but by gum they were dependable. They didn’t call in sick. They showed up. They got the job done in the most efficient way possible, and did it long enough to become known as the best pick-and-roll game in the business. When national pundits would highlight those qualities, you know what Utahns did? They nodded their heads and smiled in approval. It’s been a while since that connection was severed. Others tried to replace it. Kirilenko. Williams. Boozer. Jefferson. For various reasons, none of them latched on. Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter and Gordon Hayward appear to be the next candidates, and young ones at that. It’s a valid attempt. In a state overflowing with college kids, the NBA “kids” could do a bang-up job representing the fans for whom they play. Jazz fans would love nothing more than that. It’s been a while since they took a source of prolonged pride in the faces plastered on the sides of Energy Solutions Arena. The last few years’ worth of faces have inspired more dissatisfaction than anything else. Utah needs to get better. They need a star that can carry the team. But if this year’s playoff teams have proven anything, the fit is just as important as the talent.