Salt City Seven: Flexible Jazz Keep Rolling, Snyder’s Ideology, Historic Numbers & More

February 15th, 2021 | by Dan Clayton

Quin Snyder has the Jazz playing unselfish, versatile and dominant basketball. (via UtahJazz.com)

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.

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

Even as the 2014-15 Golden State Warriors were starting to build momentum toward the franchise’s first championship in 40 years,  they were still underestimated in certain corners of the basketball world.

Some pundits roundly dismissed them as just a “finesse” or “jump-shooting team” that played “little girly basketball.” Even after they won their first championship, some especially stubborn talking heads doubled down and said the Warriors had gotten lucky on their way to the 2015 title. (Oh wait, those cold takes all came from the same on-air analyst, didn’t they?)

What those doubters failed to understand about the Warriors was the sheer number of ways they could win a basketball game. Yes, they could explode offensively behind a couple of NBA history’s best shooters, but that team also boasted the league’s best defensive rating, passed the ball ridiculously well, and was comfortable playing at different paces.

Whether or not those Warriors are the most apt comparison for this year’s Jazz, the recent dismissals of Utah’s chances ignore a similar versatility. The Jazz aren’t just a defensive unit, or just a bunch of good shooters, or just a collection of high-IQ ball movers. They are all those things, which gives them a chameleon-like ability to survive by adapting to the unique environs of a particular basketball game.

Just this month, Utah has found different ways to win. Last weekend, they drained a franchise record 26 threes en route to a road blowout of the Hornets. When the threes weren’t dropping at home against Miami, they instead held the Heat scoreless for two separate stretches of six-plus minutes. The same is true if you look further back in their remarkable 18-1 stretch. Against Dallas (the second time) and Atlanta (the first), they had elite nights in their transition offense, and they held the Cavs to a 58.4 offensive rating in a halfcourt setting, the single best night of halfcourt defense in the NBA this season (excluding blowout minutes and heaves).

They beat Milwaukee on Friday by executing their way to a great night in the offensive paint, and they defeated Golden State and the Hawks (second game) by smothering them on their attempts in close.

The Jazz have 22 wins, and to get there they have used about that same number of different templates to claw their way to victory. They’ve won with stars out (4-0 without Mike Conley, 2-0 without Donovan Mitchell). They’ve won on back-to-backs (4-1) and they’ve won rested (18-4). They’ve won pretty, ugly and everything in between. Bottom line: they just keep winning.

Their only loss since January 8 came on a night when they perhaps outclevered themselves with a defensive strategy that, frankly, was probably doomed from the start. Ultimately it’s probably fine to experiment a little in game 20 so you have a better idea of what will and won’t work in game 85. Nikola Jokic, their MVP-caliber foe that day, deserves credit for cracking that scheme with relative ease. But it also says something that Utah’s only loss in its last 19 times out was on a night when the strategy was maybe just a little too cute.

They’ll keep testing things. This week, they tried a different approach to guarding Giannis Antetokoumpo than they’ve deployed in the past: they kept Royce O’Neale on the Greek Freak and trusted Rudy Gobert to guard Milwaukee’s bigs out in space, in a way sort of the opposite of their Jokic-centric gambit in Denver. Against Boston, they again tried to find matchups for Gobert that would allow him to sag into a “safety” role in the paint.

They have the fifth best defense when facing a top-10 offense. They have the third best offense against elite defenses. But even when a team does manage to take something away from them, they seem to improvise.  When a door is closed, they pry open a window. If the window’s locked, they crawl in through the heat ducts. If those are blocked, they blast a hole through the wall with dynamite.

Some pundits — maybe even the same ones who questioned Golden State’s rise — will continue to peddle theories about Utah being just a defensive outfit or just a collection of shooters. Meanwhile, though, the Jazz keep finding ways to win.

In their own words.

“That’s the unique thing about this team, is they trust each other and they really are our shots. It’s not one person’s shots. So I think collectively that mindset is something that’s really important .”

-Quin Snyder

Snyder is as close to a literall basketball genius as you’ll find. His approach to every single part of the game of basketball is nuanced and interconnected with everything else. Ask the literall doctor of jurisprudence a question about offensive style, and he may give you a 12-minute answer that weaves through topics like how CSKA Moscow defended post-ups and who the pick-and-roll creators were for the 2007 Austin Toros. He never thinks about one thing in isolation; his brain is like the mission control panel at NASA, constantly monitoring the way a dozen, a hundred, a million interrelated systems impact one another.

So in a way, it wasn’t surprising that he delivered a doctoral dissertation on offensive style in response to a simple question at Thursday’s post-practice media availability. The full answer, which came to us from Andy Larsen, tells you a lot about why the Jazz play the way they do, but even more about how Snyder’s brain works.

