Round 2!

[Xiao Yao You]

https://kslsports.com/461519/disconn...-in-game-four/

Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz with 37 points but shot just 9-26 from the floor and 6-15 from the three-point line as the Jazz offense struggled to find a consistent rhythm throughout the game.

first time I've read 9-26 is not great!

Over the last two games, these are plus-minus totals for each Jazz player:

Bogdanovic: -25

O’Neale: -28

Gobert: -17
Ingles: -8
Mitchell: -25
Clarkson: -40
Favors: -20
Niang: -20

Oni: -5

and COTY changes nothing!

Snyder meanwhile doesn’t have that luxury for the Jazz. With Conley out of the lineup, the Jazz coach is left picking between second-year, second-round draft pick Miye Oni as his ninth-man, or Trest Forrest, a rookie who joined the Jazz as an undrafted free agent on a two-way contract to serve as the fourth guard in the rotation.

Ersan, Morgan, Brantley... He has the luxury of playing better guys for sure. I thought they were the deepest team in the league?

[Xiao Yao You]

https://www.deseret.com/2021/6/15/22...blem-in-game-4

“Defensive rebounding is usually a collective effort and combination of initial awareness and urgency,” Snyder said. “I didn’t think we were as locked in on that.”

try playing someone at the 4 for a change?

[Xiao Yao You]

https://www.deseret.com/2021/6/15/22...-an-early-lead

The Jazz tried a couple of different defensive looks, a couple of zone formations that seemed to have some success, and also some different offensive strategies, with Joe Ingles and Bojan Bogdanovic running up top and Mitchell working more off the ball. Changing things up like this seemed to give them a little bit of an edge, if only for a moment.

too little too late COTY

The Jazz were able to cut 10 points off the Clippers’ 24-point halftime lead in large part because of the activity of Gobert, but then head coach Quin Snyder went with his usual sub pattern of taking Gobert out at the 6:36 mark in the third. The Clippers immediately pushed the lead back to 20 points. There was some concern with Gobert’s foul situation (he had four at the time) but it’s also fair to wonder whether Snyder would be willing to ride out Gobert for 40 minutes, which he hasn’t seemed to be willing to do.

why change what isn't working?

Jordan Clarkson’s shot selection in the first half in particular was atrocious. Adding insult to injury, his reads were about five seconds too late. I’m always hesitant to criticize Clarkson when he is missing shots, especially if they are wide open or rhythm looks because that’s who the Jazz want him to be. But the Jazz don’t want him to be the guy that takes off-balance, contested mid-range shots, or takes shots that are too early when there is another guy more open and in better position.

same shots he always takes

[Xiao Yao You]

https://www.ksl.com/article/50187181...chell-left-off

Mitchell was worthy of a spot on a team. He averaged 26.8 points per game on 43.8% from the field and a career-high 38.6% from 3. He averaged career highs in assists at 5.2 and rebounds at 4.4. And did it all with one of the highest usages in the league.

no he wasn't. That's why he was 9th

[Xiao Yao You]

https://www.ksl.com/article/50186933...n-play-he-will

There's a lot of blame to go around for how Game 4 went. Bojan Bogdanovic no-showed the first half; Joe Ingles wasn't the secondary playmaker the Jazz desperately needed; Royce O'Neale backpedaled out of plays — screened or not; Rudy Gobert lost too many rebounding battles to smaller players; and even Donovan Mitchell spent too many possessions dribbling and not looking for an out.

and even!

When Conley went down, the Jazz's only answer was putting more of a load on Mitchell? That's not great. The Clippers' five-out attack is causing major headaches, and Utah doesn't have any other looks it can throw out there? Ditto.

they do but won't

Two-way guard Trent Forrest? Two-way forward Jarrell Brantley? Little-used Juwan Morgan? Matt Thomas? Ersan İlyasova? Utah's end of the roster is full of players who would be far more comfortable in the NBA G League than trying to line up against the Clippers.

bullshit

[Xiao Yao You]

https://www.deseret.com/2021/6/15/22...blem-in-game-4

The Clippers scored 18 points on the second-chance opportunities created by rebounds. The Jazz, meanwhile, scored just a one second-chance point, never hitting a field goal generated by an offensive board.

