Utah Jazz: Slow start traces back to defensive issues

Last season, the Utah Jazz rode their elite defense into the playoffs. This season, the Jazz are off to a 5-6 start and the defense is to blame.

The start of the 2018-19 season for the Utah Jazz has been frustrating. The team has shown flashes of the playoff contender from last year in games against the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets. However, we’ve also witnessed a team that’s not close to the level needed for playoff basketball, and the result is a 5-6 record.

Utah has been respectable offensively thus far averaging 110.5 points per game, and ranking 13th in the NBA in offensive efficiency. The Jazz were expected to remain one of the better defensive teams in the league, yet the defense this season is the culprit for the slow start.

Entering Friday’s game against the Boston Celtics, Utah ranks 12th in opponent points per game (109.5), 16th in defensive rating (108.4) and an unacceptable 27th in opponents field goal percentage (47.7). Simply put, the defense in Salt Lake City has not been holding up its end of the bargain.

In their six losses this season, the Jazz have an average defensive rating of 115.2 and a net rating of -8.3. The lone team held under 100 points during that span, the Memphis Grizzlies, still defeated the Jazz due to a poor offensive performance.

In games Utah has won, the team has posted a defensive rating of 100.6 and net rating of +11.5. However, these stats are misleading. Two of those games were against the lowly Dallas Mavericks, and another against the New Orleans Pelicans without superstar Anthony Davis. In fact, this team has failed to defeat an opponent with a record above .500 this season.

So what happened? How could the No. 1 team in the NBA last season in defensive rating be playing this poorly on defense? One reason is their poor play inside the paint.

Last season, the Utah defense was dominant in the paint, anchored by Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert and allowing a meager 41.6 points per game. Through the first 11 games of 2018-19, the Jazz are allowing 47.6 points per game. Opponents who last season avoided attacking inside are now getting to the paint at will, as Gobert explained to the Salt Lake Tribune.

"“Teams [now] come here with the mindset of attacking us. You can feel it. We’re not the Utah Jazz of last year in their head, and they come in here trying to be aggressive.”"

The squad has also struggled defending against the mid-range shot, ranking last in the league in that category. Consequently, opponents are scoring at will and lighting the Jazz up on the scoreboard.

Though some of the defensive issues can be tied to Gobert in the paint, the team as a whole is struggling to regain its identity. Guys are missing assignments, allowing too many wide open 3s and failing to cover each other’s mistakes. It feels like the roster lacks the chemistry and confidence they built last season, and besides the loss against the Warriors, has failed to play a complete game as a unit. These issues were explained in detail by Ricky Rubio to the Salt Lake Tribune.

"“We haven’t been a unit. One night it’s one guy making a mistake, and another play it’s another guy making a mistake. On defense, it has to be the five guys doing the right thing at the same time.”"

The lone positive on the defensive end is the Jazz allow only 27.4 percent of their opponent’s points from beyond the arc, good for eighth in the league. However, because of all the open looks, opposing teams are making an alarming 36.2 percent of those shots.

Whether it’s lack of effort or lack of focus, head coach Quin Snyder’s group doesn’t have the luxury of an easy upcoming schedule to figure out the problem. Eight of their next 10 games are against teams with a winning record, with two against the Boston Celtics and another against a Grizzlies squad that’s already beaten them twice this season.

This roster was built to play elite defense, and as we’ve witnessed, the Jazz don’t have the offensive firepower to overcome mediocre defensive play. If Snyder and the players can’t fix these issues immediately, we will be witnessing another slow start to the season in Salt Lake City.