Showing posts with label Kosta Koufos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kosta Koufos. Show all posts
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First Quarter Season Update
December 20, 2009 –
The 2009-10 NBA season is now more than one quarter of the way complete. I give the Jazz a B-minus for their performance thus far. Utah is 16-11, good for 2nd in the Midwest division and tied with Houston for 5th in the Western Conference. If you take the glass-is-half-full perspective, you can point to the rash of injuries the team faced as a legitimate reason they don’t have a better record. You can also bring up their 3-0 record against the Spurs, and other marquee wins against the Blazers, Lakers, and Magic as cause for optimism, proving the Jazz can beat the NBA’s elite (at least at home).
On the other side of the coin, you can point to complete meltdowns in the 4th quarter of close games against good teams (Lakers, Rockets, Nuggets, Mavs). Then there are the two inexplicable losses to the inept Minnesota Timeberwolves.
Speaking of, how in the world do the Jazz beat the Lakers and the Magic (2 of the 3 best teams in the league) in consecutive outings and then turn around and lose at home to the T-Wolves (the 2nd-worst team in the league) the very next game? As of that December 14th loss to Minnesota in Utah, half of the T-Wolves 4 victories had come against the Jazz. The silver lining here is that the Jazz only have one additional loss to a sub-500 team (Sacramento), and the Kings are actually surprisingly respectable with a 12-14 record.
One word basically sums up Utah's theme thus far – inconsistency. The Jazz have been pulling a Jekyll-and-Hyde act all season. You just never know which team is going to show up on a given night. In my 2009-10 Season Preview article, I noted a high level of uncertainty about how the Jazz would perform this year. The first quarter of the season has done nothing to change that opinion. Below are a few of my random observations:
Bright Spots:
- Deron Williams - DWill is playing great and has looked like a true superstar at times. It will be a true crime if he doesn't get his first all-star bid this season.
- Carlos Boozer – Booz has returned to his all-star form, has remained healthy, and is playing better defense than in previous seasons.
Disappointments:
- Kosta Koufos – I really expected him to have a breakout year, and he hasn’t even been able to get off the bench.
- Ronnie Brewer – He hasn’t played poorly, but his production is down over last season despite playing more minutes. I was hoping for further improvement, but he may have already peaked.
Surprises:
- Wesley Matthews – He may not have even made the roster had Korver and Miles not gotten injured in the preseason, yet he managed to win the starting SG position and has been hailed as the best defender on the team.
- Eric Maynor – I made no bones about my disappointment with Utah’s draft selection, but Maynor has shown solid potential and plays with poise beyond his years.
Things to watch:
- Minutes - How will Sloan integrate CJ Miles and Kyle Korver back into the lineup now that they are healthy? Will a full roster actually hurt the team since there will be fewer minutes to go around?
- Trades – Will the Jazz make a move before the February trade deadline? Should they? I’ll speculate/opine on that in my next update.
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Jazz Lose Ugly to Celtics
November 12, 2009 -
The nice thing about being a blogger rather than a beat writer is that I can actually get disgusted and walk away. I don’t have to keep watching the game when it’s not worth watching. And that’s exactly what I did on Wednesday. I just couldn’t endure the ugliness any further after the Jazz allowed a manageable 10-point halftime deficit balloon to 19 less than 4 minutes into the 3rd quarter. Things didn't improve after I stopped watching, as the Jazz eventually lost 105-86.
The only real positive I take away from this game is that Sloan yanked Boozer early in the 1st and 3rd quarters when his pathetic defense became unbearable. I hope this signals Sloan’s awakening to the fact that his lineup combinations are not working. Boozer and Okur should never be on the court together for any significant stretch.
Game ball goes to: Deron Williams. He didn’t have a great game, but I give him props for just being out there, playing through painful back and calf injuries. (Plus no one else did much to deserve it.)
Stat of the game: Utah shot 0 for 10 from the 3-point line. Have I mentioned that they miss Korver and Miles?
