Selfish basketball and not team chemistry is why the Utah Jazz are so bad

The Utah Jazz won’t see a sudden turnaround because this isn’t a chemistry issue.

The Utah Jazz went into last season with a mostly forced-together lineup, with Collin Sexton, Walker Kessler, and Lauri Markkanen joining a squad that was dramatically different looking from the one the prior season. This season, the same thing happened, with John Collins, Keyonte George, Taylor Hendricks, and Brice Sensabaugh joining a club that was looking for a new point guard to lead the way.

Head coach Will Hardy opted to play with no true point guard, a huge mistake and thought that he could once again will a collection of old and new into another potential playoff contender. That hasn’t gone the way many, including ourselves, expected.

Many have claimed it’s an issue of time. The players just need more minutes, more reps, and more experience with one another. That some of the issues, especially with the defense and John Collins’ help defense, are just a matter and chemistry. And you know what, that’s believable for Collins and his help-defense issues.

It’s not for the offense. No, Clarkson has been on this team for years and is chucking up garbage at a consistent rate. So much so that everyone knows he’s hurting the offense, everyone but head coach Hardy. If Clarkson was playing this exact style, but making more of his shots, then this isn’t an issue. It’s an issue because he’s missing and still playing the same way.

It’s also an issue because the Jazz doesn’t have a true point guard, so Clarkson throwing away three possessions a game is hurting even more so than usual because turnovers as a whole are up. Again, last season, was not a big deal. The team had a steady point guard in Mike Conley. This year? Not so much.

As for Horton-Tucker, he’s not only shooting poorly but he’s not looking for guys to pass to as he drives. He often tucks his chin and barrels into guys looking to draw a foul and take a shot. Instead of, you know, kicking out to guys like Markkanen, Collins, and Kelly Olynyk.

And we’re not the only ones, as theDesert News’ Sarah Todd also wrote recently that last year’s team looked a lot better with a lot less time together. The word for this year’s team was disjointed, which is fair.

And another way of saying that is selfish. The team isn’t passing the ball well, and when they do they seemingly turn it over far more often than anyone else in the league. They’re not running screens for one another and the pick-and-roll game that we thought the team would be built around has been so minimal it’s almost non-existent.

The Jazz need to run their offense through their bigs, instead, Horton-Tucker and Clarkson are running the offense through themselves. This is a selfish brand of offense and one that won’t see the team succeed long-term.

We already wrote that the team needs to bench Clarkson and Horton-Tucker, but it may not be that simple. The Jazz should seriously consider trading both men.