The Utah Jazz need to grow up, and they need to do it quickly

The Utah Jazz have largely fulfilled expectations at this point in the NBA season. At 8-4, this team’s 113.97 Offensive Rating ranks third in the NBA, while their 106.06 Defensive Rating ranks second. All told, that’s good for the league’s second best net rating at 7.90, trailing only the 10-1 Golden State Warriors (14.65).

The Jazz have mostly delivered the quality product their fans expected heading into the 2021-22 season. It’s fairly remarkable that this team boasts the NBA’s second best net rating in spite of a prolific, almost team-wide shooting slump. Their 41.3 three-point attempts per game are the fourth-most in the NBA, but their 32.1% accuracy rate ranks 27th in the league.

That’s ugly, but as evident from their Offensive Rating, the Utah Jazz run an efficient offense anyway. They’re effectively vindicating the beliefs of analytically minded NBA observers single-handedly: if you take enough threes, you’ll be efficient whether you hit them or not.

Unfortunately, we’re not here to talk about the Jazz’s on-court product.

The Utah Jazz are lacking maturity

The Jazz are making technical fouls as commonplace as three-point attempts, and no analytics model will suggest that the habit is gaining them any advantage. Rudy Gobert is pacing the entire Association with 5 technicals to-date. Teammate Donovan Mitchell isn’t far behind, tied for sixth in the league with 3.

Joe Ingles has already been ejected twice in the dozen games the Utah Jazz have played. He was involved in the late-game skirmish against the Indiana Pacers in the Jazz’s last bout. No Jazz player was suspended following that incident, which is an almost unfathomable stroke of fortune for this club.

Next time, it’s very unlikely that they’ll be so lucky.

Utah Jazz playing with a chip on their shoulder?

Undeniably, this Jazz squad came into the 2021-22 season with something to prove. They finished last season a league-best 52-20, only to find themselves prematurely hoisted in the 2020-21 NBA Western Conference Finals. The criticisms that followed were entirely predictable: this team has a formula that works in the regular season, but they can’t get it done when it counts.

It’s a narrow-minded position. It’s rooted in a “get it done” mentality that neglects context. A healthy Mike Conley, for example, could have easily seen the Utah Jazz advance to the Western Conference Finals and beyond.

None of which matters. If the Jazzmen want to silence their critics, they need to do so in basketball terms. That possible chip on their shoulders won’t mean a thing if it doesn’t result in a chip.

Here are some habits that won’t lead to an NBA championship: incessant complaining to officials. Instigating brawls. Receiving ejections. Hopefully, the ugly incident vs the Pacers will serve as a tipping point. When the extracurriculars between Gobert and Turner started, the Jazz were down 10 with four minutes remaining. That’s hardly an insurmountable deficit.

A team with a championship mentality fights until the end in that scenario. They don’t start a literal fight.

Utah Jazz fans should be proud of much of what this team has done throughout the 2021-22 season so far. They’ve weathered some bad shooting streaks from some key players to secure an 8-4 record at this point in the season. They simply need to begin carrying themselves like an 8-4 team.