NBA Playoff Preview: The Utah Jazz
Another reason nobody trusts the Jazz in the postseason is their lack of star power.
Take a look at the best teams in the NBA.
Go ahead, I’ll wait.
All of the best teams in the league have at least two stars.
The Lakers have LeBron and AD. The Clippers have Kawaii and PG. The Nets have KD, Kyrie and Harden. The Sixers have Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. The Suns have Chris Paul and Devin Booker, the Nuggets have Nikola Jokic and Jamaal Murray, the Celtics have Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown. The Heat have Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. The Blazers have Dam and CJ.
The only team in the top of the standings that has only one star is the Jazz.
Before I go any further, I can hear the haters saying “what about Rudy Gobert?!” Well, the thing with Rudy Gobert is that he is not a guy that can create his own shot. He’s not a guy a team can rely on in the postseason.
Now, he’s an exceptional defender, but even that part of his game is quite overrated. Players and coaches have come out publicity, when facing off against the Jazz, and have told media members that their team’s game plan was predicated on attacking the big Frenchman.
Just take a look at how the Nuggets came back in last season’s first round series. They attacked Rudy Gobert.
Their game plan was predicated on getting Gobert involved in the the pick and roll. If Gobert would switch onto the guard, usually Jamal Murray, Murray would take the seven footer one on one. Remember how that went? Yeah, Murray played out of his mind and was being called “Air Canada.”
If Gobert stayed with his man, Jokic, the Nuggets would look to give the Joker the ball out in the permitter, forcing Gobert out of the paint. With Jokic’s insane playmaking skills, he was able create open shots for his teammates by taking Gobert out of the paint. Plus, when Jokic decided to get a bucket of his own, he would put Gobert in a blunder box.
Gobert is an incredible player, a deserving all-star, but he’s not this generational defensive player that some people make him out to be. In some ways, he can even hurt the Jazz.