Game #10: Utah Jazz 93 vs. Toronto Raptors 111

[KHD]

Tranquility in Raptorland as JV is freed from pine captivity and DD doesn't hold ball hostage on offense.

Hard to complain too much. First 3 quarters weren't great in terms of ball movement, but other than that it was a decent game. Utah is better than people think, they have some good bigs and they move the ball.

JV was a definite focus on offense and he made it count. Next step for the team is to have better off-ball movement when they go into the post to him. That will help to lower the "black-hole" moments that he sometimes has down there, too.

[Mindlessness]

Do we get banned for agreeing and compliments?

Just wanna make sure y'know, nobody posting...

[bryan colangelo]

his scoring is just too streaky. today was ok but 0 assists along with a season shooting of 32% and an awful 20% from downtown is a little scary. his floater is the most cringe-worthy shit that happens on the floor outside of a really bad derozan shooting game.

i hope his shot deviates back to the mean soon. this may happen with JJ being out and him having to step it up a bit more now.

My theory is that he sees how Lou Williams relies on ISO's to create his own shot, and is trying to the emulate him to maintain his status in the pecking order after finally getting a decent contract.

He would be much, much better off just focusing on becoming a reliable, push-the-tempo point guard.

[mcHAPPY]

Hard to complain too much. First 3 quarters weren't great in terms of ball movement, but other than that it was a decent game. Utah is better than people think, they have some good bigs and they move the ball.

JV was a definite focus on offense and he made it count. Next step for the team is to have better off-ball movement when they go into the post to him. That will help to lower the "black-hole" moments that he sometimes has down there, too.

I agree.

The entire team needs more off ball movement.

It was my turn, your turn for first 3 quarters

[bryan colangelo]

It's good to see JV with more minutes, but he did look a bit gassed at the end. He just has to improve his conditioning and keep his energy level up.

The criticism of JV and Casey after the Bulls game was pretty unfair, in the sense that the fans on this board really weren't giving the Bull's frontcourt rotation of Gasol/Noah/Gibson enough credit.

Memphis will be similar test. I don't trust our bigs against Randolph and Marc and I wouldn't be surprised if Casey doesn't either. My guess is that Casey will try to go small against Memphis to speed up the game and everyone on this board will start crying about how Jonas being the second coming of Christ etc etc.

[consmap]

It's good to see JV with more minutes, but he did look a bit gassed at the end. He just has to improve his conditioning and keep his energy level up.

The criticism of JV and Casey after the Bulls game was pretty unfair, in the sense that the fans on this board really weren't giving the Bull's frontcourt rotation of Gasol/Noah/Gibson enough credit.

Memphis will be similar test. I don't trust our bigs against Randolph and Marc and I wouldn't be surprised if Casey doesn't either. My guess is that Casey will try to go small against Memphis to speed up the game and everyone on this board will start crying about how Jonas being the second coming of Christ etc etc.

Jonas played pretty well in Memphis the last time they came to Toronto, got some minutes late in the game too. If he can do the same on Wednesday I could see him staying in the game.

[bryan colangelo]

Jonas played pretty well in Memphis the last time they came to Toronto, got some minutes late in the game too. If he can do the same on Wednesday I could see him staying in the game.

I'm more worried about Amir's ankles than Jonas, honestly. You need two bigs to hold the fort against Memphis. If Amir is off his game and Jonas is left alone to fend for himself, I can see Casey rolling the dice and going for a more mobile line-up.

[consmap]

I'm more worried about Amir's ankles than Jonas, honestly. You need two bigs to hold the fort against Memphis. If Amir is off his game and Jonas is left alone to fend for himself, I can see Casey rolling the dice and going for a more mobile line-up.

Even if Amir is off/ankles explode I don't see Casey trotting out Hansbrough and 2Pat as the frontcourt to finish the game. Usually if Casey goes mobile he turns to Amir and 2Pat, but if Amir is off his game like you said I could see him turning to JV in that situation.

[bryan colangelo]

Even if Amir is off/ankles explode I don't see Casey trotting out Hansbrough and 2Pat as the frontcourt to finish the game. Usually if Casey goes mobile he turns to Amir and 2Pat, but if Amir is off his game like you said I could see him turning to JV in that situation.

That's why I think they were pushing JV to improve his conditioning in the offseason, and got him a running coach. The reason that JV gets less minutes in some games isn't just because he's doing something wrong. Sometimes, for a chance to win and for purely strategic reasons, the team needs to play more mobile, and it will have nothing to do with JV's individual performance or match-up. It's not fair, but if a big is torching the starters collectively, Jonas ends up getting screwed because they want the option to go small and change the pace of the game.

If JV can prove he can play 30 to 35 minutes without a drop-off in effort or fouling too much, he'd get more opportunities as the rim protector in a small line-up. At least that's my guess.

[consmap]

That's why I think they were pushing JV to improve his conditioning in the offseason, and got him a running coach. The reason that JV gets less minutes in some games isn't just because he's doing something wrong. Sometimes, for a chance to win and for purely strategic reasons, the team needs to play more mobile, and it will have nothing to do with JV's individual performance or match-up. It's not fair, but if a big is torching the starters collectively, Jonas ends up getting screwed because they want the option to go small and change the pace of the game.

If JV can prove he can play 30 to 35 minutes without a drop-off in effort or fouling too much, he'd get more opportunities as the rim protector in small line-up. At least that's my guess.

I wonder if the running coach helped him... he still seems pretty gassed at times (mostly at the end of quarters). It sucks because when he's energetic it's a real handful for the other team to deal with. That drop-off in effort is probably just fatigue IMO

[bryan colangelo]

I wonder if the running coach helped him... he still seems pretty gassed at times (mostly at the end of quarters). It sucks because when he's energetic it's a real handful for the other team to deal with. That drop-off in effort is probably just fatigue IMO

Most big, strong, 7'0-tall guys aren't meant to run around for 30 minutes in today's game. But yeah, I agree. I remember in his first year Jonas would play so hard he would gas out even faster. He would flail his arms and try to block passes with his legs.

[consmap]

Most big, strong, 7'0-tall guys aren't meant to run around for 30 minutes in today's game. But yeah, I agree. I remember in his first year Jonas would play so hard he would gas out even faster. He would flail his arms and try to block passes with his legs.

Flailing your arms is a perfectly acceptable way to play defense.

[chico]

Tranquility in Raptorland as JV is freed from pine captivity and DD doesn't hold ball hostage on offense.

Pretty backhanded "compliment", but a peculiar assessment of his excellent game today, seeing as he took the exact same number of shots as last game, and less than the previous 3 games.

[Puffer]

...Loved JV's game tonight. If he can have that confidence game to game, we'll see performances with 15ish points and 15ish rebounds fairly often. The Jazz aren't great, but they have a pretty solid big rotation, and JV crushed them.

Favors (and others) had his way with him on pick and rolls. JV really doesn't do a good job on defending the P'N'R at all. Comes out or slips around the pick way to much and leaves his man wide open. This is something that needs to be worked on. I would prefer him to show and then get back hard to stop the 3-4 foot shot.

[DanH]

Favors (and others) had his way with him on pick and rolls. JV really doesn't do a good job on defending the P'N'R at all. Comes out or slips around the pick way to much and leaves his man wide open. This is something that needs to be worked on. I would prefer him to show and then get back hard to stop the 3-4 foot shot.

That's from the coaches though. Clearly he has a mandate to drop down on rolls.