How do the Utah Jazz compare to the Phoenix Suns?
Utah Jazz vs Phoenix Suns: Defense
A comparison between these two teams’ offensive attacks started with a comparison between their two dynamic young off-guards. A comparison of their defenses starts where a comparison between defenses often starts: in the middle.
Unfortunately for the Suns, Deandre Ayton is not nearly ready to be compared to 3x Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert. Pick a defensive metric, and the Utah Jazz center outperformed Ayton in 2020-21. His Defensive Rating of 101 trounced Ayton’s subpar 109 mark. His Defensive Box Plus Minus (DBPM) of 2.5 shattered Ayton’s 0.0. He also posted 5.2 Defensive Win Shares (DWS) to Ayton’s 3.1.
It’s not exactly breaking news that Rudy Gobert is a better defensive (and overall) player than Deandre Ayton, but it is significant in understanding why the Utah Jazz had a better Defensive Rating than the Phoenix Suns in 2020-21 (107.5 vs 110.4). In fact, Gobert’s superiority to Ayton in preventing points is significant enough that the Jazz posted a higher Defensive Rating than the Suns in spite of the Suns starting two plus defenders in their forward positions compared to Utah’s one.
Jae Crowder may not be as dynamic offensively as Bojan Bogdanovic, but he’s a vastly superior defender. He posted a 0.7 DBPM last season, where Bogey posted a -0.9 mark. Meanwhile, Royce O’Neale was better than Mikal Bridges by that metric last season (2.0 to 0.9) but the point stands: the Phoenix Suns started two good defensive wings, and the Utah Jazz started one. Rudy Gobert just rendered that point entirely moot.
Once again, Chris Paul is better than Mike Conley, and once again, it doesn’t matter. For all of Paul’s fundamental soundness and veteran savvy on the defensive end, he can’t make up for the discrepancy between these two teams in rim protection.
It’s not an entirely complicated formula. Start the best rim protector in basketball, and you’re likely to have an elite defense. Look for the Utah Jazz to boast a superior one to the Phoenix Suns again in the 2021-22 season.