Utah Jazz: Should Trevor Booker Get More Minutes?
What looked like was going to become a somber night in Salt Lake City, Utah, turned out better than many expected. The Jazz were playing at home inside Energy Solutions Arena and missing three of their starters, forcing them to play a lineup that rarely gets used.
The starters featured Dante Exum, Joe Ingles, Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, and Rudy Gobert against another team with a barren starting lineup in the Indiana Pacers.
Everyone in the Jazz lineup played well, and brought a different aspect of their skill to the game. In a contest that was almost a huge disappointment for the home team, the Jazz furiously came back from a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit, and a large part of credit has to go to their backup power forward, Trevor Booker.
Booker is one of the players that the Jazz primarily go to when they need energy and passion off of their bench. He normally plays well defensively and is a very active defender. In essence, he’s one of the players that his impact can’t get based off of a stat sheet because he does the little tasks that it takes to win games.
Some of these tasks include making a hard closeout on a screen and roll. Being the first person to fight for position when a shot goes in the air. Or running hard in transition when he’s the trailer to make sure that if a missed attempt is at the rim that he can clean up the shot and finish the fast break attempt.
Plainly, Booker loves to work and that’s the attitude and type of player that the youthful Jazz roster needs.
On the year Booker averages 19.6 minutes a game, but isn’t it time that he starts playing more?
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To illustrate Booker’s impact the game against the Pacers is a prime example. There were 58 seconds remaining and Gordon Hayward got double teamed on the left wing and almost fell out of bounds. Instead of a turnover, Hayward jumped in the air and threw a jump pass to Booker, who was cutting down the middle of the lane.
Booker took two dribbles and took it to the chest of the Pacers center, All-Star Roy Hibbert.
After Booker got into the lane, he drew a foul on Hibbert, and made the layup attempt. Hibbert immediately had to sit down because he fouled out, and in the process stopped the clock leaving 55.7 seconds remaining in the game. Booker made the ensuing foul shot and it was only the beginning of his wonderful night.
After that possession Booker played with the heart that most Jazz fans have grown to love over the past three months.
A few seconds later there was Booker flying to the basketball off of a missed straight away three-point attempt by Hayward keeping the possession alive. Then another possession later Booker hit the three-pointer to in the left wing and cut the lead of the Pacers to four points in a 100-96 game.
Even later in the game when Booker was in foul trouble Booker was, not surprisingly, the first player to dive for the basketball on the floor after Joe Ingles forced a baseline steal.
After taking the miracle pill too late, the Jazz would end up losing the game 105-101, but at the end of the night Booker finished with 12 points and the respect of most Jazz fans.
Some people can say that Booker plays hard because most of his career he’s been undervalued. Some people can even give credit to the Mohawk that he has as the reason why he plays so hard. Whatever the reason why Booker plays so fierce doesn’t actually matter.
All that matters is that he’s bringing his complete effort to the Jazz every time that he steps on the basketball court and his production shouldn’t get overlooked.
On the year the four-year professional, Booker is averaging 7.4 points a game, which is an increase from his last two seasons in the league. He’s also shooting better from the free throw line (62 percent), as well as the three-point line (37 percent) as a member of the Jazz than his previous two seasons.
What Booker does bring to the Jazz that most of the members of their team don’t have is playoff experience. In his short four-year career, Booker already has nine playoff games under his belt, and also understands what it takes to have success in the league. Hopefully his wisdom can translate to the rest of his teammates and they can start to adapt his good habits on the basketball court.
Coach Quin Snyder only has to play him more. Maybe his toughness will translate to this young roster.
Next: Utah Jazz: 5 Things We Learned In December From Gordon Hayward