Connect with us

Utah Jazz

EMPTYING THE NOGGIN – Three Stars, Brilliant performance and Courtney Kirkland set a big pick

David Locke

Published

on

SUMMARY:  Despite a tumultuous start the Utah Jazz put together one of the best regular season performances in years with a stunning 118-91 blowout win over the Houston Rockets

  • The Jazz were brilliant tonight. The win over the Spurs was largely because of 20 three point shots.   Tonight was about intensity, execution, attention to detail, relentless pressure and perseverance.   One of Quin Snyder’s favorite concepts is Grit.  This was Grit personified.

 

  • The night started with Rudy Gobert getting called for a foul on the tip off and then getting a foul at the 9:17 mark on a James Harden flop. Rudy snapped and got ejected.  I will address this more later, but I don’t want to distract from the brilliant performance of his teammates.

 

  • On a night like this I would usually avoid individuals but tonight three players deserve huge kudos. Derrick Favors did it again. This is like a broken record.  When needed Favors has been amazing and he was again tonight.   The entire defensive game plan is based on Rudy in the middle and Derrick did everything Rudy does.  The defense going into the night with Derrick at center had not been very good and it is a key going forward for the Jazz.  Tonight, he was outstanding.  He defended the rim.  He denied Capela.  He took advantage of the Rockets 27th ranked (30th over last 10 games) defensive rebounding and he was the best player on the floor.

 

  • Dante Exum has been out of the rotation. However, at shoot around today it was Dante who was participating.  Quin Snyder deserves some credit for this, but let’s focus on Dante.  He was given the assignment largely because of his defensive prowess and his ability to beat players off the dribble.    He was great defensively impact both James Harden and Chris Paul and making their lives very difficult.  On the offensive end he was blowing by people.  He made Chris Paul look all of 33.  He got to the rim time and time again.  He was a force on the pick and roll beating the slower guy.   These are all the things Quin knew Dante could bring that didn’t match Neto or Korver tonight because of the Rockets switching and he delivered.

 

  • How awesome is Ekpe Udoh. He is the best.  His teammates love him.  You can see it every time he does something.  Tonight he was great defensively.  He got switched out on Harden and CP3 and held his own.  He is so solid defensively.   Little did we know at shoot around when he got switched out on Korver and forced him into a missed shot and jokingly said “That is what I do” that it was a sign of things to come.  He was really good and his minutes in the first half were vital.

 

  • The Jazz opened the third quarter on a 16 to 2 run that ended the night. The Jazz played brilliantly in the first half but they only lead by 53-45 and it felt like the Rockets could turn it on and come after the Jazz.  Instead, Ingles and Crowder hit threes and the Jazz got rolling and the Rockets wilted.

 

  • The Jazz had a very specific plan on how to attack the Rockets defense and it was wildly successful. The Jazz went 29 of 36 at the rim tonight.  For all the talk of three point revolution the rim is still the most important shot and the Jazz got 36 of their 89 shots at the rim 42% of your shots at the rim is a crazy high number

 

  • The Jazz had a very specific plan on Harden and it was executed perfectly by Ricky Rubio, Royce O’Neale, Joe Ingles and Dante Exum. There was a break down or two in the first half on the step back three but other than that the Jazz denied him from getting into his dance step and rocking into a step back. They forced him right and stayed attached and he was never comfortable.

 

  • The Rockets aren’t great shooters. They work off of Harden and he wasn’t creating.

 

  • The Jazz didn’t want to send the Rockets to the line. They are now 1-5 when they shot under 20 free throws. They never got to the rim either.  As much as the Rockets are three-point team what really makes them go is the line and the rim.  They only made 12 of 26 at the rim.

 

  • Now to Rudy Gobert.  Take your fan hat off for a moment.  When one of our players gets hit with a hard foul or a big pick what do we want his teammates to do.  You want someone to stand up for their teammates.  Rudy Gobert hit the officials with a big pick in Miami.  Courtney Kirkland foul call on the jump ball to me was him standing up for his teammates.  I don’t like it, but that is how I read it.  I find it way to coincidental that Rudy killed the officials (again) in the media and a veteran official of nearly 20 years makes that call.  He was telling Rudy they heard him and that was enough.  He was setting a hard foul.  Rudy put himself out there with him comments in Miami and that is the price.  I am guessing Courtney Kirkland’s 40 teammates think it was great because they don’t like being told it is the same s(*&* every night and they are inconsistent.
  •  Worth noting the crew v. San Antonio had a 14-year vet, a 6-year official and 3rd-year official.  Tonight we had a 19-year vet in Kirkland, a 28th-year official in Tom Washington and Leon Wood in his 23rd year.
  • The 2nd foul call is a brilliant play by James Harden and a bad call. Harden knows he can’t go to the rim on Rudy and he knows he has a foul so he does down for a rebound and he flops.  He wants to get Rudy out of the game.  Bad call and a chance for a game-changing impact.

 

  • Then Rudy snapped. You can’t hit stuff off the table like that because it could go into the crowd.  You can’t scream at an official like that.  Hard to argue with the ejection.  Rudy got baited and bite.

 

  • Why did Rudy snap? I haven’t talk to Rudy but let me take a stab at it.  All the same reasons Rudy is great worked against him.  He demands excellence out of himself, he plays with great passion, he knows what people say, he wants to be the greatest in the game.  It is why Rudy is defensive player of the year.   However,  Rudy knows this was on national TV, Rudy knows he has to live up to being defensive player of the year and Rudy knows people are talking about how he got outplayed by Capela and couldn’t stay on the floor last year.   He was fired up.  He was ready to be Rudy and prove his point and it leads to him snapping.  Rudy has to be more in control, he is too good and too important to the franchise.

 

  • The best part of the Rudy is he is really intelligent and his care factor is through the roof. He very rarely makes the same mistake twice.  He has had other moments that he regrets.  He usually doesn’t do it again.   This is a great reminder of how he is still going through new experiences.

 

  • This is a great example of why this year is not like last year despite the same team coming back. Rudy is dealing with the pressure and expectations of being defensive player of the year.  Those pressures are both from him internally and externally.   Donovan Mitchell is dealing with being Donovan Mitchell and tonight is a great night for him because he wasn’t very good and the team was brilliant which can re-leave that burden.

 

  • This team is finding itself inside this iteration of who they are. The game plan the last two games was brilliant. The players were engaged and executed it perfectly.  They are all understanding their value to each other and what they need to do.

 

  • This was a good as the Jazz have been all year and maybe in the last two years in the regular season.

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.

Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Featured

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

David Locke

Published

on

 

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.

Continue Reading

Utah Jazz

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

David Locke

Published

on

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

Continue Reading

Utah Jazz

NBA Free Agency is here for the Utah Jazz

David Locke

Published

on

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

Continue Reading
Advertisement

LATEST

Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending