Utah Jazz 2014-15 Player Review: Rodney Hood

Mar 21, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Leandro Barbosa (19) forces a turnover against Utah Jazz guard Rodney Hood (5) during the fourth quarter at Oracle Arena. The Golden State Warriors defeated the Utah Jazz 106-91. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Looking back on the Utah Jazz 2014-15 season that was. 22 players logged minutes, some stepped forward, others back. Some were called up from the ether, others packed bags for alternate destinations.

Rodney Hood

There was a time not too distant that a large portion of Utah was stoking the fires for Jabari Parker, hoping to lure the player out of high school to a certain local college. To those fans’ dismay, Parker instead chose to go to Duke where he often overshadowed Rodney Hood with flashy play and name recognition.

Be honest, when was the last time you heard the name Jabari Parker? And while we’re being honest, Rodney Hood may have played as well or better than Parker for Mike Krzyzewski.

What Rodney Hood and Jabari Parker have in common still, aside from being 2015 NBA Duke draftees, is both suffered injuries this year. Parker was lost for the season in early January due a torn ACL. Meanwhile, Rodney Hood, sidelined for weeks for plantar fasciitis, was just about to get geared up.

2014-15 Season Stats

21.3 MPG, 8.7 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.7 APG, 0.9 TOs, 41% FGs, 37% 3FGs, ORtg 102.0, DRtg 98.7

Strengths

We already knew Rodney Hood could could shoot, and while it took him a while to find hi rhythm after injury and a nuclear stomach bug, he finished the season strong from behind the arc, making 44% of 23 attempts in the last five games.

Hood showed flashes of elite defense with his ample 6′ 8.5″ wingspan, 8′ 7″ standing reach and deceptive quickness and natural inclination for the game.

But maybe the most underrated part of Rodney Hood’s game is his passing ability. While none of his season numbers are flashy, Hood gained loads of momentum to end his rookie season, garnering Rookie of the Month honors to close out the final stanza of the Jazz season.

Head coach Quin Snyder counts himself lucky to have yet another wing that can act as a capable ball handler that makes the right decisions in his pass-heavy offensive scheme.

Weaknesses

Rodney Hood is more capable of going strong to the basket than we saw from him — natural for a rookie to be a little hesitant. He can get more than 2.7 trips to the free throw line per-36 minutes.

Confidence will have played a part in said timidness. A quiet fellow, we can’t yet glean much from Hood’s personality, but he has the tools to be one of the draft steals of a generation should he gain it.

The elephant in the room is his health. While plantar fasciitis can be a recurring epidemic for some players, Rodney Hood’s other dings and illness felt completely random and simply unfortunate. Please, whomever is holding that Rodney Hood Voo Doo doll, we’re willing to start a gofundme campaign for you to forget you own it.

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We’ve been high on The Hoodie since draft day here at PnB, and still believe he can be a player that makes a massive impact on games on a regular basis. There could be quite a battle for minutes between he and Alec Burks starting in training camp this summer, and continuing for years to come.

In the closing weeks of the 2014-15 Utah Jazz season, Rodney Hood was taking over portions of games. If I was a betting man, I’d say your money is more likely to see a return from Rodney Hood than not.

Here’s Rodney Hood surprising new Chevy owners at LHM Chevy in Murray, Utah a couple of weeks ago