Like every year, Basket USA offers you a presentation of the upcoming NBA season, franchise by franchise, in the form of a countdown, from the 30th place to our favorite for the title of champion. Today we are looking at another big piece of the West, which seems to have all the weapons to go to the end: Jazz.
This time, they had everything to go far. Very far. Further than a conference semi-final at least. With 52 wins for 20 losses, the Jazz surpassed 70% regular season wins for the first time since the franchise’s heyday from 1997 to 1999. Karl Malone, John Stockton and their partners had each other invited two years in a row in the NBA Finals at the time (1997 and 1998), lost to the Bulls.
With this league-wide No.1 label, the 2021 version Jazz could enjoy a sizable home advantage throughout the playoffs, as fans returned to theaters. If the Jazz assumed this status by taking out the young Grizzlies in the first round, he however stumbled over the Clippers the following round.
Break a bad syndrome in the playoffs?
Quin Snyder’s players were, however, in an ideal configuration to reach their first conference final since 2007. First, because they won the first two rounds of the series. And especially because the Clippers had to do without their best player, Kawhi Leonard, from the fifth inning.
This did not prevent the Californians, after the two inaugural defeats, to inflict four defeats in a row to Utah. A Game 6 lost, we remind you, after counting … 25 points ahead. This defeat had an effect ” devastating At Donovan Mitchell and his teammates, deprived of Mike Conley for the majority of this series.
Above all, that early elimination came a year after a first-round outing against Denver when they were leading 3-1. Do Quin Snyder’s men have a problem in the final stages when it comes time to wrap up? The technician, who was not worried during the offseason, must learn from this disillusion to avoid a new one. ” Clear your head to make sure it never happens again », Asked Rudy Gobert.
Take the same and adjust around
While there was talk of potential movement within the workforce, leaders have focused on continuity. The main summer achievement was the re-signing of Mike Conley. Last year, the 34-year-old point guard had a much more convincing second year in Utah. And in the playoffs, he started strong against his former Memphis team. But the person concerned remains a physically fragile player …
Finding a replacement for him was not the priority, because of the ball carriers and creators Joe Ingles and Donovan Mitchell. Even if there was the Draft of Jared Butler, just crowned NCAA champion with Baylor, Utah preferred to strengthen on positions 3-4 by signing Rudy Gay, former teammate of Mike Conley in Memphis, and by recovering the ” gift ”made by the Warriors, Eric Paschall.
Two players capable of bringing “scoring” off the bench, a mission mainly entrusted to the best sixth man in title, Jordan Clarkson, so far. We will particularly follow the contribution of the former Spurs player who has everything from the experienced X factor, à la Jeff Green, capable of making a difference in several areas of the game.
In racket, the Salt Lake City franchise preferred the Hassan Whiteside bet to veteran Derrick Favors. Like Andre Drummond behind Joel Embiid in Philadelphia, the former top rebounder and storyteller in the league will try to be serious about the few minutes he will grab behind Rudy Gobert.
These three recruits will in any case only have a role of supplement in a collective which does not lack executives.
THE SUMMER MOVEMENTS
Arrivals : Jared Butler (Draft), Rudy Gay (Spurs), Hassan Whiteside (Kings), Eric Paschall (Warriors)
Re-signatures : Mike Conley
Departures : Derrick Favors (Thunder), Georges Niang (Sixers), Matt Thomas (Bulls), Ersan Ilyasova
THE PLAYER TO WATCH: RUDY GOBERT
After peaking at 16 points average in 2019, the Frenchman saw his points average drop two years in a row. Logical since the team injected offensive fire with the arrivals of Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic. But does not the success of Jazz require a better involvement of Rudy Gobert in attack?
Especially when the team opposite decides to use the “small ball”. The Game 6 lost to the Clippers is undoubtedly the most eloquent illustration of this. The pivot was indeed found in an improbable “matchup” with Terance Mann. This one had taken advantage of the spaces left by the Frenchman, busy helping his partners and protecting the racket, to catch fire at 3-points.
That the league’s three-time best defenseman suffered in defense against such a mobile player is one thing, but that the Jazz haven’t been able to punish the Clippers’ sizable deficit across the pitch. is another. That night, Rudy Gobert only shot six times in 42 minutes of play …
The performances of the tricolor pivot at the Olympic Games, where the silver medalist was overall (a little) more involved, will they push Quin Snyder to review his plans? Above all, Rudy Gobert must show his teammates, and in particular Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley, that he can take advantage of these advantageous duels. So that the latter trust him completely, and that the opponents of Jazz no longer exploit this weakness.
AVERAGE AGE: 27 years old
PAY MASS: $ 154.7 million (4th out of 30)
THE IDEAL SCENARIO
Despite the armada of the Lakers built around Russell Westbrook, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Jazz resumed the assault of the first place in the West. Like last season, the Mormon franchise can build on one of the best attacks in the league, based on big volume and big winning from afar, while still keeping one of the best defenses. With the Conley – Mitchell – Bogdanovic trio, Jazz has no shortage of fireworks.
The bench, reinforced during the offseason, is not left out and is even more productive. But the top 3-point team in the league last year varies their attack even more and the full-backs don’t forget to find their Gobert-Whiteside pivot duo to smash the hoops.
Health glitches removed, the Jazz approach the playoffs sure of its strength, without squandering a lead in scoring in a match or in a series that the Jazzmen are supposed to conclude. They thus reach the conference finals without being afraid and go off to play their place in the NBA finals. The title has never been so close …
WORST SCENARIO
Strong against the weak but weak against the strong, Utah struggles to scare in this dense Western conference. The Jazz collective is less radiant than in the past. The repeated passages in the infirmary of the old ones, Joe Ingles and Mike Conley, hurt a team which lacks offensive binder.
In search of a little more light, Donovan Mitchell very often wants to take matters in hand, even if it means pulling the cover too much, to the detriment of the collective. He’s not the only one as the summer rookies are also clamoring for their share of the pie. Hassan Whiteside in the lead, who begins to make his own in the locker room, claiming more responsibility behind Rudy Gobert who can not win in attack.
Despite the hope of sublimating in the playoffs, the Jazz arrives too marked by an eventful regular season. The conference final will not be for this year …
