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Miguel Alfonso Caramoan
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Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images
It’s all about using the attention to create easier scoring opportunities for the Jazz
Let’s not sugarcoat things here: watching Utah Jazz games has not been fun during this stretch. Yes, I was keeping notes about this blurb during the 147-117 beating dealt by the streaking Houston Rockets. The team has sported a 3-12 record since the All-Star break, which is the worst mark across the league. While it’s tough to find positives for the Jazz, the move of head coach Will Hardy to put Collin Sexton to the bench has proven to be beneficial.
In the four games where Sexton played with the second unit, he has averaged 22.8 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists on an excellent 65.4 true shooting percentage (TS%). He was inserted once again to the starting lineup against the Rockets. But an interesting thing that popped in their matchup versus the Dallas Mavericks. That’s what we’re going to deep dive in this edition of the Jazz Film Room!
Zooming into the first quarter of the game, the Jazz won 27-26 even though converting only one triple in 12 minutes. The impact of Sexton’s tenacious drives produced a lot of optimal scoring opportunities that enabled them to keep up against the Mavs early.
Throughout the season, we’ve known that Sexton has got the uncanny ability to get to the rim with ease. According to NBA Advanced Stats, he has amassed 12.2 drives per game, scoring 63% on those opportunities for the Jazz. Now it’s time to look at each driving possession and how Sexton navigated what the defense gave him.
This first play is all about drawing help when Sexton generates a paint touch. It’s probably the biggest development of his game, knowing when to issue the pass as the defenders swarm him around. Here Sexton drives to the rim, drawing attention from several Mavs players. Meanwhile, Luka Doncic, wary of Keyonte George’s corner three-point threat, was late in retreating back to Taylor Hendricks to open up a cut for the easy bucket.
The ensuing sequence was in transition and Sexton drew big man Daniel Gafford on a cross switch. He understood the speed advantage in this situation, which forced two on the ball. With PJ Washington leaving Kessler at the short corner, the former Alabama spots the sophomore center for the jam.
A pet action that the Jazz have often run under Hardy has been Pistol or 21. For this particular possession, they go with the variation of ‘21 Nash’ as Sexton keeps the ball from the entry pass that flows into a double ball screen. Even though Omer Yurtseven missed the shot, we see how much Derick Lively paid attention to his downhill drive. More about this creativity of the Jazz offense soon!
For context, the Jazz extremely struggled in this game to shoot the three-ball, as they only made 13% from deep. With that said, these inside looks that Sexton can create for his teammates through his daredevil drives is still essential to the Jazz offense, which isn’t really known to be a sharpshooting group the whole season.
As the Jazz conclude their season, it’s just a matter of evaluating the current process they have and execute on both ends of the floor. If you’re Sexton, the remaining games could serve as an audition, whether they belong to the future of the squad moving forward. The passing chops that we highlighted today could be his biggest green flag, in relation to what head coach Hardy wants to be the brand of basketball by the Jazz.
Certainly, the Young Bull is making his case to become an offensive spark plug and be a veteran presence to the second youngest roster in the NBA. Time will only tell if he’s shown enough as the Jazz head into a crucial offseason that can make or break the fate of the franchise.
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