The Jazz have had a problem in recent games — Saturday’s contest against the New Orleans Pelicans notwithstanding: they need to take open shots.
There’s a sense that part of the Jazz’s struggles with their offense have been that they’ve generated open shots, but players aren’t taking them. The result: a worse shot as the shot clock runs down.
“We may not have the clarity that you have as far as good to great. It may be really good and okay,” Jazz head coach Quin Snyder said. "Guys have to figure that out. If anything, that challenges unselfishness in a different way. Sometimes if you’re open and you pass, you’re not being unselfish. You need to take your shots.”
Joe Ingles out to slow start
Perhaps the biggest reluctant shooter this season is Joe Ingles, who hasn’t used this few of possessions on a per-minute basis since his rookie season.
And that’s despite a change in role: Ingles was moved to the bench in order to get the ball in his hands more, not less. The idea is that the Jazz could use his creation ability in lineups without Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic, good at that role in their own right.
But he’s also been struggling at making the few shots he does take, shooting only 34% coming into Saturday’s game. Snyder doesn’t think the change in role is causing the downturn, though.
“You know, he came off the bench a couple of years ago and he was pretty good. You know, in fact, he came off the bench to the tune of, you know, a first-round playoff win against the Clippers where he played great defense on Lou Williams,” Snyder pointed out. “I think all of our guys are understanding that it’s a process getting used to playing with each other.”
Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors out
After spraining his ankle early in the Jazz’s win against the Warriors on Friday, center Rudy Gobert was held out of Saturday’s game against the Pelicans the next day. He’ll be day-to-day moving forward.
Meanwhile, former Jazz center Derrick Favors didn’t play, either — nor did he travel to Utah. He’s been suffering from back spasms over the last week or so.
“You know, we miss him and we want to get him back,” Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry said.
In Favors’ last fully healthy game, he scored 20 points and added 20 rebounds in a Pelicans win over the Clippers.
