Utah Jazz: 4 takeaways from a strange 7-game road trip

Utah Jazz takeaway: The perimeter defense is still the Achilles heel

The current construct of the Utah Jazz is almost perfect, as they have players that fit specific roles needed for success. However, Utah’s weakness reared its ugly face in a big way in the Big Apple – perimeter defense.

With both Mitchell and Conley being undersized guards, there’s not a whole lot of length and elite athleticism to shut down scoring guards. Royce O’Neale is the primary defender, and to his credit he’s one of the better defenders in the NBA. He’s done great jobs defending bigger wings like Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Jimmy Butler, and Jayson Tatum. O’Neale can use his strong 6-foot-5 to get into those players while still able keep up with those guys around the court.

But when he’s tasked to guard elite scoring ball handlers who can shoot create with the ball – Steph Curry, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, and Damian Lillard – he can’t keep up.  Against Brooklyn, Kyrie Irving completely dismantled O’Neale, scoring 18 points in the first quarter and leaving the Jazz in the dust. The next night, O’Neale was lit up by Austin Rivers, who hit four 3’s and scored 14 points in the fourth to beat Utah. And this has not been a two night issue for Utah – Damian Lillard has cooked the Jazz routinely and we all remember what Jamal Murray did to Utah in last year’s playoffs.

The construct of this team is still vulnerable to scoring guards that Royce can’t slow down or stop. I’m by no means saying Utah to replace Royce O’Neale, an elite defender and above-average rebounder who plays with high energy and doesn’t use up too many possessions on the offensive end. Instead, I would hope Snyder might consider give 5-10 minutes to other athletic defenders (Shaq Harrison, Miye Oni, Jarrell Brantley) in attempt to solve this elite scoring guard riddle. That might spell O’Neale a few minutes a night, while also giving other teams a different look.