Archives For Utah Jazz

Game 12: Jazz 98 – Nets 88:

Spencer Hall —  November 18, 2010 — 2 Comments

A long NBA season is punctuated by important nights that fans recall for years and show the identity of the team. And in between those important nights, the teams play the Nets.

A Wednesday is the most appropriately mundane day of the week, and seemed appropriate for a 98-88 win by the Utah Jazz at home against New Jersey. Paul Millsap picked up his fifth double-double with 19 points and 15 rebounds. All five Jazz starters scored in double digits. And both teams missed a million shots near the basket.

The game will be remembered mostly for Gordon Hayward’s first real dunk, a thundering left handed finish that brought the crowd to its feet.

Brook Lopez played well in the first half and scored 17 points but was held scoreless the rest of the game. Anthony Morrow took over in the second half when he scored 16 of his game-high 24. Even with the slow second half, Utah coach Jerry Sloan had high praise for Lopez.

One the Jazz side, the aforementioned starters played well but the bench was nearly non-existant. Earl Watson was honored on the JumboTron as the sub of the game after posting an epic line of 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 points. The entire bench combined for an evenly-distributed, but abysmal, 10 points. No bench player scored more than 2 points.

CJ Miles left the game in the second quarter with a strained back and didn’t return. He’s listed as day-to-day, but really, aren’t we all day-to-day?. The disappearance of Kyrylo Fesenko continued as he picked up the DNP-CD after apparently suffering a concussion on Monday against the OKC Thunder. After the game Fesenko changed quickly into street clothes and hurried out but claimed to be fine when asked about his health.

Not to get cute, but it was odd to see so many Nets players who still have strong identities on former teams now playing in new jerseys. Jordan Farmar will seem like a Laker for a long time. Devin Harris still looks like he should be representing Dallas. Anthony Morrow is so Golden State. Travis Outlaw was eponymous for the end of the Jail Blazer era in Portland. And Kris Humphries is still in the league?*

*Kris Humphries is not only still in the league, he is starting. No small feat for a man who was once traded by the Jazz to Toronto for Rafael Araujo.

Sidebar: Doesn’t that 2005 Jazz team with Humphries and Deron Williams seem like it happened 50 years ago? Also, it’s incredible that that team managed to win 41 games.

Up next for the Jazz is a Friday visit by their old nemesis, the  San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs are dealing with the fallout from the announcement that Tony Parker and Eva Longoria are getting a divorce. It will be interesting to see how the media circus that is sure to follow will affect the play of the frenchman. Parker could have avoided this mess entirely had the Jazz taken him in the 2001 draft instead of going with the injury-plagued Raul Lopez.

ESPN AP Recap | Boxscore

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Case of the Mondays: And Totally Redeem Yourself!

Mychal —  November 15, 2010 — 3 Comments

Case of the Mondays is a weekly column on SCH that recaps the previous weekend and gives you your Jazz fix when you’ve been diagnosed with a case of the Mondays.

About Last Week

After the Jazz began the season 0-2 it seemed all was wrong in Jazz land. D-Will wasn’t happy, the Jazz’s offense was terrible, Al Jefferson was overrated, Bell was on his last legs, the bench looked awful, Hayward was catching passes from D-Will that had an extra zip to them, and the Bear almost fell from a ladder in the home opener (yes, this did in fact happen.)

Then something crazy happened. In case you weren’t able to see last week I condensed all of last week’s games into one clip. Watch that and then come back. To paraphrase, the Jazz bandwagon has room for one more if you still haven’t caught Jazz fever.

Continue Reading…

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Game Preview: Jazz at Magic

Spencer Hall —  November 10, 2010 — Leave a comment

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Jazz at Magic, Game 1 of 2

November 10, 2010
ESPN / ESPN3.com / FSN Utah / 1320am

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Jazz Injury Update – 11/10 at Orlando

Raja Bell (strained left adductor) – gametime decision
Paul Millsap (bruised left hip) – probable
Deron Williams – (bruised left calf) – probable

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There’s no rest for the weary. After a spectacular come-from-behind overtime win against the Miami Heat on Tuesday night, the Jazz move upstate and take on the Orlando Magic tonight. It will be interesting to see what kind of energy the Jazz can bring. Certain starters (ahem, Al Jefferson) should be quite rested after sitting the entire fourth quarter and overtime. (It could also be argued that Jefferson was sitting the entire game, as his 2 points seem to suggest).