Highlight: Kosta Koufos scored 6 points on 3 of 3 shooting and grabbed 4 rebounds in only 6 minutes of play. Of course this all happened in garbage time against the Celtics’ bench players, but in a game like this you take what you can get.
Lowlight: Not only was Boozer’s defense horrendous, the rest of his game was rather anemic as well. He only put up 10 points and 2 rebounds in 27 minutes. He also had 4 turnovers and 4 fouls.
Other items of note:
- Once again, the Jazz faced a considerable amount of zone defense. Once again, they failed to execute well against it.
- Though he didn’t have a great scoring night (9 points on 3 of 8 shooting), Paul Millsap was much more effective than Boozer. He grabbed 13 rebounds in 23 minutes, and he played much better defense.
- This game was the only one of Utah’s 5 losses so far in which they were essentially dominated from start to finish. The Jazz never led in the game.
- I mentioned earlier that I hope Sloan is getting the message on his lineup combinations and substitution patterns. I'll post my suggestions later.
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Jazz Win Home Opener 111-98
November 1, 2009 –
I’m a little late getting this one posted (apologies to all three of my loyal readers), but the Jazz beat the Clippers 111-98 in their home opener on Friday. Utah used a 15-0 run at the beginning of the 4th quarter to put what had been a close game out of reach. It was eerily similar to what the Nuggets did to the Jazz last Wednesday, but this time the Jazz were the ones celebrating.
Game ball goes to: Paul Millsap. He scored 23 points on 9 of 12 shooting from the field and 5 for 5 from the free throw line in only 25 minutes. He also had 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal. Millsap’s offensive game seems more refined this season, and he is showing a nice shooting touch that I don’t remember seeing in previous years.
Stat of the game: The Jazz out rebounded the Clippers 48 to 35.
Highlight: Ronnie Brewer had a great all-around game and narrowly missed out on the coveted game-ball honors. He scored 17 points on 8 of 11 shooting. He also had 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal.
Lowlight: He looked good in preseason, but Eric Maynor has struggled in his first two regular season games. Against the Clippers, he had 2 turnovers and a foul in only 5 minutes of play. He did, however, score his first NBA points by sinking a pair of free throws.
Other items of note:
- Mehmet Okur sat out with a mild knee and ankle sprain sustained early in the Denver game. Kyrylo Fesenko started in his place and again looked good in limited minutes, scoring 10 points on 5 of 6 shooting. Fess and Kosta Koufos had a combined 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 33 minutes of play.
- Carlos Boozer bounced back from his abysmal performance against the Nuggets with a solid performance. He scored 20 points (9 of 22 shooting) to go with 12 rebounds, 7 assists, and a steal.
- Deron Williams narrowly missed another double-double, scoring 21 points and dishing out 9 assists.
- Ronnie Price had a sweet follow-up dunk off of a missed Williams jumpshot in the 4th quarter that brought the crowd to their feet.
- With Korver, Miles, Harpring, and Memo all out with injuries, he Jazz only dressed 10 players for the game.
- The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang the pre-game National Anthem.
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Jazz Beat Kings to Finish Preseason
October 24, 2009 –
The Utah Jazz closed out their preseason Friday night, beating the Sacramento Kings 95-85. The Jazz outscored the Kings 28-14 in the second quarter and never relinquished the lead.
Game ball goes to: Paul Millsap. Following a dreadful performance in Tuesday’s game against Portland, Sap scored 19 points on 9 of 16 shooting. He also had 7 rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a block in 33 minutes of play.
Stat of the game: Utah had 12 steals, with 7 Jazz players recording at least one.
Highlight: Eric Maynor had another solid outing and finally seemed to find his shooting stroke. He had 13 points on 5 of 8 shooting including 2 for 2 from behind the arc. Maynor also had 2 assists, 2 rebounds, and his usual 2 steals. (If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that Maynor recorded exactly 2 steals in all but 1 of Utah’s 8 preseason games.)
