Scouting Report: Week Three

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ICYMI: Playoff seeding, awards, and other predictions are here for your pleasure. Or, read about the various combinations lurking to dethrone the Warriors. Read that here.

The dud in Phoenix was a pretty large dud but that putback dunk versus the Lakers was an extremely non-dud.

The Jazz have four games this week, three of which are on the top notch entertainment value – just like the non-dud dunk.

Monday at home vs the Mavericks

Dirk Nowitzki is on his last rodeo, making his second-to-last appearance in Salt Lake on Hallow’s Eve. The problem is Dirk’s rodeo has been canceled, suspended, out-of-business, and a dump for a few years now. It once reigned in fade-away glory, but that’s been years. Last year, Dirk averaged 14 points a game in 54 games and this year it’s down to 10 per 26 minutes in the seven games he’s played. That’s what happens when you are 39 and in your 19th year in the league. It’s hard to see these stars fade, so reflect on Dirk of old (like 2001 playoffs with beach blonde hair):

Outside of Dirk, the Mavs are led by Harrison Barnes who was once a Warrior. Barnes signed the max-sheet with Dallas last year as he saw his role taken by Kevin Durant with the Ws. Last year, Barnes averaged a cool 19 points and five boards a game whereas this year he is at 18 and six. His shooting percentage is down, but he gets about 16 shots a game as the focal point of the offense. And remember, he’s only been in the league five years and is 25 years young.

The Mavs are 1-6, picking up a win versus the hot Memphis Grizzlies (the Grizz’s lone loss of the year). A few close contests are scattered in the small sample size, but they did lose by 30 at home to the Warriors (133-103) and by 16 on the road to the Rockets. They aren’t that good so the Jazz should get the win.

PS – Steph’s brother, Seth, is the 6th man for the Mavs, point guard Yogi is related to Yogi Bear, former Jazzmen Devin Harris rocks the backup point guard gig and Jeff Withey sometimes plays at center.

Wednesday at home vs the Trail Blazers

Raise your hand if you wouldn’t want Damian Lillard on your team. No one? Exactly.

While I love Ricky Rubio at the point – and I do, I really do – in a perfect world, my choice of point guard at the helm of the Utah Jazz roster would have to be Lillard. He can shoot, he can score, and he drops 50 whenever he wants. While his deficiencies on the defensive end are valid, Rudy Gobert would sweep those under the rug better than any other big possibly could. Oh, and he’s Dame D.O.L.L.A in the offseason.

If you haven’t checked it out yet, Dame D.O.L.L.A released a rap album and it’s actually pretty good. Consider:

I’m Dame-no dash, who you?

You heard I’m good with the Rock, that’s true

but I don’t really wanna pass on you, yeah

so if it’s OK, I’ma shoot my shot, I’ma shoot my shot…

C.J. McCollum, the 2016 Most Improved Player, is the guard that leads the team in scoring so far this year, 24.6 ppg on 50% shooting from the field and 56% from deep.  He is just as equal of a threat as Lillard on the offensive end, if not more so. Lillard isn’t too far behind with his 22.3 buckets a night. The deadly duo combine for 47 points, while it takes Rodney Hood (15.3), Rubio (15.0), Favors (13), and a little dash of Neto (3.0) for the Jazz to reach that threshold.

You’d think the guard line would be their biggest strength, but their bigs are getting it done, too, especially when it comes to crashing the boards. The combination of Ed Davis, Al-Farouq Aminu, and Jusuf Nurkic clog the lane to lead the NBA in rebounds per game at 51.7 a contest (9.7 for Davis, 8.7 for Aminu, and 8 for Nurkic).

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Friday at home vs the Raptors

We the North are sitting at 3-2, with losses to the Warriors by five and Spurs by four as the only blemishes. The core of Kyle Lowrey, DeMar DeRozan, and Serge Ibaka is back from last year, but some former Utes are contributing this season, too.

Jakob Poeltl, selected ninth overall in 2016, has stepped up to fill in at center for the injured Jonas Valanciunas. Poeltl averages about 21 minutes a game, but he is leading the team in blocks (1.8/game) and field goal percentage (67%) in his limited amount of playing time. Delon Wright, on the other hand, taken 20th overall in 2015, is getting a run as the backup point guard in 24 minutes a night while doing a little bit of everything: eight points, a block, three assists, and three rebounds with a 40% shot from the field. He has also mastered the euro-step.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsThe Raptors are a good ball club, and they seem to give us fits as evidenced by last year’s meeting in Salt Lake when Lowry went off for 36 points, including 25 in the fourth quarter alone and four huge threes, that gave Jurassic Park a 104-98 victory. They are also playing well right now, with only those two narrow losses to good teams slowing them down. I’m chalking this one up as a loss.

Sunday at the Rockets

On Friday, the 27th, there was lift off for Houston as the Rockets rained in 22 three-pointers out of 57 attempts. James Harden was responsible for four of them en route to a triple-double, but Ryan Anderson went 6/15 from deep and Eric Gordon went 6/16. If the Jazz want to slow them down, it starts beyond the arc.

The good news is the Rockets will still be without Chris Paul who has been dealing with a left knee bruise but the bad news is that still have Harden, who is nearly averaging a double-double with 26 points and 9.6 assists a game. Once Paul is back, the two will form a back-breaking back-court that will be fun to watch. For now, it’s just the Harden show, like last year, and the Rockets have surrounded him with shooters to get a 5-2 record in the first seven games of the season.

Oh, and what’s this? Just the best way to end an article previewing the week, aka the best moment in all Jazz-Rockets history.

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