Will the pace of play be faster this season?
With a 93.62 pace of play last season, the Jazz were by far the slowest team in the NBA. There are roughly 180-200 possessions per game, or 90-100 per team, per teamrankings.com. The Jazz were last in the league last season at 94.7 possessions per game. They lived in the half court.
That formula works when you have players capable of scoring in the half-court and a top rated defense in the NBA.
This season, we’re not sure if we have that scorer in the half court. Ideally, Rodney Hood is able to step up and fill that roll. If not, can we really count on a rookie in Donovan Mitchell to be a go-to scorer? Only time will tell, but the answer we received this preseason is that the Jazz will indeed increase their pace.
It is only five games, but the pace of play for the Jazz is currently at 102.5. That pace would have placed them in the top five of the league last year.
Rodney Hood says he's never played with a pass-first PG like Ricky Rubio before: It’s motivating. It makes you want to get out and run.
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) September 25, 2017
The main contributor to the faster pace of play has been Ricky Rubio. When he gets the outlet pass off of a miss, he immediately looks to push the ball up the court by himself or through the pass. NBA players will run if you reward them for their effort, and many players on the team are realizing that he will always find them.
With the Jazz potentially lacking a go-to scorer in the half-court, this faster pace should alleviate that by leading to easy baskets in transition.