Lowlight: The Jazz were without their entire depth chart at shooting guard. Ronnie Brewer sat out with back spasms, while Kyle Korver (knee), Ronnie Price (hamstring), and CJ Miles (thumb surgery) were all still out with their respective injuries. While Brewer (and possibly Price) should be back for the regular season opener, Korver will apparently require surgery, leaving the Jazz extremely thin at the wing positions to start the season.
Other items of note:
- Deron Williams posted his first double-double of the preseason with 19 points and 11 assists.
- Kosta Koufos and Kyrylo Fesenko both continued to struggle with fouls. Koufos fouled out in 22 minutes, while Fess was whistled for 5 in only 14 minutes. Mehmet Okur also had 4 fouls in 17 minutes, giving the Jazz 15 for the center position alone. Looks like the replacement refs were a little whistle happy in the post.
- Sacramneto rookie, Tyreke Evans, scored 21 points for the Kings. He also had 7 turnovers.
- The Jazz finished the postseason with a 6-2 record. They open the regular season on Wednesday at Denver.
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Jazz Lose to Clips Saturday, Beat Bobcats Sunday
October 19, 2009 -
It’s still preseason, so I’m going to be lazy and combine the recaps of Utah's two games over the weekend versus the Clippers and Bobcats. The Jazz lost to LA 103-96 on Saturday but then bounced back to beat Charlotte 110-103 the following night.
Game ball goes to: Carlos Boozer. He scored 42 points in only 45 minutes between the two games, shooting a combined 18 for 26 (69%) from the field. Boozer also looked much more active on defense than in previous years. He seems to be solidifying his starter status at PF.
Stat of the game(s): Eric Maynor continued a rather interesting streak by nabbing two steals against both the Clippers and the Bobcats. The rookie has recorded exactly two steals in each of Utah’s six preseason games thus far.
Highlight: Kirilenko returned from a two-game absence on Sunday, shaking off jetlag to post his best outing of the preseason with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, a block and a steal.
Lowlight: The Jazz still can’t stay healthy. In addition to CJ Miles who will be out at least six weeks, Mehmet Okur (back), Kyle Korver (knee), and Ronnie Price (hamstring) all missed Sunday’s game with minor injuries.
Other items of note:
- Koufos and Fesenko both logged the most minutes they had seen all preseason, and both responded with their best games thus far. The pair has been relatively disappointing up to this point. The Jazz really need one or both of them to step up this season.
- Maynor continues to struggle with his shot (1 for 6 Saturday and 3 for 11 Sunday), but the rest of his game is definitely far ahead of what I expected. Looks like he will legitimately challenge Price for the backup PG role.
- Even though his preseason numbers haven’t been gaudy, Deron Williams routinely looks like the best player on the court.
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Jazz Lose to Bulls at Buzzer in London
October 7, 2009 -
Maybe my standards are low since I haven’t seen an NBA game for a few months, but this was the most exciting exhibition game I ever remember watching. The fans in London were treated to a great show. In a back-and-forth contest that remained relatively close throughout, Chicago hit a shot at the buzzer to beat Utah 102-101, handing the Jazz their first loss of the preseason.
I won’t recap the game, but here are a few of my observations:
- The NBA TV announcers were terrible. They mentioned at least seven or eight times throughout the game that the Bulls were playing without Derrick Rose, John Salmons, and Tyrus Thomas. Just so happened that the Jazz were playing without CJ Miles, Kyle Korver, Matt Harpring, and Kyrolo Fesenko, but at the beginning of the game the announcers stated that the Jazz were essentially at full strength. It was actually funny, because the ticker on the bottom of the screen was mentioning CJ Miles’ finger injury and pending surgery right about the time they made the "full strength" comment. Someone must have called their attention to it later, because they finally acknowledged CJ and his injury just before halftime. It was the 4th quarter before they also commented that Kyle Kover was not playing due to knee inflammation. They never said a word (at least that I heard) about Harpring or Fesenko.
- The announcers also referred to Kosta Koufos multiple times as a rookie. C'mon guys, this is your profession. Do a little homework.
