Utah Jazz: Is Quin Snyder a terrible coach?

Sitting at 16-22, the Utah Jazz are 3.5 games out of the 8th seed and 4.5 games ahead of the last-placed LA Lakers. It’s far from over, but it leaves a lot of questions about the next step for the team.

It was no secret that the Utah Jazz would have a large hole to fill after Gordon Hayward’s departure (I feel like no one will ever be done talking about him; even me, ugh). However, what the team was supposed to lack in offensive power, they were supposed to make up for with defensive might.

Dennis Lindsey added veteran wing defender Thabo Sefolosha, self-proclaimed world’s best defender (he may just be close to that) Ekpe Udoh, “three and D” rookie (that’s all he was at the time) Donovan Mitchell, Ricky Rubio, who has averaged more than 2.0 steals per game, and savvy Joe Ingles. Along with All-NBA defender and DPOY candidate Rudy Gobert.

What’s especially impressive is the quality of players Dennis Lindsey was able to put together with seemingly little left on the market at the time. But the Jazz have more players in this top 100 list (found below) than any other team, but none in the top 50.

Despite the lack of offense, the Jazz were presumably going to be a top-10 team due to their shattering defensive prowess, grinding teams to a halt. To say that this roster has under-performed would be an understatement.

With Hayward, the Jazz were expected to be a top three team in the West this season. Without him, but with the new additions, the team was still aiming for playoff contention. But even that is looking shaky at the moment.

The criticisms

Jazz fans, Twitter pundits and couch coaches alike have been largely critical of Jazz head coach Quin Snyder this season. There’s been plenty of head-scratching decisions as well, such as choosing to start Derrick Favors alongside Rudy Gobert (when healthy) and Ricky Rubio.

Starting Ricky Rubio also appears questionable in light of data like this:

Others have also noticed that Thabo Sefalosha, Jonas Jerebko and Joe Johnson have been seemingly alternating minutes every other game.

In the loss against the New Orleans Pelicans, it certainly seemed like questionable rotations and lineups didn’t help with continuity and execution, potentially resulting in a loss down the stretch. Fans weren’t too happy.

Quin Snyder and Dennis Lindsay: Co-Conspirators

Are we being too harsh on Quin Snyder? After all, Quin is regarded around the league as one of the top basketball minds in the game today.

For example, despite the offensive talent on the roster, Quin’s “Advantage Basketball” scheme consistently gets the Jazz more wide open looks than any other team, at 23.4 attempts per game where the nearest defender is more than 6 feet away.

So if he really is a “top coach”, why have there been so many concerning decisions that seem like obvious mistakes to all of us “experts” at home?

Andy Larsen, of KSL, suggested an interesting conspiracy theory on Twitter:

Maybe it’s not about the wins and losses this season, after all. If Dennis Lindsey wants to build a capable and contending team during Rudy Gobert’s contract through 2021, any moves that happen will be for next season. Not this one.

Could the strange rotations be an effort to maximize trade value for many of our attractive contracts? If this season is truly about winning later, then the focus has to be about figuring out who fits with Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert.

Next: Utah Jazz: Regardless of match-up, Thabo Sefolosha needs to play

Personally, I think there’s much more going on than we as fans realize.  I believe in Quin Snyder and Dennis Lindsey.