The Utah Jazz have started the season 0-5 for the first time since moving to Utah in 1979. I personally don’t believe this is the least talented team they’ve had in the last 34 years so why is it they start with 5 losses. Depleted bench, rough schedule to start and being young and inexperienced are all factors in the 5 early losses but there is one that stands out to me. The Jazz are averaging 19.4 turnovers per game which is 29th in the league only to Golden State who average 20 per game. The Jazz cannot afford to turn the ball over at the rate they do and late in the game against Boston it showed late in the game with multiple turnovers in the final minutes. What is the answer to this problem? I tell you right now the answer is Trey Burke.
What?! How could a rookie point guard possibly help the situation? Well my friends there are a couple of reasons that he will help decrease the turnovers instead of increase them. First of all Trey Burke knows how to run a basketball team. Last year in college Burke had the 5th best assist to turnover ratio in all of college basketball averaging 3.02 assists for every turnover. Now Burke probably won’t be able to replicate that as a rookie in the NBA and will go through his struggles in a different offense with a new team. Burke will have the ball in his hands a ton when he comes back and even if he averages 3 or 4 turnovers a game it will cause the team’s turnovers to drop.
The Utah Jazz losing Trey Burke was a bigger loss than this team realized. John Lucas III was exposed very quickly and proved that he is definitely a back up in this league and not a starting guard. Jamaal Tinsley was brought in because he knows the offense and can help run the team but he is such a liability on the offensive end it’s almost like the Jazz are playing 4 on 5. Burke fixes this problem since he is an offensive threat that teams will have to respect. He also will be able to create plays for the starting unit instead of Gordon Hayward having to do it all himself. Burke coming back is going to open up more opportunities for Hayward as well because if teams try to focus on Hayward then Burke will make them pay.
The Jazz desperately need some production out of the point guard position. Jamaal Tinsley is shooting 3/16 for 18.8% and John Lucas III is shooting 15/44 for 34.1%. From the 3 point line Lucas III is 4/22 which is 18.2% and Tinsley is 1/12 which is 8.3%. Combined our two point guards are 18/60 for 30% from the field and 5/34 for 15% from 3. I can’t imagine another team has two point guards are shooting worse from the field. Lucas III has 13 assists and 7 turnovers and Tinsley has 12 assists and 7 turnovers so far this season. That means Jazz point guards have 25 assists and 14 turnovers in the first five games this year. We aren’t getting anything out of these guys and aren’t even getting 2 assists for every turnover they commit. Not to mention that they rarely have the ball in their hands since Hayward and Burks are the two running the offense the most.
Trey Burke will average at least five assists per game this season and will shoot a much better percentage then what our point guards are currently shooting. Burke was a much bigger loss then we may have realized when it happened but losing him is translating into losses early in the season. The Jazz need another guy who can handle the ball and be a threat on offense. When Burke comes back the turnovers will go down which will translate into a few wins that may have been losses without him. Trey Burke is a key piece to this team and he can’t get back from injury soon enough.