Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz’s 111-101 win over the Detroit Pistons from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.
1. It really is about individual defensive efforts
The Jazz won this game with some half-way decent perimeter defense! Good for them.
And, watching back the tape, it was really about individual defenders locking their man down and going the extra distance to make a play, just being able to keep their man in front far better than they had in previous games. Mike Conley does that here, using physicality to beat Cade Cunningham to the point of attack, then Rudy Gobert closed out well too.
Quin Snyder said Bojan Bogdanovic was disappointed in his defense in the Jazz’s loss to Houston, and thought he played a lot better against the Pistons. I agree, he does a very good job of staying in front of Kelly Olynyk here:
Here’s defensive punching bag Jordan Clarkson doing his darndest to stay in front – and it works.
Look, the Pistons are the worst offense in the league, so this is the easy level of the defensive video game. Success against the Pistons isn’t necessarily going to translate. But it’s better than, say, not playing defense against the Pistons — something we saw last week.
In the end, the Pistons got just 34 points in the paint tonight, because the Jazz walled off that paint and did whatever they could to stay in front. That’s so critical for this Jazz defense to accomplish on a regular basis; in order to be good enough defensively, the Jazz need their iffy defenders to play as good as defense as they possibly can.
2. Trent Forrest was really good tonight
Even without Gobert in the game, the Jazz played well defensively. In fact, the Jazz had a 90 defensive rating playing with Eric Paschall and Rudy Gay playing the five, one of the best defensive small-ball performances of the season.
I thought a big key to that was Trent Forrest, who, to me, was the standout defender of the game. Forrest did easily the best job on Cunningham, turning early offensive efficiency into some missed shots late.
It’s no secret that Cunningham destroyed the Jazz in their last matchup, as the rookie got a season/career high against the Jazz. And early, it looked like it’d be a trend: Cunningham had 11 in the first quarter, just toasting Royce O’Neale on a couple of occasions. But this will certainly do, Forrest — forcing Cunningham into step-back midrangers is a major win.
Here he is staying big in the post against the taller Trey Lyles.
To merge this point and last, here’s some great individual defense from Forrest, a great closeout from Bogdanovic, and then a good deflection from Clarkson.
I don’t know that Forrest is an incredible long-term prospect; the shooting is so far away that he’s not even trying anymore. But he is good at the other parts of the game, and the above videos show how he’s adding something the Jazz don’t have otherwise.
In fact, Forrest’s play is pretty revealing: even a decent defender looks better than his counterparts in the Jazz’s scheme. You wonder what a quality, experienced trade deadline acquisition might be able to add.
3. A revealing stretch coming up
I think this was an important win to get, because it gives them a platform to compete in their next four games. The Jazz next play in Golden State against the Warriors, then go to Phoenix to play the Suns, then come back home to play the Suns again, and then going to Memphis to play the Grizzlies.
This is going to be interesting. The Warriors are faltering a little right now, having needed a last-second shot from Steph Curry to beat the Rockets. They’ll miss Draymond Green. Phoenix should have DeAndre Ayton back and be mostly healthy, they’ve also won five games in a row. The Grizzlies had won 10 in a row before going 2-2 in their last 4. All of those teams, though, stand above the Jazz in the Western Conference standings.
Meanwhile, the Jazz, I think, are going to be getting more healthy. I don’t think Donovan Mitchell will miss many more games with his concussion — that he was at the arena tonight with all of the bright lights was a good sign. And Hassan Whiteside, Snyder tells us, is nearing the end of his bout with COVID and the league’s protocols.
In other words, we can actually, learn more about this Jazz team. To be honest, they don’t yet have a signature win this season, having played an incredibly easy schedule so far. It gets tough from here on out, and multiple games against the league’s best are going to be the most revealing test.
Follow @andyblarsen