All eyes are on Paul Millsap tonight after his 46 point night on NBA TV. Tonight a national ESPN audience will get a chance to see what he can do against Dwight Howard and the Magic. I predict a sluggish start from the entire team, giving up a huge lead early, making a strong run in the third quarter after making halftime adjustments, clawing back into contention late in the fourth, and then sealing the game with long 3 pointers and passes from Ronnie Price to Francisco Elson.

Oh wait.

I’ll let the good people from ESPN Statistics give the preview. Hit the jump for more stats than you can shake a stick at:

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The undervalued Paul Millsap

K.Malphurs —  November 10, 2010 — 1 Comment

Copyright NBAE 2010 (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)

Everyone made the same observation simultaneously: Paul Millsap took his talents to South Beach and hung 46 of the most dramatic points in Jazz history on the Miami Heat.

With 28 seconds left in the fourth quarter the Jazz were down eight points. You can watch what happened here.

Paul Millsap has consistently been underrated. Coming out of high school he was rated as the 130th best prospect. He proved that ranking wrong by leading the NCAA in rebounding for three consecutive years at Louisiana Tech. 

After a long, extremely productive college career was over (he did more than rebound), he might have expected to be drafted in the 1st round especially considering how *weak the talent was in the 2006 NBA draft. Instead, he was overlooked once again and fell to the 46th pick and the Utah Jazz. Before we give the Jazz too much credit, keep in mind that they passed on Millsap twice to take Ronnie Brewer (14th) and Dee Brown (46th). There is a long list of players taken before Millsap who haven’t come close to his levels of production.

*Check out the 2006 Nba draft to see the list of players taken before Millsap.

Let’s look at the top 5 picks in the 2006 draft. All five players were between 6-8 and 6-11 in height and all five players were forwards. Everyone except Adam Morrison just happened to play the power forward position that Millsap plays. In terms of NBA wins produced, below is the current ranking of those 5 picks:

  • LaMarcus Aldridge: 28.8 wins
  • Tyrus Thomas: 12.3 wins
  • Andrea Bargnani: 11.8 wins
  • Shelden Williams: 6.3 wins
  • Adam Morrison: -1.4 wins

Paul Millsap has produced 26.4 wins, which means he falls right below LaMarcus Aldridge in total wins produced. I would still take Millsap over Aldridge (even removing the salary difference) because Millsap has produced only 9% less wins despite Aldridge playing in 29% more minutes. Millsap is a better shooter (53% eFG% > 49%), rebounder (Total Rebound 16.3% > 13%) and has produced a higher WS/48 minutes every single year. And even with a fat new contract, Millsap has made half what Aldridge has made so far.

Millsap would go in the top 5 picks in any re-draft and  it really isn’t even that close. Still two of the top 5 players (Aldridge and Bargani) from that draft make more money than Millsap with a third (Thomas) being paid only $1M less.

Millsap has been extremely productive over his first four years of service to the Jazz and for that he has been paid $9.8M.  Millsap is finally getting paid, but in over his career his workman-like efforts have been a huge bargain. The Jazz paid less than $133K per win that Millsap produced in the first three years and with the huge bump in salary (an 864% raise) he was paid $900K per win (regular season and playoffs) last year. Over the first four years he was paid $395K per regular season win he produced for the Jazz. To give you some perspective Kobe Bryant was paid $1.8 for every win (regular season and playoffs) he produced for the Lakers last year.

In fact Millsap was the most cost effective of all of the Jazz regulars last year with one glaring exception. Wesley Matthews produced 5 wins over the course of the year, which considering he made only $457K means that his COW (Cost of Win) = $92K. Here are a few NBA players off the top of my mind to see how their COW compared to the Jazz players from last year.

The Jazz have Millsap locked up for the next three years at a very reasonable rate considering his age and production. The Jazz just have to play him more and they will start seeing one of the most productive players in the NBA. That is why it shouldn’t be too suprising that now that his minutes per game has increased to 37.4 this year his wins produced ranking is now 3rd in the league right after Pau Gasol and Chris Paul.

Always a fan favorite, Millsap may have taken the superstar leap with tonight’s performance in Miami. He’s worked in the background and had to watch other less talented players get the headlines. Always underrated, we finally got a chance to see Millsap  unleashed while properly rated. His 46 points were the most scored by a Jazz player since Karl Malone put 56 on the Warriors in 1998. Millsap has the potential to be as good as the last Jazz forward from Lousiana Tech.

I for one don’t want to be the next in a long line of people who have underestimated Paul Millsap.

