Utah Jazz: 3 lessons from recent 2 game losing streak
Utah Jazz Lesson 3: Jordan Clarkson is not out of the woods
First of all: we do not enjoy picking on Jordan Clarkson. We really don’t. He’s an entertaining player to watch. He has a seemingly limitless bag of dribble move, he’s fearless, and for what it’s worth, he’s a likeable person.
He’s also had a single good game through the first ten games of the 2021-22 season for the Utah Jazz.
That game alone was enough to inspire confidence. Clarkson hung 30 points on the Atlanta Hawks, on 10/19 shooting from the field and 4/10 shooting from three-point range. Utah Jazz fans hoped it was a sign of the times, but since that game, it’s looked more like an aberration.
Against the Heat, Clarkson scored 7 points on 3/9 shooting, including 1/6 shooting from three-point range. Whether his low volume in the midst of inefficiency was a wise decision is a matter of debate. At least Clarkson was thoughtful enough to showcase the other side of that coin against the Magic: he finished with 6 points on 2/13 shooting from the field. Of those 13 field goal attempts, 11 came from deep.
The terrifying reality for Utah Jazz fans is that Clarkson has not been a consistent enough three-point shooter throughout his career to justify such a large volume of three-point attempts. He’s a 33.9% career three-point shooter. That’s solid, but it’s not necessarily a figure that would inspire most coaches to have him launch the 9.2 attempts per contest he’s averaging in 2021-22.
He’s hitting 21.7% of those attempts. That is a fundamentally massive problem. In all likelihood, he’ll regress to some kind of mean as the season progresses. With such a steep hill to climb, he’d almost have to. With that said, Clarkson’s shooting efficiency may prove the biggest obstacle to contention for this Utah Jazz club in 2021-22.
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All told, Utah Jazz fans have no reason to panic. The team still sits at 7-3, an impressive record. A two-game skid is an inevitable part of even an elite team’s season. Hopefully, they can bounce back in a rematch against the Atlanta Hawks tomorrow evening.