The Downbeat - 10 November 2009 - #97 - The Defensive Leader Is ??? Edition

by Basketball John on Nov 10, 2009 10:56 AM MST in The Downbeat Comment 19 comments

1_medium I'm watching the game this morning and will have something up on it later. I was listening on radio and got home in time to watch the final 6 minutes. That sounds familiar...

Barry talked about this on NBA tv last night, but he spoke about Memo's comments after the game where Okur said they played D well all night except for the final 10 minutes. Barry said something to the effect of, "Uh, Memo, we need to have a talk about this."

2_medium This is completely implausible, but for a discussion point, it looks like Iverson might be retiring. To me, that's crazy. It almost seems like he's getting blackballed out of the league. Surely he's a fit on some team. His beef seems to be with not starting. Understandable.

Even if the Jazz were able to get him for free, would he be worth it? Is he a cancer in the locker room? He is a scorer, something the Jazz don't have. He doesn't seem like he would fit in the system though. He is a vet though. So purely for speculative and a talking point, would you want him on the Jazz?

8_medium With American Thanksgiving coming up, is there anything to be thankful for on this team?

4_medium Your top 3 FG% leaders for the Jazz:

Fesenko: 65%

Matthews: 55%

Millsap: 50%

And your 2009-10 3p% leader? Andrei Kirilenko with 47%. What the what?

5_medium And this is a bit of a cheat for the DB, but here are your defensive ratings leaders for 2010 so far. This is the points they give up per 100 possessions:

Kosta Koufos: 96

Carlos Freakin' Boozer: 105

So is the rest of the team that bad?

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I'm probably in the minority

but I’d take Iverson on the Jazz. I’ve always liked his game.

8. D-Will, of course.

4. More fun with Small Sample Size Statistics. Paul Millsap’s FT% is .824
He’s also averaging 6.4 fouls per 36 minutes. :(

by Patrick517 on Nov 10, 2009 11:44 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

I'd take Iverson too

Sloan wouldn’t take his crap, he’s already humbled to the bare bottom of the barrel and he wants to win.

by mcjazzman32 on Nov 10, 2009 11:54 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

I also would be happy to have Iverson

He likes to take the shot and Deron likes to give people shots. Plus I am sure he would piss off sloan, which that in itself would make me happy.

by Bobby Joness on Nov 10, 2009 12:38 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

I would take Iverson

Because if you are going to watch a sinking ship, it might as well be set on fire as well.

Hey has anyone else realized that if management had went through with the AK / Matrix trade a couple years ago, and not resigned Okur and Millsap, we might be looking at being one of the major players in free agency next year, plus have a top lottery pick. Just saying.

by Frank5 on Nov 10, 2009 12:47 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

But there's probably only a small chance a big free agent signs here anyway

As much as I personally love Utah, it’s never been a very attractive destination for big-name free agents. So you’re looking at a situation where we have a bunch of cap space, sure, but what are the chances that we could sign a guy or guys who would replace what Memo, Millsap, and AK give us combined? Not terribly high, in my mind. It might have worked out really well, but it also might have worked out really horribly as well.

by shandonfan on Nov 10, 2009 1:19 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Remember, Memo and Boozer were both just young talent when Utah signed them. (Memo could barely get off the bench for Detroit, and Boozer was a second-season second-round pick still trying to establish himself). Utah lured them here by overpaying them.

Utah is never going to get an established marquee free agent. But, if they scout well, and spend somewhat freely they can bring in the young “next generation” talent.

by kris247 on Nov 10, 2009 2:04 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

You're absolutely right about Memo and Boozer

But if you’re talking about having a bunch of money in this summer’s free agent cycle, the focus is obviously gonna be on the big name guys, and I just couldn’t see one of them coming here.

And even if we did have money this summer, and went after the diamonds in the rough, there’s still no guarantee, maybe not even a better than 50-50 chance that they end up better than Memo and AK in the short run and Millsap in the long run.

Obviously, it’s better to have cap space and the opportunity to bring in some new, fresh blood than to not have that option, but considering what it would have cost us to have that cap space (half of our top 6 guys this year), I’m just not sure you can say we’d be in a much better position if we had made the Marion trade and not signed Memo and Millsap.

by shandonfan on Nov 10, 2009 2:49 PM MST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs

All-Star voting is open

and you gotta get the widget up on these blogs BBJ…

by MelMan2002 on Nov 10, 2009 1:09 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Got it on votederon

I’ll get it up here.

