Sure we saw glimpses and possibilities in the pre-season, but none of it mattered until yesterday. So let's have a thread about the various player skill improvements we saw last night. First things that come to mind for me: Crabbe and Aminu's handles. Vonleh's jumper and confidence. Dame and CJ finishing inside.
Less wild Amino end-to-end solo fast breaks. And, he passed up some jumpers and took it to the rim under control. Hail to the chief!
We had halfway decent Jazz trolls in here last night. Much better than that Golden State troll last year.
Yeah. Crabbe taking the dribble both before and after contact was really nice. He played under control and made smart decisions. Turner, aside from his shooting, did a lot of the little things right to get people in the right spots. I think he is going to be a big net + here, and his shooting will just be something we will live with... especially if Crabbe does this on a consistent basis.. And Vonleh. That was beautiful. I've always been high on him from the day we got him... I will still wait for the consistency of it... but that is the Vonleh we only hope we can have most nights. With young players though, consistency is wavering... but we know what we COULD get from him. He may have to endure some Meyers' like consistency complaints from fans... but if he is like this, he is SO much more useful on this team than Meyers. Meyers is a decoy, Vonleh can actually do it.
Dame's defense looks better. Not great, but better. He got through a lot of screens. Yeah, he had a tough time trying to cover Joe Johnson, but that's to be expected. Overall, the team's defense is still a work in progress, but it looked to me like Dame is committed to getting better.
We only had one turnover from attempted halfcourt passes. Last year there were at least two every game. This team never has anything good happen on a deep pass.
Vonleh Vonleh Oh... did I mention Vonleh? Oh and @Tunchi and @tlongII how do you feel about Dame's efficiency last night? I'm genuinely curious as you two have been the heaviest hitters with criticism on this facet of his game.
Not new is boring old Ed Davis leading the team in +/-, AGAIN. +21 for the game. Yawn, when you gonna learn some new tricks, Ed?
I dont get the plus/minus at all. Dame had one of the most efficient games of his career and he was only a plus 3?????
What's the deal with CJ refusing to pass the ball at the end of quarters? At the end of 2 different quarters he had the ball and screwed it up. One time there was like 20 seconds and he took a terrible driving super contested shot with like 10 seconds left giving Utah the last shot at a 3 which they missed. And at the end of the 3rd with like 8 seconds, he does like 5 crossovers in a row, goes nowhere and doesn't even get a shot off. Just bad plays by him.
He was on the floor with Meyers and Mason during the 3rd quarter when the Jazz made their run and took the lead. Johnson was scoring over Dame at will. Yes, Dame was excellent offensively, but he was also a big part of the worst defensive stretch of the game, so his +/- suffered.
No different than CJ trying to guard Rodney Hood. Other than Hill, all Utah's wings outsize Dame/CJ significantly. With all the picks they set, there's really no way to avoid those mismatches.
I couldn't understand why we refused to bring a double team on Johnson in the post, even if it left someone open - he was scoring at will.
Improvements over preseason: CJ shot some free throws! Crabbe took some shots! Vonleh was... good! Dame and CJ played 35 mins (instead of around 20). Evan Turner looked useful. (Yes, he can't shoot, but I like the 5 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 0 turnovers) Napier and Connaughton didn't see the floor! Still worried about Harkless. Still hoping that we won't see Leonard at all some games when Festus comes back (and if Vonleh continues to be decent).
Good sign: I actually thought Utah played really well, and yet we won. It's easy to say they were without Hayward and Favors, but I think Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw more than made up for their loss. If we can beat them when they're whole and at home I will be truly impressed. That is a pretty stacked team. They are going to battle us for Northwest supremacy.
