Three things the Utah Jazz have to do to compete with the Golden State Warriors

Find a Way to Score More Without Falling Victim to GSW’s Pace

One of the most brilliant things about the Jazz this past season was that when healthy (which was rare), they were one of the more versatile teams in the league. With options to go big with the likes of Favors and Gobert or go small with guys like Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw, for the most part the Jazz were well equipped to defend and score on teams of all different sizes and styles. All that is, except for Golden State.

That isn’t to say that Utah’s versatility didn’t help against the Warriors, because it most certainly did and will continue to, but obviously it wasn’t nearly enough. One of the problems the Jazz faced is that even though they had an array of lineups they could throw at Golden State, often they struggled to score. One reason for that is that the Jazz, whose identity hinges on slowing the pace and grinding out victories, had a hard time finding easy baskets.

Ironically, that slow pace is exactly the style that will help them gain somewhat of an advantage over the Warriors. If the Jazz can perfect their ability to slow down the tempo and take the Warriors out of their rhythm, they could have a good shot of eking out some narrow victories. The problem is that in a lot of ways Utah was able to do that in the playoffs and did a formidable job defensively but on offense they fell short and were unable to keep up with Golden State.

Therefore, while it most certainly will be easier said than done, Utah has to be able to transform their style into one where they can attack the Warriors when possible, but not fall into the trap of playing at Golden State’s tempo in which they’ll be absolutely slaughtered.

During the playoffs, Charles Barkley constantly would say on the TNT broadcasts that Utah needed to speed up their tempo. Now, I disagree with him to the extent that I don’t believe that the Jazz should change their typical pace or style, however, I do agree that the Jazz have to do a better job of pushing the ball when the opportunity is there and getting themselves more easy baskets when possible.

Given that Golden State does so much damage in transition, then goes on to play such stifling defense, the only way for the Jazz to be able to put up enough points to compete with them will be to increase their fast break points. That doesn’t mean forcing the tempo when a play isn’t there, and nine times out of ten it won’t mean trying to push the ball after a made Warriors shot.

However, on turnovers and missed baskets, the Jazz have to find a way to be more aggressive and attack the Warriors to keep them honest and hopefully steal some easy points, rather than always simply going to a half-court offensive set even when they could potentially catch the Warriors on their heels. Particularly if a speed demon like Exum can develop more control and finishing ability in the open court, he could turn into a lethal fast break weapon for the Jazz.

It’s not easy to change tempos or styles on the fly and, as I mentioned, I don’t think Utah would need to totally revolutionize their style against the Warriors. In fact, I think just the opposite as it is actually Utah’s overall methodical and slow pace which helps them take away one of Golden State’s major strengths.

But what the Jazz do have to do, is only slightly modify their style so that it includes more of a focus on attacking when the situation calls for it. This of course will take a lot of adjustments and a knack for being able to read the defense, but this stylistic modification will be critical for Utah to be able to hold their own in games against the Warriors.

Even if they have great internal improvement and add a third member of the Big 3, without making this adjustment they’ll simply be outgunned and outrun once again, just like they were in this year’s Western Conference Semifinals.

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Now if only putting these three requirements into practice was as simple as writing them. There’s no doubting that it will take a monumental effort for the Jazz to be able to reach Golden State’s level, but it’s somewhat comforting to know that Utah has at least a few valuable characteristics going for them.

And if they somehow, someway can pull off these three items that I’ve mentioned, we may very well finally be able to see an exciting and tightly-contested series between the Utah Jazz and Golden State Warriors next season.