Utah Jazz: Strange Jae Crowder stat highlights an offensive issue

Utah Jazz forward Jae Crowder has a rather dubious statistical distinction; one that highlights an ongoing issue with the team’s offense.

While the team’s ability to focus and compete for a full 48 minutes has definitely been the biggest problem this season, a statistical anomaly in Jae Crowder‘s shooting profile perfectly encapsulates a potential issue facing the Utah Jazz offense through 17 games.

In a quick-hitter for HoopsHype, Bryan Kalbrosky points out that all 40 of Crowder’s jump shots have been assisted by one of his teammates. Not one has been purely of his own creation. That puts him in rare company with the likes of Langston Galloway , Allen Crabbe, Jared Dudley, former Jazzman Jonas Jerebko and Davis Bertans.

Let me be clear — I’m not bringing this up as a criticism of Crowder or his game. When he’s not going to the basket, his role within the Jazz attack has largely been to spot-up and fire away. And his energy and defensive versatility have been important arrows in Jazz coach Quin Snyder’s quiver.

That said, the statistic makes plain the fact that the Jazz are sorely lacking shot creators; players that can generate their own offense. Crowder may be the most glaring example, but the Jazz roster is teaming with players whose only offensive recourse is to get to a spot and wait for a pass.

Don’t get me wrong, moving the ball and having a scheme to create opportunity are great things, but sometimes you just need more. A last resort option when all the screening, cutting and passing isn’t getting it done.

Alas, beyond Donovan Mitchell and Alec Burks, the team doesn’t have much in the way of guys who you can give the ball to in order to just go get a bucket. By and large, players rely on the scheme and their teammates moving the ball to get them points.

Even the team’s most consistent weapon this season — the lob pass to Rudy Gobert — takes at least two to tango. And until he becomes a finisher, Dante Exum won’t be part of that group, either, despite the fact that he beats the field to the tin on the regular with his speed.

When it all works and players are hitting shots, Utah’s dearth of shot creators hasn’t been a major problem. In those circumstances, the Jazz O is fun to watch and points are put up in bunches. When things fall flat, though, or opposing defenses gum up “the blender,” they really bottom out.

Time will tell if this is something that can (or needs to) be overcome, but I tend to think it will ultimately limit the team’s potential in some respects. And roster moves may be the only way to shore up the shot creation shortfall.

I’m not talking a complete overhaul of the team’s offensive identity, but a little diversification of the attack. If the Jazz want to get back to the top of the West, it may just be necessary in the end.

At the least, if the Jazz can’t get out of their lingering offensive funk, it will be something to keep an eye on as the 2018-19 campaign continues to progress.