2021-22 regular season Utah Jazz news, notes and game coverage

[Xiao Yao You]

https://kslsports.com/473405/mitchel...te-vs-thunder/

One of the stranger storylines that seems to be bugging Jazz fans this season in Jazz coach Quin Snyder’s decision to play second-year guard Trent Forrest over rookie Jared Butler, even in extremely remote first half minutes this season.

I'm no COTY fan and if they wanted to cry about Paschall or even Oni instead of Forrest I could maybe see it. Butler has sucked. He needs to dominate with the Stars. Clarkson is the problem not Forrest

“Solid defense, he usually either makes a play that is visible that shows up in the box score like a block or steal or something like that, or he just makes a play by being solid.”

yep the guy can play. If he can develop even a decent shot he's a keeper

“Those minutes that he’s given us, rarely does he come in and come out when the lead has changed hands or anything of that nature. Look at what he was tonight in plus-minus.”

plus minus!

[Xiao Yao You]

https://www.slcdunk.com/2021/11/24/2...a-city-thunder

But tonight I want to sit at the collective Jazz Thanksgiving table and tell you who I was thankful for tonight, and this season: Donovan Mitchell.

naturally. He sucked for 47 minutes and showed up for 1!

I also want to mention that this has been a weird season and this game was one of the weirdest. It looks like the Jazz are trying to give Mitchell more reps as a playmaker. His assists numbers are right around his average. We’ll see as the season goes how that adjusts but it would be nice to see more and more of Mitchell getting opportunities as a playmaker because that is the thing that always makes the Jazz better. When Mitchell is penetrating the defense and finding the open man, the Jazz are lethal offensively.

they are the problem is he usually takes a tough shot rather than pass to an open man

-Some interesting defensive wrinkles in this one. Rudy and Rudy switches on the perimeter, some soft traps/recover w/ Bogie a-la the old Niang/Korver d. There was times where the defense didn't communicate well bc it was doing something new. Gay/Gobert and a Royce/Gobert miscommunication led to open shots but I think the wrinkle is ultimately good in trying to approach new strategies.

yeah but will it be used when they really need it? Doubt it

[Xiao Yao You]

https://thejnotes.com/2021/11/25/fou...-jazz-thunder/

All told, the star scoring guard finished this contest with 13 points on 6/16 shooting from the field, including 1/7 from three-point range. There’s nothing to worry about here: Mitchell is generally too talented for Utah Jazz fans to worry about. However, we’re forced to acknowledge that this performance did not meet the expectations we have of him.

pretty typical actually

If we see this version of Clarkson on a more consistent basis, we’ll dedicate an entire article to issuing a formal apology to the reigning Sixth Man of the Year.

3 good games. Good luck with that

Nothing to see here, really. 15 points on 5/7 shooting from the field, 17 rebounds and 5 block. Ho-hum. It was just another night for Rudy Gobert. The 2 steals were at least somewhat notable.

exactly. Just another night at the office

[Xiao Yao You]

https://www.ksl.com/article/50291340...-silver-lining

There's no real reason at this point to think the ejections will continue to be a common theme, but it's merely a strange footnote on the season so far. A footnote, though, that could strangely lead to a positive down the road. Most of the ejections came late in the game; Whiteside's didn't. Utah had to play three quarters without a true backup center.

which meant more Gobert. Probably don't win without the ejection

For all the fans that wanted to see the Jazz play small-ball last season in the playoffs, you got it on Wednesday. The results? Um, not good; heck, it looked like a layup line at times for the Thunder.

most of it was without Gay. Put the right guys out there and see what happens.

It ultimately revealed what we already knew: Utah's perimeter defense is less than ideal. For a small-ball lineup featuring either Eric Paschall or Rudy Gay at center to work, the Jazz have to be able to contain on the perimeter; if they can't, any thought of rolling out the lineup in the playoffs seems ill-advised, at best.

and therein lies the problem

And they figured it out enough to at least get the win.

thanks again Rudy

[Xiao Yao You]

https://kslsports.com/473235/hassan-...f-jazz-season/

Towards the end of Favors first stint in Utah, he was widely considered the best backup center in basketball (despite starting at power forward) and gave the Jazz a big boost going up against opposing teams’ second units.

widely considered in Utah maybe

In 2019, the Jazz traded Favors to New Orleans to clear room to acquire Bojan Bogdanovic and Mike Conley but struggled to find an adequate backup center in his absence. The team tried out both Ed Davis, Tony Bradley, and rookie Juwan Morgan throughout the season, but none of the three proved they could hold down the job full time.