This particular quote speaks to the philosophy Snyder has instilled during his seven seasons at the helm of the Jazz. It’s the spiritual equivalent (though perhaps at the other polar end) of the time he defended Gobert after a vicious opponent by explaining that “the team got dunked on.” The results of Utah’s collective execution — on either end — don’t belong to any one person. They succeed or fail as a group. Which leads to plays like this:

Snyder’s basketball ideology goes beyond mere synergy, where the parts are magnified by the whole. His version is more like a pointilist painting — the individual actions and decisions are there, but when you step back, they disappear and all you see if work of art. Right now, he has 16 men buying into that kind of basketball idealism. Starting with the team’s stars.

“The best part about it is: we don’t really care who it is,” Mitchell said in Friday’s postgame interview. “That’s what separates us from a lot of teams and what’s hopefully going to get us to the next step.”

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

5:35

The Boston Celtics kept things close in Utah well into the fourth quarter, but they didn’t attempt a single shot in the restricted area after Grant Williams stole a pass in the backcourt and took it in for a dunk with 5:35 to play. That’s a long time to go without even attempting to score at the rim. Their average shot distance over that last stretch was 15 feet.

25+

You’ve no doubt seen this stat by now, but it bears repeating since this is the space where we memorialize the Jazz’s week with numbers. For the first time in Jazz history, ESPN Stats & Info tells us, four guys went for 25 points or more against the Bucks. It had been a quarter century since even three Jazzmen dropped 25 in the same game.

6:20, 6:33

Twitter’s @Jake_Sperling was first to point this out: Utah actually held Miami without a point for two different 6+ minute stretches on Saturday. They didn’t score between baskets at 7:45 and 1:25 in the second quarter, and then after three quick scores, they had another drought lasting from  0:24.3 in the second to 5:51 in the third. The total from those nearly 13 minutes of futility: 24 empty possessions, including 0-for-21 from the field, 0-for-2 on freebies and six total turnovers.

16

Here’s another stat that’s been out there since Utah beat Miami by 18: per Elias Sports Bureau, only three teams have had a stretch of 19 games where they’ve won at least 16 by double digits: the 1970-71 Bucks, the 2008-09 Cavs, and this year’s Jazz. 

84

During Utah’s 11-game win streak, we kept track of how often they even trailed in fourth quarter as just another measure of how dominant they were playing. Well, in their current 7-game streak, they have literally not trailed for a single moment during any of those 84 fourth-quarter minutes. They were tied briefly (38 seconds) in Indiana, but otherwise have played from ahead down the stretch.

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

Jazz 122, Celtics 108: Donovan Mitchell. Not only was Mitchell superb in an overall sense (36 points, 9 assists), but he absolutely took over late. When Boston got to within four with six minutes left, the All-Star guard led a 21-11 charge over the last six, scoring 10 of those 20 and assisting another 10. He nailed three pull-up triples, including that nasty anklebreaker stepback. He lasered a pass ahead of the defense for a Bogdanovic three. His aggressive attack in transition carved out space for an Ingles three. Then two dishes in the closing minutes for Gobert dunks. Gobert was also dominant, with an 18-12-3-3 line on 8-of-9 shooting and deterring Celtics from the rim over and over again. Game ball was a pretty dead heat between those two for most of the game, but Mitchell broke the tie with his close. Ingles deserves mention for his best scoring game of the season, an aggressive 24-point, 6-assist night in Mike Conley’s absence.

Jazz 129, Bucks 115: Rudy Gobert. Painfully hard since four guys went for 25+ (not to mention  O’Neale’s brilliant individual defense on Antetokounmpo), but for me it came down to this: was Joe Ingles’ hot start and career high-tying 27 a bigger story than Gobert being arguably the most impactful player on both ends of the court? Ingles was my sentimental pick, but the tweeps voted overwhelmingly in favor of the big fella. Gobert was ridiculous on defense, finding a way to control the paint even though Utah primarily had him guaring two Milwaukee bigs who like to operate in space as pick-and-pop guys. Plus, it’s just objectively hard to make a case for 27-3-5 when Gobert had 27 and 12 (with four blocks) on similar efficiency. So we’ll side with the crowd, but Joe was spectacular. O’Neale, Mitchell, Jordan Clarkson and Derrick Favors all deserve props, though.

Jazz 112, Heat 94: Royce O’Neale. Tony Jones said it had to be Royce, and then you all almost unanimously agreed with him. O’Neale did a little of everything: 8 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks. But more importantly, the game easily could have gotten away from Utah if not for O’Neale turning the tide with his motor and toughness after Utah got down 13-4 early. In that stretch and throughout the night, he made things hard on All-NBA guard Jimmy Butler, who finished the night 3-for-10 and minus-22. Heat players shot a combined 4-for-15 whenever O’Neale was the primary defender at the time of the shot. Gobert also had another dominant night (along with 16 & 12), Georges Niang had one of his best games of the year, and Mitchell fought his way to 26. But Tony’s right: Royce gets this one.

