While Tony Bradley is a name not often mentioned in the same breath as that of Mike Conley, Rudy Gobert or Donovan Mitchell, the past pair of games have given Utah Jazz fans a glimpse of how he might contribute: reliable rebounding.
Rarely do Utah Jazz fans concern themselves with Tony Bradley’s play.
And when they do, it’s usually as a way of complaining about Ed Davis’ severe lack of on-court productivity. Naturally, because of it, Quin Snyder’s best alternative is to give Bradley minutes at the backup five — an issue #TakeNote Nation wishes had been resolved by the trade deadline.
The deadline has come and gone; no moves were made to strengthen the standing of Rudy Gobert’s backup. But while most Utah Jazz fans have spent the team’s current four-game winning streak plugging Jordan Clarkson in Sixth Man of the Year conversations, Bradley has quietly taken his 10.2 minutes per game and done something of real value …
Solidified himself as a strong rebounder off the bench for the Jazz.
No, we’re not talking about Dennis Rodman-type numbers or anything, so don’t get your hopes up. What Bradley is doing, however, is take advantage of the opportunities presented him — as small and (seemingly) insignificant as they might seem to the casual NBA fan.
This season, in the 41 games in which he’s appeared in a Jazz uniform, Bradley has averaged 1.7 offensive rebounds and 2.5 defensive rebounds — again, nothing jaw-dropping by any means.
These past two games, though, on both ends of the floor, things have improved on the glass.
On Monday evening against the Dallas Mavericks, Bradley nabbed seven offensive rebounds in only 12 minutes of play. Last night against the Miami Heat, Bradley continued the positive trend, securing six rebounds in the 11 minutes Quin, Gobert and the Jazz’s bench unit needed from him.
And though this might drive the Nate Duncans of the world bonkers, if you happened to catch either game, Bradley passed the infamous “eye test.” His energy against playoff-caliber backup bigs like Dorian Finney-Smith, Willie Cauley-Stein and Kelly Olynyk was noticeably different.
Rick Carlisle is going to lose his shiz when he re-watches the film of tonight's game and sees Tony Bradley dominating three Mavericks in the paint for all of his offensive rebounds.
— Lucho (@EchelonCopy) February 11, 2020
In fact, as of late, Bradley’s newfound aggressiveness has had a positive effect on something the Jazz have sporadically struggled with this season — severely limiting an opponent’s second-chance scoring. Before the Jazz’s 114-113 victory over the Houston Rockets, the team hadn’t held an opponent to less than 10 second-chance points since Jan. 20 against the Indiana Pacers.
Against the Mavericks, as first reported by Sarah Todd of the Deseret News, not only did the Jazz make it happen for the second consecutive game, but they limited Rick Carlisle’s squad to only two second-chance points on a single make — this on the second night of a back-to-back.
Gobert always gets his rebounds; Bradley is now doing his part, as well.
Will Bradley’s ability to pluck rebounds out of the opposition’s hands remain constant? Working with such a microscopic sample size, it’s hard to tell. One thing is for certain, however — come playoff time, Bradley’s minutes might not increase, but they’ll be key to the Utah Jazz making a run.