The Downbeat: He Screwed Us Edition

So the playoffs are going on and they sure have been exciting. I mean they have been OMFG THIS IS THE MOST SPECTACULAR AMAZING AWESOME STUPENDOUS BASKETBALL EVER!! It's a shame they didn't allow a championship caliber team like the Utah Jazz in for this secluded basketball party of awesomeness. There was a spectacular post by Mike Prada that explained the necessity of running plays in crunch time rather than going all MOLO Hero Ball in the final seconds. Prada says:

Three plays, all from the same alignment, all with different options, all with the same ending. The Bulls bucked the conventional wisdom that you need to "put the ball in your star's hands" and let him go to work. Maybe they didn't have a star to go to in the first place, but when you score on eight of 10 clutch possessions in the final six minutes against a defense as ferocious as the Heat's without Derrick Rose, Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich, it sends a powerful message. That message? Running actual plays -- any plays -- works late as well as any other time in the game as long as the staff and players are committed to the cause.

Read the rest of the article here: How the Bulls executed down the stretch against the Heat.

Also if you're not following Mike Prada on twitter you should be.

Tweets by @MikePradaSBN

The other development of these playoffs haS been the amazing point guard play. There have been amazing performances from Tony Park and Steph Curry and Nate Robinson. WHOA. Hold up. Nate Robinson? Yes. Nate Robinson. These are Nate's in season per 36 and advanced stats.

Now here's his playoff's per 36 and advanced.

Yes, right now in the playoffs Nate Robinson has a PER of 20.7. That would have been good for 2nd best on the Utah Jazz this most recent season only 0.2 behind Al Jefferson's 20.9. That is how insane in the membrane Nate Robinson has been in these playoffs. He's going to get paid by someone alright. He's also assisting on 25% of his plays and has a Win Score/48 of .143 which ties Al Jefferson's in season win score. To compare him with Mo Williams, Jamaal Tinsley, and Earl Watson is almost laughable. In fact those three's Win Score/48 combined is only .096. Yeah....chew on that for a second. What I'm trying to tell you is it's not out of the realm of possibility that Nate Robinson suits up in a Utah Jazz uniform next season. Oddly enough, it's a bit exciting. I think he has matured as a person and a player. He'd be a good mentor to the Core Four with his tenacity, intensity, and feistiness. Would be a good fit.

Dennis Lindsey doesn't like the Core Four. So how about the Phenomenal Five (SEE WE INCLUDED JEREMY EVANS LINDSEY! SEE! SEE! SEE!)

I hate it…Yeah, so, one, it’s, you know, I’m, you’ll never hear me say it. You’ll never hear me validate that term.

The 15th guy really has a role, whether that’s a highly respected culture veteran that adds something to the group, or it’s a young guy that’s developing, you know, into something greater. So to parse out one player, to isolate four players, I just don’t think it’s the way you want to build your culture.

h/t @monilogue at jazzfanatical.wordpress.com

Honestly, I can get as a GM why he'd want to avoid saying this. But as a whole I think it's ridiculous. On the business side they isolate players all the time on t-shirts, jerseys, magazine covers, on the side of a mothereffing arena. It's crazy to think that the Heat are plastering a giant 100 foot poster of Mike Miller on the side of the arena for the sake of culture. Now with that said, the 15th guy has a role. To hand the veteran a towel. The 14th guy has a role. To hand the veteran a towel. The Alec Burks has a role. To beg the 15th guy to bake a cake with a handsaw in it so he can break out of his cage. EVERYBODY HAS A ROLE.

This is a hilarious exchange. I know we talk about how the Jazz don't want to ever "tank" in an offseason but it sounds like Kevin O'Connor had a plan with that during the 2003-2004 season.

Well, there was a guy named [Karl] Malone and [John] Stockton, and they left in the same year. Now, I would have to say that probably in the next millenium there might not be a bigger year than that year.

And I thought we’d probably get the first or second or third pick in the draft for sure, and Jerry [Sloan] screwed us and won about 42 games, if I remember correctly…He just tried to win every game and he did, and so we wound up with the 14th pick…I’ll say this is a very big summer, but I think that one was monumental.

h/t @monilogue at jazzfanatical.wordpress.com

Maybe we have been trying to tank. What if the Jazz are just terrible at tanking? Is this a thing?

Here is your in depth look at who the Jazz will not select during the draft because it would address a need.

The coaches at the renowned IMG Basketball Academy have been putting in extra work lately. On an average day, they’ll put their group of NBA draft prospects through a morning session and an afternoon session with weightlifting in between. However, since Nate Wolters has arrived in Bradenton, they’re always on call.

Wolters will text or call the coaches at night and on off-days. Sometimes, he’ll ask to put up shots. Other times, he’ll want an extra workout. Last Friday, Wolters participated in the two scheduled sessions and weightlifting, and then did two extra individual sessions with a coach.

h/t Alex Kennedy @ Hoopsworld

Read more at Hoopsworld.

Here are Nate Wolters stats:

Discuss. I think in a draft like this Nate Wolters will not be drafted late 2nd round. I think he plays his way into the early 2nd round/late 1st through workouts. What say you?