Utah Jazz: 5 lineups to watch for in 2017-18
By Adam Coffman
All-Defense
- PG: Ricky Rubio
- SG: Joe Ingles
- SF: Thabo Sefolosha
- PF: Derrick Favors
- C: Rudy Gobert
The Jazz were already one of the NBA’s best defensive teams last season (ranking third in defensive rating), which is why this look, with a few exceptions, is more or less the lineup they will likely be starting come October.
This group is built on the prowess of Gobert, the unquestioned premier defensive center in the league. Opponents shot just 48.9 percent from within six feet of the basket against the Frenchman last year, almost a full 13 percent lower than normal.
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Utah countered their lack of speed on the perimeter last season by funneling ball-handlers straight into the lane, but the additions of Rubio and Sefolosha give the Jazz an element of aggression and quickness on defense they didn’t have last year.
Both Ingles and Sefolosha can guard 2-4, and Rubio is big enough at 6’4″ to guard at least one position down. Opponents will find it hard just to get past the Jazz’s on-ball defenders, at which point they’ll be met by the behemoth in the paint.
Running two big men in Favors and Gobert together might seem like a vulnerable strategy in theory, but the evidence from last season shows that it works. The two-man combination put up an absurd 96.5 defensive rating last season, tops of any pair on the Jazz with at least 500 minutes played.
The three-man unit of Gobert, Favors, and Ingles comes in even better with an 88.8 rating, a virtually unheard-of mark.
Even if this configuration may leave the team open to lineups with combo forwards at the 4, Utah doesn’t have many good options to directly counter that look with a defensive focus. It’s possible that Donovan Mitchell could find himself slotted in this lineup as the shooting guard, but for now, the veteran Sefolosha is a more sure option.