Utah Jazz: 4 reasons why their season ended prematurely

Why the Utah Jazz season ended prematurely: Ty Lue out Quin Snyder’d Quin Snyder with the small ball lineup

This is by far the biggest surprise of the series, as I and many people thought that Quin Snyder had a coaching advantage over Tyronn Lue. Snyder is known to be an elite coach in a league full of great coaches, a terrific tactician known for making great subtle adjustments even during games.  And he got schooled by Lue.

In Game 1 and Game 2, Snyder’s genius was on display while Lue was bizarrely trying new lineups at had never played before, all while Mitchell was cooking them for 40 points. He tried DeMarcus Cousins, he tried Rajon Rondo, he tried zone – he tried everything. It looked like Lue was searching and scrambling to find sparks in his lineup.

But what Lue was really doing was searching for a solution – and he got it at the end of Game 2 and fleshed it out in Game 3 when they went full smallball. Lue pulled Ivica Zubac and Cousins, and limited the Beverley and Rondo minutes.  This led to the Clippers having a hyper-switchable lineup full of length and offensive skill that could neuter Gobert’s effectiveness on the defensive end.

This small ball lineup took away Utah’s passing and ball movement on offense and put Utah in an untenable defensive situation. Even when Leonard went out with injury, Lue remained convinced of his tactic and didn’t pull the plug. He played more Terrance Mann and spread Utah even further.

And they torched the Jazz – the Clippers averaged 1.55 points per drive and hit catch-and-shoot threes all over the place. Lue found a way to beat the Jazz (at least without Mike Conley), and Utah never countered back.  All the credit to Ty Lue being willing to be uncomfortable and make such big changes.

Snyder had some tweaks to try to combat it – slipping screens, early transition – but none of these adjustments involved new lineups. Snyder almost stubbornly stuck with his nine-man lineup that was getting exposed more and more as the series went on. Derrick Favors gave up 140 offensive rating when he was on the floor. Jordan Clarkson finished the series with a plus/minus of -50. George Niang went 1 of 10 from three with bunches of turnovers in a series he’ll want to forget. And Gobert got exposed more and more as a series went on. Yet Snyder, almost out of pure conviction or stubbornness, did not open up his lineup.

I understand that I’m only a fan and there are deeper levels to why he kept this lineup, but the optics were obvious to everyone – The Clippers broke the Jazz defense, and Snyder didn’t switch anything up.

Why not try 10 minutes of Ersan Ilyasova, a guy with loads of playoff experience, at the 5? Why not throw Jarrell Brantley as a playmaking forward and go smallball v smallball? Why not throw Trent Forrest in for a spell? Matt Thomas? Someone. I know Snyder didn’t have a ton of options, but if you’re giving up a 130-offensive rating for the series, you must try something new.

Playoffs basketball is all about being able to adjust, whether those adjustments are small or big. All the credit to Ty Lue for being willing make big changes to his rotation. Snyder limited his rotation all season – and when injuries mounted and the defense crumbled, he wasn’t willing to make any drastic moves.

Snyder is still an elite coach and he’ll bounce back from this, but this was not his finest moment.

Utah’s outlook 

This is as dark a time as any for a Jazz fan like me. Another collapse in the playoffs during a very opportune season makes you wonder if the Jazz will ever have a better opportunity to win it all.

But the Jazz have a lot of things going for them – Mitchell is still only 24 and, when healthy, is one of the best playoff performers in the game. Utah still has Gobert and a plethora of offensive talent to go along with a great coach.

And, perhaps most importantly, the Jazz have new ownership in Ryan Smith and Dwyane Wade, who seem willing to spend money like a big-market franchise and go find the right mix of players that could lead to a championship. Things are looking good for the future.

Still. This playoff loss hurts. A lot.