The Jazz are a bad, bad team. They've lost their first two games by a combined 42 points. A thoroughly apathetic Devin Harris is their best player and C.J. Miles has taken it upon himself to act like a one-man show on the offensive end. They could present a challenge, however, because they have four able-bodied bigs.
Up front, the Jazz are all mixed up, but do have some talent, or at least the appearance of talent. Al Jefferson is a guy who gets some people excited, I'm not one of them, but he's more than capable of beating if he gets hot because he won't hesitate to keep shooting. He did it to the Sixers last season when they let the Jazz hang around and he got hot late. They've also got Paul Millsap, who can be productive. Those two are the old guard, however. The two guys who are going to put this franchise on the map, if in fact they are going to get back on the map, are Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter (Does Enes rhyme with tennis, or something else?). They're two young, big, physical players who have the potential to put a hurting on the Sixers thing front court.
The Jazz have looked so hapless in their first two games I find it hard to believe they'll be able to suddenly put it together tonight, but you never know. The good news here is that the Sixers can probably punish the Jazz by going to Thad, as long as they don't get killed on the boards in doing so. None of the four Utah bigs has even a remote chance of keeping Thad away from the rim. If Thad doesn't settle for jumpers and drives to the hoop, he should have a field day.
Iguodala needs to remain aggressive, especially when Gordon Hayward is "guarding" him. Lou needs to continue being Lou. Hawes needs to continue concentrating on rebounding and not shooting. Jrue...well, Jrue needs to pick up where he left off in the third quarter against the Suns. He got hot and he needs to realize why. He stopped taking long twos, he drove to the hoop and got to the line. It also wouldn't hurt if he'd start distributing again.
I'll have a piece up on SB Nation Philly later today, I'll post the link when it gets published. The game thread will be up around 5pm, tip is at 9pm. What's your prediction for the game tonight? Thoughts in the comments.
As far as I've heard, Enes rhymes with tennis, and not something else lol
As far as my thoughts on the game...
the Jazz look terrible. They're a pretty youthful team that got outrun by the Lakers. I think they're lacking an identity right now at this point of the season and I don't see them utilizing their bigs' athleticism (Favors and Kanter) as well as they probably could.
A good coach would have a game plan With that size mismatch but I have serious doubts Tyrone Corbin is that guy.
We are favored by 3 by this one, as Vegas continues to give out the respect (2-0 ATS to start the season). 2 bets that I loved for last game (and which both came through) were Jrue over 14 points, and Turner over 15.5 points/rebounds. Jrue made it interesting, but Turner's bet never seemed in doubt. Interesting to see what player props come up for this game.
Looks like the Voose isn't a waste of space that many had made him out to be. At worst this kid will be a quality rotation player for a good team IMO.
Sixers over Utah by 5 tonight
Also the guy who took over Fagans blog is a colossal stiff, why take over a blog if your not going to write anything.
I think we have a pretty good shot at a win based on your What Each Player Needs To Do. All of which are reasonable, if not expected this far in the season...
Much like the Phoenix game, this should be a win, and it shouldn't be a tough one...
This "grueling road trip" isn't so grueling. Start of season, practice days before 3 games; no Lakers, Clips, Spurs; only 1 back-to-back.
Sixers should notch 2nd W provided they bring defensive intensity and general motor.
It's grueling because it's five games and 11 days on the road before their first home game.
11 touring days in stylish Westin & Hyatt Hotels for fairly wealthy, healthy, mostly 'twenty-somethings' with 5 basketball games to play in great crowded arenas sounds like ice cream and hot fudge to me. The city-hopping chartered jets are whipped cream and a cherry on top.
"Grueling" [arduously severe]: exagerration; cliche as it pertains to pampered NBA "road warriors' straits."
"fairly wealthy?"
What adjective would you prefer for the road trip? Extended? Lengthy?
You're right - unfairly wealthy.
Adjective selection: "typical", except for placement at start of schedule.
The Normandy Beach landing, the battle of Iwa Jima, Korean winters of '50-'53, Viet Nam jungle detail and many "strategic adventures" since consisted/consist of truly "grueling" conditions. NBA stuff, a walk in the park; biggest risks - court humiliation and youtube.
