Continuity Key For Jazz On Micro And Macro Scale

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz have benefited greatly this season from their continuity. That continuity is both self-made, opting to retain much of the same roster that was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last season, and through luck, with three of their five starting have yet to miss a game this season.

Of their top nine rotation players, only Mike Conley has appeared in fewer than 41 of their 45 games played this season.

Before facing the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night, but Jazz coach Quin Snyder and Cavaliers coach JB Bickerstaff shared areas where they’ve seen that continuity benefit the team with the best record in the NBA, both on a large and a small scale.

“Last year they were a different team,” Bickerstaff said of the team’s struggles season before breaking through this year. “You throw Mike Conley in, [Bojan] Bogdanovic misses the bubble and misses some of the season with injury — they’ve had a training camp together, they’ve had this season together, and continuity means a lot.”

Memphis matchup 1-of-2 loading 📶#StartingLineup | @ZionsBank pic.twitter.com/JgjwRE5PHo

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) March 27, 2021

The Jazz starting lineup this season bears out Bickerstaff’s testimony.

When Conley, Donovan Mitchell, Royce O’Neale, Bogdanovic, and Rudy Gobert are on the floor together, they have the second-best net rating in the NBA of any five-man unit to play more than 300 minutes together. On averages, the Jazz starters outscore their opponents by 12.7 points per 100 possessions while on the floor.

The group’s 484 minutes together also happen to be the second-most floortime by any five-man unit in the NBA this season.

“When you have that sixth sense of where your teammates are going to be on both sides of the floor, it gives you a boost in confidence and gives you that feeling of trust,” Bickerstaff said. “And when you trust your system and trust your teammates, you’re going to be a better team.”

Per Coach Bickerstaff, #Cavs F/C Larry Nance Jr. is out tonight v. UTA. Illness, non-COVID related.

— Joe Gabriele (@CavsJoeG) March 29, 2021

While Bickerstaff explored the broader implications of how continuity can help a basketball team, Snyder explained the value of familiarity on a micro-scale, specifically on a player’s decision to dribble or pass.

“There’s a connectivity that has to happen if a guy’s changing direction where you have an idea what he’s doing and where he’s going,” Snyder said of the Jazz lineups.

While Jordan Clarkson may be more inclined to use his dribble to attack his defender, Conley may be more prone to pass, both decisions that can be influenced by who they are sharing the floor with.

“I think some of it depends on who the player is and who they’re playing with.”

The Jazz preferring starting lineup with make its 37th appearance tonight against the Cavaliers, who will be without their starting frontcourt as Larry Nance Jr. misses the game with an illness and Jarrett Allen will sit out after suffering a concussion earlier this week.

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