The Downbeat - 9 March 2010 - #181 - The Anti Mark Price Edition
by Basketball John on Mar 9, 2010 10:05 AM MST
in The Downbeat
6 comments
Proving that this league is a lot about match-ups, the Knicks beat the Hawks for the third time this season. That's two or three losses we could have used to sweeten that Knicks pick.
If we lose out on a position in the draft, thank the Hawks. You can also thank Wilson Chandler for his last-second block of Josh Smith that would have given Atlanta the win.
We're still not in a bad position though.
Seems that most of you are pretty bullish about the rest of the season starting tonight with the Bulls. Chicago has struggled mightily since losing Joakim Noah to plantar fasciitis. They were a top-ten team defensively, but have given up 100+ points in 7 straight games. They've also lost the last four straight without Noah.
Their offense has been terrible this season so if their defense is going downhill, they don't have much going for them right now.
If the Jazz are to have a good road trip, they need to take care of the Bulls tonight.
The KOOF will be wreaking havoc on the D-League again as he was sent down to the Flash yesterday. This will be his second trip this season. He had 16 & 7 in the one game he played in the last time he was in Orem.
I have to admit, the KOOF confuses me. He's not going to get a lot of playing time right now with everyone in front of him. But when he is in, he hasn't impressed. He's only getting PT for maybe 1-2 minutes a game, tops, so it's probably pretty hard to get into any kind of rhythm. Maybe it's just a case of getting more minutes for him? Those aren't going to come this year though so D-League makes sense for now.
We have Hornacek for a shooting coach to work with AK, Korver a bit, and wherever else he's needed. He's done a great job.
However, can we get him to work with everyone on their free throws? The Jazz are tied for fourth in the league in free throw attempts with 1,679 yet they're 24th in the league in percentage at 73.8%. Even if they were to shoot just the league average of 75.8%, that's a 1/2 a point a game more.
Last year they shot 77% and the year before that was 76%. So who's having a down year? Of the regulars, everyone is shooting below their career averages other than Boozer and Millsap. Even Korver is shooting below 80% for the first time in his career. Memo is shooting about his average though.
If the Jazz were to go back to 77%, they'd be almost a point a game better. Maybe that's not much, but when you give up as many fouls shots as you do, you need to make up for it on the other end.
This is why Denver is going to be hard to beat this year in the playoffs. They have more than 350 attempts than the next team in the league. They're shooting 77.3% and have 200+ more made free throws than the next team.
Do you know why Boozer yells AND-1 so loud? That's because the Jazz lead the league in AND-1%. It's shocking then that Boozer doesn't lead the league. But as a team, the Jazz have the highest percentage of getting to the line after a bucket. If they would ever call a foul for Millsap, we could add 75 more points a game.
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#8
I know it seems like a distant memory now. But back when the KOOF was a rookie, there was a spell when he got a lot of PT. I remember one scout saying that he was the top big man rookie at that point. And now… He’s heading toward becoming the next Morris Almond. Sad.
Chicago
Another speedy athletic guard for DWILL to guard. I think we need to go at him. If he’s on Deron, Deron needs to drive. If he switches on the pick then run the pick with Mathews or CJ so they can take him. Chicago’s chance will come from scorching our back court just like Minni and Sac do.
I hope KOOf can get some PT before the playoffs. He needs to find some rhythum to his shot and get in better game shape.
1. I was worried about the Knicks when they won something like 4 or 5 wins in a row, but then they made that trade to free up money next year and things are starting to look good again.
2. Perfect reason for the Jazz to go and lay an egg.
8. Sorry but Koof has never done it for me. He has always looked awful imo. I know he’s a fan favorite on here, but he has never impressed me. He had a couple stints last year but nothing consistent.
4. Anyone remember when AK was on the verge of tying the franchise record for most free throws made in a row? It’s been a few years ago (like his 2nd or 3rd year).
5. Don’t know why he says it but I love that he says it. It makes me glad to have DV-R, so I can rewatch all the things he shouts out. Makes for good entertainment.
Something from the blogosphere bugging me today. First the fact that Truehoop’s had a hard on for the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference for the past week. Can we all agree that the Jazz don’t use any analytics, advanced or otherwise? So anyway, Truehoop goes and states the following with a link to a blog on the subject: “If you’re a fan of a team that isn’t using advanced basketball analysis, should you feel a little cheated?” http://clipperblog.com/2010/03/09/are-the-clippers-behind-the-curve/
And that got me thinking, would I rather have Sloan or advanced analytics? Because I don’t think you can have both. You’re not going to tell Sloan which line-ups your advanced analytics demonstrate are most effective. He goes by his gut. I gripe about Sloan all the time but I’d rather have Sloan’s gut. More than anything I’ve come to appreciate him by reading blog posts from the fan sites of teams we’ve vanquished. Turns out they’re all jealous of us because we have a rock solid coach. Go figure.
agreed, agreed, and agreed
on many occasion, i’ve seen opponent game threads/game recaps saying “if sloan were our coach, we would have won the game” and “sloan is the best there is at _______________” (getting his guys ready, managing the clock, etc.) i’m determined to appreciate him as much as i can while we still got him.
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