The Jazz have reached a critical juncture in their regular season, can they get through it? / The Jazz have reached a critical juncture of their regular season: Can they survive it?
Published: January 25, 2021 US time
Publisher: the Athletic
Article author: Tony Jones
Article translated by de Gaulle
A year ago, the Utah Jazz made a big breakthrough, arguably the biggest breakthrough their team, this group of players.
Previously, when talking about the Jazz as a team, the vast majority of people often commented that they were a good regular season team, but not the top team. Before last season, the Jazz, under current head coach Quinn Snyder, had their best regular season result of being fourth in the West. Once the Jazz, can achieve more than 50 wins in the regular season for many years in a row, but it is difficult to go further.
But this history was rewritten by the Jazz themselves last season. At the end of last season's regular season, they finished first in the West, the first time this group of players has achieved such results. What's more, their regular season results are also the best in the league, and as long as they can keep going through the playoffs, they can have home-court advantage in every round.
This result gave the Jazz a high degree of heart and expectations before the start of last season's playoffs, and the whole team was looking forward to making a major breakthrough in the playoffs. However, behind the Jazz's excellent results in the regular season, there is an important factor that cannot be ignored, that is, the players remain healthy at most of the time. The regular season has not experienced the test of injury, which has become a major hidden danger for them to move forward. Ultimately, Mike Conley's injured absence in the second round, along with Donovan Mitchell's injury, left the Jazz slowed down in the tough playoffs. Facing the Clippers, who played a small lineup in the Western Conference semifinals, the Jazz were severely targeted by their opponents and eventually fell in the second round.
Despite this, the Jazz broke the shackles of the past, and they also jumped into the ranks of the elite teams in the West. However, when the Jazz improved their status in the West, they naturally raised the expectations of fans for them. When that expectation didn't materialize this season, pressure and skepticism naturally hit them.
In the last two games, the Jazz have lost to the warriors and the Suns, who rank in the top two in the West. Although the lineup is not in order due to injuries and other reasons, which is an objective reason for the Jazz's recent ups and downs, in addition to the last 2 losses, they have also lost 6 of their first 8 games. The vast majority of these losses occurred when their squad was relatively neat. So the Jazz's current predicament is not only affected by objective reasons such as injuries, but also subjective factors such as their own lack of good playing.
An important reason why the Jazz were able to achieve the best record in the league last season was that they played very steadily against teams weaker than themselves, which is the so-called "abuse" ability. Coupled with a good ability to fight hard battles, it has created a thriving jazz. However, this season, the Jazz have lost a total of 18 games, including many "gutter overturns" against the Rockets, Pelicans and Pistons. According to statistics, the Jazz have suffered 6 defeats when facing the 7 teams with the worst record this season.
"Obviously, we still have a lot of work to do," Jazz small forward Joe Ingles said.
If last season's Jazz reinvented themselves into a team with the potential to compete for the title, this season's role has changed back to the team that was still struggling to find its own rhythm and pace.
Usually, many teams with drastic lineup changes will show this state during the season. Although the Jazz also brought in new signings such as Whiteside and Rudy Gay in the offseason, the core framework of the team has not changed much, and the team's leaders are still Mitchell and Gobert. In such a situation, there is no reason for the Jazz to be so different from the previous season.
However, when a team's expectations change, that expectation in turn applies to that team. The Jazz's struggles at many times this season are also not unrelated to these increased expectations.
In fact, jazz changes have been evident on the pitch since the beginning of December. Although the Jazz also had consecutive away wins over the Cavaliers, Timberwolves, 76ers and Wizards, the mood of the players and the atmosphere of the team have begun to be a little different. At that time, the Jazz were no longer as nervous on both offensive and defensive ends, the passing was no longer as smooth as before, and the defensive end was not as fast as it used to be. They're like a team that has lost interest in basketball and just clocks in to work.