Bradley did and Morgan may have been able to as well. Bradley became their scapegoat for other problems that have yet to be fixed. Favors certainly didn't solve them with his huge contract. The D still sucks this year as do Clarkson and COTY

Unfortunately, during Favors second stint with the Jazz last season, it was clear he’d lost a step athletically and was no longer as dominant against second units.

He just was never that great and Bradley wasn't the problem

However, through 18 games, it’s hard to argue Whiteside has been anything but the Jazz best addition from the summer.

Gay. Butler could be by the end of the year

[Xiao Yao You]

https://www.deseret.com/2021/11/25/2...-utah-jazz-nba

There has been reason to be concerned with Mitchell’s play thus far, but he isn’t worried.

why? He does this every year https://www.basketball-reference.com...chdo01/splits/ Wait for January though it looks like his D might get even worse then

Mitchell was critical in the Jazz getting that win, finishing with five assists (he would have had more if his teammates hit their shots). He also scored six huge points at the end of the fourth quarter.

he was critical in the Jazz not running away to an easy victory

“I would love to be able to continuously shoot well and sometimes that’s going to happen,” Mitchell said, noting that he’s not worried about his scoring inconsistencies. “But at the end of the day just being able to find guys and make the right reads, that’s all I can ask for, go out there and make the right play. Sometimes that’s putting the ball in the basket, sometimes it’s passing, sometimes it’s guarding.”

rarely is it guarding or passing!

[Xiao Yao You]

https://thejnotes.com/2021/11/26/uta...ineups-nov-26/

With Royce O’Neale listed as questionable tonight with an ankle sprain, Quin Snyder may be forced to insert Joe Ingles or Rudy Gay into his usual starting lineup of Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell, O’Neale, Bojan Bogdanovic and Rudy Gobert. Otherwise, it’s business as usual for the Jazzmen.

Should start Gay or Paschall not Ingles. Maybe Fitts can play? Royce's ankle is a bit concerning if it's the same injury that has had him on these reports all year

[Xiao Yao You]

https://thejnotes.com/2021/11/26/gra...zz-trade-idea/

Jazz have Butler and Forrest. Don't have another young center developing. Stick with Udoka

[El Kabong]

Mitchell giving his usual "this is not who we are" presser after another game they shouldn't have lost

[Xiao Yao You]

Mitchell giving his usual "this is not who we are" presser after another game they shouldn't have lost

it looks like that is who they are at least he is. Can't expect much from him until January though. Clarkson you can't expect much from period

[Xiao Yao You]

https://www.ksl.com/article/50292505...er-game-winner

He remembered being in the midst of a nine-game losing streak as he looked at the schedule in an effort to figure out when the next win would come.

and lucky for the him and the rest of the franchise Rudy emerged shortly after that and saved their sorry asses from their tanking ways

As it was, the Jazz had nothing to fall back on. Graham's game-winner made the team take a deep look in the mirror. Utah was bad Friday — more than bad. Everything that made Utah's regular season special last season — the extra passes and constant ball movement — disappeared for long portions of the game.

offensively anyway. They should win most games if the other team doesn't score 100

Mitchell was 6-of-21 shooting for 16 points; Jordan Clarkson was 3 of 12 for 12 points; and Mike Conley was 4 of 10 for 12 points. Rudy Gobert, meanwhile, had just three shot attempts — a product of the seemingly endless ball stopping.

sorry 4-10 doesn't belong with those other two

It has been who he is this season, though.

it's who he's always been. It's not January yet is the good news!

Mitchell is 17 of 57 from the field in the last three games — a loss to Memphis, a squeaker in Oklahoma City, and Friday's stunner against the Pelicans. Utah has a losing record (3-4) this season when Mitchell attempts at least 21 shots. He's been indecisive on his reads, he's missed open teammates and has taken poor shots; but he's not alone.

it starts with him because of his high usage. Put the ball in Conley's hands and good things will happen no matter what his box score ends up looking like

"That's a great question, I wish I knew the answer," Gobert said. "I don't know how many times I have to lose in the playoffs before we start learning. We are doing the same stuff over and over and over. Hopefully we grow. Hopefully it hurts enough that we put our egos aside, we grow and we play as a team."

hopefully the owner is really different than the Miller's and isn't afraid to make a coaching change. Starts there. Than it goes to the best player in franchise history. Clarkson should be the easiest fix though who wants that shit show 6th man or not?

