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Monday, April 24, 2017

NBA Playoffs Takeaways: Cavaliers use their brooms; OKC fumbles big opportunity

Cleveland Cavs vs Indiana Pacers - Full Game Highlights | Game 2 | April 17, 2017 | NBA Playoffs

The Pacers head home, the Cavs move on, the Celtics even the score, the Bulls fall apart, ISO Joe rises, Westbrook lashes out and the Clippers clip hard. Here"s what happened Sunday in the NBA playoffs ...

JOE JOHNSON. AGAIN.

This, my friends, is why your favorite team keeps that veteran on the bench.

Fans always want something shiny and new. They want the youngster to get time, they want the rookies to be on the floor, they want athleticism over experience. But Joe Johnson showed on Sunday night why you want guys like him -- guys who have been in the league for over a decade and have been in these moments before.

Johnson scored 13 points and had three assists in the final seven minutes of Game 4 while the Jazz outscored the Clippers 25-11 to even the series. Johnson was patient, in control, deliberate. When the Clippers sunk off him for a second, he drained a 3-pointer. When he was matched up with a smaller opponent, he worked them in the post. He controlled the game in a way that only veterans know how to do, and delivered time and time again.

Johnson"s career has been underrated since his days in Phoenix. He has made the playoffs every year since 2008, and been a big reason why his squad qualified each year. His defense hasn"t slipped. His passing is still smart. He has added old-man strength and knows how to create and maintain space when rabid defenses are primed on him.

There"s no way to really define these things that make a player so good in clutch time. It"s not just shot making, it"s control of the game. Johnson is one of the best at it, and you"re not going to find it in any young kid. If the playoffs are a man"s game, then Joe Johnson is a certified adult, and the one that the Jazz needed, and had on Sunday, to tie the series.

A CAVALIER APPROACH TO THE FIRST ROUND

Ho-hum, another first-round demolition job for LeBron James, another early finish to the first round and more rest for his squad. In his wake, he leaves a Pacers team wondering if they"ll still have Paul George at the start of next season, let alone next summer when he"s a free agent. This isn"t the first time a team has had to come to grips with tough situations following a loss to King James. Facing James and realizing how big the gap is between your team and what he brings to the table has a startling impact.

The Pacers hung in this series, the point differential was the closest for a sweep in decades. But the Cavaliers had control of this series the whole way, except for the first half of Game 3. Indiana just never had the level of execution to match up. It wasn"t firepower, not this time. They had weapons, and the Cavs" defense remains vulnerable . They didn"t execute.

James did. Over and over. The Cavaliers got a few contributions, Kevin Love in particular was good. But this series was about James. He averaged 33 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists on 54 percent shooting from the field and 45 percent from deep. His free-throw shooting remains bizarrely off, and yet he dominated the Pacers, including hitting the go-ahead shot in Game 4 after the Pacers came back to tie.

The Cavs haven"t fixed anything, and their effort first-round won"t be enough going forward. But it was enough to end the Pacers" season, and earn the defending champs some needed rest before the next round.

The Cavaliers will face the winner of the Raptors-Bucks series, and that next series won"t begin until Monday, May 1, giving them a full week off.

WHEN EVERYTHING GOES WRONG

Everything went wrong for the Rockets to end Game 4 vs. the Thunder. They gave up an offensive rebound off a free throw. James Harden turned the ball over up four with 28 seconds to go. And yet ... more went wrong for the Thunder. OKC found a spectacular series of ways to lose this game. The Thunder led with 5:35 to go, a situation they had been great in the entire season. But they had three turnovers, all from Russell Westbrook, in that span.

After the Thunder managed to generate a 3-pointer off that rebound, the Thunder needed to foul. Instead, they let the ball get ahead of them, to Nene, under the rim, where they fouled him on a layup. Ballgame.

It was not the best executed finish to a ballgame.

In the end, the Thunder had the only kind of game they were going to win in these playoffs -- a close, ugly game. That"s where this team lives, and they still couldn"t close. That doesn"t bode well for this series, much less the 3-1 deficit they face.

For the Rockets, everything went wrong. James Harden had a horrible game. They were never good in the clutch this season, and they shot 11 for 35 from 3-point range. Everything about this game screamed "Rockets loss," and they found a way to win. That"s a big step for a team still finding itself. The Rockets found a way to win when nothing worked the way it"s supposed to for them, and that"s what great teams do.

Oklahoma City was right there, with the game they needed, and the chances they wanted. There"s a good chance there will be there again. But if they find a way to miss every opportunity, their season will end Tuesday in Houston.

