'Positionless Basketball' Is Happening In Utah

Dec 14, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward (20) passes the ball as Washington Wizards forward Paul Pierce (34) defends during the first half at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

It’s a new concept, particularly for Utah Jazz fans. One of the most repeated phrases from Quin Snyder right from the get-go was that his team will play “positionless basketball.”

Jazz fans are the champions of “pure” positions in basketball, most notably in the cases of John Stockton and Karl Malone, Hall of Fame’rs who defined their archetype positions unequivocally. Stockton and Malone were the peak evolution of the traditional point guard and power forward as a tandem.

As a result, it can be a difficult transition for Jazz fans to make to what amounts to an entirely new philosophy and approach to the game by Snyder. Jazz fan is conditioned to automatically revert to “pure” positions in a game that’s continually evolving out of necessity.

What Snyder is doing in Utah borders on revolutionary for the game. He’s attempting to take what the San Antonio Spurs and Atlanta Hawks do to the next level.

"“We don’t want to define positions,” Snyder said. “We think basketball should be positionless. We want to have great shots each time down the floor. ”"

The idea of Quin Snyder's positionless basketball is all predicated on having 5 guys that can defend the other 5 guys. Then positionless
— David Locke (@DLocke09) July 25, 2014

"When you had the best “pure” point guard and power forward for over 20 years it’s easy to get stuck in circular thinking that says that’s the recipe for success. Many Jazz fans have become somewhat obsessed with recapturing that magic, or at least haven’t been able to update their brains to think beyond specific positions, particularly point guard.In other words, the traditional “pure point guard” is a thing of the past.–The J Notes, circa July 2014"

Quin Snyder pulled second-year point guard Trey Burke from the starting lineup and inserted Dante Exum in his stead. Only Exum hasn’t been a point guard by any measure in the prototypical sense. He hasn’t even been a combo-guard, that transitional, evolutionary animal so widely employed in the NBA today.

Exum has taken only four field goals not three-pointers in his two starts, acting in a far more pure shooting guard capacity than even combo-guard fashion thus far. And it doesn’t end there.

That isn’t to say that he’s played poorly. On the contrary, Exum has played fantastic in his two starts. All it says is that he’s not a starting NBA point guard in the sense we’ve become accustomed to

Even among combo-point-guards, usage rate tends to be high. The ball handler — key word alert — tends to have the ball in their hands the most, or quite often. On most team this has traditionally been the point guard, with exceptions such as Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, James Harden, etc.

When we’re talking about Utah Jazz usage rates, it’s Gordon Hayward first, then starting bigs Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors next — an indication that the ball is sticking some, the two bigs having to create their own shot in the post more than we might have supposed or desire them to — then Trey Burke.

We don’t find Dante Exum in season-long usage rate until near the bottom of the list, only Rudy Gobert and Joe Ingles finding the ball in their hands for a measurable amount of time less.

A quick aside on Joe Ingles: With a team-low 11.3 usage rate, his 18.3 assist percentage is remarkable, third-best on the Jazz behind Trey Burke, 25.8%, and Hayward, 21.1%. It’s an indicator of how effective Ingles is with extremely limited touches. Exum’s AST% is a paltry 17.1% by comparison, yet another indication that he’s not yet an NBA point guard.

What Snyder is doing in Utah borders on revolutionary for the game

Even in his last two starts, Exum’s usage rate is only 17%, an NBA low for a starting point guard in 2014-15, among players at the position not inserted due to injury. Over the last two games, only Ingles’ usage rate is lower among Jazz starters, 15.5%, with an assist percentage of 29.4% to Exum’s 23.2%.

That isn’t to say that he’s played poorly. On the contrary, Exum has played fantastic in his two starts, both Utah Jazz wins, making 8-15 threes out of his 19 total field goal attempts as a starter. All it says is that he’s not a starting NBA point guard in the sense we’ve become accustomed to, as defined by our collective understanding of the position.

Meanwhile, Gordon Hayward’s usage rate has been 31.5% over the last two games Exum’s started at point for Utah. For some perspective, this would be a usage percentage on par with the top seven players in the NBA in the category, guys you’re used to seeing handling the offensive load like Russell Westbrook, James Harden, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade.

We’re seeing Gordon Hayward and Joe Ingles as the primary ball handler for Quin Snyder as often, or more, than the Jazz’s new starting point guard, while the starting point is mainly spotting up as a shooter and the former starting point guard for the Jazz now relegated to bench scoring spark.

The Jazz don’t have a point guard at all at this point. What they have are several players capable of handling the ball, initiating the offense, and creating opportunities within the offensive scheme.

What we have is positionless basketball happening in Utah. Just as Snyder said.

‘Positionless Basketball’ Is Happening In Utah

By Clint Peterson | Jan 25, 2015