· Everything seems pretty immaterial compared to the Taylor Hendricks injury. First and foremost our thoughts are with Taylor and his family. He has worked hard and shown great signs of being a professional in order to improve his game. This is a significant setback on that road and really disappointing
· I don’t want to be an alarmist or overstate things when the concern should be directed toward Taylor. Yet, it is hard to not see the reality. The season is largely built around discovering what the Jazz have with the 7 players 23 years and younger. Now one of them, the highest draft picks of the group, is going to be an incomplete. It has been announced, but it seem clear he is out for the season and that the 25-26 season will largely about recovering his confidence and his athleticism. It is a fair assessment that there is not going to be a fair evaluation period of Taylor Hendricks until the 26-27 season.
· I will do some research on players with this injury and the recovery this evening. Gordon Hayward fractured his tibia, the larger bone and weight baring bone of the leg. The fibula that Taylor fractured is stabilizes the ankle bone. The tibia is thought to be more serious.
· This is a significant setback in the rebuilding process.
· For this season it also leaves a massive gap on the roster. In the off-season the Jazz front office added veteran security at point guard (Mills), shooting guard/small forward (Svi) and center (Eubanks) but they left the power forward position for Taylor. Their was no blockade to making sure Taylor his minutes. Now there is very little answer to fill those minutes
· The Jazz could slide Lauri to the 4 and start Brice Sensabaugh or Cody Williams. Jordan Clarkson could move into the starting lineup but his legs are not under his shot at all right now. Kyle Filipowski was originally stated for the G-League, but I think he is going to have slide into the rotation for the Jazz. John Collins could start at the 4, with Eubanks playing back up center but the Collins/Kessler pairing has been something the Jazz seemed to want to avoid.
· In the game tonight the Jazz offense really struggled again. However, tonight the Jazz focus, fight and tenacity stayed engaged during the offensive struggles. The Jazz offense rating was 76 in the first quarter. At halftime it was 84 and 91 after three quarter. To still be in contact with your opponent when you are scoring 91 pts per 100 possessions is incredible.
· The Jazz were willing to Walker Kessler switch on Luka Doncic tonight and it worked really well. He was never able to drive him. Kessler’s length was bothering his shot. I think Doncic only made one shot all game on the switch at that was with 2:00 left. Hendricks did a really good job on Doncic as well tonight
· Walker Kessler played another really good game. He rebounding out of his area. He protected the rim. He played with great energy.
· The shot quality for Lauri Markkanen is really tough. He is working really hard on his isolation game. He came in 1 for 7 on the season and wasn’t great tonight. This is going to be hard. His shooing numbers will struggle.
· Jazz are 29th in the NBA in EFG% on jumpshots.
· Jazz had 20 fastbreak points after having 11 in the first two games.
· The bench unit really needs Jordan Clarkson to find his legs. Coming off his worst shooting year of his career it feels like everything is short and he is having a hard time getting free from defenders.
