Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz’s 135-127 overtime loss to the Phoenix Suns from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.
1. Isaiah Collier shining brightly
The story of the last month has been the ascension of Jazz rookie point guard Isaiah Collier. After a first couple of months that saw him play worst-in-the-NBA basketball — seriously, his advanced metrics put him as the worst player in the league — the last month or so has been very, very promising.
Tonight saw him play probably the best half of basketball in his career, where he garnered 10 assists in the first half alone. To a pretty remarkable degree for a rookie point guard, Collier absolutely bossed his minutes to begin the game, in total control of the Jazz’s offense.
Look at him directing traffic here for example. He gets the ball up top, tells Walker Kessler to come up for him to clear space at the rim, tells Keyonte George to go screen for Markkanen — and then sees the Suns are over-playing Markkanen on the perimeter and lobs it to him for the easy dunk.
That — and he had a few plays like that — shows pretty advanced understanding of spacing and playmaking for a 20-year-old. That he has the ability to make that pass on target makes it work, too.
I felt the magic ran out a little in the second half, though, as the Suns started to understand Collier was a better passer than a shooter or scorer. That is, until Collier hit this shot that probably should have won the game.
Man, that’s a tough look, and Collier just forces it to go down.
In the end, Collier scored 15 points on 7-15 FG, added 13 assists, and had four turnovers. It’s a very good line that reflects where Collier is as a player right now: a tremendous passer and playmaker, who has to pull teeth to score. But the level of that playmaking is special, and constitutes a real building block for his career.
2. Defending Devin Booker
There was one guy on the scouting report tonight: Devin Booker. Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant were out, so it was extremely obvious to everyone where points would have to come from in order for the Suns to win this game.
And yet the Jazz’s effort and attention to detail while defending him was pretty low. It was something Will Hardy hammered after the game.
“Tonight’s game has nothing to do with the last four and a half seconds. It has to do with the fact that we did not direct Devin Booker ever in isolation,” Hardy said. “... Our isolation defense and the ability to direct the ball is not very good right now. We have a lot of players who have to improve in that area.”
This jump shot is too easy — Brice Sensabaugh is killed on the screen, Kessler’s help defense up doesn’t last long enough, and others aren’t involved in the play to help.
This isolation defense from Svi Mykhailiuk just won’t cut it:
And transition defense can be difficult, but George just allows Booker by too easily here:
In the end, Booker had 47 points. I said before the game it would take him scoring 45 for the Suns to win... and that it did. The Jazz could have done a better job on him at any point during the game and won, however.
3. A sudden shortage of big men
All of a sudden in the NBA, it seems that centers are at a premium again.
The Lakers scoured the market, and were willing to give up heaven and Earth to get Walker Kessler. The Jazz said no. So then they gave up heaven and Mars (okay, Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, a first-round pick, and a first-round pick swap) for Charlotte center Mark Williams.
The Suns did the same with Charlotte’s backup center Nick Richards, trading Josh Okogie and three second-round picks for the big man three weeks ago. Mason Plumlee finished the game tonight anyway, Suns fans generally think he’s very bad. The Jazz got 25 offensive rebounds tonight.
So was Dennis Lindsey right all along? Are centers the new big wings?
Eh, I’m not willing to go that far. But what I think we’re seeing is that teams need their centers to do more than ever before. They have to be mobile defensively on the perimeter, but also protect the rim. They have to be capable of finishing offensively, and hopefully make reasonable decisions elsewhere on the court. Team strategies are very matchup targeted right now, and if a player has a weakness, it will be exploited.
There used to be a bunch of pretty one-dimensional centers playing big roles. Javale McGee, Montrezl Harrell, Enes Kanter, Ian Mahinmi, Bismack Biyombo, and so on. It feels like players like that are getting played off the court.
In that world, it feels pretty good to have Kessler. He’s probably, I don’t know, the 10th-15th best center in the NBA right now, and figures to keep improving in the years to come.
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