CELTIC ORDER RESTORED

Boston evened its series with Chicago with a Game 4 victory Sunday and has all the momentum. The Bulls are completely overwhelmed since the Rajon Rondo injury and don"t have an answer for the Celtics" small-ball adjustments.

If the Celtics go on to win this series, assuming Rondo is unable to return, they will have beaten the No. 8 seed 4-2. That"s not a bad end result. The fact that the Celtics were down 0-2 and looked lost will be forgotten as the playoffs move along. Is their first round a success then? Are all the things the Bulls exposed in the first two games an illusion, caused by the Celtics" emotional turmoil? Or will another team find a way to exploit the things Chicago can"t now that Rondo"s out?

The Bulls still found a way into Game 4, nearly pulling even in the third quarter before an Isaiah Thomas deluge. Their lack of adjustments has been atrocious. Here"s what"s crazy in this series, though: a game 5 victory would reverse all the trends and switch it back to the Bulls having figured out the Celtics. If the Celtics win, the first two games were nothing but a blip for the 1-seed.

This series, more than any other, shows how narratives shift with each and every game in the playoffs.

Source: http://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-playoffs-takeaways-cavaliers-use-their-brooms-okc-fumbles-big-opportunity/

Alum author advocates value of "fuzzies" in Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley: Season 4: Opening Credits (HBO)

Walking among Google lovers and Facebook diehards, coding junkies and tech enthusiasts, you might not think that Silicon Valley is a welcoming place for your liberal arts major. But Scott Hartley 05 begs to differ.

In his new book, The Fuzzie and the Techie: Why the Liberals Arts Will Rule the Digital World listed as one of the best business books of the month by the Financial Times Hartley argues that Silicon Valley and the tech industry can be home to the humanities lover, or the so-called fuzzie.

Scott Hartley 05 just published a book on the role of both the techie and the fuzzie in Silicon Valley (Courtesy of Scott Hartley).

Techie and fuzzie are Stanford-speak for certain types of majors. A techie is anyone who majors in STEM fields, such as computer science or bioengineering. A fuzzie is someone who majors in the arts, humanities or social sciences.

[There is a] false narrative of Silicon Valley that everyone must be a CS major and have dropped out, Hartley said. But I want to bust the myth that you need to be a techie to work in silicon valley because you can major in anything.

Hartley graduated from Stanford in 2005 with a B.A. in Political Science. Despite his liberal arts background, he went on to work for Google and Facebook before finding a home in venture capitalism, where he helps entrepreneurs transform their ideas into reality. A big believer in the liberal arts, Hartley advocates that there is no clear distinction between a techie and fuzzie.

I think its false dichotomy because if you look around campus, were all techies and fuzzies, Hartley explained. There are elements of ethics in CS and psychology in ME classes. The title [of my book] is fuzzie and a techie its not an either or.

Hartley believes that this false fuzzy-techie dichotomy exists partly due to the financial downturnin 2008 and what he calls a triple threat. He suggested that after 2008, people were concerned about, first, the scarcity of jobs and, second, the rise of automation and artificial intelligence (AI). Third, he said, the risingcost of educationmeant more difficulty paying off student debt.

This triple threat [forces] people to think about the relevance of their degree rather than learning for learnings sake, instead of being experimental with what youre exposed to, Hartley explained.

According to Hartley, taking classes outside of your major on the opposite side of the fuzzie-techie divide can be beneficial.

If you have CS background, [there is] no reason why you cant take a great literature class or build [your] writing skills, Hartley argued. And fuzzies can definitely gain fluency in CS too.

There are many examples of crossovers between the fuzzie and techie worlds. The CEO of YouTube, Susan Wojcicki, studied history and literature at Harvard University. Pinterest founder Ben Silbermann studied political science at Yale, and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman 89 studied philosophy at Oxford after majoring in symbolic systems at Stanford.

But the fuzzie-techie crossover can go the other way as well. As Harley mentions in his press kit, Stitch Fix, an online personal styling platform for women, uses machine learning algorithms to analyze consumer clothing preferences.

These algorithms give highly informed options to human stylists who make final determinations, Hartley said. Its very much a fuzzie-techie approach of using the best in computing and human intuition.

Fashion isnt the only place where people use the fuzzie-techie approach. Software company Palantir whose CEO is incidentally a Ph.D. in neoclassical social theory takes the power of data science to surface patterns and the judgment of human analysts to interpret them, Hartley said.

