Is this rock bottom? Utah Jazz have dropped three straight in pitiful fashion

With the horrendous way the Utah Jazz have been playing lately, it’s hard not to ask – is this rock bottom for a team that once had such high expectations?

22 games in and the Utah Jazz are 12-10. From a mere record standpoint, I’m not all that surprised. In fact, before the season got underway, I had them pinned as starting the year 13-12 through the first 25.

In other words, it’s not really a shock nor a concern to me that their record is what it is. However, what is disappointing is the fashion in which the losses are coming. The Jazz haven’t looked like a good team that simply has kinks to work out, as I’d suspected they would. Instead, they simply look like a bad team.

That became even more evident in a recent road trip where the Jazz went a putrid 1-4, their lone win coming in comeback fashion against the lowly Memphis Grizzlies who jumped out to a double-digit first half lead. When the Jazz returned home, unfortunately things didn’t get much better as the Jazz were obliterated by a red-hot Los Angeles Lakers team by a score of 121-96.

So where we stand now, the Utah Jazz have dropped three straight contests, all of which were ugly blowout losses. And it’s hard to not feel as if this is rock bottom for a team that came into the 2019-20 campaign with sky-high expectations.

Jeff Green, who quite frankly hasn’t played well at all himself through the Jazz’s recent slump, echoed that sentiment by stating post-game that “we’re at a low”. His full quotes are included in the tweets below:

But Green wasn’t the only one saying things like they are. Donovan Mitchell highlighted that every player needs to look himself in the mirror and the whole team has to step up. Quin Snyder was adamant about the team’s lack of focus and execution.

In short, this isn’t just a ‘newness’ thing or a ‘fatigue’ thing or a ‘tough schedule’ thing. Sure, all those aspects have undeniably played a part. But every team in the NBA goes through those challenges, and a talented, veteran squad like the Jazz can’t afford to use those items as excuses. Their struggles are much deeper than that. No question about it, this team is in a bad place in terms of their performance.

Some of it has been a result of panicking and straying away from their offensive system. The Jazz came out looking hot against the Lakers on Wednesday night. Then as soon as LA threw a metaphorical first punch, it was as if Utah’s tail went between their legs, and they reverted from a motion-heavy, pass-first offense to selfish iso ball. There were too many dribbles, the ball stuck in one place too often and everything imploded from there.

On defense, there was no communication, no accountability and no toughness. It’s unbelievable that in essentially the span of the road trip, the Jazz defensive rating dropped from the top spot in the league all the way to 10th. It hurts to even bring up their offensive rating which comes in at a measly 23rd in the league.

It’s easy to point fingers, and there’s plenty of issues to go around. Donovan Mitchell isn’t passing enough, marked by a wide open Bojan Bogdanovic showing frustration throughout the game against the Lakers on Wednesday. Mitchell’s poor shot selection and questionable decision making has obliterated his early efficiency and undoubtedly hurt the Jazz.

On the flip side, although Bogey has been Utah’s most efficient and prolific offensive threat, he’s not without blame himself. His turnovers have been far too frequent and egregious, often setting up the opposition for easy points in transition. He has to take better care of the ball and not get caught in the air, dishing the ball carelessly to the other team.

Then there’s Mike Conley, who didn’t play on Wednesday due to a hamstring injury, though even his doubters should have noted that the Jazz were worse off without him. His mere presence and reputation command the defense’s attention, and not having him around to help provide stability at the point guard position was costly.

But he’s also been a problem in that his shot isn’t going down and he can’t seem to figure out when to attack, when to defer, or really what to do in general. Conley is a smart player and Quin Snyder is a smart coach, so it’s a safe bet that these two can work this out, but there’s also no question it’s taken far longer than it should have. Until these two great minds can sort out how the trio of Conley, Donovan and Bogey can play together, the Jazz won’t amount to much.

Yet let’s not also forget about Rudy Gobert. The Jazz’s defensive anchor has had his fair share of issues as well. Too often against the Lakers and others in this slump, he’s looked a step slow and out of position. That has at time led to him blaming teammates or complaining to officials rather than simply stepping up and correcting what he can control.

Not only that, but Gobert hasn’t been shy in his desire for more touches and offensive opportunities. But until he can catch the ball reliably, and that’s not even beginning to discuss finishing at the rim, it feels almost silly for him to be moaning about his teammates being hesitant to get him the ball with more frequency.

Then we could pick apart the bench as well, but I’ll try to keep it brief. Joe Ingles can’t get into a groove whatsoever, Emmanuel Mudiay‘s shot has deserted him, rendering him into essentially a big guard that can’t run an offense, Dante Exum continues to look absolutely lost and Jeff Green still picks and chooses when he’s going to do the little things.

Unfortunately, while coming into the year we believed this Jazz team to be deep, thus far their second unit has instead appeared exposed as incompetent. Guys like Ed Davis, Georges Niang and Tony Bradley just aren’t cutting it.

So, yeah, there’s a lot wrong with the Jazz right now. And it isn’t difficult to see why they’re getting wiped out and outclassed.

I know, I know, that was a lot of bad news and pessimism. So is there any sort of light at the end of the tunnel for what feels like rock bottom for a team that once produced so much hope and optimism? Well, let me offer a few possibilities.

The first is that it feels like the only place to go from here is up. I can’t imagine this team looking much more discombobulated or less cohesive. If it really is rock bottom, they should be able to climb.

Along those lines, data tells us that Quin Snyder teams do in fact get better as the year goes on. It’s been that way every year since he was at the helm. Two years ago, the Jazz were nine games under .500 then responded by finishing 29-6. Last year, Utah was probably even more frustrating than they’ve been this year (even if recency bias says otherwise), but started playing great in January.

Sure, this slow start thing is getting really old, and it would be nice to see the Jazz move past this. But, as the saying goes, history repeats itself, so it’s reasonable to expect that once again the Jazz should be able to turn things around as the year goes on.

Lastly, their next stretch of games is far lighter than what they’ve experienced so far. 17 of their next 20 contests are against teams with a record of .500 or below. True, the Jazz haven’t looked good against either strong or weak teams this year, but at least this stretch should give them an opportunity to “out-talent” teams and hopefully work back into a groove.

At a minimum, it should help them to calm down, relieve some of the pressure, rebuild some chemistry and get back to the things that make this Jazz squad a good team, beginning with playing for one another, sharing the rock, and being a whole that’s stronger than the sum of their parts.

If they can get some confidence and momentum going by winning, say, 14-15 of their next 20 (something that should be very doable given the lackluster competition they’re facing), not only will it help them in the standings, but it could spring-board them back to the reality we were all expecting from them.

In other words, things look pretty bleak right now, Jazz fans. And I think the Utah faithful has every right to be frustrated, upset and disappointed. Nevertheless, there are also ample reasons to believe that this is merely a bump in the road, and that this team will be back to producing at a high level sooner rather than later.

As tough as it can be to do with the current outlook, I’m opting to go with the latter approach.