‘Tis the Season for Jazz Shooting Woes

THT and other Jazz shooters are having an off year from midrange and outside. (Eric Gay via sltrib.com)

Defense matters, controlling the paint can be vital, and dictating pace and possession control both the offensive and defensive narrative. Those are things that contribute to winning in the NBA. Yet in many ways the game has evolved into a make-or-miss league. Many teams live or die by the three, while many rely on the midrange when defenses tighten up, a clutch bucket is needed, or other circumstances dictate. Shooting isn’t the sole factor in the equation to being a successful basketball squad, you just need points to stay competitive and win games. 

On Wednesday, The Athletic’s Law Murray published a ranking of NBA teams’ shooting prowess, examining each team’s greatest strengths and weaknesses as it pertained to their midrange game and that from beyond the arc.

As you might predict, the Jazz were ranked low on Murray’s report. Out of the 30 teams, the Jazz were put at the 24th spot when Murray compiled data from shooting data like field goals made per game or percentages. To focus solely on shooting, points in the restricted area were not part of the criteria.  Specifically, the Jazz are sixth in free-throw percentage, so a strength, but last, LAST!, in midrange field goals, labeled as their greatest weakness. As Murray said, “No team is more bankrupt in between the arc and the paint than Utah; absolutely no pull-up game whatsoever.”

Just for reference, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Milwaukee Bucks led the rankings, while the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards were behind the Jazz. 

Flipping through Utah’s roster, it’s easy to identify certain players that bring the team’s percentage down from deep or midrange. Talen Horton-Tucker comes to mind for either, while players like Simone Fontecchio and Ochai Agbaji are good as spot-up guys from beyond the arc, but not at creating their own shot in the midrange. 

Others make you pause. One compelling component of the Jazz’s lack of midrange success is the employment, and deployment, of Jordan Clarkson, a notorious one-on-one bucket getter. In the last five years, JC was above 50% on twos, highlighted by nearly 55% in his first season in Utah. Even last year, JC was a 53% shooter on midranges in the paint, but that number has dipped to 46%, his worst mark since his second in the league in 2015 with the Lakers. Per Basketball-reference, Clarkson is a mid-40s shooter between 3-10 feet and 10-16 feet but dips to 33% between 16 and the three-point line. Interestingly, it seems to add up to his reputation of working in isolation as 27% of his midrange is assisted compared to 62% of his threes being assisted. 

Recently, the Jazz have been winning. After inserting Collin Sexton into the starting lineup, the Jazz are 6-3. Sexton has been on a tear statistically, notching 23.2 points, 4.4 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and nearly a steal a game as a starter, with 50/40/88 shooting splits in his repertoire. We know he attacks the paint with ferocity and speed, and we know he can nail a deep bomb pretty consistently. Is he a midrange guy? 40.6% between 3-10 feet and then 30.3% between 10-16 feet before a comfortable 47.1% settles between 16 and the three-point line. Just like JC, Sexton can isolate and get to his spots on the floor. But, just like JC, his floaters or short post turnarounds off the backboard – some of Sexton’s staples – aren’t falling like usual. 

Kris Dunn could be another reason why the Jazz are winning as of late. In two games last week when he played over 30 minutes, the traditional point guard averaged 10.5 points, 11.5 assists, 6.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and a block a game. While doing so, he only committed three total turnovers in 67 minutes. While he’ll never be a volume shooter or scorer, maybe he should consider it as his individual shooting stats (broken by distance) are some of the strongest on the team, let alone the point guard rotation. 

Murray did the same collection and analysis last season for The Athletic. At face value, you’d notice a significant change: the Jazz were ranked 7th overall. Murray said, “The Jazz are top-10 due to their 3-point volume and general accuracy.” He added, “They have a surplus of players shooting the 3 well.” Much of the Jazz roster rolled over to this season, with many of the core rotational pieces still wearing the J-note jerseys. Checking the date, however, and in December and January of last season the Jazz had marksmen Mike Conley and Malik Beasley padding the stats. 

The three hasn’t been different from last year to this. The team still hoists 37 a game. Last year, they averaged to shoot 35.3% a game and that number is basically the same this year, 35.7. Similarly, these shooting statistics put the Jazz at 20th in the league last year; as of right now, the team is 21st this season. 

So if the three-point numbers stay the same, there has to be some detail as to why the Jazz went from 117 points (7th in the league) to 113 points a game (19th in the league) this year. Perhaps it’s the point guard inconsistency, perhaps it’s the notable missed games from scorers and shooters, or perhaps, as Law Murray paints, it’s the midrange.