"Beautiful Game" Jazz - Lost Cause?

[KqWIN]

I got really excited about the offense ahead of last season because I thought the surplus ball handling and scoring on roster would lead to easier shots for everyone. The Jazz have very good catch and shoot players. Bogey, Ingles, Mitchell, and Conley are all great and have been great for years. I thought it would perfectly with Quin's offense and we'd be able to easily snowball our advantages into easy shots for these players. Mitchell and Conley, for example, wouldn't have to take as many self create shots in PnR or Isolation because we could find better ones. I thought we'd get a lot of more easy and system buckets this way. Less shots off the dribble, more shots in C&S and even more lobs for Rudy. We'd have our own version of the beautiful game spurs where everyone around Rudy can create, exploit mismatches, and shoot off the ball.

In reality, the opposite happened. We saw a drop in C&S, Roll Man, and Cuts aka the most efficient shots in basketball. We saw increases in Iso and PnR ballhandler, the least efficient methods of scoring. Mitchell didn't shift his shot distribution at all and it became more obvious that he wants to dominate the ball. Conley struggled to adapt and/or was fried. Bogey was actually really good. Ingles became even more ball dominant and really wasn't interested in C&S. Rudy saw less shots than the year before.

Instead of using all of this firepower to create better shots for the team, it really just opened up more opportunities for these guys to do hero ball and take the first shot available. Instead of the beautiful game we got your turn, my turn basketball where players gave up on playing defense if they didn't get enough turns. The Conley-Mitchell-Ingles-Bogey-Gobert super lineup was the only starting lineup that was bad...and it was VERY bad. I didn't expect all the spacing and offensive talent to amount to a million more floaters.

So what can we expect this season, and does it really matter? The Jazz were the best offense in the league from the time we got Clarkson to the postponement of the season. The offense was even more electric during the playoffs. On the surface, it doesn't really feel like we have a problem on offense. Defense is the bigger concern for most, and I have to agree with that. But I can't help but think that our defensive effort is tied to our offense. Rudy and Ingles stop playing defense when they don't get the ball enough and Mitchell doesn't play defense in theory because he spends so much energy on offense. We could fix that by playing a less selfish style of basketball. Can Quin get these guys to play as a team? Or am I crazy and this is not an issue because the offense is probably going to be really good no matter what?

 

[Bawse Dawg]

It's gonna be taking turns with iso midrange jumpers just like last year and you're gonna like it.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Who knows but this is my big complaint with the Conley addition. I expected it to build off of the quality of the parts and really have a bigger summation. There were a few times it was humming and I felt it... maybe it is better this year. Mike did look more spry in the bubble. I still have some hope but I also hope that they move on from Mike if it doesn’t feel like it’s going to work. At least consider the bench role or not placing so much effort into getting him going.

 

[KqWIN]

Who knows but this is my big complaint with the Conley addition. I expected it to build off of the quality of the parts and really have a bigger summation. There were a few times it was humming and I felt it... maybe it is better this year. Mike did look more spry in the bubble. I still have some hope but I also hope that they move on from Mike if it doesn’t feel like it’s going to work. At least consider the bench role or not placing so much effort into getting him going.

As bad as the Conley trade was, I think all the ball handlers are guilty here. We used to play offense that attacked with multiple ball handlers, but now we play offense where we alternate between a single ball handler running PnR and the rest standing around. It's insane to me that even someone like Joe Ingles has become more ball dominant despite being an elite catch and shoot player whose playing with multiple playmakers around him.

I guess this is just the way forward. It's not all bad I guess. Jordan Clarkson really thrived playing this way, because that's how he's always played. Mitchell seems convinced that this is the optimal way to play as well. I just hate how one dimensional we've become on both ends. Spread pick and roll is good. Drop coverage with Gobert is also good. But we also have no versatility.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

As bad as the Conley trade was, I think all the ball handlers are guilty here. We used to play offense that attacked with multiple ball handlers, but now we play offense where we alternate between a single ball handler running PnR and the rest standing around. It's insane to me that even someone like Joe Ingles has become more ball dominant despite being an elite catch and shoot player whose playing with multiple playmakers around him.

I guess this is just the way forward. It's not all bad I guess. Jordan Clarkson really thrived playing this way, because that's how he's always played. Mitchell seems convinced that this is the optimal way to play as well. I just hate how one dimensional we've become on both ends. Spread pick and roll is good. Drop coverage with Gobert is also good. But we also have no versatility.

I think there is some hope... the team obviously had some push and pull going on. Selfishness will lead to more selfishness. I think the virus was a boiling point they can move past and share the ball/glory a bit more.

I also think Mike isn’t as good of a playmaker as i would have guessed... so my expectations are a little lower.

We will see... the defense was by far the bigger problem imo.

 

[cowhide]

I do not really care about how beautiful the offense looks. I just want guys to make shots and for us to score enough points to win. This isn't ice skating.

 

[KqWIN]

I think there is some hope... the team obviously had some push and pull going on. Selfishness will lead to more selfishness. I think the virus was a boiling point they can move past and share the ball/glory a bit more.

I also think Mike isn’t as good of a playmaker as i would have guessed... so my expectations are a little lower.

We will see... the defense was by far the bigger problem imo.

I think the offense, no matter how good it is, is a big part of the defensive issues. Guys mentally checked out of games because they were all selfish, and it festered. Hopefully Quin can reign them in this time around.

 

[str8line]

I got really excited about the offense ahead of last season because I thought the surplus ball handling and scoring on roster would lead to easier shots for everyone. The Jazz have very good catch and shoot players. Bogey, Ingles, Mitchell, and Conley are all great and have been great for years. I thought it would perfectly with Quin's offense and we'd be able to easily snowball our advantages into easy shots for these players. Mitchell and Conley, for example, wouldn't have to take as many self create shots in PnR or Isolation because we could find better ones. I thought we'd get a lot of more easy and system buckets this way. Less shots off the dribble, more shots in C&S and even more lobs for Rudy. We'd have our own version of the beautiful game spurs where everyone around Rudy can create, exploit mismatches, and shoot off the ball.

In reality, the opposite happened. We saw a drop in C&S, Roll Man, and Cuts aka the most efficient shots in basketball. We saw increases in Iso and PnR ballhandler, the least efficient methods of scoring. Mitchell didn't shift his shot distribution at all and it became more obvious that he wants to dominate the ball. Conley struggled to adapt and/or was fried. Bogey was actually really good. Ingles became even more ball dominant and really wasn't interested in C&S. Rudy saw less shots than the year before.

Instead of using all of this firepower to create better shots for the team, it really just opened up more opportunities for these guys to do hero ball and take the first shot available. Instead of the beautiful game we got your turn, my turn basketball where players gave up on playing defense if they didn't get enough turns. The Conley-Mitchell-Ingles-Bogey-Gobert super lineup was the only starting lineup that was bad...and it was VERY bad. I didn't expect all the spacing and offensive talent to amount to a million more floaters.

So what can we expect this season, and does it really matter? The Jazz were the best offense in the league from the time we got Clarkson to the postponement of the season. The offense was even more electric during the playoffs. On the surface, it doesn't really feel like we have a problem on offense. Defense is the bigger concern for most, and I have to agree with that. But I can't help but think that our defensive effort is tied to our offense. Rudy and Ingles stop playing defense when they don't get the ball enough and Mitchell doesn't play defense in theory because he spends so much energy on offense. We could fix that by playing a less selfish style of basketball. Can Quin get these guys to play as a team? Or am I crazy and this is not an issue because the offense is probably going to be really good no matter what?

Yes. And yes.