The Triple Team: 3 thoughts on Jazz vs. Suns


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SALT LAKE CITY — Three thoughts on the Jazz's 112-105 win over the Phoenix Suns from KSL.com's Utah Jazz beat writer, Andy Larsen.

1. Rudy Gobert's great game carries Jazz

Rudy Gobert put up his career-high in points tonight, scoring 22 points overall on six of eight shooting from the field and 10-11 shooting from the free throw line. That's obviously a very efficient offensive performance. He also sealed the game with this reverse dunk on a Shelvin Mack pass (and yes, I really do think Mack was passing this intentionally).

No question about it...@rudygobert27's REVERSE-OOP is our @AFCU Instant Rewind! ⏪👀#TakeNote#PHXatUTApic.twitter.com/MYebFlcGc3 — Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) December 7, 2016

I asked Quin Snyder two questions about Gobert, which led to a 3-minute, 500-word answer. I'm editing some out, but I thought it was really interesting, so here's most of it. First, how was the team getting good looks for him around the basket?

"It's an interesting line of thought. He and Alex Jensen have a really unique relationship. Alex has been hard on him, and demanding of him, and also really supportive of him. Two games ago, I think Rudy only had four shots. Alex went through and found ... all of our wings, all of them had a turnover trying to throw Rudy the ball. Now, whether it was their fault or his fault, or someone made a good play or whatever, the point is they were on rolls to the rim, seals after he rolls, a spinout lob, something in transition. But we were trying to get him the ball in situations where he could be successful. We just weren't able to make the play. "I think what's happening now is that Rudy's been more precise, and more forceful in the things that he does, whether that's getting position down low or rolling hard, and our guys are learning to find him better, both to see him and then also to fundamentally be able to deliver the ball, to put the pass on time and on target. If he keeps doing those things, we'll keep doing better at throwing him the ball. When we watched the other night, we told him: 'If you keep doing those things, you're going to get more attempts, and if you don't get the attempts, that means someone's pulled in from the weak side and then you got someone a wide open shot. It's sometimes hard for a guy, you want to touch a ball, and sometimes when you don't, it can get frustrating, but we'll continue to look for him, and he's got to continue to be willing to sacrifice for the group."

And Gobert's on the same page. "I try to get open everytime on the screen, and they'll either have the lob or the corner three. It's just all about making the right decision, and we're getting better at that."

How has he improved from the free throw line so markedly? 10 made free throws is also a career-high, after all.

"With respect to the free throw shooting, I just think he's got a lot of pride. It's just a question of two things: hard work in practice and experience. It started for Rudy with lots and lots of hard work, just reps and reps and reps," Snyder said. "And as that happened, even early on, there would still be moments when he'd miss, or have a bad miss, and then eventually, you're on the line enough that your nervous system starts to slow down. So you gain all the confidence from the practice, and then you gain even more confidence from the experience."

Oh, and we haven't even mentioned his trademark defense: 4 blocks tonight, and allowed the Suns just 6-19 shooting when he was defending the rim. That's really, really impressive.

2. The Suns' discouraging comeback

The Jazz once again built a 23-point lead at the apex of this game, and even had a 19-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter. But man, after that, it was a struggle. The Suns started the quarter on a 24-7 run where they allowed only one Jazz basket and got to the rim with incredible ease with their bench unit. Once again, it was quick guards Brandon Knight and Leandro Barbosa doing most of the damage, with 17 combined points in the quarter.

If that feels like a trend, that's because it is one. The Jazz had a 19 point lead late in last night's game against the Lakers and a 23-point lead against the Nuggets. That's three straight, and three's a trend.

This was the worst comeback of the three to give up, against a legitimately bad Suns team. Their bench unit played nearly all 12 minutes of the 4th, and ended up significantly outplaying the Jazz bench. Once Gobert came back in, things settled a little bit (Gobert was a +20 on the night), but the Jazz need to figure out how to play defense without Gobert in the game and offense without Hayward in the game.

"I think we just have to not relax," Hayward said. "We have to try to still guard. We have to do the same things we did to get s the lead. Mostly, that's guarding defensively. Tonight it was just blow-by's to the rim, then kickouts and everything like that."

There are legitimate excuses here: the Jazz were on a back-to-back, got in at about 3 AM last night and had Rodney Hood out and Dante Exum in foul trouble. Not sufficient excuses, but real ones. But if they somehow do get a big lead against the Golden State Warriors Thursday, they can't play this bad of defense.

3. Earl Watson's pregame comments

Every time I watch Earl Watson's team play, I'm kind of confused about what his schemes are trying to accomplish on the floor. And then I listen to him talk off the court, and I immediately understand why he's an NBA coach: because he's a spectacular mentor for a young NBA team.

In an expansive pre-game session, he spoke at length about how Devin Booker's developmental process, how the NBA game has changed, when he knew Russell Westbrook was a special player, what he thought of Gordon Hayward's rookie season, and his thoughts on the Utah Jazz franchise.

Here are the best Jazz specific quotes:

On Hayward: "Gordon just had this unique way about him... I was like oh, this kid is special! The way he defended, you could tell he played tennis, because his lateral movement was unique. It took seasons for everyone around the NBA to appreciate what he has and what he can do because the team is winning." Watson even compared young Hayward to Jerry West, the NBA legend and logo.

On the Jazz overall: "This is the only franchise that embraced the process and never spoke publicly about embracing the process."

Watson went to the University of Utah's practice today in his spare time. He didn't come to speak to the students, but was just there to watch practice and support one of his former youth team players, center Jayce Johnson.

I hope Watson succeeds. He's so much fun to listen to, and his players clearly love the perspective he brings.

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