Are Deron Williams and Paul Millsap the best 1-2 tandem so far this season? When you combine the stats of the two they seem to be. Let's look at some of their stats (league rank)
Paul Millsap
- FGs, 98 (3)
- FG% - 60.5% (4), TS% - 64.6% (8), eFG% - 61.7% (7)
- Points, 239 (8), PPG, 21.7 (17)
- RPG, 9.0 (17)
- MPG, 37.3 (15)
- PER, 24.8 (5)
Deron Williams
- FGs, 83 (10)
- FG% - 46.6%, 3P% - 37%, TS% - 58.1% (5th w/ PGs, 11th w/ Guards), eFG% - 51.4% (6th w/PGs, 13th w/ Guards)
- Points, 244 (7), PPG - 22.2 (14)
- APG, 10.2 (2) - Assists, 112 (2)
- MPG, 39.7 (4)
- PER, 21.5 (18)
An excellent plea from moni.
If you remember, Texas Coach Rick Barnes was in Jazz training camp talking about CJ Miles. Well, I thought at the time it was weird that he was there, even if he had recruited CJ to Texas. Well, as it turns out, it looks like Texas is going to be running the same offense as the Jazz,
Equipped with feedback from mentors and friends, Barnes contacted every NBA team and asked the scouts, coaches, and GMs who the hardest team in the league to prepare for was offensively and the universal answer was the Utah Jazz.
So Barnes and his staff spent six weeks in Utah learning the Jazz system over the summer and decided to make that the base of our new offensive identity with a simultaneous commitment to pushing the ball in transition. All rebounders who can handle have carte blanche to initiate the break and any big man who can't or won't run or slows down the break will not play. The offense is simple enough for college, but it also can be sold to elite recruits as a NBA system that makes them ready for the league.
The Jazz didn't invent the flex and other variants but they have perfected it over the years. Could this lead to drafting Texas players down the road with a little more seamless transition? Any prospects that they have right now that would be available in the late first-round?
Coincidentally, they play Illinois tomorrow night and Coach Weber still keeps in contact with Deron. He states that they have the Jazz playbook that he got from DWill. The thing about that though is that if it's run right, they can know what's coming and still wouldn't be able to stop it. Given that Texas is just breaking it in this year though, they're likely not going to be quite there yet.
Do more colleges not run the flex because the players aren't there long enough to pick up the system?
On an unrelated note from that story, it's funny to hear Weber talk about his ban on Tweeting with his players,
They have enough opportunities already between texting and Facebook. And you might actually try calling someone. That would help. Maybe there's a new fad we can start like talking to people
Speaking of the Jazz offense, here's an excellent video tutorial breakdown,
NBA 2K11: Deron Williams & the Utah Jazz Offense (via bballbreakdown)
David Locke is blowing up:
David Locke on NBA TV (via utahbasketballjohn)