Takeaway #2: Utah Jazz bigs should stay in drop coverage
Remember that recent game against the Mavericks when Rudy Gobert switched onto Luka Doncic with some degree of success?
It may have been a mirage.
Last night, both Gobert and his backup Hassan Whiteside found themselves guarding Kevin Durant on a regular basis. It was a strategic decision on the part of Quin Snyder. It backfired miserably.
We already showed you Durant’s stats from last night. Unfortunately, Gobert and Whiteside’s newfound responsibility of guarding the perimeter also prohibited them from fulfilling their usual duties. Gobert finished with 4 rebounds and 0 blocks in 31 minutes. Whiteside managed 5 boards and a block in 18 minutes of action.
Sacrificing Gobert’s interior presence to have him try to contain Kevin Durant makes for a poor tradeoff when he’s, predictably, unable to contain Kevin Durant.
The Jazz should keep their rim protectors primarily in drop coverage. Of course, teams may punish them with five-out spacing, but the counter to that strategy will have to be for the Jazz to go small. Of course, that wouldn’t have helped against Kevin Durant: Royce O’Neale struggled to guard the superstar last night as well.
Realistically, nothing helps against Kevin Durant. Still, an extra 3-and-D wing acquisition at the trade deadline might have helped. In the meantime, making Gobert the primary assignment on the league’s best perimeter scorers is unlikely to bear fruit for the Utah Jazz.