Salt City Seven: Jazz Stars Talk Defense, Skeleton Crew Skids & More

January 17th, 2022 | by Dan Clayton

Mitchell and Gobert both weighed in on the team’s defensive performance in the past week. (Rick Egan, The Salt Lake Tribune)

Every Monday during the regular season, the week here at SCH begins with the Salt City Seven: seven regular features that let us relive the biggest moments, key performances and hot issues in Jazzland from various angles. Check in every week for the quotes, stats, plays and performances that tell the stories from the last 168 hours in the world of the Jazz.

In their own words

Let’s start this week by dissecting not a single quote, but a series of them that seem to have overtaken most on-court stuff as the story of the week.

When Rudy Gobert offered some commentary on Friday about his team’s defensive limitations, his response was interpreted — whether correctly or not — as a passive aggressive way of addressing certain teammates’ shortcomings on defense. Maybe that was his intent, or maybe not, but one wonders if that’s how fellow All-Star Donovan Mitchell heard the comments. The episode fueled a whole new round of speculation on the nature of the Gobert-Mitchell relationship, which has had icy patches.

The question some in the Twitterverse chose to focus on in the aftermath was: “Well was Rudy right?” That question probably misses the point a bit, but even the answer there isn’t totally straightforward. Yes, the Jazz have well-documented issues staying in front of the ball at the point of attack. And yes, it’s a flaw that could make it harder for them to realize their ambitions. But the Jazz were ranked fifth in defensive efficiency before the Jazz finally had to take their week-long turn on the COVID carousel, playing games with guys who they’d met minutes earlier. If they were as fatally flawed as some people have diagnosed them to be, then that elite defensive rating is borderline miraculous.

Overall, he’s certainly right about the Jazz needing to build better defensive habits to win 16 playoff games. He’s even right about other teams and players improving their defensive focus (more on that shortly). But the Jazz’s collective defensive system largely works, especially when you take out a week of games that are borderline useless from a predictive standpoint, where the Jazz were without multiple rotation guys.

But again, “was he right?” feels like the wrong question to be asking. A more important set of questions centers on whether Gobert meant to call Mitchell (or anybody else) on the carpet. Or, frankly, whether Mitchell thinks he did.

To these ears, the initial comments did not sound malicious or even overly critical, and even less so if you listen to the full interview. What led Gobert to that point was him actually expressing that he was not overly worried about the 4-game slide that happened while he was recovering from his second bout with COVID-19.

Long before the conversation ever got to specific Jazz shortcomings, here was what Gobert said about the Jazz slump in general:

“Sometimes when you go through tough stretches as a team, down the stretch it can make you better… (M)aybe if we win that Detroit game or we win that Pacers game, we don’t really highlight as much the things we need to get better at to get to that championship level. You know, right now we are not at that championship level and sometimes you need a tough stretch to remind you that and for us to dig in deeper and work on our habits and get better habits, just become a better team.”

That’s actually a pretty mature answer at a time when a lot of people are wanting heads to roll. As a follow-up, he was asked to clarify specifically what some of those areas are where the team needs to get better, and that’s when he dropped the quotes that some read as thinly veiled criticisms.

But you know who sounded a lot like him? Mitchell, just three nights earlier.

After the Jazz squandered a 22-point lead in Detroit on Monday, Mitchell similarly called into question some of those same habits defensive habits from the podium in a pretty scathing and emotional postgame presser.

When you compare what Mitchell said on Monday to Gobert’s supposedly controversial media chat on Friday, they actually sound pretty aligned. Here they are agreeing — albeit a few days apart — on the overall assessment:

  • Mitchell on Monday: “We aren’t defending on a consistent basis, and it’s got to be fixed.”
  • Gobert on Friday: “The number one area where we can improve is (defensive) communication — consistently, every game.”

OK, sounds so far like the two Jazz stars are on the same page. But they even went further, echoing each other when it came to these defensive issues complicating their postseason aspirations:

  • Mitchell: “We’re fooling ourselves if you think we can win a championship playing like this.”
  • Gobert: “Right now we are not at that championship level and sometimes you need a tough stretch to remind you that.”

Both offered roughly the same specific diagnosis about the core issue, too: staying in front of the ball.

  • Mitchell: “We gotta guard, man. We just gotta guard the ball. There really ain’t that much else to it.”
  • Gobert: “We know that when the playoff comes, we’re not just gonna flip a switch and all of a sudden communicate and all of a sudden be able to stay in front of our man…”

(For what it’s worth, Mike Conley agrees. “Containing the ball has been big,” Conley admitted to The Athletic on Monday.)

