Why the Jazz were so bad defensively?

[jazznik]

The Jazz just completed two back-to-back seasons of historically bad defense: since the start of the NBA no team has ever been as bad as the Jazz. The Jazz are young but so are/were many other teams, the Jazz are tanking but so are/were many other teams.

There are probably many reasons for that but what was the main reason? If you think there were two equally important reasons you can choose two options

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Not enough good defenders on the team to make up for the players who arent gifted defensively, plus a ton of young players and an offense that committed a lot of turnovers.

 

[framer]

Playing solid defense was a great way to get your playing time jacked around the last couple of years. You got 4 blocks? Welcome to Bursitis. . .

 

[homeytennis]

The Jazz allowed way too much dribble penetration that caused the defense to scramble and allow too many good shots. Also the high turnovers led to a lot of dunks or layups.

 

[framer]

Also, any time the majority of your team's playing time goes to first and second year players, you defense is going to be awful. Your offense isn't going to he great either.

 

[Chargers Jazz Angels]

Honestly I think it was a combination of some of those. I don't think the jazz drafted defensive players. I think it has to do with tanking. I am not sure what defense Hardy uses yet. I think they are getting players to play smarter offensively first.

I mean Key and Sensabaugh ate just not good defenders. Juzang stopped trying as much on defense when he started getting playing time. I think Collier has potential but he gambles way to much. Williams has potential but was to timid.

Walker is a stud but you have to ha e perimeter defenders also.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

It's obviously been a combination of a lot of things, so it's difficult to say what the biggest reasons are. I think the NBA is very difficult to defend and so you need guys who are able to help and recover and we have almost nobody who can do that effectively on our team. Potentially that is what Hendricks and Cody could do in the future though.

 

[TheGoldStandard]

Bad shots and turnovers lead to a lot of easy buckets that are hard to defend. The Jazz also have a number of subpar defenders. Just a lot of poor/inexperienced decision making. In tanking years it doesn't matter, but if there isn't a major turnaround you have to start looking at coaching.

 

[HermanG]

This thread is like 5 minutes old and we already got multiple correct answers.

 

[jazznik]

There were many sensible answers, But having many young players and committing lot of turnovers is not unique: there were many teams in the rebuild that relied on young, turnover-prone players but it was the Jazz that had the historically bad defense back-to-back seasons. And the Jazz were not even that super young: Lauri, Collins, Sexton, Clarkson, Svi, Eubanks, Olynyk, Dunn, Fontecchio, THT were all experienced vets who played major minutes.

There must be something else that made the Jazz defense drop two levels below the typical young-rebuilding-team defense.

 

[efukillar]

If a team has a lot of players who are good at defense, the team's defense can be easily strengthened (not necessarily). But the important thing is the system, and the Utah Jazz seem to have little interest in building it. I still feel bad when I remember that terrible blitz defense in the early and mid-season. The Jazz are rebuilding anyway, and finding an ace who can contribute in the long term is important. Then, run the team with an offense as the main focus, and then create a defensive system after the roster is complete. There are players with defensive ability in the current roster, so let's trust the coaching staff and wait.

 

[efukillar]

It's obviously been a combination of a lot of things, so it's difficult to say what the biggest reasons are. I think the NBA is very difficult to defend and so you need guys who are able to help and recover and we have almost nobody who can do that effectively on our team. Potentially that is what Hendricks and Cody could do in the future though.

I believe Kessler, Hendricks, and Cody are good defenders, and I don’t think Collier is a bad one either.


If a proper defensive system is established and more defensive talent is added in the future,


the Jazz will definitely become strong on the defensive end.

 

[KqWIN]

When you’re last 2x in a row, the better question is what isn’t wrong with the defense.