From the little I've seen, the Jazz were incapable of getting Favors involved in the offense. All his points came off offensive rebounds. The one time they tried to get him the ball in the low post but it resulted in a turnover. Their offense looked stagnant.
millsap starting instead favors for the jazz tonight
This is the game that i had penciled in as a loss earlier. Playing in Salt Lake City has always been very difficult for every team and i wouldn't be surprised if that happens again with the Sixers.
The Jazz looked completely out of sync after Deron Williams got traded last season. They looked even worse in the first two games but on the road against strong opponents. This is also the home opener for the Jazz so i guess we will see better fan support than usual as well.
Their frontline is a very tough matchup for the Sixers frontline (most frontlines are...), but the backourt of Jrue, Turner, Lou and Iguodala is head and shoulders better than the scrubs the Jazz have in the rotation.
Good teams win this game, mediocre teams lose it.
How to win the game:
- The defensive rebounding must be good. Jefersson and co can kill you with offensive boards
- Iguodala must be in attack mode all night long vs. Hayward
- The bench has a major advantage, and it must show in the boxscore.
All in all even though i expected a loss before the season began i am irrationally optimistic about this game.
Seems like a good chance for Iguodala to stay hot. In the past he has not taken advantage of these types of favorable mathups on the offensive end.
Yeah, that's why i think that's a key to the game. Hopefully the reason Iguodala wasn't taking advantage of those situations last year were injuries.
On a side note, who does he guard tonight? I think maybe he should roam for steals all night long and focus on offense.
That Utah backcourt is probably the worst backcourt in the league right now. Harris,Bell,Hayward,Burks... If the Sixers play D the way the played against Phoenix they can have a field day against these guys. None of them is a very good passer.
That's interesting in that the Sixers have never had the luxury to use Iguodala as a center fielder. he's always had to try and lock down the best wing, which limits his ability to freelance.
With Jrue and Turner being able to defend maybe it will allow Collins to release Iguodala so he can be more of a "rangy" defender. This would also help his offensive game with more steals and less energy spent on lock down defense.
Miles is their best perimeter threat, right? Against this team, I think I'd aggressively trap and double the bigs when they get the ball.
I would add to your second point that the 76ers need to turn tgeir aggression into fouls on Millsap and Favors. Favors can't be allowed to energize their D.
Also, going along with Brian's strategy against LaMarcus Aldridge, give Devin Harris some looks from outside and let him fall in love with his jumper.
Good matchups for Young tonight (outside of Favors), I'd love to see him gave a big game with a handful of free thows and +1's.
Here's my latest from SB Nation Philly on the Sixers opening two games and the early season surprises.
Tried to upload a profile pic so I wanted to test that out. My only comment other than that is Brand needs to get it going. I would look to get him some jumpers out of the gate.
dont want look ahead to tomorrow but Monta ellis WILL NOT play tomorrow as he will be attending the funeral of his grandmother and curry is still DTD with his ankle
We should lend them Lou. They would never know the difference. Or maybe Desean Jackson.
Looking forward to the Voose V Favors match-up. Raw athleticism/length vs size/BBIQ.
Anyone else coming around regarding Voose's foot-speed. I've contended that he is no some much slow of foot or uncoordinated- more that he lacks any explosiveness. He does have bad hand and is not a natural rebounder. But he seems to have good balance on his offensive moves. It will be interesting to see what he turns into.
I'm still trying to figure him out. He's definitely slow, but he seems quick to the ball, which is really more about reflexes. I'm just not sure if he's really quick to the ball, or I'm just comparing him to Hawes, though. I'd like to see if he can be effective w/ that quick spin move on the blocks. They only gave him that one shot in the preseason. His jumper has looked really bad and rushed.
In limited visuals - he seems more athletic than Hawes to me - that's about all
For those interesting, JJ Barea is out for the wolves tonight, so rubio might see more minutes - against the heat - starts an hour before the sixers
Even in practice he heaves the ball. Doesn't mean he is a bad shooter, but I don't like his form.
http://espn.go.com/nba/powerrankings/_/year/2007/week/8
And there they are at #30
2007?
Read the comments at #30 :)