Everything Valanciunas

[white men can't jump]

Oh, I don't agree with this. I think he's still same old. His one on one defense is solid, his help defense is pretty useless. I'm not worried though. This is part of the plan, it'll come along. Let's see where he's at in March.

I think his help D has been much more solid this year than last. He's contesting lots of shots that he would've missed the rotation on completely last year, be it because of speed or awareness.

[white men can't jump]

Yeah, I feel he looks worse on D than he really is because of our weak D on the perimeter. If he's constantly having to help, he's going to look bad more often than not.

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Our perimeter D has been dreadful.

[stooley]

I think his help D has been much more solid this year than last. He's contesting lots of shots that he would've missed the rotation on completely last year, be it because of speed or awareness.

I actually have noticed that he contests more, but he doesn't ever seem to really alter the shots or create misses, at least that's what I've seen.

[grindhouse]

See the one thing we don't know is whether he is being told not to leave his man to help or not. It's either him or coaching. I think it's him


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[white men can't jump]

I actually have noticed that he contests more, but he doesn't ever seem to really alter the shots or create misses, at least that's what I've seen.

I feel like he has. Not every time, but obviously at a better rate since last year he was usually not making the rotation on time at all (or even seeing that he should at all). He definitely creates misses, and he'll probably keep getting better at it.

Another important aspect which isn't mentioned enough is his size and ability to intimidate in the lane physically. As he gets better at legal contests without fouling, it basically means guards/wings will have to consider whether they want to run into a giant like him whenever they drive. Stiemsma is pretty much the only other guy on our team that can supply that, but he fouls like crazy.

*I also think part of him not always altering it is he's being a lot more careful so far this year to try and not foul while reaching for blocks and such. Trying to be smarter about how he contests.

[chico]

I've seen glimpses of JVs rim protection being much better than last year, but as with anything else, he's been very inconsistent in bringing the required energy. I believe he'll get there, and sooner rather than later.

That said, I don't see that it's only been perimeter defense that's been dreadful. The bigs have had their turns at being poor on the defensive end too. Sullinger and Olynyk combining for 37 PTs, on 24 FGAs, with combined 29 RBs, including 14 offensive boards, isn't on the perimeter defense. With all due respect for Jonas (I love the kid and have very hopes for him!), he got eaten alive by not only Gasol, but Favors had his way with him too. The whole team needs to step it up with their defensive intensity, more consistently.

[enlightenment]

I've seen glimpses of JVs rim protection being much better than last year, but as with anything else, he's been very inconsistent in bringing the required energy. I believe he'll get there, and sooner rather than later.

That said, I don't see that it's only been perimeter defense that's been dreadful. The bigs have had their turns at being poor on the defensive end too. Sullinger and Olynyk combining for 37 PTs, on 24 FGAs, with combined 29 RBs, including 14 offensive boards, isn't on the perimeter defense. With all due respect for Jonas (I love the kid and have very hopes for him!), he got eaten alive by not only Gasol, but Favors had his way with him too. The whole team needs to step it up with their defensive intensity, more consistently.

I feel that most of Favors damage happened due to penetration from the wings. I would assign blame on our perimeter defenders and the help that is supposed to rotate on Vals man after he denies the ball handler from getting to the rim.

[white men can't jump]

I feel that most of Favors damage happened due to penetration from the wings. I would assign blame on our perimeter defenders and the help that is supposed to rotate on Vals man after he denies the ball handler from getting to the rim.

Yep. He basically didn't have to make a move or create a shot by himself all game. Open cuts and jumpers because of penetration. And because a lot of the p'n'r was low and on the side, help was not even in any position to really make a rotation. Again, I thought it was fairly obvious the team did not really prepare much of a defensive plan for what Utah does. Aside from the p'n'r, we also played fairly tight on their guards, including guys like Burke and Exum who thrive putting the ball on the floor and struggle badly at shooting. Should've been giving them space and daring them to hit jumpers.

[OldSkoolCool]

Vucevic averaged 31 mpg in his third year.

I know JV is barely playing 24 mpg right now, but lets give it a month or two more to see if that number comes up. I'm not sure that it's time to panic yet.

I know developing our future is important, but you do place slightly more emphasis on quality players in our situation than if we're in full tank mode like ORL was. We do need to attract FAs, we do need our players to enjoy being here, and we need to start building a winning culture slowly.

So, given all this, I'd be perfectly happy with JV averaging 2-3 minutes less than Vuc's third year and coming in around 29-30 mpg at the end of the season. Seems like a perfectly fine balance to me.

Using Jonas more is our best bet to win more seeing as he is our best rim protector and rebounder. He also is pretty efficient on offense.

If we want to tank then sure, let's keep Jonas on the bench

[Other Scott]

Using Jonas more is our best bet to win more seeing as he is our best rim protector and rebounder. He also is pretty efficient on offense.

If we want to tank then sure, let's keep Jonas on the bench

I definitely stand behind getting him more minutes, but I'm OK with the amount they are currently going to him as an offensive option when he's on the floor. He doesn't read the play on offense very well, so going to him usually means he's going to take that shot. 20% usage on offense, or exactly average, is about right for JV at the moment.

[stooley]

Using Jonas more is our best bet to win more seeing as he is our best rim protector and rebounder. He also is pretty efficient on offense.

If we want to tank then sure, let's keep Jonas on the bench

Not consistently enough though. Gotta play the hot hand.

Aren't there a bunch of stats that point otherwise? I think he's got the worst net rating of the starters right now, doesn't he?

[Chr1s1anL]

Using Jonas more is our best bet to win more seeing as he is our best rim protector and rebounder. He also is pretty efficient on offense.

If we want to tank then sure, let's keep Jonas on the bench

I personally believe both Bebe and AJ are better rim protectors than JV.

[rocwell]

I personally believe both Bebe and AJ are better rim protectors than JV.

We should start them

[2kfeen]

haha its funny how this seasons contention hopes rest so much on two 3rd year players, especially considering one is a big man - someone who is typically going to be long term project

[DanH]

I definitely stand behind getting him more minutes, but I'm OK with the amount they are currently going to him as an offensive option when he's on the floor. He doesn't read the play on offense very well, so going to him usually means he's going to take that shot. 20% usage on offense, or exactly average, is about right for JV at the moment.

Yeah, but he also gets a lot of that usage off of offensive rebounds. Almost every offensive rebound turns into a chance for him (as they mostly should - put backs are very high percentage). So since he grabs 13% of available offensive rebounds, and the team misses 52% of their field goals when he is on the court, that means 6.5% of the time he is getting the ball off an offensive rebound. That's about a third of his total usage.

So with the team grabbing 25% of its own misses (so, about 13% of its offence) and assuming all are putbacks, as we did with Jonas, that means for a fair share of the primary offence each player should be getting 1/5th of 87%, or 17.5%. Jonas gets 13%. DeMar gets 28%. Ross gets 16.5%. Lowry gets 21.5%. Amir gets 11.4%. Hansbrough gets 3% (another way to show just how useless he is out there). JJ gets 14.5%. PP gets 11%. Lou gets 25%. Vasquez also gets 25%.

So it is pretty clear we just don't run offence to get our bigs involved - Jonas, our one decent post threat, is on par with Amir, Patman, and JJ in terms of offensive use. Hansbrough remains hilariously useless offensively. But look at those guard numbers - consistently 20%+ - usually about double the bigs' numbers. Even Ross, who is an afterthought and only really gets looks off kick outs, has a significantly higher usage in primary offence than either of our starting bigs, both of whom are serious threats in pick and roll and are effective on the block.