“They played different coverages — they played zone, they hedged, they blitzed, they switched. They did everything.”-Donovan Mitchell.
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NBA analyst and former assistant coach Steve Jones Jr. noted on social media in the aftermath of a game,... “Multiple coverages is the key these days.”
There have been a lot of different looks tried against the Jazz this year in an effort to find a way to somehow slow down both their record-setting 3-point barrage and their ability to attack the paint. Opponents have often resorted to simply switching, though Utah’s mostly figured that out. Some teams are now fully committed to running them off the line — only to get wrecked by dribble penetration and lobs.
Typically when an opponent unleashes some new look, the Jazz require a bit of game time to sort it out before eventually acclimating as the game goes along and ultimately exploiting...it...
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If you give the Jazz but one defensive look in a game, it takes them a bit to adjust, but they eventually exploit it. The Heat were able to fluidly switch [among] coverages Friday night, and the Jazz spent all game adjusting.
And as a result, their execution suffered: 40 of 94 from the field (42.6%) and 15 of 46 from 3-point range (32.6%).
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Several of [head coach Quinn] Snyder’s players specifically pointed to the spacing as the primary culprit, how Miami’s ever-shifting alignments constantly had Jazz players in the wrong spots.
“Tonight...it kind of got us out of our rhythm.”-Mike Conley.
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Both Mitchell and [Rudy] Gobert lamented Utah’s lack of transition attack, rightly pointing out that improving upon their meager six fast break points could have prevented the Heat from setting up such effective defenses...
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With the Heat so successful against the Jazz on Friday, future opponents are bound to employ a similar strategy.
Spo’s a genius.
