Utah Jazz: ‘Splash Uncles’ have been most disappointing performers vs. Houston

The Utah Jazz’s so-called ‘Splash Uncles’ , Joe Ingles and Kyle Korver, have largely been a non-factor in the first-round series against the Houston Rockets. Such has proven extremely costly.

Last NBA postseason, the Utah Jazz earned a somewhat surprising and very much exhilarating first-round victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder thanks largely to the heroics of Joe Ingles. Ingles was scintillating on the defensive end, where he pestered Paul George into consecutive disappointing outings and he was solid on O as well as a constant 3-point threat.

That performance earned him more national attention and acclaim than he’d perhaps ever received before. People who’d never heard of him suddenly became aware of him and praised his ability to impact the game dramatically, despite looking like a math teacher as some would come to say.

Due to that incredible play and the overall reputation of Ingles, most thought he would have a similar impact for the Jazz in this season’s playoff series against the Houston Rockets. The Rockets are undoubtedly one of the toughest matchups out there for the Jazz, but if Ingles were able to step up and play disruptor as he did a year ago, many presumed Utah could have a fighting chance.

Unfortunately, he’s been far less effective than I think even the largest Jazz detractors could have ever predicted.

So far in three games played against the Rockets in the first round, he’s averaging just six points on horrendous shooting splits of 33.3 percent from the field and an appalling 23.5 percent from deep. Ingles hasn’t necessarily lacked effort as he’s had some bright moments, but his shooting has just been ice cold and his defense and overall impact aren’t anywhere close to where they were a year ago.

Those marks are well below his regular season numbers as he went for 12.1 points per game on 44.8 percent shooting from the field and 39.1 percent from deep. While respectable, even those shooting percentages were quite a dip from the 2017-18 season, so perhaps Ingles, who let’s just say is less youthful than most, is finally starting to slow up a bit. He did only shoot 36.8 percent from deep post-All-Star break after all, so the playoff slump seems to merely be a continuation.

Utah’s other presumably greatest 3-point threat, Kyle Korver, also has been far less than effective in the series thus far. Together with Ingles, Korver makes up the second half of Utah’s aptly named ‘Splash Uncles.’ Unfortunately, both uncles have displayed their age – the trait which earned them the Uncles portion of their title – much more than they have a splash ability.

Korver’s struggles may have somewhat to do with the fact that he’s nursing an injured knee, but he was essentially non-existent in Games 1 and 2. In those two contests, he tallied only two points total without connecting on a single field goal. In Game 3, he did manage to log eight points on 50 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent from deep, but even that wasn’t enough to save his horrific overall figures.

Over the course of the three games, he’s putting up just 3.3 points on 37.5 percent shooting from the field and 33.3 percent from deep. While Ingles was thought to be a disruptor and prolific 3-point threat, Korver was thought of by many as a key cog to stretch the floor for the Jazz and punish opposing defenses by giving Utah’s offense space to operate and drilling threes when left unprotected.

That theory had plenty of merit as Utah’s offensive rating was one of the top 10 in the league following the Korver trade. Unfortunately, it’s been a complete non-factor in this series against the Rockets as neither Korver nor Ingles has been able to provide any semblance of the boost they were expected to. And while their performance is far from the only factor resulting in Houston’s commanding 3-0 lead, it’s certainly among the most disappointing aspects and a leading reason why Utah hasn’t come anywhere close to competing.

Lastly, along those lines, another one of Utah’s key role players that has been nigh non-existent as well has been Jae Crowder. Inserted into the starting lineup for Game 3, Crowder injected the Jazz with some life and greater effectiveness initially, but he himself was still unable to do what was needed. Often heralded as the closest thing to a stretch-four that the Jazz possess and one of the more X-factor type players who has the ability to score as well as impact the game immensely on defense, Crowder simply hasn’t been able to get going in this series.

His line has been perhaps the most disconcerting of any of the aforementioned players, as he’s at just 6.3 points per game while shooting 19 percent from the field and 20 percent from the perimeter. Ouch.

The horrific play of those three guys, Ingles, Korver and Crowder, has been absolutely devastating for the Jazz. That’s especially true considering that Houston’s role players have been phenomenal, including bailing James Harden out of an awful shooting performance in Game 3 where he failed to even log a field goal until the fourth quarter.

Houston’s stars have of course out-shined those of the Jazz, but the real story and disappointment here is that Utah’s role players and reserves haven’t shown up at all to provide the necessary lift to get past a true championship contender like the Rockets. Many thought prior to this season that the Jazz were only a piece away from being among the upper echelon of the Western Conference. Unfortunately, this series is showing that the Jazz may have more holes than originally presumed.

Their core is in place with Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, but the roster needs more shooting, a more reliable stretch-four and, as much as it hurts to say, may need a number of replacements among their supporting cast in order to truly be a force.

Few projected that the Jazz would actually be able to topple the Houston Rockets in this series, but I don’t think I’m alone when I say this utter domination by Clutch City has been a rather large surprise. The matchup has been absolutely eye-opening in a number of ways. Pretty much all of them negative.

The Jazz will fight to keep their playoff hopes alive and avoid the sweep on Monday night in Salt Lake City, but the horrific play of the Splash Uncles and others of Utah’s supporting cast has more than likely already doomed them. This catastrophic series will make this upcoming summer’s draft, trade market and free agency period all the more critical and compelling.

Because the Utah Jazz clearly have dramatic work to do to get where they want to be.