Occasionally, the ball will swing all over the court, reflecting the near-basketball nirvana the Jazz touched last season. More often, though, it's been Mitchell, Conley or Clarkson dribbling out the clock and hoping to find a late look. It's not the team's plan, but it is what's happened.

Conley hardly touches the ball. Hardly anyone but those other two do

[Xiao Yao You]

https://www.deseret.com/2021/11/26/2...ss-to-pelicans

If the Jazz had somehow pulled out a win on Friday night, maybe I could talk about the fact that Bojan Bogdanovic was shooting really well and finished with 23 points. But, even in the second quarter when Bogdanovic was 4-of-4 from deep and 6-of-7 from the field overall and clearly the only Jazz player who was really in any sort of offensive rhythm, the Jazz couldn’t seem to get him an open look. Maybe that would be explainable against a different team with a better defense, but the Jazz weren’t getting him open against the Pelicans, and that’s because of a lack of movement and effort and awareness from the rest of the team.

yep it's ridiculous you don't get him the ball when he's making everything

The Jazz talk a lot about their defense leading to offense and needing to rely on the defense, but they didn’t look good on either end. They were letting the ball stick and getting into iso situation after iso situation, and then on the other end they were missing defensive rotations and just plain not doing well with their assignments to the point that it started just looking like a layup line for the Pelicans.

take a lay up line nightly if the other team is held under 100

Becoming the No. 1 overall seed last season was achieved by the Jazz coming into nearly every game with a huge amount of intensity and jumping out to leads, maintaining them with focused defense and then executing an offensive system that rarely waited until it was too late to start an action. The Jazz were one of the best teams at moving the ball last season, and not enough has changed on this team to explain why the ball is sticking so much.

Clarkson and Mitchell have the ball too much and COTY doesn't do anything about it

[Xiao Yao You]

https://www.slcdunk.com/2021/11/26/2...leans-pelicans

Donovan Mitchell struggled again with this shooting. His shooting slump continues to hurt the Jazz and they need him to find his stroke soon if they want to get back to winning games. Mitchell did have 6 assists but it’s hard for the Jazz to overcome a 6/21 shooting performance no matter how you look at it.

need him to pass the ball and play D/ Good luck with that

If Donovan is great at facilitating he isn't taking 21 shots and ending up with a 1.5 to 1 assist to turnover ratio. If everyone made the shot that you passed to, you would be the highest assist leader of all time, so that is just a lazy argument when we had average shooting. I more than just about anyone wants Donovan to play within the offense and become a great passer, but are you really going to excuse another night of 16 points on 21 shots when Bojan had 23 on 14 shots and Gay had 9 points on 5 shots and Royce had 6 points on 4 shots? If Donovan is being guarded tight then he shouldn't have SEVEN times the number of shots as Rudy, 4x Gay, and 5x Royce. I don't care if it is Donovan's fault or Quin's fault, it is damn idiotic to have the guy who is most heavily guarded and the least efficient to take the most shots, usually be a large number. And we do it almost every single game.

someone gets it. Throw Clarkson in to that and you have a real shit show

Seems like he is always tired. Doesn't matter if it is the first game of the season or the playoffs, since his rookie season he always looks winded and tired. One burst of energy, a drive or a dunk and he is gassed. He tries to make it look cool but it is obvious he is exhausted.

while Rudy can go hard at both ends all night

Need to trade. If your two power forwards just have below 5 rebounds in a game, then it's that easy to tell why you lost the game. If only Gobert will develop a nice shooting, then he will have no problem contesting a much heavier center.

PF!

Q has to go, the sooner the better. A new coach will tell DM and Clarlson to look to pass 1st (hopefully), would conserve Joe's energy, would let Conley rest some games, and develop Butler and Hughes.

yep it should have happened after the loss to Denver in the playoffs if not sooner

.

[Xiao Yao You]

Tony Jones: Mike Conley is on track to play in the back end of a back to back for the first time this season. Pretty strong message to how much this team is trying to shake it’s slump
– via Twitter Tjonesonthenba

[Xiao Yao You]

Andy Larsen: Royce O’Neale is out tonight due to an right ankle sprain.
– via Twitter andyblarsen