Utah Jazz: 3 things to watch for on opening night
Utah Jazz: Small ball frequency
The Jazz’s primary small-ball acquisition this offseason will not be ready for the season opener. Rudy Gay is taking some much-deserved rehabilitation time after spending the last 5 seasons playing in pain. However, we should still get an idea of how comfortable Quin Snyder is with small-ball against the Thunder on Wednesday. After all, the Utah Jazz acquired more-than-one small-ball weapon this offseason.
Eric Paschall seems likely to receive playing time against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Gay’s absence. The more interesting question is whether his minutes primarily come at the 4 or 5 spot.
Hassan Whiteside should function as Rudy Gobert’s primary backup. The seasoned veteran offers a level of rim-protection and rebounding that the 6’6 Paschall simply can’t provide. Furthermore, it’s difficult to anticipate whether the Thunder, one of the league’s least predictable teams, will necessitate that strategic shift.
Their projected starting center is the 6’8 Isiah Roby. He’s a stretch-5 in-so-far as he’s willing to shoot the 3, but with a 29.4% accuracy rate on 1.8 attempts per game last season, the Utah Jazz will likely cede open looks to him from beyond the arc, opting to keep Gobert protecting the paint.
The next two big men in the Thunder’s depth chart are former Jazzman Derrick Favors and Mike Muscala, and they offer a stark stylistic contrast. Should the Thunder choose to lean more heavily on Favors, Snyder may see an opportunity to draw a lumbering big out of the paint in a fruitless effort to close-out Paschall’s 3-point attempts. On the other hand, he may prefer to let the veteran Whiteside battle Favors in the paint.
If the Thunder instead choose Muscala as a primary backup, the calculus is inverted. Snyder may be forced to match up the more agile Paschall, as Muscala is coming off a 2021-22 season where he hit 37.0% of his 5.3 three-point attempts per contest. Then again, Snyder may prefer to unleash Whiteside on Muscala, as he projects to feast inside on the diminutive stretch-5. We did, however, see how that strategy played out for the Jazz in the 2020-21 Western Conference semifinals.
Whatever Snyder chooses, it may be indicative of his philosophical preference on the matter of small-ball, offering a preview of what Utah Jazz fans can expect moving forward.