Be kind and let Gobert go! With Bojan's three-pointer in response, the Jazz were eventually eliminated by the Lone Rangers 2-4. The Jazz, who "played the playoffs every year, launched the second round", may really fall apart this year! As the absolute core of the team, Is it time for Gobert and Mitchell to send one of them away?
Let's start with Gobert, a center with a $100 million top salary contract + best defensive player. In six series, he averaged just 12 points, 13.2 rebounds and 1 block per game. Gobert's average stats are mostly due to his average of 5.5 shots per game. Don't just say that Mitchell and Conley don't pass gobert, which also has a lot to do with coach Snyder's tactical arrangement.
With a height of 2.16m and an arm span of 2.35m, Gobert is a typical slender center. He is blocking and grabbing rebounds, which can rival the league's top centers. The top-level rim protection ability allowed Gobert to support the Jazz's entire defensive system. But on the offensive end, Gobert has little presence in the Jazz system.
Gobert can use the height misalignment difference under the basket to complete the dunk after receiving the ball, or use the block to complete the empty connection. This style of play is simple and rough, but it is very effective in the regular season. But in the playoffs, due to the increase in defensive intensity, it is difficult to play the strategy of easy eating cake under the basket. It just so happened that Gobert had low-post skills and shooting, and met Mitchell, who was obsessed with singles, so there was the first and second games of the Gobert series, shooting 1 and 5 shots.
In the Jazz vs. Lone Ranger series, the Jazz also gave Gobert a chance to play a single. But the result was either a steal or a pinch shot and a loss of the ball. Therefore, Gobert, who does not have the ability to attack independently, will not have too much ball power. If Gobert can develop low-post offensive ability, the Jazz can't just define him as a pure defensive player.
Look at Mitchell, a franchise star who averaged 25.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game. The data may seem good, but it was bought with an average of 22.2 shots per game. In six series against the Lone Ranger, Mitchell shot just 39.8 percent from the field, including 20.8 percent from three-point range. Not only that, Mitchell's playoff data in the past 3 years has also plummeted.
In the past three years, Mitchell's average playoff scores are 36.3 points, 32.3 points, and 25.5 points; the average shooting rate in the playoffs is 52.9%, 44.7%, 39.8%; the average three-point shooting rate in the playoffs is 51.6%, 43.5%, and 20.8%; and the average plus-minus per game in the playoffs is +5.4, +1.9, -6.5. From the previous rising star to the current team cancer that people say, should the Jazz send Mitchell away?
Mitchell has been grooming him as the core of the team since he was drafted by the Jazz in 17 years with the No. 13 pick in his hand. Mitchell's explosive style of play made him known as the "next Wade", and the highly ornamental dunk won him the dunk contest. But his height of 1.85m and his erratic shooting have always constrained Mitchell to become a better leader.
Relative to the template Wade, Mitchell's sense of position in the attack and the interpretation of the defense need to be improved. Whether in the blocking attack or in the no-ball position, he can't create good shooting space for his teammates. Mitchell often falls into an infinite singles mode during the game, but inefficient shooting rates often put the team in a passive state. According to statistics, Mitchell's shooting percentage at key moments in the game was only 33%, and the assist-to-turnover ratio was 1.58 (19 assists and 12 turnovers), which is obviously not the performance of a qualified leader.
We all know that Mitchell's ceiling is not high, but the Jazz will not trade him easily. Because Sir Utah is located in Salt Lake City, where the climate is dry and cold all year round, it is a small city without compromise. The small ball market is not attractive to superstars, so it can only cultivate its own superstars through the draft. And since the Jazz picked Mitchell, the Jazz haven't missed a playoff in recent years. So for the Jazz, unless Mitchell has to go, the Jazz will not trade Mitchell.
Take a look at the overall structure of the Jazz. Interior Giants (Gobert) + perimeter shooter + single-player blast point (Mitchell), this lineup has won the first record in the West in the regular season. The outer limit change defense, the inside Gobert sweep shot also let the Jazz play the first defensive efficiency of the full league. Why did the Jazz, who killed everyone in the regular season, find it difficult to break through the second round in the playoffs?
First of all, Gobert's inability to respond and not have the ability to attack autonomously will greatly limit the team's attack. Today's league has the ability to compete for the championship, and the center can't shoot or can't cope. The Warriors' Green, the Bucks' Big Rock, the Suns' Ayton, and the 76ers' Embiid are good proofs. And Gobert, a senior blue-collar center, does not have much restraint under the basket. A team with no lethality under the basket is difficult to go far in the playoffs.
Secondly, the Jazz's forward players are affected by their height, and the team's single defense and co-defense capabilities are limited. The Jazz's double-gun Mitchell and Conley are both 1.85m tall, O'Neal in the frontcourt is 1.96m, and Bojan is 2.01m. The disadvantage of the height of the player is bound to affect the quality of the team's attack and defense. If the Jazz meet a team with a strong front, such as the Clippers, Celtics, and Bucks, they will not be able to resist a few games, and they will be swept away by the opponent.
Finally, the lack of star color will cause a spatial disadvantage. At present, Mitchell and Gobert are only all-star players, not so-called superstars and superstars. They don't have the all-around like Jokic and Doncic, and the one-man destructive power of the James. Once the Jazz encounter unlimited changes of defense, good at blocking and dismantling, and have a stable firepower on the outside. It's hard for them to go far in the playoffs.
In summary, this is the main reason why the Jazz are not far from the annual playoffs. As a result, a major overhaul of the existing lineup has become something that jazz management needs to do urgently in the summer. Conley is older and has been injured for many years, and this series is bad, and he is bound to be the first target of the Jazz to clean up. There has been a rift between Gobert and Mitchell, and Gobert is likely to leave Salt Lake City this summer. As for the other players to stay, it depends on the Jazz's team building ideas.
What the Jazz's lineup will be next season, we don't know. But to be sure, they are still not the favourites to win the championship. Because the Jazz belong to the small ball city, they can't replicate the Lakers, Heat, and Celtics, and instantly form a championship-winning battleship. If they want to win the championship, they can only cultivate a new generation like the Bucks and Spurs, and then accumulate thick and thin. And the current jazz structure, obviously does not have that ability.
Mencius had a saying: If you possess the heavens, the time, the place, the people, and the people, you will be invincible and invincible. And today's sir, it is really a lot of meaning!