Signs Of Growth For Jazz In Miami Heat Loss

Dec 12, 2014; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz center

(0) reaches over the back of Miami Heat center

(7) and tries to hold onto the ball during the fourth quarter at EnergySolutions Arena. Miami Heat won the game 100-95. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports

The signs of growth are there for the Utah Jazz, even in a disappointing late loss that Quin Snyder’s squad fought the Miami Heat to the bitter end in. Alas, it was not to be, even with the Heat at the end of an exhausting Western Conference road trip.

Enes Kanter had a light go on lately, and continued to show improvement on both ends of the floor tonight, one that got derailed in one aspect when Derrick Favors went limping off early in the evening not to return. The Jazz simply don’t win when Derrick Favors doesn’t play, and Jazz coach Quin Snyder ultimately made a matchup switch that didn’t pan out, partially due a lack of personnel.

Kanter had been defending a local Utah product from Lone Peak High School, Justin Hamilton, and was doing very well, when Snyder made a change — one that Jazz fans had been clamoring for anyway: Rudy Gobert became the Jazz’s primary center alongside Enes Kanter as power forward.

In the second quarter Kanter blew up for 14 points. Erik Spoelstra had no answer for the big Turk, first trying Chris Bosh, then went back to Hamilton, to no avail. Bosh and Hamilton would combine for only nine points in the second, to Kanter’s 14, the real damage in the quarter being dealt by the Heat from Dwyane Wade.

With no starting center Snyder, was forced to play Rudy Gobert for 26 minutes and start him in the second half. The second year France native set the bar high for his future as an NBA center tonight, setting or tying three career marks, and setting new season marks in six statistical categories overall, starting the second half at center for Utah.

Rudy Gobert

• Minutes: Vs Heat 26, season high. Career high 27, Jan. 21, 2014 vs Minnesota Timberwolves

• Free Throws Made: Vs Heat 5, season high. Ties career high, Jan. 31, 2014 vs Golden State Warriors

• Free Throws Attempted: Vs Heat 6, season high. Career high 9, Nov. 24, 2013 vs Oklahoma City Thunder

• Rebounds: Vs Heat 11, season high. Career high 12, Nov. 5, 2013 vs Brooklyn Nets

• Assists: Vs Heat 4, career high. This is a large stride. Gobert had had three one time before, vs the Dallas Mavericks earlier this season, but usually has none, maybe one

• Blocks: Vs Heat 5, career high. Previous career best was the same game as assists, Nov. 7, 2014 against the Mavs

It’s getting harder and harder to keep Gobert off the floor. He’s changing the game. At this point it appears as if it’s Trevor Booker‘s minutes that will take the hit, with Kanter progressing more rapidly than ever before in his professional basketball career.

"“The bigger picture on Kanter that I would share with you is, that the narrative that I hear when I turn on [the radio], the narrative that I get through Twitter, is in direct contrast to the narrative that I get on the team right now. The internal narrative is: renewed effort, beginning to do a fabulous job — y’know, a much better job of trying to play defense inside systems and schemes– really working hard to understand those, and playing with a really high level, concerted effort.[He’s] making large strides. Like, opening the door to the future rather than closing the door to the future.”–David Locke, 1280/97.5 The Zone, on DJ & PK"

Kanter is in his contract year, so to be making an impression as a piece to keep rather than being featured as a trade piece, like so much gold leaf, is a big deal. He’s making genuine strides, whatever intentions by either party in contract negotiations or potential trade bait may be. Kanter is under constant fire for poor defense and a lack of focus, on most platforms. But he looks more and more like a real NBA starter by the day in the last couple of weeks — no small feat by staff, nor Enes himself.

The Heat never trailed versus the Jazz in Salt Lake City. Their average lead was 8.09 points, nearly double digits. And Utah came out of the gates like a slug on sandpaper once again. But they fought back again, and Quin Snyder showed some savvy.

With two minutes left it was the Heat’s game to lose, up 93-89.

Jerry Sloan was a master of extending games when down — a difficult skill to acquire at this, the highest level. Snyder was up against a brilliant NBA mind in Spoelstra, a coach who has closed out countless close matches, dashed dreams with a well written script on a whiteboard in a timeout.

Then Snyder started “pulling a Jerry,” keeping hope alive for another possession, closing the gap by forcing the Heat to the free throw line.

I can only imagine Heat fans going, “Man, I hate these guys! They never quit! Remember Paul Millasp?”

The basketball bounces back and forth for a few possessions, then Chris Bosh hits what should be a dagger, putting the Heat up seven with less than a minute left, after largely disappearing for the entire fourth quarter. Remember how good Gobert is good in second halves? The funny thing about this is, Snyder switched Kanter onto Bosh and Gobert onto Hamilton on defense in the second that half, which makes zero sense on paper, or to fans.

Often while watching a game we can get hung up on a particular matchup or player rotation within the context of a vacuum. An NBA coach has to see a bigger picture, realizing that a single move in a game can cause a cascade effect. Give up a little here to make a greater gain over there.

The game should have been over, but Snyder continued to fight Spoelstra, inserting particular players for particular plays. It’s a chess match between coaches.

With five seconds left the Jazz somehow still had a shot, down three and with the ball. Enter Joe Ingles, Snyder’s go-to guy for clutch inbounds plays. Ingles was the man on the sideline with the ball for both Gordon Hayward and Trey Burke‘s game-winning heaves in recent weeks.

And for some reason Ingles’ internal clock malfunctioned. The comeback bid ended with a five second violation. The Jazz would never lead.

It’s easy to get hung up on armchair coaching, getting frustrated with decisions made that you have no control over from your seat in the upper bowl or on the couch. We should remember that there are more factors at play than just who is playing when a fatal turnover occurs.

Basketball isn’t played in a vacuum. Quin Snyder knows this, sees a bigger picture, plans for the future for the benefit of the franchise. When Enes Kanter takes that corner three it’s a bad shot to you, but not to Quin. Because that’s the shot he wants him taking, has asked him to take.

Maybe he airballs it this time, but there has to be a first time for there to be a tenth time, for there to be a hundredth make down the road.

Losses hurt. But signs of growth are there for the Utah Jazz. The margin for error grows ever larger. That is encouraging to witness, and it will pay off down the road.