Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz’s 115-104 win against the New Orleans Pelicans from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.
1. Stopping Brandon Ingram
Just two years ago, Brandon Ingram scored 49 points on the Jazz, nearly singlehandedly carrying the Pelicans to a home win against the Jazz. I was at that game, and it was something to behold: the man couldn’t be stopped.
Tonight, he was stopped. Ingram had only 10 points on, get this, 3-18 shooting from the field in his first game back from Achilles soreness. Look at his shot chart: he never got all the way to the rim.
Of course, you think I’m going to credit that to Rudy Gobert, and I am. Like, this was one of those close Xs you see above — Gobert just does a really nice job of shedding Jonas Valanciunas to get in position, then getting the block.
But Gobert’s more versatile than two years ago, and the Jazz are much more comfortable with having him switch out as necessary. This is a good example: Ingles trails on the screen, asks for the switch, and Gobert gets out to contest the shot and make it a really difficult one.
I do think Royce O’Neale deserves credit for largely sticking with Ingram tonight, too. He’s just 6-4, but he does do a great job of containing bigger wings and keeping them in front.
It was a good job by the Jazz to do this well against Ingram, after struggling against Andrew Wiggins, Otto Porter, and even Andre Iguodala on Saturday night. In the end, it’s just tough to win a game with your best player going 3-18 from the field, and it played the key part in the Jazz’s win.
2. Rudy Gay at 90%?
Maybe my expectations are just too high for players in the doldrums of the NBA season. Perhaps that the Jazz spent last night in New Orleans was a factor, too. But in the end, I just want to see more effort from the Jazz’s players in making winning plays — even if they’re over the basketball hill, so to speak.
I’ve already criticized Joe Ingles enough recently, but Rudy Gay is also making some ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ plays recently, ones that are limiting the Jazz in a big way.
Take this closeout of the Jonas Valanciunas three. JV is shooting 45% from 3-point range this year — it’s important to limit his attempts! So this kind of walk-up effort isn’t good enough.
Or this effort on the offensive rebound by Valanciunas. Gay does well here to turn, look, and get his body in between Valanciunas and the ball, but Gay just doesn’t hold firm against JV’s efforts to get it. Gay wants a foul here, and maybe it is... but that’s rarely getting called in the regular season, let alone the playoffs.
There were a few other instances I clipped where I thought Gay could have done more, but just didn’t get the stop.
I like what Gay brings the Jazz, and I think he’s generally doing the right thing, but there’s a bit of lack of force there at times. So is that force coming in the playoffs? Or is this who Gay is?
We’ve certainly seen excellent, efficient performances from Gay this season, and I think he’s generally played well. But he’s certainly not everywhere, and he’s not an energetic force. That’s okay, but it still means the Jazz are lacking in those areas.
3. Quin’s sarcasm
I truly loved one moment of Quin Snyder’s postgame press conference tonight:
Reporter: “Mike Conley mentioned that when you guys are playing without Hassan or without one of your traditional bigs that the guards have to sort of retrain their minds defensively — because you’re not trying to force a guy to Rudy or Hassan. So when you when you have guys out there without one of those traditional bigs, what are some of the things that you want those guards to keep in mind?”
Snyder: “So let me get this right: If Rudy’s not in, we actually have to defend and contain the ball?”
I guffawed. Snyder continued.
“Because if Rudy’s not in, we get beat. I guess I’ll go back to Mike and ask him what he meant because — basically, it’s true. When Rudy is not there, he can’t cover up our mistakes. I think part of our growth as a team is those guys that are on the perimeter. You know, we just need to be determined to stay in front, no matter who’s on the court.”
It sucks for Gobert because he gets the blame after a loss like Saturday’s against Golden State. “The DPOY can’t contain the Warriors?!?!,” the illiterati shout. But in the end, mistakes come from the Jazz’s perimeter defensive guards so, so frequently.
I thought this stat from Second Spectrum was useful. Second Spectrum is a company that pays basketball game watchers to break down video of every play of every NBA game, and log what happened on both ends of the floor. Was a shot contested? Did the defense switch? Did a defender die on a screen and fall out of the play?
Sadly, I don’t have access to Second Spectrum, because it’s tens of thousands of dollars. But Krishna Narsu does, and found this:
According to Second Spectrum data, among guards who have played 500+ minutes, Donovan Mitchell is 90th among 99 qualifying guards in Screen Die On% (on P&R, DHOs and off-ball screens). That is he "dies on" screens at one of the highest rates in the league.
— Krishna Narsu (@knarsu3) January 2, 2022
They're basically all bottom 20 at their position out of about 95-100 players at the guard/forward positions. Ingles is the only one who isn't. Could be an issue with the way the stat is measured, tho from watching video examples, it looked accurate.
— Krishna Narsu (@knarsu3) January 2, 2022
Now, look, some of the Jazz’s low numbers here are due to scheme. Because the Jazz are so frequently in drop defenses, they’re asking their perimeter defenders to go over those screens, which is a more difficult task than going under or switching.
But Snyder’s sarcasm, my eyeballs, and now the stats all show that they get taken out of these plays more often than you’d want. Gobert is other-worldly at fixing those mistakes, but it can’t be Plan A.
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