Utah Jazz: Now’s The Time To Fan Out On Trey Burke

Utah Jazz point guard Trey Burke has made the best of a difficult situation.

As a general rule, I don’t really “fan out” over the individual highs and lows of Utah Jazz players. I’m from the school of thought that dictates things aren’t really ever as good or bad as they seem–that the hyperbolic, occasionally bipolar nature of fandom rarely makes for measured, accurate appraisal of players or teams.

Having said that, allow me to fan out on the hero of the Jazz victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday, oft-beleaguered point man Trey Burke.

Over the course of his first two seasons in the NBA, Burke went from being a John R. Wooden Award winner, lottery pick and a potential franchise point guard to the guy who was too small, couldn’t shoot or defend and was trending on Twitter for less than awesome reasons.

It got to the point where a vocal minority of Jazz fans and even some in the basketball media openly speculated about the possibility that the Jazz could be better off with D-Leaguer Bryce Cotton running the offense. That Burke’s time had come and gone and his future rested somewhere far, far away from Salt Lake City.

Despite the static, Burke has continued to do his thing. After a ho-hum season opener at Detroit that brought his detractors out in droves, the third-year guard flipped a switch and has been a key factor in four Jazz victories.

In his last five games, Burke has averaged 15.6 points per game on 48.4 percent shooting and 50 percent from three-point range in 24.6 minutes of play. The high water mark came in the Grizzlies game, when the former Michigan standout dropped 24 points and made six three-pointers.

I’d call his recent upturn a surprise, but if Burke has shown us anything in his young hoops career it’s that he has an innate ability to rise above the noise. To thrive in less than favorable circumstances.

He did it when he was spurned by his beloved Ohio State Buckeyes as a college recruit. He did it as a freshman forced into a leadership role with the Wolverines. He did it when he lost his starting job in Utah to rookie phenom Dante Exum and he’s doing it again now when many had all but written him off.

I could cite a statistical trend or give you some crazy algorithm to show you that he’s awesome and you could probably give me five more to the contrary. In the end, the proof is in the pudding. In the good times and the bad, the slumps and the games where he nails six threes, Burke continues to do his thing–unfazed by the haters.

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Does he occasionally do things on the floor that infuriate me? Absolutely. Did he leave us wanting more after years one and two? Without a doubt. But he also fought and persevered and provided Jazz Nation with more than his fair share of “wow” moments.

Moreover, he has played with professionalism and kept his composure, almost in defiance of those that seemingly root for his failure. He’s been dealt a series of bad hands, but remains in the game. The very picture of resilience in the NBA gauntlet.

Can he now solidify himself as a key contributor to a Jazz playoff run? If you’re asking me, the answer is an unequivocal yes. The odds have been against him, but beating the odds is kind of his thing.

One might say that I have fan goggles on here, but I’ll own it–I’m a Trey Burke fan.