The Utah Jazz have become everyone’s pick to shock the NBA world in 2016-17, but will only go as far as their three stars can take them
Last season, despite not making the playoffs, the Utah Jazz continued to grow as a team. Individually, their play progressed as the season went on, and the young core of Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Rodney Hood also started to show some growth.
Now, with the 2016-17 season around the corner, their young nucleus is going to have to continue to step up if they are planning on making the playoffs in the upcoming season.
The additions of Joe Johnson, Boris Diaw and George Hill seems to show that’s the team’s goal, and the return of Dante Exum and Alec Burks should also help on that front.
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But the keys to next season’s success is going to depend on the progress of the three stars of Salt Lake.
They led the team in win shares with 8.9 (Gordon Hayward,) 7.1 (Derrick Favors) and 6.0 (Rodney Hood.)
The scoring those three bring, keeps the team a float. With Rodney Hood, Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward on the court, the Jazz scored 110 points per 100 possessions last season, which would have placed them sixth in the league. But because of injuries and a lack of depth, without them the team had trouble scoring.
On the perimeter, Gordon Hayward and Rodney Hood are the playmakers. Without a traditional point guard on the team, Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder allows Rodney and Gordon to act as the de facto point guards. That’s why they led the team in touches per game, with Gordon having a usage rate of 25.8 and Rodney Hood following in second with a usage rate of 21.5.
They were the only players that could create shots for themselves and others, becuase of that, they were forced to take up the bulk of the playmaking duties. Hayward led the team with an assist percentage of 18.3 percent and Rodney trailed in second with 14.4 percent.
But let’s not forget about the big-man down low, Derrick Favors. A true two-way presence, Derrick is going to continue to star in Utah for years to come. Known mostly as a defender, Derrick Favors has been working tirelessly on his offensive repertoire, and last season he showed some nice improvements on that end of the floor.
Known mostly as a defender, Favors has been working tirelessly on his offensive repertoire, and last season he showed some nice improvements on that end of the floor.
As a cutter, he scored 1.26 points per possession. And as the roll man on screen and rolls, he scored 1.11 points per possession. But were the biggest improvements came was in his back to the basket game, as he put up 0.86 points per possession as a post up scorer.
With another season together, and the additions of some much needed veteran talent, the Jazz will have a chance to sneak their way into the playoffs next season. Whether they ultimately do or don’t will come down to their three stars.
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Last season they were young, but with Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward entering their primes, and Rodney Hood going into his third year, the team looks primed to have a breakout season.