The Downbeat #1128 - TGIANA

I'm going to say it: Thank god that school started back up to break the monotony.  I love summer, but there comes a time when there's just not enough to do.  One thing I don't enjoy about school is worrying about grades.  The same is also true of the Jazz when various writers start issuing offseason grades (see what I did there? Segue of the summer).

This time Ben Golliver of The Point Forward blog (SI.com) gives out his grade:

Grade: B. So where do the Jazz find themselves now? Burke firmly holds the car keys and has a cast to work and grow with.

This morning on ESPN's True Hoop blog there is a very interesting Q&A with Stan Van Gundy.  In it he seems to echo some of the sentiments that Coach Corbin has stated in the past, most notably:

Do coaches get frustrated by media ignorance of strategy and details?

I never really got that frustrated by that. You have to realize that their level of knowledge is not going to be what a coach's is. The criticism from the media never really bothered me. I'd correct it when I can, but that's their job. If stuff wasn't personal, then it really didn't bother me.

I'm sure I've pissed off everybody I've ever met one way or another. And whether they like me or not, I hope they're at least basing it on the whole picture.

Its a quick read (This is part one. They're dragging it out... offseason, man.).

There has been a lot of discussion about which player will make the "biggest jump" this year.  Its interesting to speculate, but another interesting question is which player will keep their contributions (stats-wise) about the same?  Is there any player that you would be okay with them not increasing their contributions across the board?  My answer would probably be Hayward and he is the most likely to do so, especially if Burks, Favors, and Kanter all manage to be up their stats with the increased minutes.

The converse of that is which player would you be disappointed if they didn't contribute more with the increased minutes?  I would have to say that this one goes to Burks.  If he is getting 25+ minutes a game in a solid rotation, he should be double his baseline stats from previous years.

You know who hasn't been getting a lot of mention?  Jeremy Evans.  It would be a welcome sight to see him break the rotation on a trial basis and see what he can do with a more well defined role.  He looked calm and comfortable on the court in the Summer League and its intriguing to think about how that might translate to the regular season.  The reason to suggest it might: He wasn't forcing anything.  Of all the "vets" from the actual roster, on the team, he looked like he was finding ways to contribute with out demanding the ball or forcing offense.