Utah Jazz: Why Doesn’t Utah Get Favors Involved More?

Nov 30, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz forward Derrick Favors (15) shoots the ball over Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) during the second half at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Warriors won 106-103. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 30, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz forward Derrick Favors (15) shoots the ball over Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) during the second half at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Warriors won 106-103. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

The Utah Jazz continue to mess up in-game situations by not feeding Derrick Favors in the post. Isn’t it time to fix their offense by giving him more shot opportunities?

The Golden State Warriors came into Salt Lake City and they had their toughest challenge up to that point in the regular season against the Utah Jazz. A huge part of the credit goes to Jazz power forward Derrick Favors, who emerged in the third quarter and kept Utah in the game. For a split second as everyone stood to their feet, you could see that it was Favors who started to lead the team into the next quarter where they would come three points short of ending the then-longest active winning streak in the NBA at 27 games.

Everyone in the building and around the nation got to see Favors go on a binge in the third quarter as he shot 4-of-6 for eight points. Meanwhile in the fourth quarter, Favors didn’t have much of an impact as he made one field goal and missed three. The real question is, why isn’t Favors getting more touches in spite of having a better year?

Remember that person in the park who was so quiet but so gifted? This person would stay at the court all day and hoop and the only way you would get his name is because you asked him after the third straight pickup game that you won because he would never say it on his own, let alone speak two words. It’s that same one person who never speaks but on the court, his actions spoke volumes because you could see how gifted he was. It’s also that same person who you could see get visibly frustrated because he wasn’t getting the ball enough knowing that he could destroy the opponent guarding him.

For the Jazz, they too know the person in our anecdote because he plays for their team. This season can be broken down in a very simple stat. Whenever Utah gives the basketball to their power forward and lets him operate they thrive. Utah has wins over the Philadelphia 76ers, Indiana Pacers, and Atlanta Hawks all occurring when Favors shoots at least 16 times. In those games, Utah is an almost spotless 4-1.

The Gameplan for Utah

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Now, the game plan of the Jazz is to smother their opponents with quality defense and get great shots when they get the basketball back on offense. The Jazz are methodical with their offensive efforts as they are ranked last in the league in pace and it works for their team. It’s a successful recipe that has them as the seventh-best team in the Western Conference. For as good as the Jazz have been offensively they still have a lot of difficulties to overcome and one way to help alleviate those problems is by making sure Favors gets more aggressive.

On a team that plays very slow, and has very few consistent outside shooters, it should be expected that they would pound the basketball inside and use their future All-Star on the block the entire game. Create an offense through the bread and butter instead of trying to reinvent the wheel. If you’re walking the basketball up the court, it’s because your team isn’t super athletic and quick — which plays into Favors strength because he’s more athletic than most big men in the league.

More importantly, having someone inside the paint to get you a bucket is ideal. In the NBA, there aren’t many players who can command a double team once they establish inside position. Favors, on the other hand, is one of the players that will kill you if you don’t send help defense (ask Hassan Whiteside).

Aiming Higher 

What’s interesting about Favors is that he has managed to have a relatively quiet season. In points per game Favors is averaging 17.4 a night which is good enough for seventh among power forwards. He’s seeing his contemporaries such as Ryan Anderson and Dirk Nowitzki, ranked ahead of him. Shouldn’t he be higher up on the list with Blake Griffin, Anthony Davis, and Paul Millsap? He’s got the talent to compete with the top three, against Griffin, Favors finished with 22 points and his team got the win on the road.

Next: NBA Power Rankings

Before the beginning of the year if you said that Gordon Hayward was the best player on the Jazz roster and the most likely to make the All-Star game you would be hard pressed to find other people that would disagree. Since the opening tip of the season, Favors has been writing his own narrative. Favors is Utah’s best player and he’s also the most deserving of an All-Star bid. It’s time Utah started treating him like such.

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