Utah Jazz Big Three Round-Up Week 2: Gordon Hayward waking up!

It's another week in the books Utah Jazz fans, so another week to look at who did what, and how well are our Big Three players performing! The team went 2-1 in the first week, and in the second went 2-1 again. This time the wins were against tougher opponents. And so were the losses. What I'm saying is that the team actually played three straight games against the Western Conference. And let's be real . . . that first game, the 108-92 loss at home to the Portland Trail Blazers? That was a good wake-up call. Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum shot really well. But the defense really got to work in the next two games. On Thursday, the night after the home opener loss, the Utah Jazz beat the Denver Nuggets 96-82 on the road. And last night the Utah Jazz beat the Memphis Grizzlies 89-79 at home. The team defense is picking up where they left off last season. The offense is a work in progress, but the slow pace is part of the reason why the team hasn't broken 100 yet. Overall the team performed well. But what about the Jazz players, specifically their Big Three of Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, and Rudy Gobert?

Let's check it out:

.

Gordon Hayward:

Gordon Hayward is back. Watch out. IN the three games he played in he logged a massive 106.82 minutes, which averages out to 35.61 mpg. He didn't shoot his best game of his life against Portland, but that may be the last time he shoot poorly for a while. He came back strong in the next two shooting .5385 and .6000 FG%. I'm encouraged that his scoring back back, because this means he'll draw even more defense to him, and his assists will go up as a result.

Despite being on the court for a -20 in +/- in the first game, he almost brought it all back, and finished the week with a +/- of -1. I'd like to see him get back to 4 to 5 rebounds a game, but there are only so many to go around with the slow pace and with the other bigs out there on the court. Assists will go up though. Watch out.

This Week's Performance: 19.0 ppg (.4651 / .3571 / .7500), 3.67 rpg, 2.33 apg, 0.33 spg, 0.33 bpg

Star Meter: Star is back to rising, and I'm encouraged. You should be too, G-Time stock owners.

.

Derrick Favors:

Derrick is the big man on campus, at a school that also features Rudy. That says something. Let's first state that HE PLAYED THE LAST THREE GAMES WITH A FLU. He's playing sick, but it's the other teams that are throwing up at halftime. Because of his illness he really only played one complete game out of the last week, and his minutes dropped down to 26.43 mpg. He only played 15 in Denver, and 24 against Portland. Low minutes, but he's still astoundingly effective. (His 0.81 BARPS/min, a value only I care about, was 2nd best on the team despite being sick.)

In the one complete game he played in this week he was a beast. And it was against Memphis' big front line. Love this guy.

This Week's Performance: 8.00 ppg (.4000 / -- / .5000), 9.67 rpg, 0.33 apg, 2.33 spg, 1.00 bpg

Star Meter: Under rated aspect? His steals. Damn. Six years later he still has the most potential of anyone on this team.

.

Rudy Gobert:

Rudy (The Undead Hound) is hurting them. The big reason? It's his minutes. He was always good, though not all head coaches are employed able to see that. He played 100.80 minutes over the last week, which averages down to 33.60 mpg. That's a lot for a center, but shows you that Rudy isn't just big or heavy or whatever. He's a top class athlete and he can play big minutes.

His offensive game hasn't been on point the last week, the last two games had him go 5 for 16, which is way to low for a guy with his skill level and athletic ability. It's not like he's taking jumpers. He's usually around the rim. He also went from shooting 80% from the free throw line last week to shooting under 40%. Not good. Rudy is massive. He should be averaging 10 ppg, even if he's only shooting the ball 6-8 times a game.

This Week's Performance: 7.67 ppg (.4091 / -- / .3571), 12.00 rpg, 1.33 apg, 0.67 spg, 4.00 bpg

Star Meter: His rebounds and blocks means he's in the running for DPOY if he keeps this up.

.

Stepping Up:

It seems like all season long we're going to be talking about the exploits of our next three best players: Trey Burke, Alec Burks, and Rodney Hood. So we may very well just make a special section for them. Ideally, it wouldn't be the same three people every week -- but I'm really okay with these three guys stepping up every week. They almost have to if our team is going to win games.

• Alec Burks could probably start for a lot of teams out there. This week he played 88.45 total minutes, for an average of 29.48 mpg. He did not have one exceptional game, he was good in all three. Against Portland he scored 21 points, lived at the line, and had four rebounds. Against Denver he had 12 points and 8 assists. He only played 23.87 minutes against Memphis, but still had a pretty good game. There was a late charge call that was kind of indicative of his game, but he still finished the game making all of his free throws, while doing a little of everything, 9 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists. Overall he averaged 14.00 ppg, 4.33 apg, 3.33 rpg, 1.00 spg, and was a +18 for the week.
  
• The man who keeps Alec on the bench right now is Rodney Hood. Hood played 76.83 minutes this week, for an average of 25.61 mpg. He, like Alec, isn't shooting that well from deep -- but what Hood does is make shots on the move. He's doing that, and also moving the ball and getting assists. He averaged 8.33 ppg, 3.33 rpg, 1.67 rpg, and 0.67 spg while making 1.00 threes a game. Awesome thing about Rodney this week? He also did it on defense with 1.33 bpg. He's our mini-AK at this point.
• Trey Burke. I think it's working. Whatever it is, I hope he keeps doing it. While playing the LEAST total minutes of these three players, only 73.93 total, or 24.64, I don't know who has had as big an impact on the games. During a week where Raul Neto goes 2/5, 1/4, and 2/7 from the field Trey's shooting is that much more appreciated. And he's really shooting much better than many expected: .4634 FG%, .5294 3PT%, 1.0000 FT%. He's also shooting the ball 13.67 times a game, 5.67 threes a game, and getting to the line 2.00 times a game. Add it all up, and he averaged 17.67 ppg over the last week. That's second only to Gordon. Trey also averaged 2.33 rpg, 1.00 spg, but only 0.67 apg. If Trey gets that apg up he will be playing like an ideal off-the- bench weapon.
  

Honorable mentions: Joe Ingles (60.43 minutes) is invaluable, and doesn't ever take bad shots -- .6154 fg% / .5556 3pt% last week . . . Raul Neto's (40.45 minutes) contributions do not show up in the box score,but continues to move the ball well . . . Trevor Booker (60.88 minutes) had a very good 13 and 9 game in place of Derrick Favors in Denver, but outside of that one he has shot 0/12 and has 9 total rebounds in the other two games.

.

Oh, and hey, this is just a reminder but you all should be playing FanDuel! It’s fun. It’s easy. And it’s a real way to make real money! And after all, you’re smarter than all those other dumb sports fans. Prove it! Sign up at FanDuel today! Still not sold? Okay. Here’s the beginner’s guide that may help you out!