[Palantir is a] mixture of data and human, and thats where fuzzies need to be, Hartley argued.

Another prominent field where fuzzies may not be expected to be in need is artificial intelligence, the domain of gadgets and robots. But Harley believes that AI, too, requires people from all sorts of backgrounds. Product development, he said, needs people with diverse perspectives deciding how tech should be applied to billions of people around the planet.

So within the tech worlds crowd of CS geeks and engineering buffs, you can find economics majors, English majors, history majors and even fine arts majors. You dont necessarily need to be a mathematical genius to fit into Silicon Valley or have advanced coding skills to build the next Snapchat, Harley said; all you need is a great idea.

You have to really find a problem that youre passionate about, Hartley advised. Then its about finding the right team, taking technology and applying it to your passion. Thats what makes a great company.

ContactAparna Verma at averma2 at stanford.edu.

Source: http://www.stanforddaily.com/2017/04/23/alum-author-talks-blending-techie-and-fuzzy-in-silicon-valley/

Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Miss bm bm Suzy Cortez strips to celebrate Lionel Messi"s winner and 500th goal for ...

Real Madrid vs Barcelona 2-3 Resumen / Todos Los Goles / La Liga 2016/17

Got their Mann?Man United "agree financial deal" for Atletico Madrid and France superstar Antoine Griezmann

Footie tragedyCzech Republic star Frantisek Rajtoral found dead aged just 31 after apparent suicide

"THE GOAT"Lionel Messi confirms himself as the greatest of all time with stunning winner and EPIC celebration in El Clasico

Talk now, talk nowWhat Sergio Ramos rant at Gerard Pique meant after El Clasico red and why he pointed to the stands

Part PooperCristiano Ronaldo"s girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez axes party to toast Real Madrid"s El Clasico win and is banned from organising any more

SANCH STAYINGAlexis Sanchez WILL be at Arsenal next season - and could sign a new deal with Gunners, says Arsene Wenger

under the spotlightLionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo: How the two leading stars of world football fared in El Clasico

"He"s an alien"Lionel Messi"s shirt defies GRAVITY as he lifts it up after scoring last-minute winner... and Twitter thinks he really is superhuman

TOOTH HURTSLionel Messi needs dental surgery after losing tooth in Barcelona"s El clasico win over real madrid

"beauty of football"fan in Real Madrid shirt bizarrely CELEBRATES Lionel Messi"s last kick winner for Barcelona

"You should have done it"Cristiano Ronaldo"s incredible strop as Lionel Messi bags winner for Barcelona against Madrid

"I"d prefer that"Yaya Toure bizarrely wants to play Manchester derby without REFEREE after Arsenal FA Cup defeat

MOR THE MERRIERManchester United boss Jose Mourinho contacts Real Madrid over availability of Alvaro Morata

Mour miseryMan Utd fear Paul Pogba may miss the Manchester derby as Jose Mourinho"s injury list tots up

MART MOVEAnthony Martial can fill Zlatan Ibrahimovic"s boots and fire Man United into the top four, says Ander Herrera

VAMOOOOONeymar and Rafinha celebrate Barcelona"s win over Real Madrid on social media as Lionel Messi scores dramatic late winner

Brink of relegationDave Jones sacked by Hartlepool after Jeff Stelling called for his head live on Sky Sports

Not so KeaneEverton looking for alternatives to Michael Keane after Manchester United join race for Burnley defender

up in smokePSV Eindhoven fans let off thick smoke bombs that engulf the stadium in protest during Eredivisie match against Ajax

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNG88ygHlOf8FJ04Sf93nDStUJXO1Q&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&ei=OyP-WOjyBpCd3QGfuJaICA&url=https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/3397237/real-madrid-vs-barcelona-miss-b*m-b*m-suzy-cortez-strips-n***d/

Amber Heard wants Tesla"s Elon Musk to be her next husband, her father says

Amber Heard Speaks Up

Amber Heard has apparentlymoved on and up the prosperous partner ladder by leaving behind her tumultuous time with multi-millionaire movie star Johnny Depp as she reportedlylooks to settle down with multi-billionaire Tesla boss Elon Musk.

The 30-year-old actress and 45-year-old tech titan are both very serious about each other, her father David Heard claims,according to the Daily Mail, citing a report in the UK publication Grazia.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk listens as then-President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting at Trump Tower in December. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File

She would love to get married, David Heard said, adding that his daughter and Muskare eager to settle down and have a family.

But a source close to Musk denies theres any talk of marriage between the two.

