Point guard Ricky Rubio engaged his center, Rudy Gobert, in a pick and roll. Gobert set a perfect screen, sucking in two Oklahoma City Thunder defenders, which allowed Rubio a free run to the hoop. But Rubio encountered another defender before he got to the basket, so he dropped it off to Gobert, who by this time was rolling uncontested through the middle of the lane.
The All-NBA center put home a powerful dunk, and the sellout crowd at Vivint Smart Home Arena approved.
That play underscored Utah’s offensive potential, which has yielded mixed results through the first five games.
At its best, Utah’s offense will attempt to replace the vacuum created by Gordon Hayward’s departure with strength in numbers. All five Utah starters are averaging between 11 and 16 points a game, and nine Jazz players are averaging at least seven points a game at the team gears up to play the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night.
“We want to have multiple guys run the pick and roll with Ricky being our primary guy,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. “Hopefully playing off that gives us some balance. If guys can make plays, that will hopefully make us harder to defend, and that’s usually a good thing.”
It starts with Rubio and Gobert.
Rubio has established himself as a pick-and-roll savant, capable of getting into the paint and creating shots for himself and others. Snyder envisions a free-flowing offense with all five players on the court creating for themselves and others.
The Jazz offense has been up and down and seemingly showcased the best- and worst-case scenarios through the first five games. The Jazz offense was well-run and efficient against the Denver Nuggets, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Thunder. The 3-point shots fell with regularity and shots were distributed judiciously. The Jazz defense did its part by forcing opposing turnovers, which led to easy transition baskets.
The offense was a nightmare against the Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns. Utah scored 84 and 88 points, respectively. The Jazz shot the ball poorly in both contests, turned over the ball at alarming rates and went on multiple prolonged scoring droughts.
“We’ve got to take better care of the ball,” Utah shooting guard Rodney Hood said. “We have to get more connected. We’re still getting familiar with each other and getting to know each other on the floor. We’ve showed flashes of being a good offense, we just have to make it consistent. But taking care of the ball is our biggest priority.”
THE JAZZ OFFENSE <br>A taste of the good: <br>• All five starters are averaging in double figures. <br>•Rodney Hood is showing signs of being a breakout scorer, having scored at least 20 points twice so far this season. <br>• Rudy Gobert is 10th in the NBA in true shooting percentage. <br>• Joe Ingles is 10th in the league in effective field goal percentage. <br>And here’s the bad: <br>• The Jazz scored 88 and 84 points respectively on their recent road trip to Los Angeles and Phoenix. <br>• Utah is 29th out of 30 teams in pace of play and leads the NBA in turnover percentage. <br>• The Jazz are averaging almost 19 turnovers per game. <br>• Hood is the leading scorer at just 16 points per game.
The offensive numbers for the Jazz are wide ranging so far. They are 26th in the NBA with a 96.5 offensive rating. They lead the league in turnover percentage, coughing up the ball on nearly 20 percent of their possessions. That’s untenable and something the Jazz need to improve quickly. They are playing at a faster pace, but so is the rest of the NBA. And they are making a little more than 30 percent of their wide open 3-pointers, a number that must improve.
On the plus side, the Jazz are third in the league in assist percentage, notching a helper on 62 percent of their makes. This is led by Rubio, who is averaging 8.2 assists per game, good for eighth overall in the league. With no dominant scorer, this is how the Jazz want to play.
Because of the offensive inconsistency, it’s no surprise Utah enters Saturday night with a 2-3 record.
“A lot of what they do revolves around pick and roll, so teams are going to have to be ready for that,” Phoenix Suns interim coach Jay Triano said. “There’s a lot of respect for Quin and the sets that he runs.”
The Jazz are eighth overall in defensive rating and have surrendered 100 or more points just twice in five games. So even if Utah hasn’t hit its ceiling defensively, the Jazz have been good on that end.
The offense has to improve, and it starts with the turnovers. The Jazz are 29th out of 30 teams in pace of play, which makes it almost impossible for them to be good offensively playing slow and turning over the ball about once every five possessions.
The sample size is small, and the season is very young. But the Jazz have exhibited strengths and weaknesses that could tell a lot about their fate going forward depending on their adjustments.
“We’ve had some costly turnovers, but we’re in position to make plays, and some of the other stuff is fixable,” Jazz forward Derrick Favors said. “We just have to clean some things up on the offensive end.”
LOS ANGELES LAKERS AT UTAH JAZZ <br>When • 7 p.m. Saturday <br>Where • Vivint Smart Home Arena <br>TV • AT&T SportsNet <br>Radio • 97.5 FM <br>Records • Jazz 2-3, Lakers 2-2 (play late Friday) <br>About the Lakers • Former University of Utah star Kyle Kuzma is averaging 14.5 points per game in his rookie season. … Rookie point guard Lonzo Ball is averaging nine assists per outing. … The Lakers will be playing the Jazz on the tail end of a back-to-back. … The Lakers are third overall in the NBA, averaging 24.3 assists per game. <br>About the Jazz • Utah will be trying to end its first losing streak of the season. … The Jazz will be playing the first of four consecutive home games. … Utah has finished last in the NBA in pace of play in every year of Quin Snyder’s tenure. … Jazz center Rudy Gobert is coming off a 16-point, 14-rebound game against the Phoenix Suns. … Gobert is seventh overall with 11.4 rebounds per game.