Both pointed to a need for more defensive connectivity:

  • Mitchell: “It’s disjointed on the defensive end, and it’s apparent.”
  • Gobert: “You could feel there was not much communication.”

And both also made it clear that they know that level of play is within their team’s reach:

  • Mitchell: “We know what it looks like. We just gotta do it… We’re capable.”
  • Gobert: “I think we’re not there yet. I think we’re going to get there.”

So if Mitchell took umbrage at Gobert’s remarks, he must have a pretty short memory. Gobert mostly just echoed the same exact points.

The only thing Gobert said that Mitchell hadn’t already articulated himself was when he referenced Western Conference competitors whose commitment on the defensive end has been more consistent. While on that train of thought, Gobert specifically called out defensive improvements by Suns guard Devin Booker, a player to whom Mitchell is often compared. Maybe that was a deliberate way of getting Mitchell’s attention. Maybe it was just an earnest compliment to a player who has evolved.

Mitchell didn’t want to dwell on it when asked for comment at Saturday’s practice, and it remains to be seen if this will create one more fissure in a complicated relationship.

But honestly, there is no use in making this a Don-versus-Rudy thing. The Jazz absolutely need both guys working in concert with each other if they’re going to reach the highest of heights. And getting there likely requires some degree of collective honestly in moments like these.

Ultimately, that was probably both guys’ points.

“Those stretches where it really stings and it hurts are going to help us realize that and build those habits if we want to be a championship team,” Gobert added. “It was the perfect thing that could happen to our team.”

A quick dissection of a big-picture topic or burning question relevant to the week in Jazzland.

The bigger on-court story this week was the Jazz getting their turn being debilitated by the league’s COVID-19 protocols.

First Joe Ingles, then Gobert, then several others were out for much of the week as part of the health and safety precautions. The absences took a particular toll on the big man rotation. Once Hassan Whiteside, Udoka Azubuike and even replacement big Norvel Pelle joined Rudy Gobert on the inactive list, the Jazz suddenly found themslves needing to completely redefine what a basketball lineup looks like. They didn’t even have provisional center Rudy Gay, and Eric Paschall’s results up to that point as the sole big in lineups had, uh, not been great. They had to improvise lineups for over a week, and it required them to defend and to generate offense in different ways.

So how did it go? Not great. Utah’s smallball groups did grab an impressive win in Denver by unleashing Bojan Bogdanovic on drives, against switches and from deep. But after that, the Jazz fell apart without a traditional big at the center of both their defense and their spread-P&R anchored offense. They lost four straight, with a middling offense (109.5) and a disastrous defensive stretch (123.2).

Now they’re finally getting back whole. A lengthy break between games helped them get Ingles, Gay and Gobert back to the lineup. Whiteside was the only rotation regular who missed Sunday’s game in Denver, and Paschall has been playing really well. Those reintegrations helped Utah snap the skid with a dominant fourth quarter and a 23-point win.

Stats that tell the story of the Jazz’s week.

5th-13th

For all the talk of Utah’s fundamental defensive weaknesses, they owned the league’s fifth best defensive rating before Gobert went out of the lineup. But, five games without the Stifle Tower brought their season DRtg all the way down to 13th. They did bounce back to 12th after a dominant 104.1 performance on Sunday, but that just shows how central Gobert is to their defensive performance.

7

Last Monday marked the seventh time this season the Jazz lost a game after leading by double digits. That one particularly bad: the Jazz led by 22 before letting a Piston team without its two best players march back in a 32-point swing.

21-0

Then, in their very next game, they gave up a 21-0 run to a diminished version of the Cavaliers. Career 4.3-ppg scorer Lamar Stevens was unstoppable because the Jazz only had so many places to park smaller defenders, and the Jazz couldn’t score on the other end without a pick-and-roll hub around which to organize their attack.

+20

When the Jazz did break their skid, they did so rather convincingly: with a 34-14 fourth quarter in Denver. They even won by 11 points in the minutes where Gobert matched up with reigning MVP Nikola Jokic, per Andy Larsen.

25-7

Hat tip to our friend @SloanImperative for this one: the Jazz are now 25-7 in game in which Gobert, Mitchell and Conley are all available — a 64-win pace — and 4-7 when one of them misses.

Keeping track of the Jazz’s place in the wild, wild West.

It turns out the Jazz aren’t the only contender who has found a rough patch in the last dozen or so games. The Jazz are 7-5 in their last 12, but:

  • Conference-leading Phoenix is only one game better over that span, at 8-4.
  • The Warriors are 6-6, and now have an extended period coming without Draymond Green.
  • Milwaukee is 7-5 in their last 12.
  • Brooklyn is 6-6, with Kevin Durant out for a bit.
  • Chicago is 8-4, but Zach Lavine just suffered what looks to be a minor injury.
  • Miami (9-3), Dallas (9-3), Philly (10-2) and Memphis (11-1) are the hottest teams in the league at present.