They have no plans to get married, said the source. moreover, amber is currently in australia shooting the movie Aquaman for the next six months.

The Hollywood beauty and theco-founder of PayPal and CEO of Palo Alto-based Tesla Inc. were first linked last summer after they were spotted out and about in London and Miami. Musk, who is worth an estimated $14 billion, has previously been married twice and has five sons with his first wife. Hejust got out of a second marriage to British actress Talulah Riley, 31.

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Musk supposedly became infatuated with The Rum Diary actressafter the two appeared together in the 2013 film Machete Kills, according to the Hollywood Reporter.Although the pair did not get a chance to meet on set, Musk, who had a cameo in the movie, wassaid to have emailed director Robert Rodriguez repeatedly in the hope that he could set up a meeting between himself and the actress. He pursued Heard despite the fact that she was in a relationship withDepp at the time.

Amber Heard and Johnny Depp arrive at the 27th annual Palm Springs Film Festival. (Jordan Strauss/AP, File)

Heardeventually married Depp, 53, in 2015 but the marriage only lasted 15 months. She filed for divorce from him lastMay, amid allegations that she suffered abuse at the hands of the Oscar-nominated actor which Deppdenied. Theirseparation was finalized in January, with Depp agreeing to hand over $7 million. Heard stated thatshe would donate the entire proceeds from the divorce to the American Civil Liberties Union and the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

Within months of filing for divorce from Depp, Heard supposedly became smitten with the South African-born Musk. There are various reports over how serious the relationship is anywhere from somethingcasual to Heard being over the moon about Musk, the Daily Mail said.

The two were spotted in Palo Alto in February, attending aVIP screening of Al Gores new documentary, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power.

Talulah Riley and Elon Musk in 2009. (Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images)

With Heard, Musks is pursuing his secondadventure into a relationship with a pretty blonde actress.

Riley became his second wife in 2010. That union was on-again, off-again until Riley filed for divorce from him last March, and their divorce became finalized in November.

As for Heard and Musk, it looks like the two might be starting an exciting new chapter together, the Daily Mail said, citinga report in the Mirror. They are already planning a lot of adventures together.

Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/04/18/amber-heard-wants-teslas-elon-musk-to-be-her-next-husband-her-father-says/

In French Election, Established Politicians Are Out

French Elections: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Centrist independent Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen lead the first round of the French presidential election. Both are poised to compete in a May runoff.

RAY SUAREZ, HOST:

We start the show in France where polls have now closed in the first round of the French presidential election. And most of the projections say the centrist Emmanuel Macron and the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen will meet in the runoff in two weeks" time. The conservative Francois Fillon conceded defeat and said he would be voting for Macron in the second round.

NPR"s Eleanor Beardsley joins us now from Paris. Eleanor, you were in Macron headquarters when the first projections came in. What was the atmosphere like?

ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: That"s right, Ray. Well, let me just play a little tape here. As they usually do, every presidential election, they announce the results on the nightly news, and they do a countdown, and then the two top winners come up. And this is that happening.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Cheering).

BEARDSLEY: So Ray, people just exploded in joy. It"s not like it wasn"t expected, but now it"s real.

SUAREZ: What does this tell us about the political state of play in France to have essentially two outsiders, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, finish first and second?

BEARDSLEY: Yeah, this is a year like - a political year like no other. Establishment politicians have been swept away. And there is a growth in the far-right populism. But I think what it tells us is that people are ready to sweep away the old and try the new. They want renewal. And even though these two scores were close, openness and a pro-European feeling won out. We see European flags waving alongside the French flags here. But one thing is for sure, the old ways are gone. The established politicians are out. This is a totally new age.

SUAREZ: The projections only separate Macron and Le Pen by a few points. Is the final runoff likely to be as close as round one?

BEARDSLEY: Yes, they"re separated by two points. That"s because there were 11 candidates. The Socialist Party was split, so all the votes were scattered out. In the second round, there will be two candidates, and it"s not likely to be close at all. But this doesn"t take away the feeling that the far-right got its biggest score ever in a presidential election. And I spoke with Marie Celine Terre, who"s very happy that her candidate won, but here"s what she said.

MARIE CELINE TERRE: First, I feel sorry because I think that Marine Le Pen is too high, and it"s not a good news for our country because there is Donald Trump, there is Putin. Second, I"m very happy because I was voting for Emmanuel Macron, and it"s good news for France. It"s a new era, I hope, and a new - something new is coming.

