Salt City Seven: Gobert’s Silly Week, Mitchell’s Scoring Streak & More

At the center of Utah’s success: their center. (Photo via Gobert’s Twitter)

The Salt City Seven drops every Monday throughout the regular season, with seven regular features meant to relive the week in Jazzland from various angles. Check in every Monday for the quotes, stats, plays and performances that tell the stories from the last 168 hours in the world of the Jazz.

An important quote from Jazz players or personnel during the week.

“He wants the paint. ‘I got this. Don’t worry about this. This area is mine.’ “

-Jazz wing Kyle Korver, on Rudy Gobert’s defensive presence¹

The story of the past week in Jazzland has been Rudy Gobert, full stop. He delivered a historic rebounding week — 62 boards in the last three games — and had multiple stretches where he took over the game from an offensive standpoint, too. To be honest, his averages and 20.0 points, 20.7 boards, 2.7 blocks and 72 percent shooting should probably be enough to earn him Western Conference Player of the Week honors².

But Korver’s onto something here because, even in a week of impressive stat-stuffing, what makes Gobert most special is still the way he completely owns the interior on the opponent’s end of the floor.

Simply put, Gobert terrifies people.

It’s not even controversial or cute to say it anymore, because every game features multiple plays where a driver comes around a pick, sees the Stifle Tower, and flips a U-turn. For that matter, each of last week’s three games — the Jazz went undefeated to bring their overall winning streak to six — included plays where you can see the mental impact that Gobert has on multiple players in the span of seconds. 

Here are a few of them.

Gobert is peerless when it comes to his ability to guard two on the pick-and-roll. He walls off the lane to the driver without ever really leaving his man, so there’s no advantage for the offense to exploit. He deters, he deflects, he denies — in short, this is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year looking every bit like the league’s most impactful player on that end.

Because of that, Utah is back to controlling games with their defense. On Monday, the Jazz held the Pistons to just one made basket in a 5:53 stretch while they went from being 11 down to leading. For that stretch — about one-eighth of a game — the Pistons’ offensive rating was 30, litearlly: 1-for-7 shooting, three turnovers, zero free-throw trips. For 8:22 against the Clippers on Wednesday, the Jazz went on a tiebreaking 18-7 spurt during which the Clippers shot 4-for-16 with three turnovers and zero free-throw trips. It’s just becoming really hard to score on Gobert’s Jazz again.

In the last six games, the Jazz have outscored opponents by 114 points with Gobert on the court. The players that Gobert has been directly guarding at the time of a shot have made just 12 of 42 shots, or 29 percent. His impact is just silly.

We’re used to seeing offensive stars take over a game with ridiculous shot-making. We understand that and have a vocabulary for it.

Gobert has that same impact on games, but in ways the basketball community isn’t as equipped to describe. We don’t necessarily have enough different ways to articulate what happens in basketball games when Gobert checks in and People. Just. Cannot. Score.

We better find the way, though, because Gobert is playing the best basketball of his career right now, and the 26-year-old doesn’t look like he plans on being any less terrifying to opposing offenses anytime soon.

Stats that tell the story of the week or highlight a timely topic.

8

Since the 1983-34 season, only three Jazz players have strung together eight consecutive games with 24 points or more: Karl Malone, Adrian Dantley and Donovan Mitchell³. Mitchell has just been electric recently, and he’s been scoring efficiently to boot. In fact, he has had six in a row where his true shooting percentage was between 55 and 70. In the three games since our last Salt City Seven, he has averaged 26.7 points on 19.3 shots per game.  

99

One of the things we’ve been tracking during the extended absence of literally every Jazz PG is the performance of Jazz lineups that feature one or both of Mitchell and Joe Ingles as the primary playmaker. The good news for the Jazz: the offense with just one of those two facilitators on the floor is getting closer to being passable. During the five games without a true point guard, the ORtg is up to 97.8 in the 58 minutes that Ingles has manned the point without Mitchell on the floor, and 100.6 in 79 minutes with Mitchell and no Ingles. Those figures are still worst than the league’s most anemic offense, but they’re at least up at a figure where the Jazz can survive while those guys take their turns resting.

But beware: the softer opponent slate has helped pad those numbers. In fact, before the Jazz faced Cleveland on Friday night, the Ingles-only number was 86.5 and the Mitchell-only was 96.6. The opponent quality is about to take a sharp upward turn this week, so the sooner the Jazz can get their playmakers healthy, the better. Ricky Rubio and Raul Neto will be reevaluated early this week, and Dante Exum in another week. Injured forward Thabo Sefolosha will also be looked at this week.

