This Is IT! The REAL REASON For Utah Jazz SHOCKING Start

1 year ago
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What the Utah Jazz are doing on a basketball court is similar to ballet choreography. Check this out.
As Mike Conley drops it down to the big man, he will set an off ball screen for Malik Beasley to potentially fire away a 3.
You see that if Brown switches this, Conley has KCP on his back and the lane is open for him to get a layup. So the Nuggets play it straight up.
In this case, Pope is trailing behind a 42% shooter from downtown so Green shows up top and this is where the dance begins, as we got the bounce pass to Kessler, who doesn’t force a contested shot and immediately looks for the extra pass. Sexton could have shot it but he also passes it to Mike, who once again swings it back to Beasley for the open 3 that splashes through the net.
Their synchronized movement, along with the perfect timing and precision of the passes, gives me this type of vibes. So since everyone is asking- let me finally reveal the secret to how the Utah Jazz are shocking the entire NBA world. Of course with the right music.
What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it.
Utah’s bread and butter is the 3 point shot. They’re 3rd in makes in 4th in attempts so they shoot a lot and make a lot of them. But they consistently get good looks which is the most interesting. And this is how.
Just like in the first play, the quickness of the movement is key, as we got the pick and the great roll by Vanderbuilt who now forces a rotation, and as soon as he gets the ball he immediately starts looking for that next guy, which in this case is Clarkson. Passes to him, and Jordan with the extra pass to the corner for the wide open Rudy Gay.
You need to see it in full speed to appreciate how crucial their speed of execution is.
And against Atlanta watch the 2 men game here as Conley first fakes going inside before going back to the Olynyk screen which gets Trae caught up here and now Collins has to help and eventually switch. As Kelly immediately cuts to the basket, we got the bounce pass and the layup inside.
The Jazz are number 6 in assists per game, which compared to last season when they ranked 27th in the league is an unbelievable turnaround.
Again, look at all the movement here as we got the handoff for Conley, then the screen for Gay and the immediate roll, as Rudy lasers the pass there, and with the defense collapsing, the pass to the corner for the open shot. Bang.
But as beautiful as this ball movement and player movement looks, these are pretty basic plays right? But why they work is the same reason why their defense works. Let me explain.
Utah has the second best offense in the league, and as surprising as that sounds, we saw the great looks that they get.
But even more shocking is possibly the fact that they have a top 10 defense. A team that was constructed to lose, with a bunch of gunners that we all thought would just think of how they can get their own shot without worrying about defense, they are top 10 on that end.
And sure we can talk about the great individual defense here by Vanderbuilt, hounding Edwards and staying disciplined to be straight up here and deny the drive.
We can also talk about the nice awareness here by Walker Kessler as he’s following the play and makes the right rotation on time to go up for this block.
But the core reason for all of this is effort. Will Hardy has this team bought into his philosophy of just playing incredibly hard, and executing every play with great energy.
Heck, they even got Jordan Clarkson to play great defense, with the textbook form of hand in the passing lane for this steal. Or the way he reads the offense right here and already sees the next pass and where that’s going to go for another steal.
And not to mention this spectacular moment which first of all nobody would even attempt to chase down Zion on a fast break. But the incredible extra effort by Clarkson right here is the perfect example of how this team plays.
There is not a single guy on this team that hogs the ball or dribbles 10 or more seconds before making a decision. This is old school San Antonio type of system. Shoot, pass or drive. Make that decision in 2 seconds or less. And that is amazing to watch.
Can this pace be sustained however? Who knows. But the energy and effort on offense and defense is why they are successful and why I constantly tune in specifically to watch them play.
Utah is a great story early on and I really hope that they can keep this up. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

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