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Master the rebounds and master your destiny.
As the team ranked first in the Western Conference last season, the Utah Jazz last season was not able to achieve very good results in the face of injuries. They only stopped in the Western Conference semifinals and were eliminated by their opponents. This season, they ensured that the original core team will once again attack higher goals. In the opening stage of the season, they did show the momentum of a strong team in the Western Conference, but later they fell into a wave of injuries again. In the end, Can only enter the playoffs with the fifth position in the Western Conference.
Looking back at the regular season of the Utah Jazz, as a team that started high and went low, they ended up with a score of 49 wins and 33 losses. This result is undoubtedly unsatisfactory, and there is not much in the core team. Despite the changes, they handed over the worst regular season record in the past four seasons.
Judging from the situation at the beginning of the season, they still maintained the league's top level of offensive efficiency, but with the wave of injuries in the middle of the season Due to the impact of the epidemic, Clarkson, Ingles and Gobert and others have entered the injury list successively, and the team's record has also declined. While their performance was poor, the conflicts within their team seemed to be intensifying.
When entering the end of the regular season, the team's performance was even worse. They were reversed many times while leading their opponents by a large score, and once almost fell into the play-offs. Although they finally secured a playoff spot, judging from the situation this season, this seems to be the last chance for the Utah Jazz to prove themselves. If the results they achieve at the end of the season are not very good, If it is satisfactory, then this team is very likely to part ways this summer.
First of all, looking at the team's situation, this is almost their most complete playoff lineup in the past three seasons. From January to the end of the regular season, repeated injuries have been affecting this team. Even core members Mitchell and Gobert have played with injuries in a large number of games. Although Ingles was injured, the team eventually used the trade to deal with the problem.
Compared with previous seasons, although the Utah Jazz's regular season record this season is not as good as before, they have maintained a healthy lineup until now. This is probably based on the experience of previous seasons. This is also the only consolation we can get in the face of their worst record in recent years. At least from the perspective of the lineup, this is the first time in recent seasons that the Utah Jazz are fully healthy and entering the playoffs.
Although they have retained their health, record problems have caused them to lose the home court advantage in the series. Their opponent is the Dallas Mavericks. Judging from the head-to-head records of the two teams, since the 16-17 season, The Mavericks have only won one victory at home against the Utah Jazz. And Doncic has never won here since he entered the league.
Judging from these past games, the Utah Jazz have an absolutely overwhelming advantage at home.
Judging from the current playoff situation, the Mavericks have a 2:1 lead over the Jazz . The home court advantage we mentioned above seems to be just empty talk in the face of the team's strength.
Indeed, looking at the overall situation of the Utah Jazz, we can see their shortcomings in many aspects. Since the injury in March, coupled with the conflicts and rumors within their team, the team has only won four games in the last ten games. The losses include a wave of five consecutive losses and a A huge reversal in the game, they really shouldn't be the favored side entering the playoffs with such a situation.
On the other hand, the Mavericks won eight of the ten games at the end of the regular season. Team core Doncic was selected as the Western Conference Player of the Week, and head coach Kidd was selected as the Coach of the Week. Judging from this situation, the gap between the two teams at the end of the season is indeed somewhat obvious.
When we lay out the data, this gap becomes even more obvious. The Utah Jazz are the team in the league that leads by double digits in the second half and has the most comebacks by its opponents. The Mavericks have achieved more than double-digit reversals this season, ranking first in team history. Behind such a completely opposite gap, we can see many, many things.
First of all, we can clearly feel that the Utah Jazz's ability to stabilize the situation and win at critical moments at the end of the season is very poor. They had a record of 17 wins and 23 losses in 40 games with a steady win, and their field goal percentage and three-point shooting percentage at critical moments were only 41% and 29%. On the other hand, the Mavericks have a record of 38 wins and 22 losses despite their steady victory this season, which is far better than the former in terms of record and shooting percentage.
Behind this situation, we can find some reasons worthy of attention.
The first is the poor state of Donovan-Mitchell . We can say with certainty that the Utah Jazz's poor record at the end of the season was largely due to Mitchell's cold touch.
As the team's leading scorer, he averaged only 21 points per game in April, and his shooting percentage and three-point shooting percentage were only 32% and 26%. In the two games against the Mavericks, his average dropped to 14 points per game, shooting 28% from the field and 23% from three-point range.
On the other hand, Doncic in the opponent's lineup, while winning the Western Conference Player of the Week, he also delivered an excellent shooting percentage of 51.4% at critical moments in a single month. Judging from the comparison of these two data, the Utah Jazz It seems difficult to be the ultimate winner.
Of course, there are other variables in this. The first is Doncic's injury. This sudden incident has caused him to miss the first round of the series. As for Mitchell, our opponent, we refer to his performance in the playoffs in recent years. He is very hopeful that he can perform more powerfully on a higher level stage.