85.4

This writer’s nomination for someone who had an underrated impact on the Jazz’s 3-0 week: Jae Crowder. The reserve forward remains in what could generously be described as a slump (27 percent over his last eight games), but the Jazz wouldn’t be on their current six-game winning streak without his defense. His primary assignments this week were Blake Griffin, Danilo Gallinari, Tobias Harris and Cedi Osman, whom he guarded for a combined 103 possessions. Those players’ squads managed a total of just 88 TEAM points on the 103 possessions that Jae was guarding those guys, per the NBA’s matchup tracker. Those are four really good players, and Crowder not only kept them from going off, but did so in a way that didn’t compromise the rest of the defense. That’s a combined DRtg of 85.4 while Crowder checked those four.

Breaking down the Xs and Os behind a Jazz score from the week.

Beating ball pressure

As the Jazz continue to play without point guards, one thing they’re commonly seeing from defenses is a lot of ball pressure. Opponents are betting that Mitchell, Ingles and other Jazz ball handlers will struggle against aggressive defense out front and big men stepping up to trap the pick-and-roll. So let’s look at how Utah is preparing for and countering defenders getting into the grills of their makeshift facilitators.

Actually, all of these clips come from their game against, ahem, the Clips. L.A. came out with a game plan to be really aggressive on pick-and-rolls and force bad decisions. Only it didn’t work. Utah executed around, over and through those traps, and essentially busted their scheme. And yet the Clippers didn’t adjust. They just let the Jazz pick apart their high ball pressure all night long.

One way the Jazz — specifically Mitchell — did that was by denying the screen. If he saw a big creeping up around the pick getting in position to trap, he’d simply go the other way. At that point he had taken the big out of the play and had his own man on his hip. So Mitchell either got downhill for a finish, or drew help and dropped the ball off. Take a look:

Another thing the Jazz did frequently is have the screen-setting big start his roll early, as soon as his defender steps out to trap. Once he does, the Jazz have a 4-on-3 if Mitchell or Ingles can get the ball out cleanly. The Clippers’ remaining three defenders often got confused about how to cover the play, and Gallinari got caught just standing around. Gallo had a baaaaad night on the defensive end, and here Crowder takes advantage of two bad closeouts.

Another option the Jazz have is for the big to slip the screen so the ball handler can hit him with a direct pass. At 6’8″, Ingles is particularly good at finding the angle for these passes, and once again they result in Utah having an advantage off a trap. 

But here was my favorite one, from early on. Instead of the direct pass to the rolling big, the Jazz give Mitchell an easier option: a relay pass to the strong-side wing. This allows Mitchell to pull the defenders away from the middle of the floor before Ingles zips the ball back to Favors rumbling down the lane. Mitchell has a lot of plays where he moved or passed laterally against the trap, which both moved the trap out of the middle of the floor and bought Mitchell a second to read the backside help. 

The Jazz were ready with their counters. The Clips didn’t really respond, which was weird, but props to the Jazz for having specific options set up to respond to the pressure they knew they’d see in Staples.

After each Jazz win, Twitter helps us decide who was that game’s MVP or most memorable performer.

Jazz 100, Pistons 94: Rudy Gobert

Down nine just after halftime, Utah relied on Gobert for the comeback — and not just defensively. The Jazz went on a 17-4 run that included 10 Gobert points. During that stretch, he had the signature play of the game plus a couple of finesse layups and another thunderous dunk. In all, he’d pile up 18 points and a career high-tying 25 rebounds, and the defense was there, too. He held Andre Drummond to 4-of-13 shooting in the 56 possessions he was guarding the former All-NBA center, and held all Pistons to just 2-for-5 at the rim. Mitchell had a great night with 28, Korver was huge with 19, and Ingles deserves consideration for the kiss alone. But Rudy dominating both ends during the key stretch was the clincher.

Jazz 129, Clippers 109: Rudy Gobert

Gobert is just ridiculous. The last time a Jazz player had consecutive 20-rebound games with at least 18 points in each was in 1988 (Karl Malone). Gobert got his 23 points on just 10 shots, thanks to a 9-for-10 night from the line. He also had 22 boards, four blocks and a bevy of plays where he had an unreal impact by influencing multiple players on the same play, shutting down the Clippers’ pick-and-roll with his elite length and recovery skills. It would have been fun to recognize Crowder breaking out of a slump with 23, and Mitchell (a smooth 28) and Korver (19, solid defense even on the 6-foot-11 Gallo) were big-time contributors. But Gobert was the best player on the floor on Wednesday.

Jazz 115, Cavs 99: Royce O’Neale

It would have been easy enough to go with Gobert again, even though the early rest in this blowout limited him to merely⁴ a 19-15-5-2-2 line and a plus-26 in just over 26 minutes. But the visit from Rodney Hood and Alec Burks made it feel like a good night to reward O’Neale. The growth of the undrafted Baylor product, after all, is part of what made the Jazz comfortable enough to trade the pair of guards in separate deals. Both were ahead of O’Neale on the wing depth chart heading into last season, and now both are plying their trade elsewhere while O’Neale does stuff like play great defense and pile up 16 points, 11 boards and five assists while making six of eight from the field. Mitchell was also a candidate after dropping 24, and Ingles, Crowder and Derrick Favors were all solid.

