Jazz Leave Questions Unanswered Through Preseason

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Shortly after a preseason drubbing at the hands of the Sacramento Kings, the Utah Jazz announced they would not be practicing Tuesday, the day before they wrap up the preseason with a home contest against the Portland Trailblazers.

More than simply taking a day off, skipping a practice day signals that the team’s preseason preparation is largely finished, and the focus has shifted to the regular-season opener at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder on October 23. 

While the Jazz held a pregame shootaround before meeting with the Trailblazers, there wasn’t a traditional practice session to install new concepts before their preseason finale. As a result, the Jazz are unlikely to reveal much additional information about the roster before the regular season begins. 

With that said, here’s what we have learned about this roster before the season gets underway, and what we still don’t know. 

What we know:

 Without making it official, the Jazz have revealed four of the five regular starters.

Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell, Bojan Bogdanovic and Rudy Gobert all secured spots before the season started. Bogdanovic is the only player on the roster who has started all four preseason games, while Mitchell and Conley have started three games apiece. Gobert has started both contests when he’s been available. 

Between drafting Trey Lyles, and trading for Jae Crowder, the Jazz have long sought after a playmaking power forward, so despite Bogdanovic’s preseason woes, which have seen him connect on just 34 percent of his field-goal attempts and 30 percent of his three-point attempts, the Croatian big man will play a major role in the Jazz starting lineup.

Bogdanovic has found penetration against opposing defenses but too often has turned the ball over when trying to find his teammates on the perimeter. Despite his early struggles, his ability to breakdown a defense with the ball in his hand will benefit the Jazz as the team’s chemistry improves. 

What we don’t know:

Who will earn the final starting spot?

Over the previous two preseason games, coach Quin Snyder has tried both Royce O’Neale and Jeff Green in the starting line-up. He found success with both.

Against the New Orleans Pelicans, O’Neale turned in a 16 point, two rebound, three assist performance and an ultra-efficient 6-8 shooting performance. O’Neale is a plus defender. He showed his tremendous hands by breaking up multiple Pelicans fast break opportunities. 

if Royce puts it up,,,,

expect a bucket pic.twitter.com/ObKQ5BSRCF

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 6, 2019

Green has had a strong preseason overall, which continued against the Kings. As a starter, he contributed 12 points, two rebounds and an assist on 5-7 shooting. Through four games, Green is averaging 13.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists shooting a staggering 73 percent from the floor and 58 percent from the three-point line. 

However, Green’s best preseason performance came off the bench against the Pelicans. He led the team in scoring with a 20 point outing, adding an assist, a rebound, a steal and a block in 23 minutes. 

Jeff Green with an easy 2️⃣0️⃣ pic.twitter.com/FjrU4lAtv5

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 12, 2019

O’Neale has not fared as well coming off the bench, in three appearances he averaged 6.6 points, 2.6 assists, and three rebounds. Perhaps more perplexing, O’Neale has taken just 15 shots from the bench, and three from the three-point line. Despite what would seem like a greater opportunity to find shots as a reserve, O’Neale’s role has diminished as a bench player. 

With Green appearing comfortable in either role, it may benefit the team most to bring him off the bench, to get the most out of O’Neale in the starting lineup.

What we know: 

Joe Ingles is a coach’s dream come true.

It doesn’t matter where Snyder chooses to play him. In one start against Adelaide, Ingles had 10 points, six assists and three rebounds. In two games off the bench Ingles averaged seven points, a remarkable eight assists and three rebounds.

Ingles is a natural playmaker and looks comfortable initiating the offense from the bench. Don’t be surprised to see Ingles assume the role of the Jazz sixth man, but also carve out a role alongside the traditional starters to close games. 

What we don’t know:

Will the Jazz have a traditional backup point guard?

The unavailability of both Dante Exum and Emmanuel Mudiay made this question impossible to answer, but even in Mudiay’s lone appearance so far against the Kings, he played long stretches off the ball.

Ingles has assumed the majority of those opportunities initiating the offense off the bench, but at 6’8, and defending mostly small forwards, Ingles isn’t a traditional small guard.