Imagine playing Ersan, Morgan and/or Brantley

In the below clip you’ll see that the third quarter clock is winding down and the Jazz are clearly concerned with paying attention to Leonard, who has the ball. While Rudy Gobert does try to keep his position on Ivica Zubac, there’s more concern for what Leonard will do at the third-quarter buzzer than what Zubac will do if there is enough time.

that's what happens when you expect one guy to stop the whole team by himself while the best player in franchise history rests up to shoot again

[Xiao Yao You]

https://saltcityhoops.com/staff-scri...urning-points/

Too often on Monday, the entire concept of offense for the Jazz stopped besides whoever had the ball, and this lone active member was attempting to dribble past or away from one, two, or even three Clipper defenders. The Jazz typically welcome a defense snding two or more men to the ball, as it often initiates the proverbial blender. This time, the Clippers were fiendish about sitting on passing lanes to take away that easy pass off the ball. Against that defense, the Jazz should have shown to the ball or set screens to help make those passes and kickstart the blender. Gobert loves setting the biggest screens in the league, but rarely helped to clear off one (or both!) of the two defenders engaged in a double-team. To the extent it is the ballhandler’s responsibility to call for Gobert’s assistance in this capacity, they failed to do so. And when the Clippers didn’t send a double-team to the ball, an isolation opportunity apparated in lieu of any functional offensive movement. In the first quarter interview, Snyder lamented the lack of “pick and roll[s] with our five man.” Where were the Ingles/Mitchell-Gobert pick-and-rolls that have been so deadly for literally the entire goddamn season? If the Clippers switched that action, that’s still a useful product that could have been built upon, but wasn’t.

Yep. Been a lot less Gobert screens all year. More Clarkson/Mitchell iso

Those are the final scores of last year’s Round 1 Series between the Jazz and Nuggets. If you’d asked me after games 2 and 3 if the Jazz had “solved” the Nuggets, I probably would have said they obviously had. Especially after that 124-87 beat down in Game 3. But that’s not how series between closely matched teams work. The scores in Round 1 between the Clippers and Mavericks are similar, it looked like the Clippers had everything figured out after a blow-out win in Game 4 before the Mavericks came back to win Game 5. There are ebbs and flows to playoff series and things can change drastically from one game to another. Plus, home court advantage is a thing. So I guess I’m fully on “new series, bring it on!” especially if Conley returns for Game 5 or 6.

well Malone went big and Snyder did nothing just like Lue made changes until something worked and again COTY has done nothing

Jake: I liked what I saw out of Gobert. It’s incredible to me that the Clippers are doing everything they can to take him out of the picture both on offense and defense, yet he’s finding ways to affect the game. Last night, for example, Gobert finished +0 in a game the Jazz lost by 14 points. The fact of the matter is that Snyder needs to play Gobert more minutes or Derrick Favors needs to return to his Games 1-2 prowess. If neither of those things change, I don’t see how Utah moves to the next round.

He needs to try some other bench guys as well

Zarin: Ingles had a team-high +4 and shot 7-for-9 from the field. If Conley remains out, Snyder may need to experiment with rotations to keep one of Ingles or Mitchell on the floor at all times. That may even require starting Jordan Clarkson, a move Snyder has only made three times.

yeah more JC is the answer

Dan: It took a 29-point deficit for them to get desperate enough to try it, but the Jazz finally decided to let Rudy be Rudy. They decided midway through G4 that unleashing Gobert’s interior defensive impact is worth it even if that means just leaving a Clipper (usually Nic Batum) wide open. Gobert was +15 in 21 minutes of second-half action, and this gives Utah a way to counter the Clipper’s attempts to tug him outside with 5-shooter lineups. (Also, great that Ingles finally got going after an otherwise very pedestrian series.)

and they got him involved offensively which opens up everything else instead of just settling for a long jumper

Jake: Mike won’t be super helpful on defense, though I’m sure he’ll surprise a few people that, despite his size, he can still affect shots and get into people. The biggest impact he’ll have is simply controlling the game in a calm, decisive manner. The way he can do that is breaking the paint and then kickstarting the blender. Mitchell and Clarkson haven’t consistently been able to pass out of their drives. This would not only help strengthen Utah’s rotations (pushing Ingles back to the bench), but it allows Mitchell to play off-ball, tapping into one of his best assets: his catch-and-shoot 3-pointer.

