Is Quin Snyder The Best Rookie Coach In The NBA? He’s Making A Big Case

Any time that the Utah Jazz take the floor it’s very difficult to miss their aggressive head coach, Quin Snyder, on the sideline. It seems like every camera in the building is pointed in Snyder’s direction waiting to find out what type of facial expression, or emotion that he’ll have next.

When calm, Snyder is normally the person who roams the sidelines crouching on the floor so low that it looks like he wants to sit. Instead, it really looks like the reason Snyder crouches is because he wants to get a completely new perspective on the game. 

It’s his ability to see the game of basketball differently from other coaches is what makes him such a blessing to this young Jazz team, struggling to find a winning identity.

Snyder’s perspective is partially the reason why he made changes in the rotation such as bringing point guard Trey Burke off the bench because he’s better at scoring. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Burke’s new role also thrust rookie point guard, Dante Exum, in the starting lineup, which has made him become more aggressive on the court.

Snyder’s perspective is also the reason why center Enes Kanter is still the starting center, while his backup, Rudy Gobert, comes into the game as the defensive spark plug that fuels the Jazz. Additionally, his vision is the reason why Joe Ingles has played so intelligent as the starting shooting guard.

On the other hand, the reason why the camera’s are also facing Snyder’s direction is for the times that he’s angry. During enraged times where it looks like Snyder could turn into the Incredible Hulk, it’s thrilling to see the way that the Jazz respond to his leadership.

All it takes is  Snyder’s death stare and the Jazz listen.

Snyder’s death stare is so sinister that when he administers it to his players, it makes people recollect the best gangster movie they’ve ever seen and instantly draws them back to watching a dear character in a movie near seconds away from getting whacked.

Personally when I see Snyder’s death stare I instantly think of one of the coldest scenes in a gangster movie, the death of Nicky Santoro, in the movie Casino. Santoro was a rat, and a traitor to his best friend, Sam Rothstein, and near the end of the movie Rothstein got his revenge knowing that Santoro’s blood was a part of the earth.

Santoro got decimated as he was driven into the middle of a cornfield, and was bludgeoned to near death with aluminum and wood Louisville Sluggers and then was buried in the middle of the corn field, while he was still breathing, to bring him to a tragic end. 

But even the final death of Santoro doesn’t compare to any of Snyder’s reactions. If anything Snyder’s the person who could have ordered the hit himself, because his personality is that of a mob boss on the basketball court. His personality though is a huge reason why the Jazz look like a completely different team than last year.

Standing today, the Utah Jazz have a 17-30 record. What’s more important is that the Jazz are having a better year than they did last year under their former head coach, Tyrone Corbin, who led the Jazz to a 25-57 record in his last year in Salt Lake City.

Even though the Jazz are on pace to improve, and hopefully win around 30 games this season, on the outside it looks like they only made a marginal improvement. However to the seeing eye, and to people who have religiously followed this team, the Jazz look like one of the franchises in the Western Conference, and NBA, that have one of the brightest futures in the league.

A huge part of it has to go coach Snyder, because it wasn’t for his coaching style the Jazz still might be asleep entering the beginning of the All-Star break. 

For a team as young as the Utah Jazz, having Snyder in their corner leading them is a huge benefit.

Snyder has enough wisdom to help develop young players, and with a roster like the Jazz that have young and talented pieces such as Rudy Gobert, Dante Exum, Trey Burke, Rodney Hood, Alec Burks, Derrick Favors, and Gordon Hayward, all of their game’s are going to benefit from Snyder’s coaching before the end of the season.

Snyder’s time developing players working with the Missouri Tigers, Austin Toros, and the Duke Blue Devils will all serve him well with the Jazz.

Think about it. It’s not a coincidence that the veterans in the starting lineup, Hayward, Favors and Kanter are all having career year’s the year that Snyder became the head coach. If Snyder’s first season in Salt Lake City is any indication of the future it’s not outlandish to believe that next year the Jazz are going to have even more players on the roster who are going to have a career years.

For the Jazz sake they better just hope that Snyder doesn’t take up a movie role in a gangster film before next season, or they might lose their coach for good.

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