Shelvin Mack Is Leading The Postseason Push For The Utah Jazz
By Ti Windisch
The Utah Jazz have gained steam towards the playoffs thanks to the outstanding play of their new point guard, Shelvin Mack.
The Houston Rockets hosted the Utah Jazz on March 23. This game was very important to both teams. On March 22, Houston held a half-game lead over the Jazz and had sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference.
Houston held a commanding 49-34 lead at the half and the game seemed all but wrapped up. With the win the Rockets would increase their lead over Utah to 1.5 games, making the Jazz climb uphill the rest of the way to have a shot at the postseason.
The 2015-16 Houston Rockets aren’t good at many things, but surrendering massive leads is kind of their forte this season. The Rockets somehow lost that game on March 23rd, giving up a 15 point halftime lead at home.
With around one minute left in the game, the Rockets held a three-point lead. Until Shelvin Mack drained a big three, tying the game up and eventually leading to Utah’s biggest win of the season.
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Now the Jazz are in seventh place in the West, with a half-game lead over the Rockets. Both teams have fairly similar schedules remaining, and the seventh seed is essentially up for grabs. All thanks to a three from a player who was essentially thrown away by the Atlanta Hawks on deadline day.
The Jazz are 9-9 in Mack’s 18 starts in Utah, but they’re 7-2 in their last nine games. That tear is what’s boosted the Jazz to sole possession of the seventh seed, and Mack is largely responsible for the uptick in Utah.
Over the last nine games, only Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward have scored more points for the Jazz than Mack. Only Rudy Gobert and Favors have gotten more rebounds. Mack leads Utah in assists per game, and is tied with Favors in steals per game over that stretch.
Mack is a massive upgrade over every point guard the Jazz have on the offensive end, as evidenced by the per 36 numbers of Utah’s lead guards this season.
| Rk | Player | GS | MP | FGA | FG% | 3PA | 3P% | FTA | FT% | TRB | AST ▾ | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shelvin Mack | 18 | 572 | 13.4 | .432 | 3.9 | .403 | 2.1 | .667 | 4.4 | 6.7 | 1.4 | 0.1 | 3.9 | 2.7 | 14.5 |
| 2 | Raul Neto | 53 | 1378 | 10.1 | .439 | 3.9 | .413 | 1.6 | .726 | 2.8 | 4.1 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 11.7 |
| 4 | Trey Burke | 0 | 1356 | 16.7 | .415 | 6.7 | .344 | 2.2 | .817 | 3.0 | 3.9 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 17.9 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/28/2016.
Raul Neto has been an even better shooter than Mack this season, but he hasn’t taken hold of the offense like Mack has done in Utah.
Mack has the best assist-turnover ratio and the most assists per 36 among the group, he scores more than Neto and more efficiently than Trey Burke, and he’s the guy Quin Snyder has chosen to go with going forward.
Snyder’s advice to Mack after the trade was simply put, according to Jody Genessy over at Deseret News:
"“Just do what I do, be me, don’t try to do something that I’m not capable of doing,” he said. “Just come in, play defense and just play hard.”"
Mack has certainly done that, and thus Snyder rewarded him with more minutes. Mack is averaging 32.6 minutes per game over his last nine games, compared to just 28.2 in his first nine starts.
The Jazz have been better for increasing their new point guard’s role. For the season, Utah is outscoring teams by just 0.6 points per 100 possessions with an offensive rating of 102.8 and a defensive rating of 102.2.
In their last nine games with more Mack, the Jazz have an offensive rating of 104.4 and a defensive rating of 96.8, meaning they’re outscoring teams by nearly eight points per 100 possessions.
Mack’s averages of 14.3 points, 7.2 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game over that stretch show how effective he’s been. Only two Jazz players have a better net rating over those nine games than Mack: Neto (in half the minutes per game, against backup players), and Gobert.
Mack is part of the Jazz’ best two lineups since the All-Star Break, including a Mack/Joe Ingles/Rodney Hood/Gobert/Favors squad that has outscored the opposition by 27.7 points per 100 possessions.
Mack may not be more than a slightly above average lead guard, but that’s all that it took to breathe new life into the Utah Jazz.
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Although no team has much of a shot making the second round as a seventh or eighth seed in the West this year, these Jazz aren’t a team any team can take lightly thanks to their defensive prowess.