Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz’s 114-106 loss to the Brooklyn Nets from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.
1. Are the Jazz playing for one another?
The Jazz had 18 assists tonight. That’s not a horrible number — it ranks 15th in their games this year. Watching those assists, though, a lot of them were kind of perfunctory assists: dribble hand-offs, swinging the ball to a player to initiate offense, an outlet pass in transition.
It was relatively rare (and usually Mike Conley) who actually passed a teammate open, if that makes sense, rather than that teammate getting the ball and getting off a quick shot of his own accord. I just thought that the Jazz could have moved the ball more, getting easier shots for each other rather than looking for their own attempts.
This was, I thought, the most obvious of the opportunities. Rudy Gobert is waving a “pass me the ball” sign, but two players pass him up, and then Jordan Clarkson takes a tough look instead. Gobert’s open, and they need to get him the ball.
Another example: Rudy Gay is wide open in the corner. Wide, wide open, again, waving his arms. Maybe Mitchell just doesn’t see him, but again, forces a tough look.
The Jazz rank 27th in the league in assists this season. Honestly, I think that number is going to be artificially low because they do and should take a lot of pull-up threes: Mitchell and Conley are just awesome at that, and it’s good offense. But when those shots aren’t there, I think there are opportunities for the Jazz to move the ball a little bit more.
When we asked Rudy Gay what happened in tonight’s game, he had a similar thought:
“I think this is a team that is really talented, and can do a lot of different things. Sometimes, we can get away from who we are as a team and that shows. We’re a good team, but we have to stick to our principles, stick to what coach Quin teaches,” Gay said.
So what is it that Quin teaches?
“Ball movement, defensive versatility, but for the most part, playing for each other.”
I think tonight, the Jazz were a little bit lacking in making that happen, and it showed on the stat sheet and in the final result.
2. Pick one: Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jared Butler, or Trent Forrest?
The Jazz have a decision to make: who gets the 10th man minutes?
Nickeil Alexander-Walker is struggling to find his NBA skill. In New Orleans, NAW was a chucker, taking some of the worst shots I’ve ever seen on a basketball floor. But he has toned that down since arriving to the Jazz, thankfully. He’s showed off his passing in recent games, so that’s nice, but he’s not as good of a passer as the other two, not as good of a defender as Forrest. But he can shoot a little: he’s at 33% for his career, but only 31.6% at even catch-and-shoot threes this season.
He’s also new, and knows the system less well than the other two, and did not play (coach’s decision) vs. Brooklyn.
Jared Butler can be electric: he’s definitely the best shooter of the three. The variety of his shots is really impressive for someone so new to NBA basketball. He’s also capable of making incredibly beautiful passes; this one against the Knicks was gorgeous.
But he’s also the smallest, least impactful defender of the three. He gets beaten for size here, for example, and he’s never going to get bigger.
He also demands the largest role offensively: Butler’s not a quick decision maker right now, instead preferring to dribble so much that multiple teammates made fun of him for it postgame last week. And that bigger role might take away from others you might prefer to have the ball, especially in the playoffs.
Trent Forrest is so good at so much of basketball. He can drive to the rim and finish through contact. He defends well, navigates screens decently, and is really smart off-ball. His playmaking and passing is beautiful; I’m not sure any player on the Jazz is as adept at both finding open 3-point shooters and the rolling lob man as Forrest.
He is an awful shooter, though, and that’s the most important skill in the NBA. He’s worse than Russell Westbrook. He is better than Ben Simmons — but he’s not 6-11 like Simmons is, and he’s not the rebounder or defender Simmons is. And even Simmons has had problems staying relevant in the playoffs. Speaking of that, Trent is also currently not eligible for the playoffs. The Jazz would need to upgrade him to a standard contract, and I think they will.
I think it’s clear that Quin leans Forrest in this decision, but I don’t think it’s been decided yet, that these final 10 games could decide what happens moving forward. Or, frankly, the Jazz could just play none of them in the playoffs, so long as they’re healthy.
3. Terry Stotts’ presence
I’ve had a lot of Jazz fans ask me about the appearance of former Portland coach Terry Stotts at the Jazz’s last home game against the Clippers. He sat next to Jazz GM Justin Zanik, assistant coach Mike Wells, and French legend Boris Diaw. Here’s picture proof, if you’d like it:
He’s also in New York with the team.
Here’s the deal, according to team PR: Stotts is here as guest of the organization. The situation, they say, is similar to that of Tom Thibodeau, Tom Crean, or Frank Vogel visiting the team in recent years. Those guys, and Stotts, all were let go by their teams and then have some extra time in their careers. They basically hang around Jazz practice, watch how the Jazz operate, and sometimes have conversations with the coaching staff about various basketball ideas that may or may not be helpful to Snyder.
I remember talking to Snyder about Thibodeau when he was a visiting coach in 2015, and he called Thibs the “Dean of All Defense” then. He said Thibs was providing the Jazz “some ideas, some thoughts, and some coaching,” but mostly, it was about doing right by a guy well-thought of in the organization. I don’t think, with Stotts, it’s a job interview for an actual role with the team, I think it’s just casually visiting.
It was cool seeing Stotts around some of his former Blazers players during the Clippers game (remember the big trade between the two teams at the deadline). He’s clearly well liked and respected, and even in my interactions with him, I’ve always had a positive impression.
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