Clark’s Remarks: The Wasatch Front, why Royce Should Be Selfish, and Bojan’s struggles

I think about Jazz basketball all the time, probably too often. While I am going for a walk, I’m probably thinking about the Jazz’s catch and shoot numbers. While I am bathing the kids, I might be wondering how the Jazz are going to guard the pick and roll against the Hawks. When I am sleeping, I often dream about showing up late for work. But when I am awake, I’m probably thinking about the Jazz.

I love to write about the Jazz too, but by the time I get a chance to type up my thoughts or ideas for the team, it’s almost always irrelevant. Who wants to read in February about lineups the Jazz used in December to improve the defense? Not me. Not anybody.

I like to keep a running dialogue of what I’m thinking during Jazz games on my twitter feed, but it’s mostly for me. And it’s way too emotional and unorganized. Sometimes I hurt Jazz fans’ or Jazz players’ feelings. I don’t want to do that. So I’m going to try and find a happy medium between Twitter rantings and long, thoughtful posts. I will call them Clark’s Remarks. (I had a column for my high school newspaper with this title, that I used to talk about everything from college football bowl predictions, to the Dixie Chicks, to my admiration for Alex Trebek.) These (hopefully weekly) remarks will allow me to share what I’ve been thinking about in a quick hitting sort of way. Nothing fancy. Mostly for me. It’ll be like a running Jazz fan diary. Without further ado:

Gobert and Favors have barely appeared together this season.

Where has the Wasatch Front Gone?

Okay, fine. The Jazz aren’t going to start Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors together. It’s not unreasonable. But at the same time, they should be playing together every game, even if it’s only for a few minutes. The big men have only shared the floor for 13 minutes so far this season and 9 minutes of that was against the Bucks when they skewed all stats in their favor by allowing only 68 points per 100 possessions. Stifling.

The problem for the Jazz is that they don’t look elite on either side of the ball right now. They are about 13th in offensive efficiency and 8th defensively, depending on which site you trust. If Gobert and Favors are going to crush teams defensively, it is worth exploring, even at the cost of the offense. Playing them together clogs up the offense, but if you have guys like Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell and Jordan Clarkson who can shoot threes off the bounce, or find their way to the basket, then it’s going to be a net positive lineup. On top of that, the Jazz are grabbing 50% of all offensive rebounds while the bigs play together and 89% of the defensive boards. That is great on both accounts. Those numbers were 29% and 80% when they played together two years ago. Opponents are also playing smaller nowadays and punishing them on the offensive boards might be the exact wrinkle this average offense needs.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’m going to keep shouting it loud and clear: Gobert/Favors needs to happen every night, until it’s undeniable that it just doesn’t work. 

Royce O’Neale dribbling. (Trevor Ruszkowski via USA TODAY)

You Have One Job, Royce O’Neale!

Okay, Royce O’Neale actually has several jobs on the Jazz. He’s a terrific role player and a great benefit to the team, but offensively O’Neale should have only one job and that is to just shoot the ball with reckless abandon. Nobody in the NBA has had more open catch-and-shoot 3-point opportunities than O’Neale according to Basketball Index. He’s open all of the time. So how does he only average 3.5 three point attempts per game over that time period? 

O’Neale is officially the best catch and shoot 3 point shooter on the Jazz this season at 46%. Even though Royce is a decent playmaker, the second he puts the ball on the floor instead of shooting an open 3, he has taken the possession from a high expected points outcome to an average to poor one. In simpler terms, if O’Neale turns down a truly open 3-pointer and drives instead, he has hurt the possession, unless it leads to a dunk or layup. It’s that simple.

Against the Bucks last week O’Neale made a career high six three pointers in one game, but even crazier is that his 8 three point attempts were the third highest IN HIS CAREER. We are talking about the most open player in the NBA and in 233 games, he’s taken more than 10 three pointers in a game only twice. He shot two shots total the following game against Detroit. I’m sure that there is a feeling that Royce should be deferring to his teammates when they are Mitchell, Bojan Bogdanovic and Conley, but his job is to also reward them for using their offensive abilities to get him open threes. By all means, drive to the basket sometimes and keep that skill fresh, but there is no excuse to not be shooting 6-8 threes every game. Let it fly, Royce. It’s not selfish.

(via espn.com)

This isn’t the Worst Stretch of Bogdanovic’s Career in a Jazz Uniform

Bogdanovic has not been good this season. It’s also true that if he isn’t putting a lot of pressure on opposing defenses, then he struggles to impact the game. In the first 10 games of this season, Bogdanovic shot 35.5% from the field and 32% from three. 

But last season Bojan shot 40.5% (61-150) from the field and 28% (19-68) from 3 over a ten game period from December 19 to January 8th. Bojan only played 63 games last season but was still able to bring his average shooting numbers up to 45% and 41% for the year. His ability to single handedly carry the offense with electric shooting, is unique. I’d expect him to do the same the rest of this season.