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Division Previews: Denver Nuggets, Northwest Division – Western Conference

Mychal —  October 21, 2010 — Leave a comment

In the final days leading up to regular season action, SCH will be posting divisional previews of the top teams in all six NBA divisions. Come back early and often for updates.

J.R. is going to miss Carmelo

Key Matchups

D-Will vs Chauncey Billups

This very well could be the only key matchup of the season series between the Jazz and the Nuggets.  With the likelihood of Carmelo being traded before the trade deadline this matchup could be the reason to come see this game.

Last regular season Chauncey Billups made the Jazz pay when he was healthy.  He averaged 27 points, 3 assists, and 4 rebounds a game against Utah.  In the playoffs, however, Deron Williams flipped a switch and became dominant in this matchup.  Chauncey might as well have been a bowl of Wheaties because D-Will was eating him for breakfast in that series.  Deron was averaging 26 points, 11 assists, and 3 rebounds a game.  Chauncey still is a killer 3 point shooter but Deron Williams has taken his game to the elite level and is considered by most (including Tim Leglar) to be the best in the NBA.  Chauncey has been with the olympic team training and competing all summer.  That will wear him down as the season progresses.

Advantage: Deron Williams

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Division Preview: Charlotte Bobcats, Southeast Division – Eastern Conference

Chris —  October 20, 2010 — 1 Comment

In the final days leading up to regular season action, SCH will be posting divisional previews of the top teams in all six NBA divisions. Come back early and often for updates.

Michael Jordan on the bench with Stephan Jackson. Jordan bought the Charlotte Bobcats in 2010.

Who to watch

Boris Diaw

He will be interesting for Jazz fans to watch, solely because of the Melo trade rumors that proposed bringing Boris Diaw to Salt Lake City. The Jazz should pay close attention to Diaw to see if in fact he is the better player, and whether or not we should be sad that the trade was merely hearsay.

Gerald Wallace

Last year, Wallace scored 57 points in two meetings with the Jazz, accounting for more than a quarter of the points scored by Charlotte. He is a threat at both ends of the court. If the Jazz can keep him contained, and keep him from putting up double digit points every game, they should be able to win both meetings.

I can't tell if this picture is awesome or stupid. But, G Wall versus D Will? That's cool.

High Notes | Low Notes

Expect to see some great basketball being played in North Carolina- if they stay healthy. Already this year, Charlotte has several player with injuries- Dominic McGuire has a stress fracture in his shin, Shaun Livingston is still milking a bad knee, Kwame Brown has a left ankle sprain and Eduardo Najera has a hernia. Things aren’t looking up when you’ve got 4 injuries in the preseason. However, they were able to beat Miami last week despite LeBron scoring 33 points. I think Charlotte will be an exciting team to watch this year.

History

The Jazz are 7-5 all time against the Bobcats and look to be perfectly capable of increasing that to 9-5 this season. However, Charlotte has gone from an 18 win team to a playoff contender in just 6 years. Last year the Bobcats made their first playoff appearance but were promptly swept by the Magic. This year, they hope to improve even farther into the postseason. Maybe even get a win or two.

The Bobcats play in the most competitive division in the country, having to play the Magic, Heat and Hawks- all perennial playoff contenders. Last year half of the teams in the Eastern Conference Playoffs were from the Southeast division. (Coincidentally, half of the teams in the Western Conference playoffs were from the Northwest Division.)

Since becoming a team in 2004-5, the Bobcats are 188-304.

Outlook

The Jazz will have their first stab at the Bobcats on November 13 in Charlotte. The Jazz historically struggle on road games, so there is a chance that this could go 1-1.

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Jazz improve to 5-0 in Preseason win over Clippers 103-91

Chris —  October 17, 2010 — Leave a comment

The Utah Jazz improve to a preseason record of 5-0 for the first time in franchise history after beating the Los Angeles Clippers in LA. The Clippers had an early lead, but the Jazz took over in the second quarter and never looked back.

The Jazz shot 54 percent and had 3 players with double digit points by the end of game, with Okur, Williams, Elson and Fesenko on the bench.

Blake Griffin had 17 points and 14 rebounds after playing 34 minutes, but spent much of the game in foul trouble.

othyus jeffers

Othyus Jeffers dunks over Clippers shooting guard Rasual Butler during a 103-91. AP Photo


The Jazz had a few standout performances, most notably from CJ Miles who put up 20 points off the bench and Othyus Jeffers who converted two sloppy passes from the Clips into dunks.

The Jazz will try to improve to 6-0 tonight against the Lakers.

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