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EMPTYING THE NOGGIN – Harden too much and drought too long

David Locke

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SUMMARY: Jazz played the Rockets to the wire with marvelous effort fell short at the end as James Harden put on an MVP performance to carry the Rockets to the win.

• James Harden had to do it all himself for the Rockets tonight. The Jazz had a great game plan against Harden and made shots super difficult and he was still able to score 47 points. Knowing the Jazz game plan it is incredible to watch Harden work. Every time the Jazz defensive player made a simple mistake of any kind Harden knew and took advantage immediately. It could be subtle and he jumps on it. The Jazz missed communicated on a high pick and roll between he and Chris Paul where Royce O’Neale and Ricky Rubio got tangled and he nailed the three from super deep. Both of those guys were great on him tonight. The Jazz forced him right into Gobert and then the Jazz worked really hard to bring another defender over to prevent the Capela lob and the Rockets didn’t get a lob all game.

• Harden played the entire second half. The Rockets wanted this game and they needed every ounce of Harden to get it.

• The game was a 3 point game late when Harden took 5 steps into a shot and drew a foul on Ricky Rubio that prevented the Jazz from any last chance to win. It was total garbage.

• The Jazz defense was on point. Guys were rotating perfectly. Help from the weakside was perfect on Capela. Guys were dropping into passing lanes to force turnovers. The execution of the plan was at a really high level. This team played with grit that will win a ton of games.

• Harden will frustrate the fans but if you want to look at where the game was lost is another late 1st quarter early 2nd quarter scoring drought from the Jazz. The exact same thing that cost the Jazz the game in Mexico City v. Orlando. Tonight Ricky Rubio hit a shot at 4:18 of the 1st quarter. Then the Jazz made one field goal the entire time Rubio was on the bench. The Jazz went 1 for 15 with 3 turnovers until Rubio made a shot at 7:15 mark of the 2nd quarter.

• Over the last two games when Ricky Rubio has been off the floor the Jazz shot 13 of 43 and 4 of 16 from three. They were outscored by 12 points in 29 minutes. They had an offensive rating of 69.7. This is costing the Jazz games. There are a ton of other things you can look at but this is what cost the Jazz the last two games.

• This is not the same second unit as last year. The Jazz 2nd unit last year for much of the year was Donovan Mitchell and the point and Jonas Jerebko playing Thabo Sefolosha minutes. In the last three games Thabo has played 37 minutes without scoring. Thabo is not going to be a big scorer, he does a ton of other things when he is on the floor. However, when that unit is not scoring that is jumps out a little bit.

• The Jazz shot 15 of 31 at the rim tonight. This is coming off a 12 of 31 night at the rim. The Jazz do such a great job getting open looks they have to make these shots at the rim.

• The Jazz got 18 corner 3 attempts tonight which is an amazing number. They made 6.

• Maybe equally incredible is the Jazz forced the Rockets into 24 mid range 2s and they went just 4 of 24 on those shots. This is Houston taking shots where they are uncomfortable. This is exactly what the Jazz were hoping to do.

• Jazz defensive rating was an amazing 97.6 against the #1 offensive team in the NBA over the last 20 games.

• Joe Ingles was in single digits for the 4th time in 5 games.

• Jae Crowder had 10 rebounds.

• The Jazz had a great plan. They executed it really well and collectively on the defensive end. A superstar player made too many plays and for the Jazz to be able to overcome an offensive drought.

David Locke enters his ninth year as the radio play-by-play voice of the Utah Jazz, having spent the majority of his career in radio in Salt Lake City and Seattle. In the summer of 2016, Locke created the Locked on Podcast Network which has podcast daily bite sized podcasts for every NBA and NFL team. A native of Palo Alto, Calif., Locke graduated from Occidental College in Los Angeles with a degree in Political Science and Sociology. Locke and his wife have a son and a daughter.

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JAZZ GAME REWIND: 2nd Half propels Toronto past the youthful Jazz

David Locke

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The Jazz fell short in the second half as the Toronto defense shut the new-look Jazz down in route to cruising to an 114 – 82 Raptors victory. Lauri Markkanen shined for the Jazz with 20 points and 5 rebounds but the Raptors length and athleticism proved to be too much for the Jazz riding a dominant 3rd quarter to pull away from the Jazz who played well in the first half, only trailing by one.

Relive the game through the radio highlights. Voiced by Leif Thulin.

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Utah Jazz

Utah Jazz trade Rudy Gobert – the emotions, the decision making, what did we get and what now

David Locke

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The Utah Jazz traded Rudy Gobert on Friday after a 4th of July weekend to soak in the biggest news of the NBA trade season we try to digest what it means for the Utah Jazz. David Locke, radio voice of the Utah Jazz and Jazz NBA Insider, take a look at all angles of the Rudy Gobert trade. The emotions of losing one of your own and a beloved player like Rudy Gobert. The player that we knew how great he was and had to argue on his behalf and now someone else gets the pleasure. Locke revisits the decision making tree of the Utah Jazz and how they got to trading Rudy Gobert and why they took this trade rather than other options that may have been on the table for the Utah Jazz. Then Locke looks into what did we really get in this trade and what are the possibilities of benefit for trading one of the great players in franchise history. A look at each of the 5 first round picks and what they could become and the margin starts to expand the farther out you go. Then are the Utah Jazz re-building? Why now would be the question. That is a decision that the Jazz don’t need to make for the some time. Summer league kicks off today and what are the Utah Jazz looking for and who could make an impression. What the Jazz want to see from Jared Butler Locked On Jazz Podcast 💻 https://www.lockedonjazz.net/ 🎧 LockedOnJazz.com https://buff.ly/2FEZTVY 🎧 Apple https://apple.co/3Dc8QBq 🎧 Spotify https://spoti.fi/3IfvgVX 🎧Stitcher https://bit.ly/3pkGyzB 🎧 Google https://bit.ly/3I8TwJz

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Utah Jazz

NBA Free Agency is here for the Utah Jazz

David Locke

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NBA Free Agency is day is here for the Utah Jazz. What can we expect to take place? Will the Utah Jazz make a trade? Is this the day Rudy Gobert or Mike Conley or Donovan Mitchell gets traded? Do the Jazz have a free agency move to be made? David Locke, radio voice of the Utah Jazz and Jazz NBA insider take a look at all of these questions and gives you the free agency primer. Is the market drying up on the Utah Jazz? The Clippers and Wizards have already made moves and the Atlanta Hawks have used their draft capital. Rumors continue with Rudy Gobert at the forefront and we take a look at what those deals might be for the Utah Jazz and what would have to be included to make a deal happen. Then a look at the Utah Jazz options at the tax payer mid level contractsand what the Jazz current roster looks like and what could take place. Locked On Jazz Podcast 💻 https://www.lockedonjazz.net/ 🎧 LockedOnJazz.com https://buff.ly/2FEZTVY 🎧 Apple https://apple.co/3Dc8QBq 🎧 Spotify https://spoti.fi/3IfvgVX 🎧Stitcher https://bit.ly/3pkGyzB 🎧 Google https://bit.ly/3I8TwJz

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