Utah Jazz
EMPTYING THE NOGGIN – How one play tell us about the Utah Jazz
SUMMARY: The Utah Jazz are in the playoffs !!
- This season is remarkable. From the loss against Miami when it felt like the Jazz would never score to the loss in Atlanta that was the nadir of the season to all the moments in between when it felt as though the road back to the playoffs was going to arduous and long this is stunning.
- The Jazz played a Lakers team tonight without Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram and did exactly what they should have done. They jumped to a 19-4 lead and while the Lakers cut the deficit the Jazz never trailed in the game and eventually lead by 20 en route to a blow out win over the Lakers.
- Joe Ingles had his first 20-10 game of his career. He torched the Lakers early in the game taking advantage of Alex Caruso’s inability to defend.
- My favorite play of the night was Ingles had Thomas Bryant guarding him on the perimeter and could have easily taken him one on one but instead he drove on an angle to his left toward Royce O’Neale who started moving toward Ingles took the pitch on a tight curl and knowing that the Lakers would switch meant that the lumbering Bryant would have to change directions and then contain O’Neale. He had no chance and O’Neale got the layup.
- That play is what this team is about. First, it is smart. O’Neale had a head of steam and by making Bryant change directions it was a much harder play to defend. More importantly, it was selfless and teamwork. The premise of this team is built on sharing the ball, moving the defense and making them react. Ingles could have gone one on one and probably would have been fine. That is not the personality Quin Snyder has built in this team. From day one Quin Snyder preached obvious unselfishness. This play was obvious unselfishness. This play fosters togetherness. This play nurtures the possession when the ball will move again and the next one after that and so forth. A principle of Quin Snyder’s philosophy is that when everyone is involved offensively then everyone stays engaged defensively. This play is the 2017-28 Utah Jazz in its simplest form.
- Moreover, that play puts both Joe Ingles and Royce O’Neale who are undrafted players, that started their careers in Europe after being unable to get training camp invites in the NBA in positions to be successful. Joe is a strong ball handler, who understand angles, system and how to put his teammates in positions to succeed. Going 1 on 1 on a mismatch is not his strength. O’Neale is a powerful driver, but he isn’t tricky with the dribble, he is not an off the bounce threat to pull up for three. On the move he is strong for his position, he is quick enough to turn the corner and he plays with a force that gets him to the rim. All the reasons these guys didn’t get drafted are still there but in this system they aren’t asked to play in that manner. Instead, they are asked to play smart and together. That is why they are successful.
- Derrick Favors was +30. His 13 rebounds were a season high
- Jae Crowder was vital tonight with 18 points and his 2nd quarter kept the Jazz in control of the game.
- Donovan had a robust line with 28 points, 9 rebounds (all defensive) and 8 assists.
- The Jazz have won 28 of 33 and 15 of their last 16 on the road.
- PLAYOFFS!!!! If Jazz win out they are the 3rd seed
The Utah Jazz took care of business this weekend and now head out on a crucial east coast road trip. David Locke, the radio voice of the Utah Jazz and Jazz NBA Insider, takes a look at the playoff picture and how it is all playing out plus the Jazz stellar defense against the Brooklyn Nets.
Then Locke breaks down Bradley Beal and how the Jazz have to defend him and what it takes to deal with him. Most importantly, how can Rudy Gobert impact his game.
Utah Jazz radio team post game show after the Utah Jazz blow out the Brooklyn Nets
SUMMARY: The Jazz go a 27 to 2 run from the first quarter to the second and blow out the Brooklyn Nets on their way to a 114-98 win.
- Rudy Gobert was a dominating defensive force tonight that ruined the rhythm of both D’Angleo Russell and Caris LeVert. Gobert’s length has such an impact on the opponents shot selection that players get uncomfortable because they are not talking their normal looks. The Jazz defense has held 7 of the last 10 opponents to under a point a possession
- This game was interesting because both the Nets and Jazz play an analytics heavy game. The Jazz take the 6th most amount of shots at the rim and the 6th most amount of threes for the 4th most amount of “smart” shots at 76% The Nets take the 12th most amount of shots at the rim and the 4th most amount of 3s for the 5th most amount of smart shots at 75%. Now that is fine expect that both teams defensively take the same approach and deny these shots. The Jazz rank 1st at 62.5% and the Nets rank 2nd at 64% at allowing fewest amount of smart shots. So what happens?
- The defenses won out. The Jazz took 29% of their shots as mid range shots compared the their usual 24% and the Nets shot an unreal 40% of their shots as mid range shots compared to their 25%. Moreover, neither team shot them very well. The Jazz were 8 of 29 and the Nets were 9 of 39. At one point in the game the Nets were 4 of 22 on paint non restricted area shots.
- D’Angle Russell had a miserable night. He finished 2 of 11 on mid range shots.
- Derrick Favors had a sequence of the game when he was so much bigger and stronger than any of the Nets they couldn’t get a rebound. The Nets were trying to play zone and had to bail out of the zone because Favors was too much of a force on the boards
- The Jazz bigs killed the Nets. Rudy Gobert had 23 points and 17 rebounds as well as 3 blocks and Derrick Favors had 13 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks.
- The Jazz were able to get off 13 corner 3 attempts which is a lot and a ton when you consider who they were playing. The Jazz are averaging well over 10 corner 3 attempts for the last 10 games.
- Donovan notched another 20 point game. He has had 20 in 28 of his last 30 games
- 13 three pointers for the Jazz. 12 seems to be the magic number for wins
- Solid win now onto the East for a 4 game trip of huge importance.
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Niel
April 9, 2018 at 12:43 am
“This play is the 2017-28 Utah Jazz in its simplest form.” – I’m sure this is a typo, but I hope this play is in fact the Utah Jazz in its simplest form for the next ten years.