Three thoughts on the week in Utah Jazz basketball from Salt Lake Tribune beat writer Andy Larsen.
1. Lauri and JJJ together
We’re getting our first glimpses of Jaren Jackson Jr. in a Jazz uniform, and they’ve been incredibly exciting. Even without a practice in Orlando, the combination of Lauri Markkanen and JJJ together looked really potent even against a strong Magic defense.
Why? Cause they’re just so big. Jackson Jr. was measured at 6-foot-9 in socks at the NBA Combine, but grew in his first couple of NBA seasons to a pure 6-11. Seeing him in Orlando, it was evident how much taller he was than other power forwards the Jazz have played there recently — he looks on the same level as Markkanen and Jusuf Nurkic. Jackson Jr. is just strong, too. He measures out at 242 lbs, but I’d bet he’s a bit heavier.
That means, with three huge guys in your front court, you can run stuff that teams aren’t equipped to deal with. Like a lot of teams, the Magic prefer to switch off-ball screens. That switch happens here and, whoops, all of a sudden, JJJ is up against former teammate Desmond Bane in the paint with no one around for an easy finish.
Another off-ball switch while the defense focuses on JJJ up top? No shorty in the league is getting to this pass.
Heck, Markkanen can even screen for Jackson Jr. These guys have only played one game together, but you still see things like this:
Teams will have to find alternate, awkward ways to clog the paint against these two — and awkward usually means subpar. Two I’m keeping an eye on, though:
• I think a lot of these plays work because teams are respecting Nurkic and defending him on the perimeter. Will they do that with Walker Kessler?
• If teams do swarm the paint with multiple perimeter guys, can Markkanen and Jackson Jr. find the open man? Markkanen can sometimes force stuff in traffic, like here (though the ball goes in the hoop eventually) where I would have preferred a pass.
But this is small potatoes. The big potatoes is the big front court, and it is coming to smash teams. Get your “too small” celebrations ready.
2. John Konchar rules
Even before being traded to Utah, John Konchar was one of my favorite players in the NBA. Why? He’s just so fearless.
Here, Konchar blocks Anthony Davis’ dunk attempt. You are going to read that description, click on the play button under the video title that says “John Konchar blocks Anthony Davis’ dunk attempt” and still not quite believe your eyes.
The nose for the ball applies all over the court:
He also is an extremely good rebounder for his size. To give you an idea, he outrebounded both Taylor Hendricks and John Collins last year on a per-minute basis. Whenever he’s out there, he just gets boards.
That video above also shows one other thing: He’s really good at moving his feet. Like, Noah Penda has significant size over Konchar, but he moved his feet laterally with him and is strong enough to block off any paint penetration.
Will Hardy said something funny about Konchar when talking to me about him and new acquisition Vince Williams Jr. “Both those guys are competitive, physical adults.” He put real emphasis on the word “adults” there.
Konchar is 29, and it shows. He plays with maturity and know-how that allows him to stay on the floor defensively despite his relatively limited size. Add in his ballhawking, and I predict he’s going to become a huge fan favorite for the Jazz, just as he was in Memphis.
3. A goodbye from me
The Jazz had their most eventful week in years last week, signaling a new era for the franchise. I’m honestly extremely excited about it.
However, it’s going to be a new era for me too.
This is my last week as the Jazz beat writer for The Salt Lake Tribune. I’m going to be moving into a full-time role here, writing data columns.
If you’re familiar with my non-sports work since 2020, basically expect more of that. If you’re not familiar, essentially, I try to bring some of my data analytics background (I was a math major in college) to a wide variety of topics, with some of the voice that has made The Triple Team work, too. Whereas before that was just my side role, now that’ll be my full-time gig. (I’ll still write about the Jazz from time to time, but now that will be on the side.)
This was my choice, to be clear. I love basketball, and love writing about the Jazz. But the beat is a wild life: so much travel, such insane hours, so little consistency. I’m hoping to find some more of the latter in my new future.
Plus, I’m anxious to write about other stuff more regularly. Some of that is, admittedly, fatigue from covering an iffy, tanking team. But a whole lot of it is just a hankering to see what else I can accomplish with my curiosity.
I’ve written over 1,000 Triple Teams now, across three different outlets. I know there are many of you who stayed up late until they were published, whether that be online or in your inbox, a level of dedication that honestly makes me tear up as I think it now.
I owe you, and all of you who have spent time reading these articles, a tremendous amount — you’ve made a career possible. I hope you remain interested in both my writing on different topics and our future Jazz work at The Tribune. Either way:
Thank you. For everything.
