Compared with previous seasons, they still have not been able to become the team that reached the end, but the situation this season is far more serious than before. They are the popular seeds in the regular season almost every season. The results in the game are also good enough

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As the final Bogdanovic three-pointer from the outside bounced out, the final whistle sounded, Utah Jazz 's 22nd season once again came to an end in failure. Compared with previous seasons, they still have not been able to become the team that reached the end, but the situation this season is far more serious than before. They are the popular seeds in the regular season almost every season. The results in the game are also good enough. The core players in the team have always been capable. Mitchell 's progress is visible to the naked eye. Gobert has always been a popular candidate for the league's best defense, and he is constantly making up for his shortcomings in other positions. plate.

But it is such a seemingly perfect lineup. Whenever he enters the playoffs stage and faces other teams in the league, Gobert, who is originally known for his defense, will become the key point for his opponents to blast. Due to his defensive threat in the penalty area under the basket, opponents will be more or less wary of breakthroughs, but when facing an all-shooter lineup like Mavericks or Clippers last season, it is difficult for Gobert to score in the penalty area. If the defense can keep up with the offensive players, other teammates on the outside will have to spend a lot of energy on defense to make up for his shortcomings.

On offense, Gobert also has problems. Due to the lack of organizational skills and a certain shooting range on the court, when he receives the ball at a certain distance from the basket, he completely loses the offensive threat, and the opponent's defense can be unscrupulous. It shrinks inwards, greatly compressing the offensive space of jazz .

As a big man inside, it is not easy to be good at both ends of the offense and defense, and it is normal to have shortcomings occasionally. But for Gobert, his problems on both offense and defense have seriously affected the team. This is not the first time that he has been targeted by opponents in the playoffs. This has directly blocked the Jazz from going forward. Go all the way out. If Gobert was just a supporting blue-collar center, his performance would be enough, but the Jazz have built a defensive system around him, with him as the core of all defenses. When he is taken care of by the opponent, At this time, the entire team's defense was almost a big hole.

In the series where the Jazz were eliminated, you can see their very obvious problems. When the team's three-point shooting from the outside feels good, the team can directly take away the victory with a series of three-point rain. This is The main reason why they have been at the top of the league during the regular season in previous seasons. But unlike the regular season, the offensive and defensive intensity in the playoffs is at another level. Under such intense confrontation, the Jazz's outside shooters can easily fall into a cold state. Gobert on the inside had almost no offensive threat. In the end, he could only rely on Mitchell and Clarkson on the back line to solve the problem through individual singles.

When the Jazz fell into individual singles, their original team advantage was gone. Without the conduction between players on the court, they could only rely on the feel of their core players in singles. If the effect was not good If the calculation is correct, then they will fall behind in an instant.

The above are the shortcomings in the team's lineup. Behind this problem, their conflict with you seems to be getting more and more intense.

This is not the first time that the conflict between Gobert and Mitchell, the two core members of the team, has appeared. In the previous 2020 season isolation park, Mitchell and Gobert had conflicts due to the epidemic.Judging from the news revealed by reporters accompanying the team this season, Mitchell and Gobert are increasingly dissatisfied with the current situation of the team, and there are certain conflicts and contradictions in their subsequent cooperation. This season they were eliminated early in the playoffs, a result that once again exacerbated the problems between the two cores.

In addition to the problems of the team and players, various rumors surround head coach Schneider. Due to his personal injury, he did not attend the team's summary meeting at the end of the season. There was news before that. It is reported that the Los Angeles Lakers intend to hire him as the head coach for the new season.

Although these news have not been officially confirmed, signs from all parties indicate that Schneider is likely to part ways with the Utah Jazz this season or next season. And if his departure becomes a reality, then the management's intention to start over will be very obvious, and the players' disintegration will not be too far away.

Of course, the above is the worst situation we imagined. This has the result of their lack of progress in recent seasons, and to a certain extent, it also reflects the helplessness of small city teams in the league.

They are often limited by exposure, location or economic conditions. They will not be favored by many big-name stars in the free market. Their only hope is to get some players in the draft who can lead the team to achieve success. Successful newcomers are cultivated slowly.

Such an approach is not without precedent. The Milwaukee Bucks last season are the most obvious example. They got Middleton and Antetokounmpo in the draft, and built a set of sufficient competition around these two people. A strong championship team. On the way to building this lineup, they must spend enough money to retain their stars, but if their salary reaches the upper limit but still cannot touch the championship trophy, then the team's room for maneuver will be limited. There is not much left, and the only thing they can do is to tear it down and start over, and then walk the same path all over again.

From the current point of view, the Utah Jazz is the most obvious failure example in this reconstruction road. As a representative of small market teams in the league, they have previously cultivated stars like Gordon Hayward forward, but after failing to win the championship, he was quickly taken away by other big city teams.

Under the leadership of Mitchell and Gobert, their current lineup seems to have reached a ceiling position. They still have the strength of a playoff team. If they want to go further, they will fail again and again. Once upon a time, the opponent seized on a shortcoming and beat him hard, and then was eliminated halfway.

We are not saying that Mitchell or Gobert did not perform well enough. On the contrary, during the two of them leading the team, the Jazz's results were actually good enough, occupying the top position in the Western Conference for several consecutive seasons. The core players have also made the All-Star list many times. Throughout the history of the Jazz, the two of them should be regarded as the best duo after Malone and Stockton . However, as a competitive sport, victory is the only criterion for measuring the final result. They failed to successfully win the cup. , then it means they failed.

After being eliminated this season, they once again faced challenges. After failing again and again, we don’t know whether the team management still has enough patience to wait for them, or whether the players in charge are still willing to persevere. Here, these are things that may happen in the future, but we are not sure yet.

What we can be sure of is that after the failure of this season, the Utah Jazz have once again reached the edge of the cliff, and they must reconsider their future plans.