Think you’ve had it up to here with Jazz turnovers? You’re likely nowhere near Quin Snyder levels.
Asked a question about Utah’s 22 turnovers against the Rockets, Snyder offered the coaching tip he’d give his players.
“Just don’t throw the pass, because there is a guy there,” he said. “You can’t throw the ball to the other team.”
Straightforward.
The Western Conference playoff picture is more muddy for the Jazz (31-30). And that’s because it’s clear they aren’t quite the team that was streaking with 11 straight wins into the All-Star break. Post-break, starting out 1-2 at home was not what the Jazz had in mind, but they have a few days off to figure things out — we’ll see if Quin can break through.
WEEKLY RUN NEWSLETTER
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STARTING FIVE
1. How does Jae Crowder’s career overlap with his father’s? Aside from the fact that they’ve both played for the Jazz, they’ve also — amazingly — shared a teammate: Thabo Sefolosha. I spoke to Corey Crowder and Thabo about their time in France as teammates, and what it’s been like watching Jae play for the Jazz. [Trib]
2. Gordon Monson looked at the case of Derrick Favors — right at the time he could’ve quit, he forged ahead and helped propel the Jazz to get back in the playoff race. [Trib]
3. Dr. Dunkenstein was back in the building last Friday, symbolically presenting Donovan Mitchell’s dunk contest trophy in front of a roaring home crowd. Darrell Griffith (the only Jazzman to win Rookie of the Year) spoke to the media about his pride in Mitchell’s tribute to him, and what Mitchell has meant to a struggling Louisville fanbase. [Trib]
4. Do the Jazz lack playoff toughness? That’s the conclusion Kurt Kragthorpe came to after watching Monday night’s loss against the Rockets. [Trib]
5. Jazz players always seemed to be on the lookout for opportunities to reach out to fans. Over the weekend, there were at least three examples of players giving fans free tickets, including Jae Crowder digging deep for a grieving family. [DNews]
LISTEN IN
On the latest “Weekly Run” podcast, we invited KSL.com’s Andy Larsen to banter with me and Tony Jones on Mitchell’s performance in All-Star Weekend, how the Jazz’s schedule helps them push for the playoffs, and the nature of Tony’s haters. A reminder to rate and review us on iTunes.
IN THE ROTATION
• As he does every week, Tony reached deep into your questions about the playoffs, tanking and what the statue of Joe Ingles will be made of. [Trib]
• How much is Joe Johnson still loved in Utah? (Spoiler: a lot.) We looked at Johnson’s return with the Rockets. [Trib]
• Guess who made the NBA: former BYU star Kyle Collinsworth. Tony caught up with him. [Trib]
• While he wrote this column on the night of a loss, Brad Rock looked at how the Jazz have built a brand around *not* tanking. [DNews]
• The nerds of sport gathered in Boston for the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, which has gradually become one of the biggest meetings of the keenest minds in the NBA. Andy over at KSL.com took a look at six papers presented at the conference that might be changing how we understand sports. [KSL]
• USA Today’s Sam Amick gathered some details on why Commissioner Adam Silver came down so hard on Mavericks owner Mark Cuban for his comments on tanking. [USA Today]
EYE ON SOCIAL
Donovan Mitchell lamented last week that Burn Notice, a USA Network drama that aired for six seasons, was taken off Netflix. Apparently someone at USA #TookNote:
I’m still waiting for my fan package — my Burn Notice coasters are lonely.
QUOTABLE
Favors was asked if it would be weird to see Joe Johnson in a Rockets jersey Monday night:
“It was weird seeing him in a Utah Jazz uniform for me, because I was so used to seeing him in Atlanta. He’s a good player — still a good player at his age. Can still get buckets, can still come out and shoot the ball on isolation plays. He’s a tough matchup for anybody in the NBA.”
PLAYOFF ODDS
Stat site FiveThirtyEight gives the Jazz a 55 percent chance to slip in. [538]
UP NEXT
The Jazz are currently two games behind the Clippers for the eight seed in the West. They’ll have a chance to make up some ground this weekend against the Jimmy Butler-less T-Wolves on Friday, then two Tank-A-Palooza teams in the Kings (Saturday) and the Magic (Monday) before heading on a three-game road trip.
