But in the eyes of ESPN analyst Zach Kram, there’s one factor those teams have shown that the Jazz and their young talent could take some valuable notes from: How high-octane guards can avoid …
To nobody’s surprise, the Utah Jazz are nowhere near this year’s playoff action following their league-worst finish and 17-win campaign stamped in the books this past regular season.
However, even without being in the playoff mix, the Jazz can still take some value out of this year’s batch of postseason contests, and especially so when looking at this year’s conference finals matchups on both sides of the bracket.
In this year’s pool lies four standout squads, all of which have shown some significant upside throughout their respective two series wins, with each having a decent shot of hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy at season’s end.
But in the eyes of ESPN analyst Zach Kram, there’s one factor those teams have shown that the Jazz and their young talent could take some valuable notes from: How high-octane guards can avoid turnovers.
“Among the top 30 qualified players in assist rate this season, the Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander boasted the lowest turnover rate, the Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton ranked second and the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson ranked third. It’s no coincidence that all three point guards led their teams to the conference finals,” Kram wrote. “[Cade] Cunningham and the Hawks’ Trae Young, the top two players in turnovers per game this season, would benefit from watching Gilgeous-Alexander, Haliburton and Brunson in the conference finals to see how they probe defenses and make plays while avoiding costly giveaways. That film would also be useful for younger promising point guards like Chicago’s Josh Giddey, Portland’s Scoot Henderson and Utah’s Isaiah Collier, all of whom posted turnover rates more than twice as high as SGA’s this season.”
For the Jazz, turnover problems have certainly been plentiful across the past two seasons of their rebuild process. This past year, Utah ranked dead last in the NBA with turnovers allowed, and led the league with the highest turnover ratio of 17.0%.
On one hand, those are the growing pains that come with any young team. Especially as budding guards continue to get increasingly comfortable in their situations at the next level, like Isaiah Collier and Keyonte George, turnovers are to be expected.
On another, the lack of ball security and league-leading turnover numbers don’t equate to many wins on the board, and for the Jazz to keep that arrow trending up for their progression, limiting mistakes and protecting the basketball will have to be a central focus to find that offensive improvement.
Oftentimes, it’s the turnover battle that dictates many wins in the NBA. The Jazz this past season didn’t come out on top in many of those battles, but with the lessons shown from the likes of Shai-Gilgeous Alexander, Jalen Brunson, and Tyrese Haliburton, perhaps this developing Utah core can find some steps forward for the road ahead, and in due time, reach the same lofty heights those talents have achieved this postseason.
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Source: Utah News