Utah Jazz vs. San Antonio Spurs Series Analysis

The Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs have surprised many people this season.

The Spurs were believed to be a team that would be fighting for the 8th seed, while the Jazz were thought to be a lottery team with no chance of even competing for a playoff spot. 

Here we are after 66 games, and both teams have surprised everyone and far exceeded the expectations that were placed on them by fans and media members alike. It is a testament to the coaching jobs that Greg Popovich and Ty Corbin have done in getting their players to play hard every night.

Popovich has transformed his team from a defensive identity, which relied a lot on Tim Duncan for offense, to an offensive identity that relies on guard penetration as the first option. 

Meanwhile, Corbin, who is in his first full season as the coach of the Jazz, has done a fantastic job incorporating the youth on his team with his established veteran players. He has gone away from the pick-and-roll offense which was a staple of the Jazz during the Jerry Sloan-era and has instead relied on his big men to facilitate the offense. 

The Spurs have won the season series between these two clubs with three victories and one loss. The single loss that occurred was with Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker being given the day off to rest. 

However, the Jazz may be able to present some problems for the Spurs. It is no secret that San Antonio has had trouble with teams that present a big lineup. The Jazz have one of the better front courts in the league.  

Al Jefferson, who is very underrated as a center, and Paul Millsap present a duo that many teams would have trouble containing.

Jefferson, who is the second-best post scorer in the league, will cause trouble for the less-mobile Tim Duncan.

Millsap is a tweener, which means he can play both forward positions. Usually this is an advantage, however, it is a disadvantage against the Spurs as it allows them to play Matt Bonner more and spread the floor. This makes their offense much more difficult to contain. 

Therefore, the Jazz have had trouble defending the Spurs' pick-and-roll, which is different to how most teams run it.  

Usually, teams have a single player who handles the basketball and receives multiple screens in a single possession until he finds an open shot either for himself or a teammate (ala CP3), the Spurs like to set one solid screen for Parker and, if it does not result in a open shot, he will swing the ball to the weak-side and they will run another screen-and-roll with a different ball-handler (Ginobili, Neal, or Green). 

This makes it extremely difficult for the defensive team, as they have to quickly shift the defense to the weak-side due to the speed of the Spurs' offense. Thus, it leads to many open shots, mostly open three-pointers from the corner.

However, with the slower pace of the playoffs, the only way the Jazz would have a chance is to eliminate the extra shooter (Bonner) by attacking him on defense and by making the Spurs go to options two and three in their offensive sets. Once the Spurs have to rely on their second and third options on offense, their efficiency declines.

Millsap has struggled greatly against the Spurs this season, and for this reason, I believe he will be the X-factor. If the Jazz wish to have success, Millsap has to play to his full capabilities. 

He will have to take advantage of Bonner's defense and expose that liability to such a degree where his opponent's minutes will have to be cut. With Bonner off the floor, the Jazz defense will have a better chance to contain the red-hot Spurs offense. 

I will be interested to see how Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors perform in the postseason. Also, it will be interesting to see whether Alec Burks will get any playing time.

All in all, I believe that the Spurs have too many options to exploit the Jazz defense. The Jazz will be playing catch-up most of the series against the experienced San Antonio team. Look for the Jazz to win a single home game, however, this series will likely end in 5 games.