Although the expectations for the Utah Jazz’s 2023-24 season were relatively modest in nature, it’s still fair to affirm that the team’s 6-13 start has been nothing short of unpretentious. Any optimism Jazz fans were embracing at the dawn of the season has certainly been tempered as the principal roster inefficiencies of youth and asymmetry have led to some ugly performances thus far.
While it is only December, a near 20 game sample is enough to suggest that there are some legitimate issues that need to be addressed, with the defensive woes being at the top of the list. Per Cleaning The Glass, the Jazz are conceding nearly 118.4 points per possession this season ranking 26th in the NBA. While the Jazz typically deploy bigger lineups that create some concern for opponent mismatches (think of the lineup w/ Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, Walker Kessler together for example), you would hope the overwhelming length would cover up some of the Jazz’s overall shortcomings in skill. Nonetheless, the defensive product has been putrid. What I’ve noticed to be the most notable reoccurrence with the Utah defense diverts from the roster’s defensive talent and ability, but lies within the collective absence of awareness and communication. Mental lapses, particularly on the defensive end, fall in line with how most young rosters behave (unless you’re the Orlando Magic), however it’s imperative we begin to see the trend reverse in a positive manner to feel good about the team’s overall direction.
Let’s begin with one of the most fundamental, and undervalued, aspects of quality team defense: communication. Or for the Jazz, the lack thereof.
This sequence from November 27th against the Pelicans is what raises some of the communication issues. Here we have a play late in the 4th quarter where New Orleans is running a set to get Brandon Ingram a good look at the basket. The play starts with the Pelicans getting into some delay action by passing the ball to Cody Zeller and Jose Alvorado runs off an Ingram off-ball screen. Alvorado is serving as a decoy being a solid but not world-beating shooter and Zeller really wants to get the ball to Ingram. The Jazz defenders involved, Collin Sexton and Ochai Agbaji, seem to recognize the action but fail to cohesively operate in the same coverage. We see Sexton try to fight under the screen and staying home on Alvorado while Agbaji goes for a switch. This leaves Ingram plenty of room at the top of the key as Ochai is naturally late on the closeout as Ingram nails the jumper. Subtle mistakes like these are what prove to be costly in games, as this example tied the score late in the 4th quarter. Whether the correct coverage for the Jazz would have been to switch or stay home is less of the concern when the processing for each individual player is inharmonious. It’s imperative for Will Hardy to preach the concept of collectively being on the same page as this personnel group continues to grow together.
Chaos is bound to ensue at any given moment on a basketball court, but quality teams maintain a level of sanity with strong chemistry and communication. Here we see the play break down in the halfcourt during the November 22nd matchup against the Portland. Blazers’ guard Scoot Henderson fumbles the ball in the far side corner while Jazz defender Talen Horton-Tucker has his momentum forcing him behind the play. This prompts Kelly Olynyk to step up as the first help defender while Jordan Clarkson has to split his assignment between the Blazers currently in corner and at the top of the key. Ideally, the rest of the Jazz defenders aren’t completely congested on the far side of the court leaving Clarkson alone. This is an instance of Utah defenders being caught watching the ball as nobody is seen trying to rotate over to support Clarkson. A simple ball fake by Henderson prompts Clarkson to commit to the corner leaving shooter Jabari Walker wide open for three with nobody on Utah providing some kind of a closeout. With Utah’s opponents currently shooting 39.5% (2nd highest in NBA) on wide open three-pointers, these are killers. Being able to clean-up rotations, even in scramble situations, are based upon a team’s awareness on defense and communicating when there are switches or help is needed.
To further reemphasize the Jazz’s defensive ineptitude in the face of disarray, perhaps the most frustrating component of the defense has been defending in transition. You only have to look as far as last night’s game against Minnesota where Utah gave up 25 fast break points in addition to allowing 20 points off of their own turnovers (committed 19 turnovers last night). This is right on par with the current season trends as the Jazz opponents are scoring 20.4 PPG off of turnovers and the Jazz have allowed the most points scored in transition (468 points) in the entire NBA. The problems in transition can mostly be attributed to a healthy mix of poor awareness, effort, and playing at a speed deficit relative to their opponents (again, perhaps a product of those bigger lineups).
Here is a prime instance of the player personnel ultimately limiting how effective the Jazz can be in transition as the Lakers get an open dunk off of an outlet. Markkannen and Collins are behind the play as its turns into a 3-on-3 situation with Laker Lebron James cutting in hard. One way to clean this up is to not have both Keyonte George and Jordan Clarkson committed to stopping the ball. In theory, Clarkson would see Agbaji pick up the shooter on the wing and George the ball handler in the corner and be prompted to get in help and look to defend the next pass. Instead Clarkson is caught in the middle which clears a lane for LeBron James to remind everyone he most likely hails from Krypton and doesn’t abide by the laws of time and physics. Again, the poor transition defense can be attributed to the bigger lineup issues and keeping up with faster paces, but the miscues continue to torment them.
One shining glimmer of positivity for the Jazz in recent weeks has been the play of Simone Fontecchio, whom Will Hardy has awarded substantially more minutes over the last handful of games (24.8 minutes per game over last seven games). A big reason for this uptick comes down to acknowledging two essential facets of Simone’s defense: effort and activity.
There aren’t any overly astounding metrics that suggest Fontecchio is any kind of an All-NBA defender, but he plays serves as the Jazz’s custodian on defense, as he’s able to clean up a lot of the mistakes on that end of the floor even if what he does aren’t highlight reel blocks or steals. Here’s a quote from Coach Will Hardy regarding Simone’s impact via X (or Twitter??):
This idea of effort rubbing off on the rest of the team is what may return massive dividends for a youthful Jazz team struggling on defense. If Hardy exhibits that he will reward players working hard on defense, this should incentivize a more collective focus to remedy the defense struggles throughout the roster. I feel strongly that Simone should keep up his amazing play (on offense as well) and maintain a consistent and impactful role within Utah’s regular rotation.
One final comment I’ll address regarding the Jazz’s defensive struggles pertains to the fact that Walker Kessler was out for seven games with a UCL injury over this recent stretch. Kessler as a rookie had a substantial defensive impact last season truly elevated the Jazz’s defense during the 2022-23 season, specifically as a rim defender where he ranked in the 99th percentile rim points saved and blocked 35.5% of shots he contested. Rim defense is a foundational component for any defense as it serves as the last line of defense to easy baskets. The Jazz’s current big room specifically doesn’t consist of much rim defense outside of Kessler, with Kelly Olynyk and Omer Yurtseven not coming close to the impact Walker has proven he’s capable of. Hopefully with his minutes ramping back up now that he’s healthy, we can see the Jazz defensive metrics begin to increase simply with the addition of Walker Kessler back into the lineup.
Nonetheless, the defense has been extremely poor and adjustments need to be made to properly right the ship. Keep an eye on the different lineup combinations Will Hardy may experiment in the coming weeks as he attempts to solve some of the systematic issues defensively.
West Coast Hoops 