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Utah Jazz: Quick thoughts from preseason to prep for regular season

By Jared Woodcox

SACRAMENTO, CA - OCTOBER 11: Rudy Gobert #27 of the Utah Jazz warms up prior to the start of an NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center on October 11, 2018 in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA - OCTOBER 11: Rudy Gobert #27 of the Utah Jazz warms up prior to the start of an NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center on October 11, 2018 in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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SACRAMENTO, CA – OCTOBER 11: Ricky Rubio #3 of the Utah Jazz looks on against the Sacramento Kings during the first half of their NBA basketball game at Golden 1 Center on October 11, 2018 in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA – OCTOBER 11: Ricky Rubio #3 of the Utah Jazz looks on against the Sacramento Kings during the first half of their NBA basketball game at Golden 1 Center on October 11, 2018 in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Which Ricky Rubio will we get?

Via Jared Woodcox

This isn’t the first time we’ve brought this up here on The J-Notes, and it almost certainly won’t be the last. The way Ricky Rubio performs this upcoming season will be an extreme determining factor in just how successful or unsuccessful the Jazz are. In several ways, he’s Utah’s X-factor, considering that he has the power to make the entire team gel and the offense hum, or it can all become derailed if he struggles.

It’s no secret that for a large portion of last season, the latter was absolutely the case. Rubio looked out of sync and struggled to find his shot, and the Jazz as a whole sputtered because of it. For nearly the entire first half of the season, there were questions as to whether or not Ricky truly was deserving of the starting point guard spot for the Jazz.

Then it was suddenly as if a switch flipped inside of Rubio, and he was an absolute beast for Utah in the latter part of the year. Following the All-Star Break, Ricky put up 15 points per game on 43.6 percent shooting from the field and 40.9 percent from deep.

I think we all understood that those marks likely weren’t sustainable for an 82-game season considering Rubio’s past numbers. Nevertheless, hopes were still high that we’d get a much more consistent and lethal version of Rubio throughout the year.

Maybe we will, and perhaps he’ll get off to an electrifying start that will make Jazz fans feel confident and optimistic about Rubio once more. However, if preseason is any indication, the Utah faithful are absolutely justified in being a bit nervous about their starting point guard.

Sure, Ricky only played 19.2 minutes per game in the five contests, but he shot just 30.2 percent from the field, second worst on the team ahead of only Jairus Lyles. His 36.4 percent from behind the arc wasn’t terrible, but it would be much more encouraging to see him once again draw near to that 40 percent mark.

Last of all, he was one of the Jazz’s worst culprits in the turnover problem as he posted two per game. That might not seem that bad considering that Rubio does a large portion of the ball-handling and turned it over 2.7 times per game in the regular season last year. But when considering his drastically reduced minutes, it’s obviously quite a concern.

Next. Utah Jazz at Sacramento Kings Preview: Kicking the season off with a bang. dark

The good news is that many of the problems we saw in preseason may very well have been nothing more than bumps along the way during the season’s prelude that the Jazz clean up right away. Perhaps some or all of these quick thoughts will be little more than overreactions.

Time will tell whether or not that ends up being the case, but for now they’re certainly interesting aspects of Utah’s performance up to this point that will be crucial to keep an eye on once the regular season gets underway on Wednesday night in Sacramento.

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