Tracking the wild Western Conference postseason race and the Jazz’s place in it.

Let’s talk tiers.

If you compare the various projection systems and go hunting for some sort of consensus between 538, BPI and B-Ref, some tiers are starting to develop in the Western Conference power structure.

The “Fighting for No. 1” tier: Golden State and Denver. In all three forecasts, the Warriors and Nuggets have been in the 1 and 2 slots for most of the season. 

The “Solidly in the playoffs” tier: Utah, OKC, Houston, San Antonio, Portland. The order bounces around, but these five teams are next in each model. 

The “Five teams for one remaining spot” tier: L.A. Clippers, L.A. Lakers, New Orleans, Minnesota, Sacramento. All five of these teams have at least one of the major models giving them a .500-or-better season, but none of them finishes any better than eighth in the three main forecasts.

The “Hope is fading” tier: Memphis and Dallas. Memphis has now lost 16 of 19. Ouch. And Dallas is 5-14 since December 13.

The “What is hope, anyway?” tier: Phoenix. Sorry, Suns.

So that’s how the race is shaping up. A hot or cold streak by any of these teams could shift them into a different tier, but that’s basically who the Jazz are competing with for seeding: the Thunder, Rockets, Spurs and Blazers.

A quick look at the Jazz’s next seven nights of action.

Utah is about a third of the way through a stretch with 12 of 15 at home. So far, they’re capitalizing, but let’s get real: things are about to get harder. Particularly if their guardline remains as thin as it has been. 

Monday: Portland at Utah, 7:00 p.m. MT 

• State of the Blazers: The Blazers have won six of eight, but that’s mostly due to a softer slate at home. They haven’t won a road game in regulation since December 17 (2-3, with the two wins coming in OT).
• Jazz-Blazers: Utah has already walloped Portland twice, by 30 on the road and by 21 at home on Christmas night. A win in this one clinches the season series.
• Key for the Jazz: CJ McCollum is a little below his usual production this year, which makes the Blazers more dependent on Jusuf Nurkic. Utah has held him 8.5 ppg in the two games so far. 

Wednesday: Denver at Utah, 8:30 p.m. MT **ESPN Game**

• State of the Nuggets: Denver got embarrassed at home by the Warriors last week, just three nights after dropping one to the Devin Booker-less Suns. But overall, they’ve still won 10 of 13.
• Jazz-Nugs: Any chance the Jazz might have of catching the Nuggets evaporates if they lose this one and fall behind 0-2 on the season. Denver already claimed a 15-point win in November.
• Key for the Jazz: A growing number of teams, including the Jazz, have made a strategic decision to forego offensive rebounding and focus on getting back instead. Not the Nuggets. They’re the league’s best offensive rebounding team, so Utah will need to focus on closing out defensive possessions with a board.

Friday: Minnesota at Utah, 7:00 p.m. MT

• State of the Timberwolves: Moving on from the Jimmy Butler era has helped the Wolves’ young stars dial in, but they’re still a middle-of-the-pack team with a subpar defense.
• Jazz-Wolves: Derrick Rose went bananas in the Wolves’ Halloween win over the Jazz, including by hitting the go-ahead shot and the clinching free throws.
• Key for the Jazz: The Wolves are 7-3 when Andrew Wiggins scores 22 or more. 

Sunday: Utah at Minnesota, 5:00 p.m. MT

• State of the Timberwolves: Ah, the dreaded home-and-home set. It’s always hard to beat a team twice in a row, especially a team that’s playing essentially .500 ball (9-8) since December 17.
• Jazz-Wolves: Here’s some odd trivia: the Wolves are one of three Western Conference teams the Jazz have never faced in the playoffs. The others are New Orleans and Memphis.
• Key for the Jazz: Defend the arc: Minnesota has been held below 33 percent from three 19 times this season, and they’re 4-15 in those games.

Because after all, we’re here to have fun.

With apologies to Gobert, this week’s block of the week actually didn’t belong to the Frenchman.

A special moment! @GeorgesNiang20 ✈️ pic.twitter.com/sQcCzTdpU7

— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) January 18, 2019

This was actually a pretty crucial moment. Utah had been up by as many as 12 before this, but the Clippers were charging back against a bench unit that was having a tough time scoring. Utah had gone nearly two and a half minutes without scoring, six empty possessions in all. L.A. had taken advantage with an 8-0 run, and it looked like a sure bet to become 10-0 when Ingles threw a turnover back toward midcourt and Patrick Beverley went streaking toward the hoop.

Mitchell called this a “special moment” in his tweet. It was also a crucial moment. An easy bucket for L.A. there would have really put a lot of pressure on Utah. Instead, Niang came out of nowhere for quite possibly the chasedown block of the season so far.

That does it for this week. Seven more bits of Jazziness come your way next Monday.