The Utah Jazz offensive juggernaut of the NBA bubble is gone. In Utah’s first four games, their offense ranks 16th in the league and their defense isn’t even in the Top 10. they won a 1-3 Donovan Mitchell shooting game with losses to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder and Phoenix Suns. When NBA experts said the Utah Jazz had been another team in the bubble, if they had Bojan Bogdanovic healthy, they never said it. Utah is once again a team without identity.
The addition of Derrick Favors and Bojan Bogdanovic’s Alec Burks free agency should correct the weaknesses of the 2019-2020 season in Utah. Without Favors, Utah’s bench suffered and its team defense fell off a cliff when Rudy Gobert left the field. Without Bojan Bogdanovic, Utah’s offense, Donovan Mitchell plus, was that of Mike Conley or Jordan Clarkson, depending on who appeared that night.
In the bubble, Donovan Mitchell turned into D-Wade and helped Utah not have a Bogey on the floor. Unfortunately, Tony Bradley remained Tony Bradley. Winning back last season’s playoffs seems like a weird version of Utah; it’s hard to see this team getting into a second-round game. It will be much easier to see how this team blew a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets.
Bojan Bogdanovic doesn’t look like Bojan Bogdanovic last season. The wrist is certainly not 100% there and-even if it is-its 50-40-90 shot appears 2-3 months away. In a shortened season, this is the close of trade. Bogey exploded against OKC after being hit in the wrist, but suffering Bogey every night with additional wrist pain is not a long-term strategy that a person with a soul wants to pursue. At present, when Bojan is on the ground, Jazz passage is allowed at the 38th percentile for points per 100 possessions and the 67th percentile for points per 100 possessions. It’s not great.
Derrick Favors is still acclimating to the team. Hope for improvement on the bench has not yet been achieved. Derrick Favors ‘ best minutes come when he replaces Gobert and is on the field with 3 or more starters. Add extra bank guys and Jazz get the score to run over them. Favors at least shows some bright spots and you can see the light at the end of the tunnel for him.
The problems for Utah do not end with the integration of Favors and the reinstatement of Bogdanovic. Donovan Mitchell was a train accident. If you think I’m tough, it was harder. He said he was shooting like ” shit.”He’s not wrong. He shot 34.1% from the field and 29.7% from three. His previous game this season looks more like a stone for the bubble, and now the Monkey Paw has come for what is due. He does not pass the ball as often as he should, and he tries to do everything himself. Mitchell is not the only one who does not cross the rock.
Here is the ratio of attendance rate to utilization rate for the Utah Jazz ballhandler:
Donovan Mitchell-0.63 ( 19% – Percentile)
Mike Conley-0.91 (24th Percentile)
Bojan Bogdanovic-0.29 (8th Percentile)
Royce O’neale-0.27 (15% – Percentile)
Joe Ingles-1.26 (96th Percentile)
Joe Ingles is the only one who is ready to pass the rock. He’s really the only playmaker on the floor. Unfortunately for Utah, it is no longer a shotgun manufacturer. He made only 31.6% of his three-point attempts. That’s when he even makes the move. Joe Ingles is so much of a point guard that he gives great shots to make a game with less efficiency. Ingles compensates for Utah’s selfishness by not being selfish enough.
One thing we need to stop is to pretend that slow starts are not typical of Utah. Here are the last 6 seasons under Quin Snyder and the Jazz Record through the first 25 games:
2015-2016 – 11-14
2016-2017 – 15-10
2017-2018 – 13-12
2018-2019 – 12-13
2019-2020 – 14-11
2020-2021 – 2-2
Utah just came out of the gates more than 5 games .500 once after 25 games. But most of the time, Utah is just an average team. Quin Snyder is expected to be criticised for his team’s slow start. No matter who is on the roster, Snyder’s teams struggle to stay consistent with the offensive system and remain disciplined in defense for the team’s first 25 games. If Utah has been consistent in anything over the past six seasons, they are still averaging in the first 25 games of each season. If Utah performs together to start the season, we know they finally have a title contender. Until then, the dye is already poured on a 3rd-7th finish in the playoffs.