He's playin' bad, but don't stop playin' him!

Can you expect to win with a starter not scoring at all? Not really. Against an elite team? definitely not. That was apparent in the debacle in Dallas last night as Utah fell to the Mavs in a close heart breaker after trailing by as much as 25.


In the 103 - 97 loss, Dallas was just under 54% from downtown while dropping in fourteen 3’s for 42 points! They took Utah out to the woodshed early, jumping on them 21-2 in the first part of the first quarter. After a few time outs and a mouthful of four letter words, the Jazz settled down and were suddenly playing basketball. They closed the quarter, rallying a bit, to a 34-19 deficit. The loss of that quarter was the only one of the night for the Jazz - Utah went on to take the remaining three quarters; 23-20, 28-27, and 27-22.

A frustrated Sloan gave this obvious gem, “Fran was trying to guard Nowitzki. We don't have anybody who can really go out and stop the guy. Nobody does." Key word is TRYING. There was no answer for what he was doing last night, pouring in 31 points with 15 rebounds, I fully expecting to hear MVP chants. “TRYING” is as good as gospel when it comes to defending a red hot Dirty Dirk. He is blitzing the league right now in the midst of a 12 game winning streak for Dallas, and no one is cooling him off.

Even with the lights out, white hot start put up by Dallas, Utah had a shot at the end to take this one. It didn’t workout like Jazz fans are used to seeing this year, but it did end close. An impressive come back with a less than impressive finish.

So why? Why did this one run the way it ran? Out rebounded? Yes, but that's the dead horse that has been kicked all year. Couldn’t stop the superstar Dirk? Sure. But when have we? Dallas can lose with Dirk scoring 30. What I am looking at rhymes with Bordon Bayward’s broduction ...

Hint: 0 points from your starting shooting guard. Zero. Zip. Nada. With Raja out, Gordon was shoved into the starting 2 guard spot for the second strait time... and for the second straight time he went scoreless.

I understand that him scoring does not put the hot hand of Dallas on Ice, but when a zero is hung in the scoring column 2 nights in a row it’s time to worry.

Let me preface by instilling that I am a Hayward guy. I like his effort and the ability he has to pass out of the cut. But will he ever be NBA ready as a true sixth man or starting 2? Hard to see that happening... right now. The NBA is full of liability players; guys that get paid to fill a roster spot and take up oxygen... A Mr. Collins comes to mind. Those guys can find spots on bloated salaried teams like Orlando and L.A, but not on a budgeted Utah team.

For Utah to sniff a tittle run they will need a full second team that can score, defend, and fight harder than any other second team. Hayward wants to be one of those guys, but he isn’t even close right now. He is lacking. he is a liability. He is playing afraid and tight.

So how does a player get loosened up? How does he become an asset?

Consistent playing time.

It may seem like I am contradicting myself; I rip him and then call for him to get more P.T.? But it has to be that, or cut him loose. I’m not ready for that and I would bet a ninth pick that the Jazz talking heads aren't either.

Now he shouldn’t start when Raja comes back, but he needs to know one thing: I am gonna get my chance EVERY NIGHT. I don’t care if it’s 90 seconds, the kid has to know he is going to sweat a little every night.

This is my thought on every player that suits up. Especially on a thin team that doesn’t carry a big bench. If a 12th or 13th guy knows he is going in at some point, he will be that much more ready. He will watch the game a little closer. He will watch his position a little tighter.

Last night when Utah was being slapped around, Sloan mixed it up. He brought in some different guys to try at different line-ups. The Jazz came back. That isn’t going to happen every time, but one thing will happen every time; guys will pay attention. They will be ready. They will improve.

We all want to see the kid play GOOD ball... it starts with the kid just PLAYING ball.

For whom "Bell" could REALLY toll: Gordon Hayward.

When the Jazz selected Gordon Hayward with the 9th pick in the draft, he was booed by almost all in attendance at the Jazz Draft Party in ESA. Booed. Wow.
He was selected largely, we are told, because of his amazing basketball I.Q.... What does that mean? Is he a natural born leader? Is he a guy that can play above his abilities? It certainly doesn't mean he's just a well of raw talent that needs to be molded ( our 2nd round pick, Evens?). So If basketball skills have a sliding scale, with basketball intelligence on one end and raw talent on the other end, we are being told that Gordon is just a few strokes away from being an NBA head coach right now. OK, What now? Now you bring in Raja Bell.

Raja is a prime example of a limited raw talent guy with a library full of basketball I.Q.  Raja is who he is because he learned, stretched, and studied. In a sense, he is the product of hard work + a high basketball I.Q. Does that sound familiar? It should. If Kevin O'Conner knows what he's doing, he might have just created a taller, more athletic Raja Bell in Gordon Hayward. He did this by drafting a young, pretty athletic, hungry player in Hayward; and giving him a snap shot of what he could become in Bell.

I repeat, Gordon Hayward could become a longer, slightly more athletic Raja Bell.

I'll take that any day of the week, and twice on Sundays.

Raja Bell is at the sunset of his career. He has picked up tricks, sneaks, meanness, and a desire to win along the way. It really should be a beautiful sunset!
But when the Jazz front office pulled the strings on Bell, I think there was another motive besides watching a great sunset, I think they picked up someone who they had previous experience with, that knows the system, is everything the Jazz want in a 2/3 guy, hates the Lakers (yea this was important), and can teach everything he has learned over his unique career to a young, eager "basketball head" in G. Hayward. In other words, the Jazz just picked up the best possible one on one coach for Hayward they could have gotten.

It might be a little early but KOC, you might have just created an ALL STAR.

Am I crazy for saying so? No. Think about it this way;
Would you say Raja is one of the wiliest and nasty guys in the NBA? Sure you would!
Now, what if you could add 4 inches to him and younger legs... would you have an all star? I think you could. I think you would.

Final thought:
G. Hayward will have a long NBA career as long as he stays healthy. No matter what.
If he and Raja can work together and he can draw from Raja's HUGE well of tricks, schemes, hustle, toughness, and basketball I.Q., It could be a long CELEBRATED NBA career.

KOC, here is to one hell of an off season!