Game 1 at LAL: Party like it’s February 2011

I say this calmly and rationally: This game was (a)pathetic.

The ugliness of this game wasn’t [mainly] due to inexperience. The starters/vets were disengaged and just going through the motions. Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter* looked like they were trying, but also looked like they didn’t know what they were supposed to be doing out there.

*Jazz bigs, regardless of age or experience, have been frustrating me endlessly for several seasons now by not taking it up strong. You’d think that’s something they would know to do instinctively, but this is apparently not the case. Kanter at the very least isn’t afraid to be physical, but he would benefit so much from a real big man coach. I cannot say this enough.

The other young guys, well, Reggie Miller was on the money: “I don’t understand this. You got the Lakers running on a younger team.” There was no leadership on the floor, or any from the sidelines/bench either.

TNT didn’t switch over to this game until there was just 3:50 left in the first, thereby depriving us of the best part of the game (i.e. the part of the game where the Jazz were still in it). From the point that they switched over to the end of the quarter, the Jazz missed 10 straight shots.

From 3:50 in the first to 3:50 in the 2nd, the Jazz went something like 2 of 29 from the floor. For the game, the Jazz made one fewer FG than the Lakers on 19 more shots. I’m not going to talk about the FT differential; the Jazz were not the aggressors and let LAL take it to them.

Quotage
** Ty Corbin, pre-game on starting Favors over Millsap: It’s just a thing we need to do right now to give us a chance to win. It’s a short season. It’s gonna be a lot of different lineups as we go forward. The schedule and the play will dictate some of that. The matchups will dictate some of it…We want to get a set rotation as soon as we can.

Found this a little confusing. Which is it? Different lineups based on schedule/matchups, or a set rotation?

** Paul Millsap on Corbin’s decision to start Favors: I think he know I’m a little upset about it, but that’s the nature of it. I’m not going to show any emotion, I’m not going to show any disloyalness or any attitude towards it.
** More Millsap: It’s a little frustrating in a sense that you worked your butt off and then you’re asked to come off the bench…Coach said you need to come off the bench, you need to come off the bench then.
** Ty Corbin, post-game: It’s just one game…we had good execution, we just didn’t make the baskets when we thought we would. (all KFAN)

This CG was shown during New Jersey vs. Atlanta. Loved how the scruff around the neck made it instantly recognizable as Memo.

Unintentional Dirty Quote Machines
** Reggie Miller on Enes Kanter: He likes to bang first and ask questions later. (H/T @mqsteele)
** “Utah has already gone 11 deep.”