Utah Jazz MEMES -- Part 2

I like the Utah Jazz. And I like Memes. So you get to see the synergy of these two things . . .

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DeMarre Carroll wanted more minutes, got more minutes, and had that crazy game against the Sixers, and has played well with the time he's gotten. Courage indeed.

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Alec Burks. *sigh* There's some good in there, but right now he's not showing all of it on the court. True, he probably needs more than Morris Almond minutes to display his game and get into the flow . . . but when he's been on the court this year he hasn't played his game. It's not working out right now, but hope this will change. All I can do right now is make jokes about it and the common perception of who he is as a player.

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Al Jefferson, man. He's not killing it by any standard for a first option, but he's adapting his game so he has greater utility and versatility to any team. He's also getting to the line more and over the last few games, been shooting much better. He started off slow, but is finding a groove now. And that groove seems to be in the paint, either by performing a move that'll get him a shot at the rim -- or by moving without the ball, and getting the pass for an easy finish, also at the rim. The key point here is that he's going to the rim more, and that's getting him better scoring chances and more free throw attempts. His FG% isn't great, but he's moving it on up there as he scores more efficient. He's doing this by taking shots from where he should be taking them from, and by playing a more power game than he did last year. I know. Captain Hindsight agrees.

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Earl Watson is finally healthy. Does that mean that he's automatically going to take all of Jamaal Tinsley's minutes at the back up point guard spot -- and fix all of our dribble penetration problems? Probably not, but man, all we had to do was tread water with him. Earl is like the dad of the 2nd unit, and he is a tough leader who plays defense. He's not as gifted as passer as Jamaal, but he helps out in so many other ways. No, he's not necessarily a better shooter -- but he is going to help us. There's a reason why he was #2 on the depth chart, and a reason why when he went down we went out and got a #4 on the depth chart (Blake Ahearn). Earl is that big of a deal. And he'll prove it again.

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Randy Foye isn't a prototypical player at this stage of his career. He's not diverse enough to be a 'starter', but he is a specialist. If we're grading him against players who have more All-Around games then he's clearly inferior; but if we're looking at him in that Kyle Korver role, then what are we worried about? I guess what we're worried about is that he's playing more than half the game, and is starting now. So, well, either he's gotta somehow evolve into a better, more all-around player this year; or his role needs to change and he needs to go back to the bench. One or the other. What needs to be restated here beyond the fact that he does so many things poorly . . . is the fact that he's absolutely killing it from the one thing we really needed last year. Does that mean right now we may be over-valuing one part of his game, while ignoring the other parts? Maybe... but we DO need what Randy brings to the table. And right now we're lucky to have it.