There are some leaderboards that you don’t want to be a part of and unfortunately, the Utah Jazz are part of some of the worst ones this season.
The Jazz have the 26th-ranked offense and 26th-ranked defense in the NBA. During the last 10 games, the Jazz have allowed the sixth-best opponent 3-point percentage (38.8%), they allow the sixth-most points of all NBA teams and they are the second-most blocked team in the league, with opponents averaging 6.7 blocks per game.
“We need people that are willing to dig in and be physical and be tough, and just sort of let it rip no matter what’s going on in the game.” — Jazz coach Will Hardy
But none of those compare to the Jazz’s failings when it comes to taking care of the ball and defending in transition.
The Jazz are the league leaders in opponent steals (9.3 per game), opponent fast-break points (16.5), turnovers (17.7) and opponent points off turnovers (21).
In the Jazz’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night, they committed 17 turnovers. Considering that the league average is around 14.5 turnovers per game, 17 is not a horribly wild number. But off those 17 turnovers, the Jazz gave up 28 points, which is a lot more than the league average of 16.8.
When we talk about things like points and offensive rating, those are the kind of statistics that can be explained away by pointing to talent. The Jazz were playing without Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler and John Collins against a Thunder team that holds the second-best record in the Western Conference.
On a lot of nights the Jazz are not going to be favored to win, especially when some of their most important players are sidelined.
What’s troubling about leading the league in things like turnovers and opponent points off turnovers is how linked those things are to effort and a basic care factor.
You don’t have to have the most talented players or the most stacked roster to value the ball and make smart decisions. You don’t have to be the most skilled roster to get back on defense, to put bodies between the ball and the basket. And despite the fact the Jazz practice hard and say the right things, there’s a disconnect.
“We’re trying to build sustainable habits,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “The biggest part of building sustainable habits is having a sustainable approach and a sustainable mindset. ... But right now when we go on the road, we don’t quite have the appropriate mindset to sustain 48 minutes.”
In that game against the Thunder, the Jazz’s garbage-time squad actually put together a run, outscoring the Thunder, 45-23. That made the 134-120 final score look a lot better than it had when the main rotational players sat down for the night.
Even though the Jazz’s mop-up unit made a run against the Thunder’s third-string rotation, it was the way they played that stood out to Hardy, and anyone else who was watching.
“The last group that was on the floor tonight really played with a ton of intensity, a ton of passion. They played together, they kept the game simple and they represented themselves and us really, really well,” Hardy said. “We need people that are willing to dig in and be physical and be tough, and just sort of let it rip no matter what’s going on in the game.”
So, why is there a disconnect? Why are the Jazz leading the league in stats that are closely connected to effort and care? Why is Hardy seeing a more intense and passionate approach from the players at the end of the bench?
Those are questions without simple answers and questions that I, quite frankly, don’t have answers for right now. But I know that if the Jazz aren’t able to address these troubling trends, that we’re not going to be talking about a team that is learning and growing and rebuilding. Instead, we’ll be talking about a team that is even farther away than that.