"We have to get that feeling of enjoyment again," Gobert said at the time, "and we have to understand that playing is a way for all of us to make a living." I think that mentality will help us. ”
So, if the Jazz want to reverse this mentality, and the problems that come with it on the court, how exactly do they adjust? First and foremost, jazz need to get nervous from within.
This first month of the New Year was a very difficult time for Jazz. Due to the re-arrival of the new crown epidemic and the sudden injury, it is difficult for the Jazz to assemble a complete lineup. This was almost never the case in the regular season of the previous season. Coupled with the Jazz's 11 away games throughout January, compared to only six at home, this schedule also exacerbates the difficult situation the Jazz face.
"It's very tough, but we have to find a way to carry it through," Jazz forward Rudy Guy said, "that's the objective situation in this league, except for the new crown part, the other elements will always be with this league." Such factors are difficult to deal with, but they also allow us to understand what kind of team we really are, and such a situation will shape the character of the team. The rest of us players have to step up and do what NBA players are supposed to do, and that's part of the game. ”
As Guy put it, injuries and schedules have been with the sport and the league almost since the NBA was born. Other teams will experience similar situations, so naturally no one will sympathize with and pity the Jazz today. Jerry Sloan, the coach who coached the Jazz for many years, has repeatedly warned his disciples that the game will keep coming. After consecutive losing to the Warriors and Suns on the road, the Jazz will return home to play the Suns, and then they will have to face the Grizzlies, Nuggets and Nets.
With Gobert's left calf strain, Mitchell concussion and Bogdanovic's knee contusion and temporarily unable to play, the Jazz will face two major tests of the main player's absence and the tight schedule. In such a situation, no one can help them, and all Jazz can do is save themselves. "We have to continue to be united, that's the most important thing," Bogdanovic told his teammates.
The first priority to maintain unity is to block out noise from outside the team. It's just that for today's Jazz, it's not going to be easy. A few weeks later, the mid-season trade deadline, many teams hope to make some more changes to the roster before this day to give the team a bigger upward boost. Although the players are very professional and have seen too many people in this league, they are also human beings and will have their own emotions. For today's Jazz, this is the first time they have experienced such gossip.
Like the first playoff injury last season, the Jazz today have to face this problem. If they can't find a way to continue to play well surrounded by rumors, their record will not only fall more, but the team's lineup may also be dismantled faster.
The Jazz are still in fourth place in the West, but the gap between them and the front team is slowly being widened. They have eight wins from the Suns, 5.5 wins from the Warriors and 1.5 wins from the Grizzlies. What's even more cruel is that so far the Jazz have met the Warriors twice, playing 1 game each with the Suns and Grizzlies, and they have lost all 4 of them. Compared to these three teams, the Jazz appear to have a poor lineup and a more different morale. That makes the Jazz seem to have fallen behind.
Of course, if the Jazz can get back to full health at the end of April and rekindle their morale in the playoffs, the unhappiness so far in January will only be a joke. It's as if they did well in the regular season last season, but they were out of the second round of the playoffs, and no one would equate their performances with their success last season. That's the cruelty of the NBA, and the Jazz know it.
To avoid the high-open-low situation last season, the Jazz are also looking for adjustments and changes this season. For example, they have reduced Conley's playing time from 29.4 minutes last season to 28.5 minutes at present. For example, the Jazz are also experimenting with different lineup combinations, hoping to tap more available materials and increase the thickness of the team's lineup. At least from these perspectives, the Jazz are finally like an experienced team that is thinking ahead for April and May.
"We have to develop a mindset that we need to play well in the playoffs, so we try our best in the regular season to try to get better," Bogdanovic said, "Whether we're going to be number one or fourth in the regular season, or we're going to play the playoffs, we have to be ready to be at our best when that moment comes." So, our main goal is to make the team better while staying healthy. ”
So for the Jazz, if they want to really achieve this goal, this difficult time will be the key to their success or failure this season. How did they reverse that? What kind of state and appearance will they look like in the face of the more difficult schedule in the second half of the season?
These questions can only be answered by Sir Himself.