Utah Jazz Big Three Round-Up Week 6: Life without Rudy Gobert still good for Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors

This past week was not perfect. No one is going to say it was. The Utah Jazz started off by giving it all they had in a three point loss, at home, to the perfect Golden State Warriors. They followed that up with some bad news as starting center and erstwhile Gobzilla got an MCL sprain in practice. That meant that the team would have to go forward without one of their best three players. The results were immediately apparent as the team dropped yet another home game, this time to the Orlando Magic 103-94. Thankfully the Jazz got it together and ended the week with a very rare home win, this time an overtime thriller against the Indiana Pacers 122-119. 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:

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Gordon Hayward:

Gordon is finally rounding into form, and it couldn't happen at a more important time of the season for him. With Rudy down the best players have to step up. And I think it's fair to say that Gordon is doing that. Over the last week he played 119.85 minutes (39.95 mpg) which is what we see from other stars around the league like a peak LeBron James or a John Wall or whomever. Hayward did a lot with his time on the court -- and his robust offensive numbers (if he can sustain them) give him a chance to form a legit All-Star campaign for himself.

He was the one guy keeping the Jazz in it against Orlando, and I've been really impressed with how he got to the line 7.00 times a game. A star gets to the line against good teams and bad teams. The beginning of the season had him expect to get calls. Now he is earning them. Gordon also drilled 3.0 threes a game in the three games.

This Week's Performance: 23.33 ppg (.4565 / .4286 / .9048), 5.33 rpg, 4.33 apg, 1.33 spg, 0.3 bpg

Star Meter: Gordon finally looks like he's improving from where he left off from the previous season. For Jazz fans it's what we wanted to see. For the rest of the league, no, they don't want to see Hayward reach his final form.

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Derrick Favors:

Would you believe that the New Jersey Nets are really really dumb. I mean, like: so dumb. Every week looking over what Favors does it just reminds me of that. Favors played 115.67 minutes this week and was the go-to guy when we needed him most. He ended up shooting just as much as Gordon did (46 FGA) and scored as many points as him (70 PTS), but didn't nearly play with the ball in his hands as much as his fellow team leader did. Favors' contributions are more than just those you see in the box score, but there's really no good reason for him not to touch the ball as much as he does. He only shot the ball 7 times against Orlando. Crazy. Crazier is that he's averaging 6.67 FTA per game -- and he made 80% of his shots from there.

GET HIM THE BALL!

This Week's Performance: 23.33 ppg (.5870 / -- / .8000), 11.00 rpg, 1.67 apg, 1.33 spg, 0.67 bpg

Star Meter: His blocks and steals were a little down from his averages this season, but the rebounds and points are way up. And frankly, that's really all that it takes to be called an All-Star. Kevin Love did basically that for a few seasons on an awful team to build up his rep.

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Rudy Gobert:

Rudyard only played in one game last week, and played in 37.33 minutes. He finished with another double double, and shot 50%. He also dished the ball well and as always, was a terror on defense. Get well soon Rudy!

This Week's Performance: 13.00 ppg (.5000 / -- / .6250), 11.00 rpg, 3.00 apg, 1.00 spg, 1.00 bpg

Star Meter: Rudy is quickly becoming one of the most visible 'icon' players in the West. So much so that other teams know the Jazz are playing shorthanded without him. Almost no one nationally seems to care that the team is playing without starter Dante Exum. They really do care about Rudy being out.

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Stepping Up:

Everyone really needs to step up with Rudy out, not just Gordo and Favs. You'll be happy to know that some of our guys are heeding the call of duty with the Frenchman out of the fight.

• Alec Burks (30.32 mpg, 16.33 ppg, 4.00 rpg, 2.33 apg, 2.00 threes made a game, .4286 3PT%) -- Alec is great. Coming off the bench may not be what's best for him, or the team, but we have to live with it right now. While he did have some butter fingers this week (1.67 TO per game) he was still one of the best players on the team. Without Rudy guys are going to have to step up. Alec is leading the way.
• Trey Burke (29.78 mpg, 12.00 ppg, 5.00 apg, 2.00 rpg) -- Trey isn't shooting as well as he did in November, but he's still capable of going off. Against the Pacers he netted 19 on .4706 fg%. It would be great to see him make more threes, but I think we're all happy about his 3 to 1 assist to turn over ratio..
• Trevor Booker (19.13 mpg, 6.00 ppg, 6.33 rpg, 1.33 spg, 1.00 bpg) -- Book got one start this week, but we can't expect him to get a double double every start. He's an energy guy and he brings the most when he is on the floor. He does a little bit of everything, and with this anemic bench Quin Snyder really needs a guy like this.
• Rodney Hood (26.63 mpg, 7.00 ppg, 2.67 rpg, 2.00 apg) -- now it's Rodney's turn to be in a slump after Gordon got out of his. Hood's 7 ppg comes as a struggle, last week he shot .2800 FG% and .2308 3PT%. It would be less of a struggle if he got to the line more, his stroke is so pure it's a shame whenever he misses. Last week there were a lot more misses than makes.
  
• Raul Neto (14.88 mpg, 5.67 ppg, 2.00 rpg, 1.33 apg) -- I have to mention Wolfie here. Zero points against Golden State, 4 against Orlando, and then 13 against Indy. I fully well expect this trend to continue for the rest of the season. (Math nerds -- how many points is he on track to score next game knowing these three data points?)

Honorable mentions: Jeff Withey played 19.47 minutes and finished the week with 4 blocks. Play him more . . . Trey Lyles is improving, and is going to be looking more and more like a rotation player with each passing week . . . Joe Ingles actually missed a three this week, I am just as shocked as you are . . . Elijah Millsap actually played in a game, his first since November 23rd . . . . . . Tibor Pleiss has played in three games with the Idaho Stampede and has played in 95 minutes. That's over 30 a game. His stats are somewhat meaningless (but he's shooting .571 FG%), but at least he's playing.

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