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All Versus One, The Story Of The Utah Jazz’s Success

By Hayden Van de Maat

Oct 5, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Utah Jazz guard George Hill (3) and forward Gordon Hayward (20) talk mid court during the first half of the game against the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Utah Jazz defeated the Phoenix Suns 104-99. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 5, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Utah Jazz guard George Hill (3) and forward Gordon Hayward (20) talk mid court during the first half of the game against the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Utah Jazz defeated the Phoenix Suns 104-99. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports /
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‘Hero ball’ is the way the NBA seems to be going with star players influencing their teams more than ever, but the Utah Jazz have found ways to win using a 15 -man attack.

It’s sad to see that teams revolve around their star player so much in today’s NBA. Players like Russell Westbrook and James Harden are responsible for so many of their teams points that it feels like other players’ contributions are irrelevant. What’s interesting about this is how well those teams perform when star players are not in the lineup.

Teams still compete well because the rest of the roster suddenly has a sense of freedom.

Although, in all the years I’ve watched basketball, I’ve never seen a team rely so much on a single player as the Bucks do on Giannis Antetekounmpo. Seriously, its unbelievable. I was watching a few Milwaukee games early in the season, and the Bucks just can not play winning basketball without Giannis touching the ball on every possession.

The Utah Jazz, on the other hand, have been and will continue to play a style of basketball that dying out of the NBA; a team game.

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Two straight impressive victories have been the result of great team play to suffocate the opposition. Whether it’s collapsing the defense and switching on time, or simply passing up a good shot for a better one, everybody seems more than happy to do so.

Since the return of George Hill, the productivity of the other four starters as well as role players has increased dramatically. He is forcing the ball handler towards the length of the Stifle Tower and he manages to push shooters off the three-point line. On the other side of the floor, he is getting his teammates involved in the pick-and-roll game and stretches the floor with his tremendous shooting ability.

Having Hill on the team does truly make everybody else better, except for one person. Dante Exum only played 13 minutes in the last two games combined. This is puzzling to me because I saw real improvement in his game during the four-game losing streak prior to the homestand.

Shelvin Mack did have a great floor game against the Hawks, but Exum’s growth should take precedence over anything they can get from Mack.

Nov 23, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) dunks the ball in the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Utah Jazz defeated the Denver Nuggets 108-83. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 23, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) dunks the ball in the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Utah Jazz defeated the Denver Nuggets 108-83. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports /

Rodney Hood is struggling a bit with his jumper, but he is still moving well off the ball, and his defense has been really good. He denied sharpshooter Kyle Korver of any open looks which played a big part in keeping the Hawks to 68 points on Friday night. I would still like to see him be more aggressive with ball in hand because he is absolutely deadly when he works himself into that 15 foot range.

Rudy Gobert has been outstanding on defense as usual, but his offense and finishing under the bucket has improved over the last five games. Hill’s theory of firing the ball to Rudy in practice must be working.

Gordon Hayward exposed the Hawks defense as he seemed to get whatever shot he wanted. He did a bit of everything on both ends; blocking shots, picking pockets, getting in passing lanes, hitting threes, getting open under the basket and throwing down a series dunks.

The Jazz bench has been excellent at blending with the starters and when this occurs, Utah aren’t losing a step. Even know their not putting up tremendous numbers in the scoring column, they are still contributing; combining for 56 percent of the Jazz’s assists in the last two games.

Related Story: Grading the First Month of Utah Jazz Basketball

Overall, the way the Utah Jazz play is very different to the rest of the NBA, but you can’t say that its worse because the Jazz will win games playing that way. And that style of play will drive the fast-paced, volume shooting teams insane come playoff time when they are playing against Utah in a seven game series.

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