- Millsap looked outstanding. He scored inside and out, rebounded, blocked a shot, had a steal, took a charge, and just played aggressively. He had one strong driving layup going to his left that really impressed me. I don’t remember seeing that from him last season. Boozer by contrast was a complete non factor. If this game were an audition for starting PF, Millsap won the job.
- The Jazz missed Korver and CJ. The lack of an outside threat made things much more difficult for the offense. Ronnie Brewer and Andrei Kirlenko each airballed a 3-point attempt in the first half.
- Airball aside, Brewer looked great. I expect further improvement from him this season.
- Despite the fact that neither could hit a shot, Ronnie Price and Eric Maynor both looked good backing up DWill at the point. They both ran the offense, found open teammates, and played solid defense. Maynor showed a lot of poise for a rookie and could end up earning some minutes this season.
- At one point in the 3rd quarter, Williams fell awkwardly when running out to defend Hinrich. My heart sank as I flashed back to last year’s preseason game against the Bulls when he rolled his ankle on Derrick Rose's foot and ended up missing the first part of the season. Fortunately Deron got up and seemed fine.
- This game was my first chance to see the 2009-10 version of AK. Not sure what’s up with the hair (although I could say that every year), but his new build is legit. He apparently gained 20 pounds of muscle over the summer, and it shows. Fortunately it didn’t appear to affect his quickness on defense, as he had 2 blocks and 2 steals in only 19 minutes.
- Chicago has some good rookies. Taj Gibson was one of two players available at #19 that I had hoped the Jazz would select in this year’s draft (the other was Sam Young, and he didn’t get picked until the 2nd round). The Bulls took Gibson at #26, and I think they got a steal. They also selected James Johnson at #16 (I hoped he would slip to the Jazz but didn’t expect it), and he looked outstanding yesterday. He hit the winning shot at the buzzer to cap an 18-point outing that also included 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.
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Jazz Training Camp Starts This Week
September 22, 2009 -
First of all, Hallelujah! We’re finally just a few days away from Jazz basketball. Is it just me, or did this summer seem to last forever? (That last sentence sounded suspiciously like a Bryan Adams song.) I guess getting knocked out in the first round of the playoffs does actually make the offseason longer.
Barring a surprise eleventh-hour deal, the Jazz will begin training camp this weekend with essentially the same roster they finished with last season. I don’t know anyone who expected that to happen. If we want to get technical, the Jazz did make a few trivial changes. They drafted Eric Maynor and Goran Suton, but neither should see significant playing time this year (and Suton may not even make the roster). They also elected not to bring back Morris Almond, Brevin Knight, or Jarron Collins from last year’s squad. Still, these moves amount to the equivalent of replacing the floor mats rather than overhauling the engine. I was at least hoping for some new custom rims.
The pessimist in me is frustrated and concerned that the Jazz did nothing to address obvious deficiencies like their lack of interior defense and outside shooting. I also worry about the impact Carlos Boozer’s unanticipated return will have on team chemistry. That said, there is cause to be optimistic as well:
• Deron Williams is arguably the best PG in the league and will be vying for his first all-star invitation
• The much-maligned Boozer will be highly motivated to perform in a contract year
• Kosta Koufos is poised for a big improvement after showing promise as a rookie
• Paul Millsap will be out to prove he is worthy of his new contract
• CJ Miles is rumored to have worked extremely hard in the offseason and may finally be ready for a breakout year
• Kyle Korver is healthy after wrist surgery and may show the deadly shooting touch we know he is capable of
• Memo and AK both opted out of international play to rest and prepare for the season
Just a sec while I remove my rose-colored glasses…
The Jazz could easily once again find themselves fighting for the final playoff spot in the West this season. Conversely, if everything falls into place they could push the Lakers and Spurs for the top record in the conference. I’ll reserve my official prediction until after training camp. At this point, I’m just ready for the season…come what may.
