It has seemed to me that the Jazz run a no frills offense that
they execute with a lot of precision. A guy who can shoot like
Korver can be incorporated into the offense by a coach as accomplished as Jerry Sloan probably fairly easily.

It’s not just his outside shooting, it’s:

- His toughness. He’s a hard player that plays physical and bothers people. He’s another player on the wing that can play D, although he struggles with the quick guards.

- His energy. He’s instant energy out there, he gets everyone going. All his teammates and the crowd. Just the anticapation of a Kyle Korver shot gets the crowd on their feet.

- The hustle. He might just bring more hustle to the Jazz than any other player on their roster. We’re talking about a team with Kirilenko, Harpring, Millsap and it’s Korver who’s there diving on every loose ball, making the hard double team, trapping the ball in the corner, going up for contested rebounds, getting in people’s faces on D.

- His defense. Like I said above his D is very solid on a lot of players. He puts in a huge amount of effort, energy, hustle and physicality. He fits perfect in Jerry Sloan’s system and he’s sparked their whole team D, it’s really picked up since his addition. His defense has been overly criticized in recent years and unfairly so. The critics were right when he joined the league but he’s really grown as a player since then.

- and like I pictured it back on the day of the trade, Korver has steadied the bench rotation. Sloan was having trouble all season with the loss of Fish to get guys in their roles. Korver has had a very steadying impact. He’s allowed Harpring to return to 7th man and Millsap to 8th. It’s also forced the Jazz to be less reliant on Jason Hart.

The two biggest reasons for the Jazz’s run – Korver and Okur’s back healthy.

It’s so much fun watching Korver come into a Jazz game. Do you know the players who are the most pysched to see him? Boozer and Millsap. They love Korver. They love setting picks. They love getting him open and letting him fire away. Oh it’s just so nice to see big man that look to set picks for their shooters (Kendrick!!Ray Allen!Get it!). Every time Kyle checks in you can just see both guys going down into the paint, smiling and looking to Kyle. Neither guy looks for the ball. They’re just going to hit someone, that’s their job and they love it. That has to be my favourite part of Utah Jazz games, just watching those two guys set picks for Korver early in the offense.

And then his shooting, oh my:

- His perimeter shooting has really opened up the game for their inside players. Guys like Kirilenko and Boozer have so much room to work with now.

- I’m not sure if this is a direct consequence yet but it might be …. well Memo Okur has gone into the post a lot more since Korver arrived. He wasn’t doing that earlier in the year, obviously he was Utah’s only shooter (after Deron) so he had to spend a lot of time outside. It might be a direct consequence or it might just be his health is doing better – I say that because he’s been a lot more aggressive on the boards too although his D has only had a mild shot in the arm, he could do more – but this might be a Korver impact.

- His Free Throw shooting. This is huge for Utah. They have a lot of solid FT shooters but no great ones. Kyle knocks down around 90%. So when Utah want to hold a lead they just throw him the ball and he brings the win home. Also great for technicals and things like that. Utah have had a couple of FT collapses late in games, Kyle’s ability here is huge.

- Another scoring threat. 14.5ppg off the bench in Phily. 12ppg for Utah. Not just a shooter, boy’s a scorer.

- The most pleasant thing about Korver has been how well he’s fitted into their offense. He has very nice movement off the ball, he’s a good passer, he uses screens well, he’s very intelligent, and he’s tough. He isn’t just shooting long jumpers, he’s looking to get a Matt Harpring like layup. He’s filling all the motions and going hard after each one. Jerry must be loving this kid.

- He’s also done a great job of pushing the ball. Whether of a steal or a rebound … always looking up for the quick outlet pass. Utah seems to get 1-4 of these fast break layups a game just from Kyle throwing a quick outlet

That was daylight robbery. A heavily protected pick and useless player for a potential 6th man of the year candidate who brings a skill set that’s firmly lacking in supply and he’s on a good contract. Hmmm ….. great trade for Utah.

It has seemed to me that the Jazz run a no frills offense that
they execute with a lot of precision.

Utah have the smallest playbook in the league. But they have the most counter moves in built into these plays than any other in the league. You could have 40-60 different counters within a play (sounds like a lot but it’s not, there’s so much movement in their offense and for example one counter would be based on whether they showed on the screen, does the big roll or pop, that’s another counter and so forth).

A lot like the Triangle or Doc’s, it’s based on player making reads and decisions. So it requires intelligent players that are very good at moving without the ball. It also requires tough players that will set screens, you often see someone like Deron Williams going down to set a screen for someone or Harpring or whoever. Don’t see too many teams involving their perimeter players on screens as much as Utah do. Kirilenko is a great option here because he’s really a PF and he gives them an extra screen setter, another top ballhandler and passer and he moves very well around the court.

This is why they’re so hard to stop. They always know their options and have plenty of them.

Also worth noting Brian Hill was fired from Orlando for partly for not having a large enough playbook. Management believed it was holding the team back. Jerry Sloan has less plays. Just saying it wasn’t the size of the playbook.

Kyle Korver is a smart player. He picked it up pretty quickly. It’s actually a great fit for him, probably the best offense in the league for him. Suits every skill he has. I remember after the first game for him there, he was sitting on the bench all game next to the assistant coaches getting briefed throughout, and he gave an interview afterwards … he was asked on the offense and he just smiled and said this is the way he’s wanted to play his whole career.

Why don’t other things rob Jerry Sloans offense? Seriously … people are always trying the Princeton offense or the Triangle. Why doesn’t some coach just study Jerry’s and copy it?

How scary is Andrei Kirilenko right now? He’s been drained jump shots for weeks. If he becomes a shooter …. like how would you stop their offense? It would be impossible.

Jeff Hornacek has been a great addition to their staff, he’s done great work with Kirilenko. Sloan too who’s really opened up the offense to get him more involved (although I still have my doubts if that holds up in close playoff games because it’s disappeared a couple of times in close games this year).

AK’s shooting 36% from three right now … that’s 50% in January and 40% in February after struggling to start the year. He’s been getting better with each passing week …. well let’s wait and see if he can hold it up. That could be the lethal weapon in their offensive arsenal.

Just to correct myself. AK’s shooting numbers. Never could tell what month it was!
40% in January
50% in December

I watched Korver (and later his brother) absolutely torch our high school team. Later on, at Creighton. Not cocky…just a nice kid who plays hard. But his range was as extraordinary then as it is now. But with what seemed like average athletism, I never saw him playing in the NBA.