SALT LAKE CITY — The Jazz season has come and gone, but there's still time to look back at the 51-win season in 2016-17. Today, we look at who pleasantly surprised and who disappointed.

Surprises

Joe Ingles

Joe Ingles has to lead the list of surprises for the Utah Jazz in 2016-17. Coming into the season, we knew he was a capable shooter and playmaker, but at the age of 29, Ingles showed he was so much more.

First, there is that shooting, which improved to 44.1 percent from the 3-point line this year. That ended up putting him third in the league. Ingles sometimes is still too reluctant to shoot the open shots he gets, but definitely pulls the trigger more than years past.

But more than anything, Ingles added to the secondary elements of his game. His finishing around the rim is still really effective, and he became much more bold in trying to attack inside.

And then he became the Jazz's most reliable defender. He became the Jazz's late-game stopper for nearly every kind of scoring guard, and his work on J.J. Redick in the first round was nothing short of series-changing. This block is so impressive because he stays with Redick every step of the way.

Rewatching the game... Joe Ingles did such a ridiculously good job on J.J. Redick defensively. This block is great. pic.twitter.com/JKpTvK58j7 — Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) April 16, 2017

He earned a starting spot over Rodney Hood for the playoffs and deserved it. While his shooting percentages went down, Ingles was one of the Jazz's most important players all season long and deserves the raise he has coming his way.

Rudy Gobert

It's not that Rudy Gobert wasn't good before, he was. But after stalling out a little bit in his third year (perhaps due to his knee injury), Gobert took huge leaps forward in the fourth year of his career to earn a $100 million extension.

Gobert's footwork, strength and focus were the biggest factors. Early in his career, Gobert would often drop or fumble passes from teammates who were trying to set him up to score, turning two points into a turnover. That rarely was the case this year, as Gobert played with his hands ready and feet in position to make a play once he received the ball.

He also improved his screening and rolling skills to become a top-3 threat in the league in the pick and roll. Gobert was second in the league in screen assists per game and was the league's most active screener, setting 33.8 screens per game. He got a lot better at it this year, which opened up space for himself and teammates.

He's not a traditional kind of superstar, but he took a leap to that stratosphere this season. Win Shares says he's worth 14.3 wins to the Jazz, ESPN's RPM says he was worth 15.7 wins. Only five players had better marks.

Disappointments

Trey Lyles

Trey Lyles is the biggest disappointment in a Jazz uniform this season. After a rookie season when he contributed when Derrick Favors and Gobert were out due to injury and exploded onto the scene with a solid and consistent March and April, Lyles looked like he was ready to help the Jazz right away, maybe even be a solid starter level player with some development.

Well, that didn't work out. I won't sugarcoat it for you: Lyles' season was horrendous. It actually started out OK in November and December. Lyles started three games in Favors' absence and averaged nearly 10 points per game in the season's first month.

The biggest early problem was that Lyles was reading the defense incorrectly when he was on the perimeter; he'd drive when the defense left him wide-open to take the three, and he'd shoot when the defense closed out hard on him. That's a justifiable mistake and one that he could figure out with experience.

But instead of figuring it out as the season progressed, things got worse. In January, Lyles made 33 percent of his shots. In February, 28 percent. In March, 21 percent. And finally, in April, his playing time had decreased to the point where he took just six shots. He only made one of them, so his shooting percentage was down to 16 percent.

I don't know that Lyles' defense got worse too, but it became more irksome that he was bad defensively when he wasn't adding anything on offense. And it seems like he could be a better playmaker for others: he has the passing and floor reading skills, but too often seems to focus on his own look.

Lyles has to get right this offseason. The first step is figuring out his shot and what went wrong there. He has to be a consistent shooter. But even beyond that, you'd like for him to add secondary skills to be a truly positive player in the league. In a season where he could have earned the starting spot, Lyles ended up out of the rotation.

The Jazz's injury crew

There were four players this year that Jazz fans just expected more from, but battled through limited effectiveness due to injuries.

Rodney Hood didn't take the expected leap forward this year, in fact, he probably regressed. The explanation is a spate of injuries, from hamstring issues to serious illness to knee hyperextension to a bone bruise, all of which limited Hood's ability to play at 100 percent. But even given that, it would be nice for him to show off some improved shooting consistency and some secondary skills before he's a restricted free agent next summer. He got to the line less frequently this season than ever before.

Derrick Favors' knee and back issues bothered him all season long, and he was very obviously not the healthy Favors we're used to. His scoring went from 16 points per game all the way down to nine, and he couldn't finish at the rim with his usual explosion. He also found his role of big man screener usurped by Gobert's development, leaving him without natural scoring opportunities. He actually had the best mid-range shooting year of his career, but just didn't fit with the rest of the Jazz's starting unit, which performed better without Favors on the floor. I'd be somewhat surprised if he's still a Jazzman next season.

Alec Burks, after getting offseason surgery in June, was supposed to be ready for training camp. But setbacks prevented him from playing until January, and then the team found that he wasn't very effective on the floor. He still missed rotations and made confusing plays as an off-ball defender, but didn't have the offensive skills to make up for it. The man they used to call "Houdini" due to his magic finishing skills around the rim shot under 40 percent within 3 feet. He knows he's not right and is giving rehab and workouts another chance.

Dante Exum was coming back from an ACL tear, but with more than a year off, fans hoped that he'd be coming back at somewhere near 100 percent effectiveness. It just wasn't really the case, as Exum's trademark defensive stickiness disappeared because of reduced lateral quickness. And while he showed offensive flashes, he still didn't shoot well, nor make good enough decisions with the ball, for him to earn consistent minutes.

All of these players have good reasons for their down seasons, but regardless, their performances disappointed. We'll see how they all respond with a summer of recovery and improvement.

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