Utah Jazz: Injuries Could Be A Blessing In Disguise
The Utah Jazz have injuries across the roster but it could be a blessing in disguise because they’ll have to rely on their offense more.
If you haven’t been jumping off of the walls when you think about Utah Jazz basketball, it’s completely fine and we understand. This year the Jazz were supposed to become one of the sleeper teams in the Western Conference that would’ve been sneaky good.
However, if you’ve seen them play this season you would think the opposite because their team has been decimated by injuries and a bunch of other unforeseen circumstances.
The good news is that comparing last season to this season, you would think that they are in great shape because we’re near the end of December, and entering into the new year next week and Utah will be ranked in the top eight in the Western Conference, granting them a playoff spot if the season ended today.
That feat alone is an accomplishment that the roster couldn’t do all of last year, so that does show the improvement with this roster.
Even though Utah is doing enough to stay afloat in the West, it doesn’t take away from the fact that this team once again has a losing record and they shouldn’t. It’s too late to worry about the past and how Utah could’ve done little things through the season to change their outcome.
What people should worry about now is how Utah will get better with the injuries all over their team. Utah is playing without three starters: Dante Exum, Derrick Favors, and Rudy Gobert.
They also suffered a huge blow when they saw their potential Sixth Man of the Year candidate and one of the few players that could actually play point guard, Alec Burks, get injured as well. Burks could be out for six weeks or more with a broken fibula in his left leg so you won’t see him playing until late February or early March, right in the thick of the playoff hunt.
"“You feel bad for Alec. You can’t feel bad for yourself. That doesn’t do any good. Guys have to come together and continue to work hard and try to get better. That’s what it is” said head coach Quin Snyder."
Now that Burks is injured, people are going to say how this team might not make the playoffs. For Utah, the injuries in reality could be the blessing in disguise that they’ve needed all along to become a better team.
Right now Utah isn’t known for playing fast, or for scoring a lot of points. That all soon could change. Since Utah doesn’t have bigs in the interior who can get their own shots in the paint, it might be time to switch up the offensive philosophy, playing smaller.
"“Teams are playing off us. Coach wanted us to be aggressive from the 3-point line or get to the basket and just be aggressive” said Gordon Hayward."
The biggest problem with Utah’s offense is that they don’t shoot the basketball enough to give themselves a chance to win the game. Their game plan is to smother opponents with their defense and play a grind it out style of game.
With injuries to almost four starters, including two of the best big men in the league, Utah might need to start putting the basketball in Gordon Hayward’s hands and telling him to let it fly early and often. If Hayward wants to make the All-Star team then this is his best shot.
In Hayward’s last five games he’s playing well as he’s averaging 21.2 points per game. In the next series of weeks that number will have to increase if Utah wants to win. It’s not selfish to score a bunch of points, it’s selfish to NOT do it because this team needs him to score. If he can score enough and still manage to rack up wins in the process for Utah it’ll be tough to deny his greatness as a plyer.
Which brings me to say that in addition to Hayward going on a scoring binge, Utah will need to start Trey Burke again in order to get more points. Burke has become a reliable scoring option off the bench and Utah will also need him to amp up his scoring production if they want to win. Burke has averaged 11.1 points per game in only 23.1 minutes a night.
It also means that players like Elijah Millsap and Chris Johnson will have to get minutes and that’s not a bad thing because they’re capable defenders. Utah now needs to rely on Burke, Hayward and Rodney Hood more than before because each of them will have to average more points and get Utah’s offense rolling.
Hood more so than anyone has a chance to truly shine because of the way that the offense will be. With no tradtional big men in the lineup, Hood will have the space on the floor that he needs to dominate.
"“Spacing has been a big thing we’ve been talking about. Then just making a decision once you get the ball, whether you’re shooting, passing or driving it. Not holding the ball and letting it stick” said Rodney Hood."
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