Utah Jazz
The 2021-22 Utah Jazz can be defined by losing in the first round of the playoffs in the same ole Jazz fashion.
What did we learn?
The Jazz finished the season #1 in offensive efficiency and with a top-10 defense, but nobody took the Jazz seriously.
Everybody knew that Utah’s 2020-21 playoff exit was just an ominous sign of things to come.
The Kawhi-less Clippers put together the blueprint on how to expose the Gobert-led Jazz defense. A force to be reckoned with in the regular season, yes, but a defense that can be picked apart in a 7-game series.
Rudy Gobert had another really good regular season. Per usual, Gobert was seemingly everywhere on defense, a defensive scheme all unto himself. And there was that game against Dallas in February when Gobert locked up Luka down the stretch. (In the first round of the playoffs, not so much.) He led the league in total dunks for a fourth consecutive year and was first in field-goal percentage while second in total rebounds and blocks.
It seemed like Donovan Mitchell was playing some of his best ball at just the right time, averaging the most made 3s per game in the NBA in February and with seven games of 30+ points after the All-Star Break. But the big problem is that Mitchell’s defense has regressed as much as his offense has improved. And we didn’t get anywhere close to that nuclear bubble Don Mitch from the 2020 Denver first-round series.
Mike Conley was okay this year, good enough to squeak onto the T-Shirt All-Star team, and he did put together his most games played since the 2013-14 season. But Conley didn’t offer much in the playoffs at all, and that’s putting it generously. He had three awful games where he shot 2-for-8, 1-for-6 and 0-for-7.
Jordan Clarkson’s ULTRA green light and unshakeable irrational confidence that earned him the 2020-21 Sixth Man of the Year did backfire this time, resulting in his worst 3-point shooting season since his rookie year. Clarkson shot 31.8 percent from 3 on 7.6 attempts per game this season. He did have a game with 45 points and seven 3s, but that was against the Sacramento Kings.
Bojan Bogdanovic was second on the Jazz in points per game and led the Jazz in scoring 16 times this season, behind only Mitchell’s 43 and ahead of Clarkson’s and Gobert’s 7 each. Bogdanovic played well in the first three games of the Dallas series, but he struggled mightily in the last three. And he was way off on the open potential game-winning buzzer-beating 3 at the end of Game 6.
Royce O’Neal held his own on defense. That is until he “got his pants pulled down on national television by Luka Doncic.” Tim MacMahon’s words from a late-April Lowe Post podcast.
The writing was on the wall (in permanent marker) when the Jazz blew a 25-point lead to the Clippers in late-March, proving that nothing had changed. The Jazz’s infamous calling card has become blowing leads in the fourth quarter.
Sure enough, Luka, Jalen Brunson and the Mavs dissected and dismembered the Jazz defense with relative ease in the first round. Luka didn’t even play in the first three games, and the Jazz were still gone fishing after 6 games.
The Rudy-Donovan relationship has been rocky for long enough without any actual good results to show for it. A 1st-place finish in the West last year, sure, but they have never even made it to the Conference Finals.
It’s been a a good era of Jazz basketball, but good just doesn’t cut it in today’s day and age.
Changes here have already begun with Quin Snyder stepping down from his duties as head coach after 8 years.
With Danny Ainge around, it’s hard to imagine that more changes (chainges?) aren’t in the wind.
In fact, they seem imminent.
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Additional Notes
The Jazz missed Joe Ingles. A lot.
Rudy Gay did open up some lineup flexibility for Quin Snyder as we knew he would. But in the end, Gay’s presence really didn’t do all that much. He averaged career-low numbers. He is 35 after all.
Eric Paschall also did not play as well or as much as we thought he would in Utah this season. His numbers were WAY down from his Pascanimal days in Golden State.
Juan Hernangomez played really well when Bogdanovic missed time in March. Hernangomez even started some games.
Hassan Whiteside was a decent enough backup, but he was still Hassan Whiteside.
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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?
A great amount of pressure is noticeably present on Utah this season to finally breakthrough. Pressure is a privilege. Over 53.5 wins.
Jazz 2021-22 record: (49-33)
Nope.
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What’s Next?
The Jazz currently do not have any 2022 draft picks. #20 is headed to Memphis from the Mike Conley trade.
Find a new head coach. Kind of important.
The rumors are that the Jazz are listening to offers for Gobert and have intentions to keep D-Mitch.
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Favorite Jazz Highlights of the 2021-22 Season:
Clarkson definitely still had his spurts where he was hella nifty.
The #5 power dunk of the 2021-22 NBA playoffs.
