Salt City Seven 2017-18 Archive

Melissa Majchrzak via utahjazz.com

Since the start of the 2015-16 season, the Salt City Seven has been our weekly, multi-faceted way of catching up on all things Jazz through a number of different lenses.

SCH readers occasionally ask if there’s a page with, for example, all of the “Playbook” plays in one place, or cataloging each week’s big stories. To those readers, here’s a SC7 archive for the most prominent sections.

Archive by section

Playbook (breaking down the X&O behind a Jazz play)

• Pet plays from OKC (backpick loop play for PG) and Utah (Mitchell downscreen-flare)
• Flipping the pick for Crowder to attack & dish
• Jingles 3s after screening
• Catching mid-P&R (and a sweet Rudy reverse)
• Great timing on a loop play for Ingles, Exum assist
• Crowder cutting 45 & Ingles attacking bad closeouts
• Ram stagger + other reversals from right side P&R
• Big-to-big in the dunker off of blind pig
• Bigs out leading to easy buckets for Rubio, Favors
• Fake PnR with a weakside pindown for Mitchell
• Double stagger to side elevator for a game-tying, streak-staring bucket
• Mitchell tricks: splitting the pick + freezing the helper
• Weakside cutting decoy + Fake P&R with a smart wrinkle by Mitchell
• Quick reads out of 1-2-5 “horns”
• Semi-break buckets from early staggered screens
• The right way to attack a switch
• Pindown-and-roll buckets for Gobert
• Burks cutting from weakside on Mitchell attacks at the 45
• Side elevator doors leads to a double-roll for Favors
• Fake the Spain P&R to set up a Jingles flare cut for 3
• Innovative combination of actions: horns to Spain DHO-Roll?
• Multiple actions: staggered downscreen + Spain P&R = Rodney Hood dunk
• Outside P&R vs. inside – clearing room for a Jonas Jerebko 3
• Rudy Gobert dunks out of three-man game w/ Ingles & Rubio
• Rubio dime to Favors (DHO-roll with weakside decoy fluff)

Big Picture (a bit of a deeper look at an important storyline from the week):

• Why OKC is a good matchup for Utah
• The Jazz have quietly retooled their bench in-season
• Dirty secret: the trenchant ROY race doesn’t matter much
• Snyder’s best job yet?
• Rudy dominating — on both side of the ball
• The Jazz’s sneaky depth
• What to expect from Exum
• The still-somehow-criminally-underrated Joe Ingles
• What the Jazz will get from Jae
• Rudy (and the Jazz) returning to form
• Biggest test yet for Quin Snyder
• Rudy’s return means a new season for Utah
• Bold (and some less bold) predictions for the second half
• Thabo needs to play
• Schedule turning softer (still road-heavy) in January
• Another season defined by injuries
• The annual trade likelihood ranking
• The Favors-Gobert-Rubio trio, and options
• How scary will December be?
• Most likely to lead the 2017-18 Jazz in scoring
• Jazz playing outside-in, need shots to fall
• Will the offense improve?
• Jazzgasms: how Utah wins games
• Getting Gobert back on track
• Jazz win opener with stout defense

Quotable (inside perspective, usually on another prominent storyline):

• Mitchell on the ROY race
• Ricky on playing the Timberwolves
• Gobert on understanding his impact beyond stats
• Snyder on Gobert’s defensive dominance
• Snyder on Exum’s return
• Ingles on improved road play (and play overall)
• Snyder on the playoff race not letting up
• Gobert on the decision to leave Favors in vs. Spurs
• Lindsey on Hood’s departure
• Favors, on rumors that he has communicated a desire to leave
• Mitchell on Joe Ingles’ demeanor and levity
• Favors on trade rumors, the effect on the team
• Mitchell’s SportsCenter quote on when he knew he was for real
• Snyder on playing better defense on the road
• Snyder on Mitchell drawing more attention
• Snyder on the Jazz competing
• Snyder on the little things the Jazz have to do to win
• Snyder on lineup decisions as players get healthy
• Gobert: Jazz are better than their record
• Snyder on passing as a focal point
• Gobert on healing fast
• Snyder: win or lose, the focus is on getting better
• Donovan Mitchell on the leadership and know-how of Thabo Sefolosha
• Joe Ingles’ perspective that Utah would right the ship
• Dante Exum on his decision to undergo shoulder surgery

Just for Fun:

• Gobert’s block list at the end of his 5th season
• Stocktons making history
• The Viv aglow with cancer awareness
• A crazy 2-on-2 idea
• Jazz babies now Jazz teammates
• Insta-battle with throwback pics
• Five most important remaining games
  
• All-Star Weekend for Mitchell
• An epic trade trail grows
• Tricky Ricky’s tricky dish
• Donovan dunk reel
• Mitchell’s case for ROY is growing
• Hot Rod Hundley documentary trailer
• Dame’s endorsement of Donovan Mitchell
• Ricky working to kick cancer’s butt
• Happy holidays, with an assist from the Ingles.
• Leaked “City” jersey reaction
• Dancing Snyder
• Snyder the toughest coach to plan against?
• The Jazz with a 4-second, 5-man Spursgasm
• Mitchell’s first MSG moment is a dunk
• A different take on a Southern Utah-themed jersey
• Mitchell thinks Rick is a bad man
• Rubio making Jazz assist history to start the season
• Ekpe Udoh: Utah’s new “most interesting man”

Other notable items:

Other regular sections of the SC7 include a By the Numbers capsule, Game Ball for Jazz wins, and a look ahead (either at upcoming games or at the playoff picture). Mostly those are pretty straight-forward sections, but occasionally there’s a stat or something I use to highlight another prominent narrative.

• Exum’s defense coming back from injury
• Six straight blowouts
• An entire week of hardly ever trailing
• A rare whipping of Golden State + Jingles’ reawakening
• Jazz insights from a new stat (PIPM)
• The history of rookies in the All-Star game
• 2018 cap room as it relates to decision not to extend Rodney Hood.
• Defense travels? So far, not the case.
• Assist history.
• A Carlos Boozer retrospective.

Full archive

• Oct 20 / 26
• Nov 2 / 9 / 16 / 27
• Dec 1 / 8 / 15 / 23 / 30
• Jan 5 / 12 / 19 / 26
• February 2 / 9 / 16 
• March 2 / 9 / 17 / 23 / 30
• April 8 / 15
• All 2016-17 SC7 posts
• All 2015-16 SC7 posts