I never feel bad for a Utah Jazz man. They don't cheat as often as they used too, but they are dirty in the playoffs. They deliberately tried to injury our beloved James Harden.
The 3rd best player (maybe) on the team got benched for the 4th best player (maybe). This is the very definition of reporting something for the sake of reporting something. If a Westbrook got benched for Gordon or a Siakam got benched for Boucher, then there'd be something of substance there. But to me, this is a non-story.
When you're the highest paid player on the team and were brought in to be a second banana (at the least)... Yes, this is absolutely big news. Just because he sucks now, the fact that the team made a terrible decision to pair him with Donovan doesn't make this non-newsworthy material. Mike Conley has been a massive failure in Utah. This is huge news for the entire team, especially if they fail in the playoffs.Yet again. To add to... this definitely doesn't help. Gobert is in his feelings again and the team is going to suffer because they can't adjust their second best player to the new 'rules' of the game (small ball).
I agree that Mitchell and Gordon are quite similar in terms of impact on the floor. But one thing Mitchell has over Gordon is health. Gordon has never played a full season in his career, very injury prone. Mitchell has missed only a few games so far in his 2.5 seasons.
The jazz are who the rockets Will be next year if small ball fails this season. Mike Conley is washed up. Conley used to be just as fast as Westbrook!
But but but according to shaq they are the only team that could give the clippers and the Lakers problems....
I can't agree. Raptors just won championship with their best player operating in midrange. If Shaq came to the nba tommorow, you would se return of centers so you can throw anybody on him. There just isnt that dominant post presence in the game right. Talent defines it all... there was a small ball already in the nba until Wilt came through. There already was point forwards like Magic Johnson. It just depends on the talent pool and skill+rules shifted towards small 3point shooters but it isn't given it will last forever
Modern game caught up to them. Gobert is a stiff, a very good stiff. And when their Defense cracked, everything cracked. Top 11 Offense cannot help them. They moved a little away from having lengthy, athletic players.
Raptors won a championship because the Warriors dynasty ended in a bloody mess of torn ligaments. But anyway, to call Kawhit a mid-range specialist when 38% of his career shots come from outside the arc while 33% are 10ft + 2s is pretty damning evidence of the great mid-range revival. Contrast that with the player they ditched for him DeMar DeRozan, who takes 50% of his shots from that area and only 10% from deep. Switching out DeRozan for Kawhit is a rejection of bad shot selection, not an embrace of it.
Ricky Rubio and Grayson Allen were better running the jazz than Mike Conley Jr is right now. That a fact. Jack!!!! Sucka!!!
The Jazz will never be great because their best player, Mitchell, doesn't win matchups and therefore doesn't create strategic problems. Just in the West he is behind Harden, George, Lillard, and Curry, and he's probably also behind Westbrook, Jrue Holiday, and Klay Thompson.