SLCDunk.com, The Utah Jazz on SBNation

by Basketball John on Nov 10, 2009 1:23 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I am thankful for....

Deron Williams, Wes Matthews, and the 2010 Knicks pick. Possibly also the Ronnies, Memo’s offense, and the future prospect of more minutes for Paul Millsap (provided he doesn’t foul out every game).

by shandonfan on Nov 10, 2009 1:33 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Call it a long shot...

Wouldn’t landing LeBron next year be a really good thing for the team? :)

Oh shoot, I just looked and we’re already over the (estimated) cap for next year. We’d have to dump AK first. Deron, Memo, and LeBron… Take that, zone defenses!

A Jazz fan can dream, right?

by chamont on Nov 10, 2009 1:57 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

After 98

it was ruled that no…. they can’t.

I am 95% sure that if we got the #1 pick in 2010, we’d trade it. Which is ok by me. We have enough rookies and young players. We’d need a solid veteran to replace Boozer, provide scoring and defense.

by mcjazzman32 on Nov 10, 2009 3:15 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

If it was the #1 pick

I would rather them turn it into two first-rounders. Either that or draft Wall and trade his rights for another pick and another player.

SLCDunk.com, The Utah Jazz on SBNation

by Basketball John on Nov 10, 2009 3:21 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

If the Jazz got the number one overall pick, I would want them to draft John Wall and keep him and make it work.

I am 100% serious. He is that good.

The more you try to erase me, the more that I appear.

by clarkpojo on Nov 10, 2009 9:41 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe it would be better if we flipped the #1 for two second-rounders. The Jazz seem to find waaaay more value in their second round picks than they do in first-rounders. (Quincy Lewis, anyone?)

by kris247 on Nov 11, 2009 8:35 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Ugh, I was somewhat being tongue-in-cheek when I made that suggestion, but then I went back and looked at Utah’s draft history

It’s too early to judge the 2008 and 2009, but look at our picks going back to 2000:

2007:
1st Round: Morris Almond (Out of the league)
2nd Round: Herbert Hill (who?)

2006:
1st Round: Ronnie Brewer (pretty solid)
2nd Round: Dee Brown (I still think we should have kept him around)
2nd Round: Paul Millsap ($36 million doesn’t lie)

2005:
1st Round: Deron Williams (between DWill and CP3, only Atlanta could blow this one)
2nd Round: CJ Miles (Overrated, but solid)
2nd Round: Robert Whaley (yup, that was a miss)

2004:
1st Round: Kris Humphries (Solid now, but it took him 5 years)
1st Round: Kirk Snyder (out of the league)
1st Round: Pavel Podkolzine (not our fault – we drafted him for Dallas)

2003:
1st Round: Aleksandar Pavlovic (Was solid, but has gone downhill)
2nd Round: Maurice Williams (All-Star)

2002:
1st Round: Ryan Humphrey (Out of the league)
2nd Round: Jamal Sampson (Out of the league, but played more years than Humphrey)

2001:
1st Round: Raul Lopez (How’s that knee?)
2nd Round: Jarron Collins (Solid, if unspectacular. Way better than Twin)

2000:
1st Round: DeShawn Stevenson (Solid)
2nd Round: Kaniels Dickens (Out of the league)

By my count that’s four first-rounders who were good enough to stick in the league (mostly with other teams), and four second-rounders that were good enough to stick in the league. But, in looking at the second-rounders the quality of talent is much higher. There’s on All-Star (Mo Williams), one player with All-Star potential (Millsap), one player who was a coveted free agent (Miles), and one player who started in this league for many years (Collins). Our first-rounders? Yeah, not so much.

I realize that part of the problem is that Utah almost always picks towards the end of the first-round, so the talent pool is reduced. But, if that’s the case, how come they can more effectively evaluate potential in the second-round, and not in the first?

by kris247 on Nov 11, 2009 8:56 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Herbert Hill was flipped for Fesenko.

There aren’t many picks the Jazz have made, save Snyder and Humphries, where you look at the players picked after them that would have been better.

I think the Jazz have drafted really well considering where they pick. The two years where they had high picks they got the right players in Deron and Brewer.

Looking forward to 2010.

SLCDunk.com, The Utah Jazz on SBNation

by Basketball John on Nov 11, 2009 10:01 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs