Utah Jazz: Crashing The 2016 NBA Playoff Party
By Jay Rosales
After coming on strong late in the 2014-15 NBA season, look for the Utah Jazz to make quite the playoff push this season
From surprising draft picks, to pricey free agent signings, to intriguing trades, there’s been no shortage of drama this NBA offseason — and that’s without mentioning emoji battles.
With all the recent player movement and the shift of power that took place this summer in the Western Conference, three teams have separated themselves into the upper echelon of the conference.
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The San Antonio Spurs, by strengthening their core, with the addition of LaMarcus Aldridge; the Golden State Warriors by solidifying their core, after re-signing Draymond Green; and the Oklahoma City Thunder with the simple expectation that they’re going to be healthy.
Beyond that, three more teams make up the West’s second tier, on the cusp of championship contention — Memphis, Houston, and the Los Angeles Clippers. That leaves two playoff openings for up-and-coming squads to crash the postseason party. If you believe one of those teams is New Orleans, then you’ll find little argument from this writer — especially if Anthony Davis is able to add some 3-pointers to his repertoire.
On the flip side, whether it be an inexperienced Minnesota Timberwolves team, a loss of key cogs in Portland or Dallas, or a general bad mix of players in Denver, Los Angeles (Lakers) or in Sacramento, it shouldn’t take too much convincing to see which teams may find it difficult to play into late-April. With three teams realistically vying for two playoff spots (New Orleans, Phoenix, and Utah), let’s take a closer look at the Jazz (I promise to avoid music-related puns).
Apr 11, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) tries to block the shot of Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) during the fourth quarter of the game at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports
When talking about Utah, everything starts and finishes with Rudy Gobert. After the All-Star break, The Stifle Tower was inserted into the starting lineup and solidified the Jazz as a premier defensive force.
Before the AS break, Utah ranked 17th in rebounds per game and 24th in opponent field goal percentage. Gobert’s presence helped Utah surge to No. 3 in rebounds per game and No. 2 in opponent field goal percentage, post-AS break. The domino effect of having the French Rejection to protect the paint allowed his teammates to stay closer to outside shooters.
Utah’s opponent 3-pt field goal percentage sky-rocketed from the second-WORST in the league B.G. (before Gobert) all the way to No. 5.
Before moving on from this love-fest, one more stat that could not go un-mentioned: The Gobert Report was the ONLY player last season to finish in the top-10 in BOTH offensive and defensive rating.
Jazz GM, Dennis Lindsey, has done a great job of constructing a solid, young core. Gordon Hayward has steadily improved his scoring in each of his first five seasons (5.4, 11.8, 14.1, 16.2, 19.3). A career 81 percent FT shooter, Hayward made a concerted effort to get to the line last season, raising his free throw attempts by 24 percent over the previous season and finishing 8th in overall attempts. Hayward is surrounded by a handful of young, rising guards who were all standouts before jumping to the NBA — Dante Exum, Trey Burke, and Rodney Hood — and each locked into cheap contracts (under $4M/year) at least over the next two seasons.
Pop quiz: can you name the top-3 Western Conference players in field goal percentage last season?
DeAndre Jordan? Obviously.
Anthony Davis? Another fairly easy choice.
The third? Derrick Bernard Favors.
If you remember, Favors was brought over with Devin Harris from the Nets in the Deron Williams trade. It’s ironic that Harris and Williams will be manning the point for a downward-trending Mavs team now, while their former teammates in Utah are on the upswing.
In addition, Favors and Gobert are the only pair of teammates to average at least 1.5 blocks per game, as well as the only pair in the top-10 in field goal percentage.
Jazz coach, Quin Snyder, had his team clicking on all defensive cylinders last year. During that span, Utah’s defense ranked No. 1 in opponents’ defensive and total rebounds, assists, and points allowed, and No. 2 in opponents’ field goal attempts and makes.
While the Utah Jazz made their post-All-Star break playoff surge, they ranked No. 2 in blocks per game, No. 7 in steals per game and No. 3 in points allowed per game. Only five teams had a better second half win percentage than Utah’s 65.5 percent — Golden State, Los Angeles (Clippers), Cleveland, San Antonio and Houston, all playoff teams.
Over the previous three seasons, the top-6 in second half win percentage went on to make the playoffs the following season 15 out of 18 times. The outliers were the 2012-13 Denver Nuggets (fired George Karl, lost Masai Ujiri, multiple injuries in 2013-14), 2012-13 L.A. Lakers (Kobe Bryant injured for all but six games), and 2012-13 New York Knicks (2013 offseason acquisitions – Andrea Bargnani, Metta World Peace, erratic J.R. Smith, over-the-hill Kenyon Martin).
The Utah Jazz have avoided poor transactions and kept their front office intact, so, barring any major injuries, the future is very bright in Utah. With a lineup of starters all born in the 90’s and the league’s No. 1 defense, look for the Jazz to make some sweet music this season.
(Damn, almost made it)