Despite what others in the media are saying, the Utah Jazz this season feel wholly directionless. They're not in a place that many would say is the right path, and they're trying to play a game without the required types of players. While the league likes to claim that it's "positionless" (it's not), you still need guys who can do specific things.
beingPass, shoot, play defense, rebound, etc. The Jazz have some of those guys, if you look at Walker Kessler, he can play defense. Lauri Markkanen can score. Keyonte George can pass, but it feels like most of the roster has one or two attributes to their name, and that's it. And those players are then beingg asked to do more than they can. Take for instance a usual point of criticism on this site, Jordan Clarkson.
Clarkson can score, especially off the bench, where you limit his minutes and match him up on defense against less-quality offensive players. But Clarkson isn't a point guard. He's not a natural ball handler and he's certainly not a great passer. His defense is among the worst in the league and he's being asked to play against a team's top two or three guard. That's posing significant issues on a nightly basis.
It seems almost like Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy is making things up on the fly and trying to force guys into spots that they aren't suited for. Like having Kessler play out of the paint more on offense because Hardy wants Kessler to shoot more threes. Is it helping the team to do this type of stuff? No, but that's the current trend; guys being forced into positions of need, instead of positions that would see them excel.
That's a sign that this team is very much unorganized and is operating without a plan. It's almost like the entire management came into the season wanting to turn the team into a thought experiment of sorts; Ryan Smith's Jazz. A team that is both rebuilding and contending at the same time, but we won't know which one until the chaos on the court plays itself out.
While we can't say for sure that's the mentality here, it seems to be the case. The Jazz aren't sure which direction they want to go in and that's beyond clear, and while they may be ready for a fire-sale come mid-to-late January, the fans were told by everyone, including the Jazz, that this season was about being better than last year's surprise season.
In fact, many point to Utah Jazz CEO Danny Ainge wanting to both rebuild and contend at the same time as proof that the team isn't going to just tank. Well, after watching the performances over the last few weeks, either this team is indeed tanking, or they came into the season with no real plan and were going to adjust to things on the fly.
And if the latter was truly the case, then this season was never going to go any different. If the goal was to compete, then moves would've needed to be made by now to ensure that the team never fell this far behind. If the goal was to rebuild, they never should've brought Kelly Olynyk, Talen Horton-Tucker, and Jordan Clarkson back for this season.
The fact they're trying to do both has just caused this season to be needlessly ugly. Everyone expected this team to contend for 40 wins. And they'll be lucky to get 20 at this point. We wouldn't be mad if the goal was to rebuild, and the team sucked as a by-product. We're mad that we were told they weren't rebuilding, and that the team has sucked.
Changes need to be made soon, whether it's on the court, in the front office, or just in the general philosophy of the team. Let us, the fans who support the Jazz, know if the team is going to change its focus for the rest of the season so that we know what to expect going forward.