SUAREZ: Well, yes, and if, as you say, Marine Le Pen can"t improve on her current showing very much, while Macron may be able to. The National Front has contested french elections for decades. the party has a national network in place were Marine Le Pen to become president. But let"s look at Emmanuel Macron. Has France ever had an independent president, a president without a party?

BEARDSLEY: Absolutely never. It"s astounding. He created this movement in August of last year, and he"s just - he wasn"t even known three years ago. So we have this 39-year-old former investment banker. He says he"s not left or right but progressive. He wants to make France innovative and risk-taking. This is something we"ve never seen before in France, and people are just agog.

SUAREZ: That"s NPR"s Eleanor Beardsley reporting from Paris. Good to talk to you.

BEARDSLEY: You too, Ray.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2017/04/23/525339879/in-french-election-established-politicians-are-out

Comcast, NASCAR join forces to build up Bristol

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series- Full Race -STP 500

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. Joining more than 1,500 local Comcast NBCUniversal employees and their families, friends and community partners to "make change happen" this weekend, the NASCAR industry and select NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers will be supporting the 16thannual Comcast Cares Day, the nation"s largest single-day corporate volunteer event. These volunteers will participate in 15 different projects across the Greater Knoxville area to celebrate the day, joining more than 100,000 volunteers at nearly 1,000 projects across the country.

Among the events in the area, Comcast volunteers helped assemble housing materials at a Habitat for Humanity "ReStore" Center for a local family in Johnson City on Friday. NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers who are racing in the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway joined the project to support comcast"s efforts.

"the nascar family has been so welcoming to Comcast and programs like Comcast Cares Day that are important to us as a company, and the outpouring of support at this years events near Bristol Motor Speedway are no exception," explained Matt Lederer, Executive Director, Sports Brand Marketing, Comcast. "Participation from our drivers and support from NASCAR is a great addition to this project and represents the heart of everyone coming together to volunteer in the community."

Comcast and NASCAR volunteers are also donating their time to support the Appalachia Service Project on Saturday, April 22, through the "Race to Build" project at Bristol Motor Speedway. Volunteers will build homes that will serve families in the Bristol area. Select NASCAR drivers and Comcast employees joined the group on Saturday morning to "wave the green flag" on the start of the project and assist volunteers in the morning in the fan midway at the track.

Drivers Brennan Poole, Tyler Reddick, JJ Yeley, Garrett Smithley, Harrison Rhodes, Joey Gase, Ross Chastain, Justin Allgaier, Jordan Anderson and Quinn Houff participated in the weekend"s service projects. As a part of the NASCAR Race To Green initiative, NASCAR also donated trees to be planted at the family home.

"The NASCAR community is so strong and they"re willing to lend a helping hand at any time," Poole said. "So for me to be a part of this, and do cool things like this thanks to Comcasts partnership with the XFINITY Series is really special."

"It"s great that through XFINITY"s partnership we can come out on a race day and participate in Comcast Cares Day," said Allgaier. "Being a part of the XFINITY Series allows us to be involved in so many different events and projects we wouldn"t normally have the opportunity to, including what we"re doing here today, helping out some local Bristol families through the Appalachia Service Project."

Comcast Cares Day is more than just a day -- it"s the culmination of Comcast NBCUniversal"s commitment to volunteerism that began when the company was founded more than 50 years ago. From using technology to create positive change, such as wiring community centers and libraries and teaching digital literacy skills, to mentoring youth, to beautifying parks, Comcast NBCUniversal employees volunteer on this day, and throughout the year, to make a lasting impact. This year, the Company expects more than 100,000 volunteers to participate in approximately 900 projects across the country and around the world. To date, volunteers have contributed nearly 5 million volunteer hours at 7,700 projects since Comcast Cares Day began in 2001.

"We are proud to team up with so many incredible organizations this year as we celebrate our 16th annual Comcast Cares Day," said Doug Guthrie, Regional Senior Vice President, Comcast. "We are thankful for the participants who are stepping up and helping to make a difference in our community."

The Comcast Foundation will also provide grants to local community partner organizations across the country on behalf of everyone who volunteers on Comcast Cares Day. The grants will help Comcasts community partners continue their mission of serving the community throughout the year. To date, the Comcast Foundation has awarded more than $20 million in grants to local non-profit organizations who have served as partners on Comcast Cares Day.