D is where he'll help most since Reggie has killed them and Mitchell won't pass him the ball at the other end

Jake: Most will probably think offensively for this question, but I think we’re going to need either Ingles and/or Bogdanovic to slow Kawhi or PG down. If those two Clippers stars both have good games, the Clippers are nearly impossible to beat. They’ve had great Games 3-4. Also, assuming Snyder stays with mid-30s minute totals for Gobert, Favors can really have an impact on this series. While Clippers aren’t really driving into the paint when Gobert is on the court, they are when Favors is. If he can have a positive impact on the game or even a neutral one, that can win a game for you.

but it was Bradley's fault!

And so this is less of a Gobert thing than an “everybody else” thing, but I will say that if the ball starts going his way, the Clippers have absolutely no answer for Gobert at the rim. He needs to be ready and engaged, and not commit turnovers or hesitate.

but who will pass him the ball

[Xiao Yao You]

https://www.slcdunk.com/2021/6/16/22...21-rudy-gobert

Interestingly enough, Gobert did play more minutes last season in the playoffs. Against the Denver Nuggets, with Tony Bradley as his backup, Gobert averaged 38.6 minutes played. He even logged games of 42, 42 and 41 minutes. So he is definitely capable of playing a heavier load. And as we all know, in Game 7 against the Nuggets the Jazz lost by 2 points. Gobert was a +6 in that game. Are you seeing a pattern here? Perhaps if he had played into the 40-minute range the Jazz have a different story last season. We’ll never know.

Bubble was different and they don't lose anything with Favors!

[Xiao Yao You]

https://www.slcdunk.com/latest-utah-...tchell-snubbed

The best team in the league somehow got their with just a 3rd-Team All NBA guy

Conley was hurt though I doubt that would have mattered

[Xiao Yao You]

Law Murray: Snyder says that Jazz “found something” in second half of Game 4; namely, being more decisive and committed to principles.

– via Twitter LawMurrayTheNU





Eric Walden: Quin Snyder, discussing the breakdown of minutes at the 5: “Rudy needs to keep himself out of foul trouble, we need to help him stay out of foul trouble, because we need him.”
– via Twitter tribjazz

you need to get a clue

[Xiao Yao You]

https://kslsports.com/461639/with-ka...just-gameplan/

Now with Leonard out of the lineup, the Jazz must ask themselves, do they proceed with the adjustments they made to counter a lineup featuring a top-five player in the world, or go back to their own gameplan, understanding they have the upper hand in talent with Leonard off the floor?

same. Move the ball and defend. Usually brings good things

[Xiao Yao You]

https://www.deseret.com/2021/6/16/22...s-kawhi-favors

What Quin Snyder decides to do with the non-Gobert minutes could be the deciding move in this series. He could extend Gobert’s playing time and choose to go with a small-ball lineup to match what the Clippers do when Gobert is not on the floor, he could choose to continue with his current rotation or he could do a combination of all these options.

he could do lots of things but won't

[Xiao Yao You]

https://thejnotes.com/2021/06/16/uta...-game-jazzman/

be stupid not to bring him back. 2nd best player. The main reason for their jump this year

[Xiao Yao You]

https://fansided.com/2021/06/15/nba-...ll-33-million/

Mitchell and Tatum each had career-best years in their fourth NBA seasons, averaging 26.4 points apiece. Tatum accomplished historic scoring feats down the stretch and Mitchell lead the Jazz to the best record in the NBA. A nice bonus for their efforts would have been fitting, but instead, NBA media voting just robbed two of their brightest young stars of $33 million.

13-6 without him but he led!

[Xiao Yao You]

Tony Jones: Donovan Mitchell on his ankle: For the first time in my life, I’ve had to play on the floor. I…I can’t really move

– via Twitter Tjonesonthenba





Sarah Todd: Donovan Mitchell is clearly frustrated and emotional (rightly so) about the situation that he’s in and that it’s all happening during the playoffs. Feel for the guy.
– via Twitter NBASarah






Tim MacMahon: Donovan Mitchell on pain in his ankle and lack of explosiveness: “It’s something I’m going to have to deal with [the rest of the playoffs]. It f—ing sucks. … You’ve got to find a way to make it happen. It’s tough, but I’ve got to find a way. Otherwise, I’m going to be home.”
– via Twitter espn_macmahon

maybe you'll listen to the doctors next time instead of forcing your way on the floor