Refer to the three rounds of playoffs he played in in the past. Although the final results did not make it to the end, he was still able to average 33.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game with a terrifying 64% true shooting percentage data. Therefore, he is very hopeful that he will have a big breakout in the subsequent series, and whether he can go further depends on how long his hot state can last.
Then let’s take a look at the match between the two teams. Since 2020, the Jazz and the Mavericks have not had much difference in the final results of their matches. So from one aspect, we The strength of these two teams can be regarded as an equal level.
This is also a point that we have been emphasizing personally. Although Doncic has proven his ability in misplaced singles in multiple rounds of series, his impact on the team is crucial. But it is always difficult for us to compare him with Harden and Curry , guards who restrain the Jazz. Judging from the conclusion series where the Jazz were eliminated, what they hate more is the kind of small man with speed who can also pull Gobert to the outside for singles, thereby changing the Jazz's defensive system.
As for the current Doncic, he does not seem to be the kind of player who can completely restrain Gobert.
Of course, our ability to make such an evaluation is not based on Doncic's ability or anything else, but simply based on the comparison of the advantages and disadvantages between the two teams. The Mavericks used Porzingis to acquire Dinwiddie in a previous trade. This transaction made a big change to the Mavericks' lineup.
Head coach Kidd's reform of defensive tactics has obvious effects. He frequently used defensive rotations in the second half of the game, and this was precisely the choice for the Jazz.
Their backcourt players have a height and size advantage, which is a difficult hurdle for the Jazz's short backcourt attacking team. Secondly, they will arrange a large number of defenders to bypass Gobert in the game against the Jazz. For forward defense, even if he receives the pass, he will become the target of frequent cuts by the opponent due to his shortcomings when releasing the ball.
In view of these points, let's take a look at the team's defensive performance after Dinwiddie joined. First of all, let’s make it clear that the team’s defense has declined after Dinwiddie joined. The main reason for this comes from the weakening of the interior defensive strength. There are only Kleber, Powell and Bertans. The height and body requirements are sufficient for interior defense, and their defensive levels also vary, so the overall defensive level can be seen.
Before the start of the playoffs, many people in the outside world were worried about the pressure Gobert would bring to the Mavericks in the paint. However, judging from the actual game situation, such worries are indeed somewhat unnecessary. Gobert gave in the penalty area Threats are far from what we expected. But even so, the Jazz still have to find ways to increase their threat and oppression in the interior, so as to consume a lot of the Mavericks' effective strength inside.
returned to their regular season and entered the playoffs with the fifth position in the Western Conference. This ranking is really familiar to the Jazz. As a small city team that lacks star talent, the Jazz have always given people the image of a hard-working civilian team. They also have the ability to overcome the inferiors and superiors. In comparison, they are often ranked first in the league. Their regular season record is still somewhat out of tune with them.
But now, they are far away from the glorious results of the previous seasons and have returned to the ranking that should belong to them. This may be the peak stage that this main lineup can reach.
As their first-round opponent , even if the Mavericks lose Doncic, after the addition of Dinwiddie, they can still put two core ball-holders on the court at any time. Judging from the experiments in the second half of the schedule, this approach has indeed brought a lot of changes to the offensive end of this team.
What is important is not the progress of their team itself. What needs more attention is the characteristics of Dinwiddie and Brunson on the court. They are similar to Reggie Jackson of the Clippers last season. Like Mann, they are both small men who make Gobert very uncomfortable in offense.
As for their subsequent response, the first is whether Mitchell can continue to reach higher levels in the playoffs?
Apart from the players, head coach Schneider will face greater challenges. We can see that the Jazz's offensive and defensive tactics have been frequently challenged by other teams in recent seasons, which also means that more and more The more teams find ways to beat them, and if they want to go further, the head coach must develop more possibilities within such limitations. Secondly, there are contradictory rumors within the team. Although the authenticity needs to be considered, judging from the performance of the players on the court, these things are not completely fabricated. And if they want to go further, these are the problems they must solve.
The final answers to these questions are in the hands of head coach Schneider, and his adjustments will determine the team's final results. We can see that he insisted on a small lineup at the beginning of the season, but failed repeatedly; and then claimed to emphasize the team, but failed to see results; and what did not work in the regular season, it worked in the playoffs. Do you see the effect? These are things that are unknown and can be expected.
In past playoffs, we have also seen the head coach choose to change the formation in times of crisis, and finally achieved good results. The fact that all Jazz members are healthy this season is undoubtedly good news for him. He can Get more room for adjustment, and the most important thing is to see if he has such decisiveness.
Regarding the first round series between the Jazz and the Mavericks, the Jazz are still lagging behind by a big score. As for the final result, the Utah Jazz are still a side we are not optimistic about, even if they are facing a team without Doncic. When the Mavericks played, we were not very optimistic that they would be the winning side.
If the final result is what we think, then facing several consecutive seasons of failure, the Utah Jazz should indeed reshuffle their cards this summer.