Mudiay scored eight points in his Jazz debut, but failed to record an assist. He didn’t appear to have a strong grasp of the team’s offense beyond looking for his own shot. That reputation has followed Mudiay from Denver and New York, and may be a role the Jazz choose to embrace, rather than fight to make him a pass-first guard. 

when you try to spin on Joe Ingles 👀 pic.twitter.com/RJs4205Byg

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 6, 2019

What role Exum will play remains a total mystery, as does the timeframe for him to return to the floor. Exum continues to rehab from a torn patellar tendon he suffered in January last season. He has yet to participate in five-on-five scrimmages at practice. During media day, the Jazz coaching staff and front office hinted at taking the ball out of Exum’s hands as a point guard and placing him in a more nondescript “basketball player” role, focusing on his speed and athleticism. 

If either Mudiay or Exum can prove to assume those duties, there is value for Ingles as a floor spacer in the second unit. However, the team might be best served trusting Ingles with the role as offensive initiator; allowing Mudiay and Exum to focus on their narrower skill sets.

What we know:

The Jazz can score.

Through four games, the Jazz are averaging 118.5 points, and have an offensive rating of 109.5 – sixth best in the NBA. They’ve got that rating despite a poor start to the season shooting the ball from beyond the three-point line, where they’ve connected on just 32.9 percent of their attempts – 20th in the league through four games.

The Jazz had the 10th best three-point shooting average for the entire 2018-19 season, knocking down 35.6 percent of their attempts. Adding Bogdanovic, Conley and Green this offseason, the Jazz should see a number similar to, or better than last year.

The Jazz had the 14th ranked offense last season, and as the team continues to jell, should see a more productive offensive unit. 

Bojan Bogdanovic lobs it up and Jeff Green finishes in style for the @utahjazz! #NBAPreseason

Watch on NBA League Pass pic.twitter.com/i9MGCZiAMa

— NBA (@NBA) October 6, 2019

What we don’t know: 

What will this defense look like?

Through four games, the Jazz have had one good defensive outing, and that came against Adelaide, a non-NBA team who scored just 81 points.

Against NBA competition the Jazz have surrendered a 133 point outing, and back-to-back 128 point outings. Opponents are regularly finding easy transition opportunities, and have connected on 40 percent of their three-point attempts.

Last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers allowed opponents to shoot a league-worst 38 percent from beyond the arc, and the Jazz in the preseason have underperformed even them. Only the Minnesota Timberwolves are allowing opponents to shoot better than 40 percent from the three-point line in the preseason. 

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MORE:

• Jazz Newcomers Must Improve Defense, Adapt To Playing With Gobert
• Jazz Continue Defensive Struggles In Preseason Loss To Kings
• For comprehensive Utah Jazz coverage, listen to the Jazz Notes podcast

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Losing Derrick Favors was going to have implications on this Jazz defense, as was the loss of Ricky Rubio, but how severe those losses are won’t be fully known until the Jazz newcomers grasp Snyder’s defensive schemes.

The team is far from reaching its full defensive potential, but don’t be surprised if it doesn’t reach the highs it has over the previous three seasons when the Jazz have ranked second, first and third since 2017.

What we know:

Donovan Mitchell has seen no hangover from his time with Team USA in the FIBA World Cup.

Though he’s struggled from the three-point line, connecting on just 21 percent of his attempts, Mitchell is averaging 15.3 points per game, 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists in just 24 minutes. Mitchell raised his effective field goal percentage to 52.9 percent in the preseason, up from 49.3 percent last year despite his three-point shooting.  He has connected on 48.6 percent of his field-goal attempts overall. Mitchell made just 43.2 percent of his field-goal attempts last season. If Mitchell can raise his three-point shooting to his career average of 35 percent (which is fair to expect), he’ll see his efficiency skyrocket this season.

extra points for 𝓼𝓽𝔂𝓵𝓮

(but really just the two points) pic.twitter.com/O34aOpOm4S

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 15, 2019

What we don’t know:

How will Mike Conley handle a reduced role in this Jazz offense?

Last season in Memphis, Conley was asked to carry a large scoring load for the Grizzlies. He averaged 21.1 points per game.

Alongside Mitchell, Conley won’t have the same scoring weight on his shoulders, and will have to be more selective with his shots. Through three games, Conley is averaging a modest 8.3 points, 4.3 assists and one rebound. He has badly struggled shooting the ball, knocking down just 29.2 percent of his shots from the floor and 30 percent from three.

Conley shouldn’t see his averages continue to dip that significantly from last year, but he almost certainly won’t come close to his scoring average from last season. Shooting percentages will be a better gauge for Conley this season. The Jazz will want to see those closer to his career averages of 44 percent from the floor, and 37 percent from the three-point line.

How quickly will those bounce back?

The Jazz will need to see it sooner than later.