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

At 18-1 since January 8, the Jazz have forced several empirical models to take them seriously. Here’s a quick list of all the places where Utah is currently ranked #1 overall by a non-human rating system.

(They also sit atop several human power rankings this week, including those at ESPN, NBA.com, Bleacher Report and the Athletic.)

It’s starting to feel like Utah’s grip on a top-3 seed is comfortable, and that’s great news given this year’s playoff structure. They’re 6.5 games ahead of fourth place Denver. The gap in projected records after Denver and fifth-place Phoenix basically means that if the Jazz can hang onto top three, their worst-case scenario for a first-round opponent is the best team from that next tier down: the Blazers, Mavericks and Spurs all project above or right around .500, while the Warriors and Grizzlies are lurking, too. Obviously if Utah can hang onto the top spot, that’s even better because it could mean they only have one L.A. team on their playoff path.

Remember, only the top six teams in each conference get guaranteed playoff spots. The Nos. 7 and 8 teams will have to hang onto their spots in a brief play-in round where Nos. 9 and 10 will have a chance to bump them out.

Looking ahead to the next seven nights of Jazz action.

Three very tough games await Utah this week, as they complete the homestand by taking on the top Eastern Conference team, and then head to L.A. for two.

Monday 2/15, Jazz vs. Sixers: This one should be fascinating: the best team from each conference, each one headlined by a top-3 NBA center. Joel Embiid and Gobert have faced each other just five times (3-2 edge for Embiid) because of random injuries and absences. But this year’s battle should be extra spicy because the former is a legit MVP candidate while the latter is again the DPOY frontrunner. Philly’s point differential actually isn’t that elite — they have a pretty average offense and an almost-elite defense — but they keep finding ways to win. Part of that comes from being the league’s best clutch team: they’re 11-2 in games that are within five points at any time in the last five minutes. (Utah’s 7-3 in that same scenario.)

Wednesday 2/17, Jazz @ Clippers: The Clippers have the league’s best offense (outside of garbage time; they’re #2 including all minutes), but just an average defense. But when Utah beat them on New Year’s Day, they did it by shutting L.A. down. The Clips managed just 16 rim attempts against the Jazz (making nine), and overall shot just 20-for-52 (38%) on 2-point attempts. Neither team got into transition a lot in that game, which is probably not all that surprising since Utah and LAC rank 24th and 26th in pace, respectively. Both squads turned fewer than 10% of their live rebounds and steals into transition opportunities, per Cleaning the Glass. 

Friday 2/19, Jazz @ Clippers: Conley was also really special in that win over LAC, so his status for this pair of games is really important. On January 1, Mountain Mike became the first Jazz player ever to record seven threes and seven assists in the same game. (Ingles since matched the feat on January 27 against Dallas.). Mitchell and Bojan Bogdanovic were both still in mini-slumps to start the season. Now that they have warmed up, Utah will have more options to pick at L.A.’s middling defense, but having Conley back would be a huge boost.

Random stuff from the Jazz community.

Longtime readers of this column know that I’ve long been obsessed with finding Utah a celebrity fan. Too many famous people have Utah ties for the franchise to not have its own equivalent of Spike Lee, Jack Nicholson or Drake.

It was an interesting week for celebrities showing love to the NBA’s hottest team. First, Ant-Man and Crash actor Michael Peña was spotted at Jazz-Celtics on Tuesday:

It’s unclear whether Peña has actual ties to Utah, or why he found himself in Vivint Arena on a Tuesday night in February. The Chicago-born actor and musician lives in Los Angeles now, so him turning up at a Jazz game may have been more happenstance than him actually submitting his application for celebrity fan status.

But then John Cleese reentered the discussion. The star of the cult classic Monte Python movie franchise had already professed his Jazz fandom a few years ago, but he doubled down this week with a non sequitur in a political tweet. That led interactions with fans that proved the British actor is actually paying attention to current Jazz happenings, and ultimately this exchange with the team’s Twitter handle.

Cleese lives a little far away to be popping into the arena on the regular, so my standing favorite for the role is Ty Burrell. The Modern Family actor is a part-time Utah transplant who owns several local businesses and has raved about his love for Salt Lake City. He’s also just the right amount of quirky, known for a particular brand of dad humor that seems to channel the general energy of a large percentage of the fan base. Also in the running: the Utah-born Katherine Heigl or Julianna Hough, and of course the very excitable Mitt Romney. Or hey, former Jazz All-Star Deron Williams — who still spends a lot of time in the Beehive — hinted during his appearance on Jazz TV that he might be around a little more. Does that count?

Who else can the fan base pressure into being its celebrity representative?

The Jazz are rolling. That’s another seven days. 

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