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SALT LAKE CITY — Narratives can change quickly.
After the Utah Jazz lost Game 1 to the Houston Rockets, there were plenty of questions being asked about the Jazz's unique defensive strategy against James Harden.
Why were they just allowing Harden to simply stroll right into the paint? Doesn't that put too much pressure on Rudy Gobert? And was it really a good idea for one of the best defensive teams to ultimately change its defensive scheme?
“Y’all laughed at us,” Donovan Mitchell said following the series.
No one was laughing at the end.
The Jazz may have lost in five games, but it wasn’t because of the defensive scheme. Harden missed his first 15 shots of Game 3, he opened Game 5 shooting 1-of-11, and he ended up scoring 8.3 points less per game during the series than in the regular season.
He went to the free throw line fewer times, shot nearly 8 percent less from the field and his assists dropped as the series went on. In the final two games, he had just 10 assists to 13 turnovers.
It might have taken a couple of games, but Quin Snyder’s unconventional gameplan worked. And if the Jazz had made even close to their season average on 3-point shots, the conversation surrounding Utah’s short-lived playoff run would have been different. It just might have resembled the talk coming from the Jazz players themselves.
“It’s been like watching Mozart perform,” Ricky Rubio said of Snyder.
There was a reason Rubio was so upset after Utah's Game 2 loss to the Rockets. A reason why he called out his teammates — saying they hadn’t 100 percent bought into the game plan and they needed to “man up" on defense. It's because he's seen how effective Snyder’s gameplans can be.
Last season, after the Jazz had dropped the first game of their playoff series against Oklahoma City, Snyder pointed out missed reads and made adjustments to get Rubio — who went just 5-of-18 for 13 points in the Game 1 loss — and the Utah offense going.
Rubio had 22 points and 9 assists in the Jazz’s Game 2 win before posting a 26-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist triple-double in Game 3. The Jazz went on to win the series in six.
“It was like (he was) giving me the medicine to really play basketball,” Rubio said. “It was amazing.”
There were a lot of good things about Kyle Korver's first stint with the Jazz. He liked living in the state, he was part of memorable playoff victories and he even set a record for the highest 3-point field goal percentage in NBA history (though he probably would have preferred more shots than the record). So it was a pleasant surprise for him when he was traded back in November.
One that became even more pleasant as he realized the changes that had occurred since he had left.
“The organization is better than the first time I was here, the city is better,” Korver said. “So to come back here and be a part of that, it was a nice surprise to be here.”
Korver mentioned the updated practice facility and its amenities. He brought up how Salt Lake City has evolved and how impressed he was about how the organization has looked into every detail in order to create a winning basketball team.
And he singled out one person in particular: Snyder.
“Quin is, if not the best, one of the best coaches in the NBA as far as how he sees the game and reads the games and communicates the game to his players, putting together game plans,” Korver said.
He then paused for a brief moment before finishing: “He’s really, really good, guys.”
That’s something players like NBA legends Kobe Bryant to Chris Paul have noticed, too.
Last year, Bryant told USA Today that, “Q has got to start getting the respect that he deserves as being one of the best coaches in the league — period.” And during the Jazz-Rockets playoff series, Paul said how much he has enjoyed getting to see how Snyder’s mind works as the two have been part of the NBA’s competition committee.
But it’s more than just his mind and the specialized gameplans that have made Snyder so popular with his players. He not only has a high standard for them, but he also has one for himself.
“He puts his whole body, mind, and spirit into getting us better and to this ball club,” Jae Crowder said. “You love playing for someone like that. You love playing, putting it on the line each and every night for a guy you know is doing the work behind the scenes to help us get better. Everyone feels that and appreciates what he brings.”