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Players I'd Like to See in a Jazz Uniform
September 7, 2009 -
Occasionally when watching other teams I’ll think to myself, “Man, I’d like to see that guy in a Jazz uniform.” I remember always feeling that way about Jeff Hornacek when he was on the Phoenix Suns and would regularly torch the Jazz with a barrage of 3s whenever the two teams played. I was absolutely ecstatic the day I heard that Utah had traded for him.
With three weeks remaining until the start of training camp and nothing happening on the free agent or trade front, this seems like as good a time as any to list my top-3 potentially attainable players at each position that I would like to see the Jazz pursue. I use the “potentially attainable” disclaimer because as much as I would love to have LeBron or Dwight Howard on the Jazz, I’m not quite delusional enough to think that could ever happen.
Point Guard – This is the one position on the Jazz where the starting job is completely set in stone. On the other hand, backup point guard has been a revolving door of sub-par talent for years. Rather than scraping the bottom of the barrel for a decent PG content to play 10 minutes a game, I would prefer to see the Jazz pick up a combo guard who could give Deron some quality rest and also effectively play beside him in certain lineups.1. Jason Terry – Explosive scorer and quick defender. Not likely that Dallas would let him go for anything Utah would be willing to offer, but you never know.
2. Kirk Hinrich – Good shooter, strong defender, and heady player. He is a little overpaid, but his skill set would be a great fit for the Jazz.
3. Mo Williams – The one that got away... and I’d love to have him back. I still can’t believe the Jazz failed to match his offer from Milwaukee a few years ago.
Shooting Guard – This position has been a continual weakness since Hornacek retired. Brewer has made nice progress recently but is really more suited as a small forward considering his lack of outside shooting. The Jazz need an SG who plays tough D, scores consistently, and can hit the three.1. Eric Gordon – Young, explosive guard with a decent stroke who can also get to the rim. Undersized for a 2, but still a good perimeter defender. Tons of upside.
2. Rip Hamilton – Great shooter and solid defender. Would be great coming off screens in the Jazz offense. Not sure how much he has left, but I’d like to find out.
3. Courtney Lee – Really came on strong at the end of his rookie season. I just like his game. He’s a great shooter and excellent on-the-ball defender. The kid has star potential.
Small Forward – Not long ago, this was the strongest position on the team. In a few short years, however, Harpring’s health and Kirilenko’s productivity both took a nose dive. Depending on who they play beside on the wing, the Jazz need a small forward who’s a disruptive defender and can either get to the hoop or hit outside jumpers.1. Caron Butler – Does most everything well. Not a great 3-pt shooter, but
deadly from mid-range. He’s also a good defender and passer.
2. Gerald Wallace – He’s like a mesh between Brewer and Kirilenko, but with a better offensive game. Need to pair him with a great shooter.
3. Shane Battier and Tayshaun Prince (tie) – Neither of these guys has gaudy statistics, but they are both great defenders and team players who can knock down open shots.
Power Forward – Now that Millsap has been signed, the Jazz could use a taller, athletic player behind him who can provide energy, rebounding, and shot blocking.1. Josh Smith – Young and incredibly athletic. He would vastly improve the Jazz’ interior defense. He’s also quick enough to play SF, helping to ensure him starter minutes.
2. Tyrus Thomas – Rumored to be a bit of a head case, he appears to have matured this past season. He’s the athletic shot blocker the Jazz have been longing for, and he still has upside.
3. Rony Turiaf – He’s a pure energy player and outstanding shot blocker with a limited offensive game.
Center – With Millsap undersized at PF and Okur playing small for a 7-footer, the Jazz need more size up front. If they go after a center rather than trusting Koufos to develop, I’d like to see them acquire a legitimate 7-footer who can be a defensive presence in the middle.1. Andrew Bogut – Not a prolific shot blocker, but he has a nice, well-rounded game and would definitely improve the center position.
2. Tyson Chandler – Athletic rebounder, shot blocker, and alley-oop recipient. Seems like an ideal complement to Memo.
3. Joel Pryzbilla – Good rebounder, shot blocker, and weak-side help defender. Not much of a scorer, but he’s definitely tough.
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