Recognizing the best (or most memorable) performances from each Jazz win.

Only one to give out this week, and take it from a guy who was in the building: this one was pretty obvious.

Jazz 125, Nuggets 102: Rudy Gobert. It’s not really anybody else’s fault that the Jazz struggled greatly (-13) in the non-Gobert minutes; they just weren’t equipped to deal with Jokic in those minutes. But it did make Gobert the story of the game, as did his 18-and-19 line, his perfect 7/7 shooting, his +36 for the game, and his general defensive brilliance. Mitchell turned in a tidy 31-4-5 line, and Bogdanovic was excellent with 21-5-4 and a sexy highlight-reel drive. Jordan Clarkson also helped them grease the skids early. But big fella was the difference-maker in this one.

Strong in Defeat:

  • Jazz 116, Pistons 126: Donovan Mitchell. Whiteside was unstoppable early against a smaller Pistons team and finished with 21 points and 14 boards, but ultimately Detroit solved for him a bit more in the second half. Mitchell is the obvious choice here anyway: 31 points, four assists, two steals. There was a while where it looked like he might singlehandedly lift the Jazz, especially during an 11-point fourth quarter.
  • Jazz 91, Cavs 111: Eric Paschall. Paschall was the only Jazz player who didn’t lose his minutes (+0 exactly), and was pretty excellent overall in a game with no true Jazz centers: 18 points in 8/11 shooting, plus seven rebounds. Guards Mitchell, Conley and Clarkson all joined EP in double figures, but none of them were particularly efficient, so we’ll reward the big dude for his bully ball. 

Looking ahead to the next seven nights of Jazz action.

The Jazz are in the midst of a stretch where they will have played 11 of 15 on the road — including today in Los Angeles.

Monday 1/17, Jazz @ Lakers: Somehow, this is first matchup of the year between the Jazz and the streaky Lakers. L.A. lost five straight, then won five of six, and have since dropped three in a row. They’ll be at a rest advantage on MLK Day, though: both the Lakers and Jazz will have flown to Staples from Denver after facing the Nuggets, but the Lakers had an off day in between. The Lakers are still without All-NBA big man Anthony Davis and guard Kendrick Nunn.

Wednesday 1/19, Jazz vs. Rockets: Houston flirted with competency for a while, winning seven straight as part of a larger 9-4 stretch. But since then, they’re back to being bad: they’re 3-12 over the last month. They have two days off heading into their first SLC visit of the year. Christian Wood is leading the way for Houston with 17.6 points per game, but it’s really about the youth movement in the backcourt: Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. are two of their highest-usage players. There has been some turmoil in their locker room recently, but overall this is just a team on the rebuild.

Friday 1/21, Jazz vs. Pistons: The Jazz don’t have to reach very far back in their collective memory to recall a world where the plucky Pistons were capable of tripping them up. After last week’s disappointment in Motor City, the Jazz get a chance to avenge the loss with a fuller complement of players. The Pistons will likely still be without Jerami Grant and Kelly Olynyk, but they have been getting great play from Cade Cunningham: 17-4-6 in the new year, including that 29-point outburst against the Jazz.

Sunday 1/23, Jazz @ Warriors: After finally getting their first pair of consecutive home games in the new year, the Jazz head straight back out on the road. It looks like they will face a version of the Dubs without defensive ace Draymond Green, but Klay Thompson is now back in action and getting into the flow of things. Steph Curry and Gary Payton II took Sunday off, but I’d expect them to be back by next weekend. The Warriors are 2-5 in their last seven, but have a 7-game homestand coming up.

Random stuff from the Jazz community.

OK, this was awesome.

Our own Mark Russell Pereira wrote a thoughtful piece about reclaiming the joy heading into Jazz-Nuggets, in which he talked about taking his son Donovan to his first Jazz game. Then this happened…

Mark and little Donovan sat close to the Jazz bench with a sign that might have gotten a certain other Donovan’s attention:

Because then after the game, Mitchell let the Pereiras out onto the court with him for a photo and to sign the toddler’s #45 jersey. Mark took advantage of the opportunity to thank the Jazz star for all he has done for Utah. It was just a great moment that illustrates why we all do this fan nonsense, which was Mark’s whole point in the first place. Just an awesome moment for one of our good friends here at Salt City Hoops.

Another wild week in Jazzland. Thanks for following along. 

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