Jazz Breakdown: Utah Needs A Quicker Beat

Thursday’s Jazz-Suns game was truly a bummer.

Not only were Andre Kirilenko and Matt Harpring out for Utah, but Shawn Marion, Grant Hill, and Steve Nash were all out with various ailments for Phoenix.

With that in mind, the important thing to take away from the Jazz’s comfortable 108-86 win was that two of the Jazz’s three best players beat one of Phoenix’ best three.

Looking deeper, the win also revealed evidence as to why the Jazz have disappointed after such a torrid start to the season...

What The Jazz Did Right

Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams outshone Amare Stoudemire and Leandro Barbosa.

Williams (7-12 FG, 2-2 3FG, 3 REB, 11 AST, 2 TO, 17 PTS) did most of his damage bringing his powerful right-handed dribble off of screen/rolls and into to the paint. Since neither Leandro Barbosa nor Marcus Banks had the strength to contend with Williams, nearly every trip to the lane was rewarded with a muscular layup or floater.

Rarely did Williams simply drive and dish, but his success playing the two man pick-and-pop game with Mehmet Okur and Boozer, his ability to find baseline cutters sneaking behind the defense (two assists went to C.J. Miles and Ronnie Brewer alley-oops), and his ability to make impeccable decisions in transition and early-offense situations were more than enough to fuel his 11 assists.

Williams was also asked to set cross-screens to free up Carlos Boozer to flash to the post, and all of them were textbook.

Williams only looked to shoot a jumper when he was wide open in a broken field—he went 2-2 on his looks from behind the arc.

With the exceptions of Jason Kidd and possibly Baron Davis, no point guard in the NBA is as physical as Deron Williams. Because Williams is athletic and smart to boot, he has the potential to be just as good as John Stockton was—if not better.

Carlos Boozer (6-12 FG, 6-8 FT, 1 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 4 TO, 18 PTS), was automatic on free-throw line jumpers, and his athletic drives to the basket were too much for the porous defense of Amare Stoudemire and Brian Skinner.

Ronnie Brewer (9-14 FG, 0-1 3FG, 3-3 FT, 6 REB, 1 AST, 21 PTS) flashed a quick first step and ridiculous hang time on his jumps. That leaping prowess compensates for his inability to finish while drawing contact, because he often simply out-leaps the contact.

Mehmet Okur (9-19 FG, 3-9 3FG, 3 AST, 1 TO, 1 BS,  22 PTS) was able to use a lumbering left-handed drive around Amare Stoudemire for a throw down, and later executed a baseline spin from the right box to leave Stoudemire stuck in his tracks.

Make no mistake though—Stoudemire is the only player whom Okur’s slow clumsy spin moves can work against.

Okur (17) and Paul Millsap (8) dominated both backboards, especially the offensive glass. In total, the Jazz recorded 17 offensive rebounds with Okur (5), Brewer (4), and Millsap (3) having the most success.

What The Jazz Didn’t Do Right

Utah struggled mightily when Boozer and Williams were out of the game.

Williams and Boozers’ departures coincided with Phoenix's playing a zone defense that completely befuddled the Jazz. With Utah unable to use the body contact of picks and screens to create angles, the Jazz became completely one-dimensional, hoisting up a slew of ill-fated jumpers.

Neither C.J. Miles nor Jason Hart were able to run the Utah offense.

Mehmet Okur and Kyle Korver took way too many quick shots, especially against the Phoenix zone. This problem was compounded by the fact that Okur and Korver combined to shoot 4-15 from beyond the arc.

Ronnie Brewer's arm flies out as he shoots, one of the reasons Brewer struggles mightily with his jumper.

Amare Stoudemire’s quickness and midrange jump-shooting flustered Boozer and Okur all game long.

Utah’s screen/roll defense is poor, as are their rotations.

Brewer often gambled unsuccessfully for steals, leaving the Jazz defense in precarious predicaments.

The Jazz don’t have a single defensive stopper with their only shot blocker, Andrei Kirilenko, out.

The Jazz’s offense misses the toughness and versatility a completely 100 percent Matt Harpring brings to the table.

While Kyle Korver is a mite better at catching and shooting, and has a much better post-up game, he isn’t much different than Gordon Giricek.

In fact, Korver’s defense is worse, he’s softer, and he has a poorer handle.

The rumor is that the Jazz are starved for outside shooting, when in reality, they're starved for athletes. Korver doesn’t fit that description.

Besides Williams and Brewer, the Jazz have an alarming lack of speedy guys who can excel at this level. The Jazz also suffer from not having a third scorer besides Williams and Boozer.

If an opponent’s defense focuses on taking away those two players, and is patient enough to not get lost on Utah’s set plays, then the Jazz have trouble scoring.

The Jazz, especially the role players, suffer from a lack of focus and energy when playing away from the friendly confines of the Delta Center.

For this team to take the next step, they need to find a more athletic center than the one-dimensional Okur. A backup point guard is another necessity, as is a creative wing who can create his own shot.

As it is, the Jazz are one athlete short of contending with the triple-threat Spurs, Suns, and Mavs, or the rapidly improving Lakers.