Taking Note of Utah Jazz Odds and Ends
By Jared Barker
A collection of Utah Jazz randomness, namely three-point defense, the French Connection of Gobert & Diaw, Dante Exum’s playing time and more.
So far this NBA season hasn’t lacked in intrigue and excitement where the Utah Jazz are concerned. Currently, they’re competing with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the division crown; the Jazz being 10-8 while the Thunder are currently 11-8.
#TakeNote — that means the Jazz are only half a game behind the division leader with the Portland Trail Blazers (9-10) trailing all but the Minnesota Timberwolves (5-12).
The Jazz are at home on Tuesday night on the back-end of a back-to-back, having just beaten the Timberwolves. Now, your Utah Jazz are facing off against the fourth best team (currently) in the Western Conference, the Houston Rockets (11-6).
Looking at the bigger picture, the Jazz are an interesting conundrum. It can be difficult to adjust some of their statistics for pace, but overall we are starting to see some improvement in limiting other teams to fewer shots from behind the three-point line.
Which teams are limiting shots from behind the arc and effectively protecting the rim? (@nbastats) pic.twitter.com/OolQrNMhOR
— Nicholas Sciria (@Nick_Sciria) November 29, 2016
Rudy Gobert and Boris Diaw have become a fun little duo since we started seeing Diaw return to form these last couple of games. Didn’t see this chemistry coming? Oh these Frenchmen know each other well. You’ll see more fun antics like this one as we see Gobert and Diaw together in different situations.
WATCH: Rudy Gobert denies Karl-Anthony Towns with the big-time block pic.twitter.com/Lw3vFF1zvl
— NBA Australia (@NBA_AU) November 29, 2016
The Utah Jazz head coach is a smart man. When It comes to basketball it would be wise to heed his words. This applies to Dante Exum’s playing time as Andy Larsen outlined today for KSL.com. Here are some other words of wisdom I think are worth examining that Jody Genessy got from coach Snyder.
Jazz bench +/- for the game: Lyles -14, Johnson -13, Mack -3, Withey -2, Ingles +1.
— Jody Genessy (@DJJazzyJody) November 29, 2016
Coach Q: "It’s a good reason to ignore plus/minus."
If you look at some of the lineups that the Jazz had on the floor in the third quarter there were some weird ones. Coach Snyder had to rest some of his key starters especially on the front end of a back to back. I think that attributes some of the worse negatives in plus/minus for Trey Lyles and Joe Johnson. (Had to stop myself from saying Typing Chris Johnson… Wherever you are Chris, it’s not personal).
More from The J-Notes
- With the FIBA World Cup over for Simone Fontecchio, it’s clear he deserves minutes for the Utah Jazz
- Best, Worst and Most likely scenarios for the Utah Jazz this season
- Hoops Hype downplays the significance of the Utah Jazz’s valuable assets
- 3 Utah Jazz players who have the most to gain or lose this season
- Former Utah Jazz forward Rudy Gay is a free agent still and it shouldn’t surprise anyone
And last but not least from an NBA fan perspective in general I’d like to #TakeNote of this last opinion and mull it over.
Trying to figure out Utah's best player is like trying to figure out your favorite ice cream. They're all good (and equally important).
— Justin Faudree (@SmoothsHoops) November 29, 2016
Justin, who writes about the Nuggets on a regular basis, has a very good overall basketball perspective. I think it’s important to notice that the Jazz would not have survived these injuries last year and weathered the storm as well as they have thus far this season.