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The Downbeat #1182 -- The "Get to know your team" Edition

By AllThatAmar
Russ Isabella-US PRESSWIRE

We all love Rudy Gobert. Well, maybe Tyrone Corbin doesn't because dude was picking up DNP-CD's in the preseason; but, Gobert does some really fundamentally solid things when he's on the court. He finishes above the rim as much as possible, which is what you want from a big. And he knows how to use his size to play defense. Some people don't have size and have to learn to play defense through their mind and training. Some people have size but don't know how to appropriately use it. Some people have size and use it well, but never use their brain, like Kyrylo Fesenko. Gobert, we hope, is a big guy who can put it all together.

I remember Day 1 at the NBA Draft Combine when I saw him just barely miss a help defense stop by a millisecond. He missed the block, but his elbow was at the rim. If only he didn't have an ingrown toenail back then who knows what he would have done. (Btw, the ingrown toenail also helps identify why he was so SLOW in the timed and untimed drills, but looks so much better post op, and after visiting P3)

While Mychal didn't fall in love with him on Day 1, I wish to remind him that he admitted that if you were going BPA big with our #14, we'd have to pick between Kelly Olynyk or Rudy Gobert. I guess part of our opinion was also based upon Jerry Sloan liking Gobert as well. (Later snooping and interviews revealed that Ty liked Shabazz Muhammad, so, lol.)

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Random Trivia about the guys on our team now:

  • Andris Biedrins has a son, named "Emīls". There is no mention of a wife, so I'm assuming asexual budding or some other form of self-replication. I . . . I don't know how beans grow.
  • Trey Burke's first name is Alfonso. That's also the name of his dad, and his grandfather. That's where the "Trey" comes from, "The Third." Of course, because this is America, all three do not go by their government name. For example, Alfonso the second (Trey's dad) goes by the name Benji.
  • Alec Burks' goes by his government name.
  • Ian Clark will be the first player from Belmont to join the NBA. Back in 1963 Danny Doyle played 4 games in the NBA after going to Belmont Abbey College.
  • Jeremy Evans, let's be honest here, dances like a white guy. Which kind of explains his bromance with Gordon to some level.
  • Derrick Favors rocks Adidas. He's been loyal to the brand since he was 15 years old when they sponsored his AAU team back in Atlanta. He signed with them before the NBA draft and wears a lot of their gear, even just out there walking around town. Loyalty is big to him, which is good news for us Jazz fans. One could assume he hates the Nets.
  • Rudy Gobert was Mychal's first. And Mychal was Rudy's first. They both underwhelmed each other. I can't wait until they meet again.
  • Mike Harris, in addition to being a frequent NBA training camp player who made the Washington Wizards and Houston Rockets (and played in the NBA-DL a few times), has played in Kiev, Ukraine; Dalang, China; Shanghai, China; San German, Puerto Rico; Nanjing, China; and Ponce, Puerto Rico. He has all of the frequent flyer miles.
  • Gordon Hayward is fond of computer games. He mainly plays RTS games at competitive levels, which places time management, resource management, and multitasking as the most important skills one develops.
  • Richard Jefferson played college at the University of Arizona, and that may come into play when he retires from the NBA.
  • Enes Kanter is accused of being too Westernized, which makes sense because Turkey is the most Westernized majority Muslim nation in the world, and is technically part of the Eurozone.
  • John Lucas III wishes his dad called him Trey
  • Brandon Rush has two brothers who also play ball: JaRon Rush and Kareem Rush.
  • Jamaal Tinsley missed games with the Jazz last season due to recommendations from his Dermatopathologist.
  • Marvin Williams has a career high that stands at 33 points, which is much less than the career high point scores for C.J. Miles and Mehmet Okur

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Brandon Rush is playing in 3 on 3s now. Which is good.

Ideally, our bench this year when everyone is healthy *could* be:

  • Point Guard: Jamaal Tinsley
  • Shooting Guard: Alec Burks
  • Small Forward: Brandon Rush or Richard Jefferson (one of the two will start)
  • Power Forward: Marvin Williams
  • Center: Rudy Gobert

This is not a bad bench at all in theory. And at our healthiest we can hope for a successful team that plays well. That said, there will be some challenges. Jamaal isn't quick enough to defend today's point guards, Tony Parker will move around him, while a Russell Westbrook will plow through him. Alec can get lost around screens, and shooting guards go through a lot of them today. Brandon and Marvin are both coming off of serious injuries -- they could be healthy, or ginger. Also I don't see how Marvin can D-up some of the bigger PFs out there. Invariably everything will be funneled into Gobert, where his strength (weakside defense) will be negated, and he will be forced into a lot of fouls.

I like these guys, but I don't know if they can defend well as a unit. Which leads me to believe that we have to divorce ourselves from the idea of hockey line changes. (Where three (or more) guys go over the boards and sit on the bench, while an all new lineup comes on the ice)

If Ty rotates our bigs like Hockey teams rotate defensemen that would be good. There's no reason (aside from fatigue) where we shouldn't always have one of Favors of Kanter on the floor at the same time. Both are adequate man defenders. Favors can also do area defense, which is (at this time period) the only thing we've seen Gobert defend as well. Mixing in Andris Biedrins and Marvin Williams (if the team goes small) should be used in specific situations.

What about our wings? I think that we have enough wings and versatility to find enough time and flow for our guys so that when they go in the game they will be in for enough time for them to get in a groove. I would hate to see more rotations where a guy like Alec Burks will see his first minutes of a game with 2 minutes left before halftime, and then see him go up against guys who have been in a groove for the last 5 minutes on the floor.

Point guard is going to be a mystery this season. Thankfully we have Jamaal Tinsley back.

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Ian Clark met Mike Epps?

Epps rented a condo from my wife's sister's husband while he filmed a movie in this part of the world. Small, small world.

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Gordon Hayward extension deadline is in four days + some hours. Does it happen?

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