The J-Notes
Fansided

Five issues from Utah Jazz loss to Grizzlies perfectly encapsulate season’s woes

By Jared Woodcox

MEMPHIS, TN - NOVEMBER 15: Dillon Brooks #24 of the Memphis Grizzlies handles the ball against the Utah Jazz on November 15, 2019 at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)
MEMPHIS, TN - NOVEMBER 15: Dillon Brooks #24 of the Memphis Grizzlies handles the ball against the Utah Jazz on November 15, 2019 at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 11: Jeff Green #22 of the Utah Jazz stands on court during the first half against the Golden State Warriorsat Chase Center on November 11, 2019 in San Francisco, 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 Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 11: Jeff Green #22 of the Utah Jazz stands on court during the first half against the Golden State Warriorsat Chase Center on November 11, 2019 in San Francisco, 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 Daniel Shirey/Getty Images) /

Lackluster bench production

In fairness to the Utah Jazz bench, Jeff Green and Emmanuel Mudiay have had some great games this season. Most recently, they were both instrumental in steering the Jazz to their come-from-behind victory against the Brooklyn Nets.

But Friday in Memphis, and for several other games throughout the year, Utah’s second unit has been awful. Against the Grizzlies, they mustered a meager 14 points total, which was punctuated by Jeff Green going 0-of-5 and Tony Bradley going 0-of-3.

In fact, the Jazz bench has consistently been one of the worst producers in the NBA. They rank 29th in points per game at 26.7 and the bench trio of Jeff Green, Tony Bradley and Georges Niang have a combined average plus-minus of minus-9. In other words, when the Jazz starters are out of action, it hasn’t been pretty.

And perhaps most frustrating, Joe Ingles, who slid to a bench role this season, is off to an extremely disappointing start. Yes, he’s still a jack-of-all-trades type player that can contribute with defense, passing, etc. but that doesn’t change the fact that the Jazz are severely missing his shooting.

Ingles is converting field goals at a 34.6 percent clip and his three-point shooting has dipped all the way to an abysmal 28.3 percent. The hope was that he could add a shooting and scoring punch off the bench, and that couldn’t be further from the truth thus far.

Utah’s second unit struggles on Friday in Memphis unfortunately weren’t a surprise but instead were just a continuation of the norm. Ideally, the return of Dante Exum, who was available on Friday but oddly didn’t play, could help spark that group. But so far things continue to go from bad to worse for the Jazz’s reserve group. That’s particularly true in an area that we’ll address next.

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