Denver Nuggets - Utah Jazz Game Thread.

[nuraman00]

I enjoyed the game.

The biggest problems I see:

Defense:


The opposing team gets the ball into the Jazz's paint way too easily, usually within 6 seconds. All it takes is one pass and they have the ball at the rim.

I thought this was a big problem last year, and it appears it isn't better this year.

The perimeter defense has to do a lot better job in stopping the ball from getting so deep.

I guess the talent isn't there.

Offense:

Not enough skilled players. Not enough finesse, only power.

Gobert is kind of fun to watch, he does one fun play a quarter.

I don't know if Iguodala or Josh Smith, when added to this current core, would have been enough to make the playoffs, and win a series. But at least those were legit players, who could impact both sides of the ball.

Right now we don't know if most of these players will ever be legit players, and they might only impact one side of the ball.

Management might have missed a big opportunity to get some FAs this year, as I don't think the next year's FA class is as good.

I'm not a fan of building everything through the draft, that isn't a good strategy. The average NBA career is 4.7 years, and a lot of players drafted just won't be that good, wherever they're picked. You have to mix in some good FAs or players via trade. Players not being keepers is to be expected IMO.

So I haven't been a fan of O'Connor's strategy lately. They didn't need to clear any more cap space then they already have been doing, they needed to use it on a decent player.

And to me, the GM and President of Basketball Operations, O'Connor and Dennis Lindsey, shape the team more than a coach. They have the biggest say.

 

[nuraman00]

This team looks like it will win 14-19 games only. The good thing is that if most of the players aren't good, they'll be gone before next year.

I can't get that angry at their play when the talent just isn't there.

Not many longterm contracts.

So I might expect them to lose a lot now, and rarely take leads in games. But if the GM and President Of Basketball Operations execute a good plan, they'll get better players for future years.

I don't know if they'll execute a good plan though.