Dec 17, 2014; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade (3) is defended by Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) in the second half at American Airlines Arena. The Jazz won 105-87. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
It occurred to me that we hear “Exum… Ingles… Gobert!” often during Utah Jazz games. This trio has been making chemistry for a bench that stumbled through much of the first third of the NBA season. The Jazz bench all too often let a close game turn into a blowout until recently, and the trio of Dante Exum, Joe Ingles and Rudy Gobert have played a large part in improvements here.
The bench trinity of Gobert, Exum and Ingles have played 206 minutes together, the 12th-most used three-man lineup on the floor together by Quin Snyder this season. They’re learning to play as a unit and make successful plays within the desired system. Of course, there are flaws, but the most obvious one is to be expected.
While this young three-man group might turn the ball over more than we’d like, they also create a lot of transitions opportunites with the most steals and blocks among the 12 most-used units
Exum and Ingles are NBA rookies, and for all intents and purposes Gobert could be too after playing very little and mostly in garbage time last season. When your primary second unit on the floor is this young you expect turnovers to be high. What you may not expect is them making up for it in other areas as well as they have.
They don’t shoot very well, 43.8% field goals. Take, but don’t make a lot of threes — 23.7 3PAs per 100 possessions, second-most attempts among the top 12 most used three-man lineups for only 26.5% made, worst in the same sample size. And turn the ball over more than any other three-man lineup in the top 20 most-used by Snyder.
But you expect an uber-young unit to do all of those things. Yet somehow, they carry an overall net rating that isn’t hurting the team, not losing to the other team’s bench, a key for a successful bench while the starters catch their breath.
What this lengthy three-man unit does well is defend. And they do it extremely well. The only three-man unit that has a better defensive rating on the Jazz, among the top 12 most-used lineups, is Trevor Booker, Gobert, Exum, and not by much.
Gobert, Exum and Ingles carry a defensive rating of only 97.0 points given up per 100 possessions, and they rebound well, nabbing nearly 30% of offensive rebound opportunities and 77% of defensive rebound opportunities.
Exum is shooting 40% on 15 corner threes this season, 100% of which have been assisted. Gordon Hayward and Joe Ingles have assisted Exum the most
While this young three-man group might turn the ball over more than we’d like, they also create a lot of transitions opportunites with the most steals and blocks among the 12 most-used units, 7.7 and 8.8, respectively. That’s a lot of offensive opportunities created from a stifling defensive that gambles, and wins more often than not, with their length and athleticism.
And they’re quickly learning to become weapons on offense as well.
The spacing is nice on this play, as Exum goes to the corner while Ingles acts as the ball handler setting up a pick-and-roll with Gobert.
Gobert and Ingles reset the screen after the elder Aussie doesn’t care for how it was shaping up versus the Orlando Magic’s defense.
Note Dante Exum waiting for a kick-out three if the PnR dies mid-play. Exum is shooting 40% on 15 corner threes this season, 100% of which have been assisted. Gordon Hayward and Joe Ingles have assisted Exum the most times on makes in 2014-15, nine times each.
However, this time Ingles pulls up on the penetration and puts the ball between the defense in a lane with a bounce, ahead of a rolling Gobert. But Ingles had multiple choices with an open chance to make a play. Again, very nice spacing.
After resetting, Ingles and Gobert find a seam in the Magic’s defense for a spectacular wind-up finish deep in the bucket.
There’s a real possibility that these three could be playing Utah Jazz basketball together in the future for a very long time. It’s crucial for their future together that they’re developing such potent chemistry together now.