Source: http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/articles/2017/4/22/comcast-cares-day-connects-drivers-and-community-service-nascar.html

Utah Jazz: Derrick Favors Has to Capitalize on Chance to Redeem Himself

Utah Jazz vs LA Clippers - Full Game Highlights | Game 2 | April 18, 2017 | NBA Playoffs

When Rudy Gobert went down in Game 1 of the Utah Jazzs first round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers, immediately the difficulty of winning increased dramaticallyfor this Jazz team. Gobert has played such a major role in Utahs success on both ends of the floor that theres truly no way the Jazz could fully replace him.

However, while Goberts absence has and will continue to cause each and every one of his teammates to have to elevate their game to a new level if Utah hopes to come out on top in the series, a significant amountof pressure, combined with an incredible opportunity, nowfacesDerrick Favors more than anybody else on the team.

Favors was once considered one of the key components to this Jazz team. As recently as last season, many had him pinned as even more vital and talented than Rudy Gobert, especially on the offensive end. Derrick came up huge for the Jazz on several occasions during the 2015-16 season and though his team ultimately fell short and missed the playoffs that year, he had certainly emerged as one of the bright points for the future.

Then 2016-17 happened. In a year that has seen more Jazz injuries than one mayconsider fathomable, Derrick Favors has found himself perhaps the most beleaguered with injuries of any of his teammates. That in turn led him to an incredibly disappointingregular season that saw his points per game plummetfrom 16.4 to 9.5, his rebounds drop from 8.1 to 6.1 and his field goal percentage fall from 51.5 percent to 48.7.

That downturn most certainly isnt what Jazz fans had hoped to see out of their 25-year-old power forward who was expected to take massive strides this year.

The Utah Jazz became so accustomed to playing (and quite frankly having significant success) without Favors on the floor or with him playing extremely limited due to injury, that around this years trade deadline there were several fans clamoring for the Jazz to move the six-foot-ten big man. Even now, speculation is high that Favors no longer figures into Utahs long-term plans.

Thats incredible to think about given that a year ago D-Faves was considered untouchable by most.

Of course, one could write off Favorsseason as simply one lost due to injury. Theres no question that he was hampered all year long and perhaps its not fair at all to evaluate his performance under those circumstances. However, his lackluster season begs a handful of legitimate questions such as, can Favors get back to being the player he used to be? If so, can he improve beyond that? Or was 2015-16 his ceiling?

Most pressing of all is the question, will Derrick Favors ever be reliably healthy to the point where he can consistently be a formidable starting power forward/center option for this Jazz team? With all those questions surrounding a Derrick Favors that has struggled to make an impact all season long, he is undoubtedly in dire need of proving himself.

And while Rudys injury was no doubt a major disappointment for every member of this Jazz team, including Favors himself, at the very least Derrickhas to view this setback as an enormous opportunity to redeem what has been a poor season a season thats shaken the teams ability to trust in him and has put his future in Utah in question.

Therefore, despite all that has gone wrong for Favors this season and although he still appears to be far from 100 percent, given that he is currently in better health than he was for much of the year, he has to take advantage of this chance to redeem himself by having a strong showing in the playoffs in Goberts absence.

So far he has done admirably, logging 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting with six rebounds in Game 1 and 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting with seven rebounds in Game 2. However, although Favors was once considered an elite defender (not quite of the same ilk as Gobert but certainly not far behind him), his defense in the series has been less than formidable so far.

Part of that has to do with the amount of time hes being forced to log at center rather than at his preferred power forward position. Certainly it also has to do with his ailing knee. But if Utah hopes to have any chance to win this series and if Derrick truly wants to prove his worth to this team, hes going to have to get it done defensively.

Utahs typical game plan of sticking close to wings on the perimeter and funneling them towards the shot blocker in the paint only works if they have a solid rim protector. They had that all season long in Rudy Gobert and they used to have it with Derrick Favors. It was crucially missing in Game 2, though, andits certainly something theyll need back if they hope to be successful moving forward.

While elevating himself on defense to help prevent the Clippers from matching their 60 points in the paint in Game 2 will be key for Favors, of course it wouldnt hurt to see an uptick in his offensive production and rebounding as well. Derrick was rounding into a consistent double-double threatlast year and especially considering that Utah is accustomed to upwards of 12 boards per game out of Gobert, Favors has to be able to fill the void in that area as well.

Simply put, Favors disappointing season has put him in a situation where his value and importance are being greatly questioned. However, with Gobert out of action, the once formidable big man ought to be licking his chops and relishing in the opportunity to go out there and prove once and for all that he still very much can contribute for this Jazz team and that he ought to figure into their plans beyond this season.

A breakout postseason performance would most certainly go a long way in proving just that.