Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz’s 128-112 win over the Washington Wizards from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.
1. The tank falters
After a remarkable 10-game losing streak that saw the Jazz fall to the very bottom of the standings, the stage was set for a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup on Wednesday. Loser would earn themselves the best odds in the lottery, while winner would move into No. 2 with under a month to play.
And in a surprising move, neither team’s injury report was overwhelming. The Wizards had Malcolm Brogdon, Bilal Coulibaly, Keyshawn George and Khris Middleton sitting, but in a surprise move, made Jordan Poole and Marcus Smart available despite being listed as out and doubtful earlier in the day.
The Jazz, meanwhile, sat Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, KJ Martin, and Svi Mykhailiuk — but still played Collin Sexton, Walker Kessler, and Jordan Clarkson, players we’ve seen them sit in similar situations.
So what was the difference in the game? Well, first: the veterans the Wizards played were awful. Poole drowned the Wizards in the depths of a 1-11 shooting night, Smart added 0-6 shooting. Neither were plus defenders, either.
Meanwhile, Sexton played well (7-8 FG). Most importantly, most of the Jazz’s youth was pretty good on the night: Kyle Filipowski had 21 points on 11 shots, Isaiah Collier had 16 points on 10 shots, Keyonte George had 20 points on 12 shots, and Brice Sensabaugh had 17 points on 11 shots. That’s efficient scoring all the way around.
Here’s a question: would it have been worth it for the Jazz to simply eat the $250K fine that they definitely would have received if they tanked their roster in this game?
Doing so wouldn’t have impacted their odds of getting a top four pick at all, but would have reduced their odds of getting the No. 5 pick from 47% to 27%. That 20% would then go to the odds of the Jazz getting the No. 6 pick.
What’s the difference in value between the 5th and 6th pick? If we use an average of the four draft chart values at NBASense, we see that it’s worth about 3.71 normalized value points, which is worth somewhere between the 49th and 58th pick of the draft. So then the loss in spot in the tank race is worth about 20% of a late second rounder.
Oh, and of course, sitting the starters wouldn’t have guaranteed that 20% either. It would have made it somewhat more likely, of course, but the Jazz might have won this game anyway, or the standings may work out so this game doesn’t matter.
In other words... probably not. While I do think it makes sense for the Jazz to generally try to lose to end this season, the difference in any one game has been bad.
2. Collier gather development
I asked Will Hardy what he’s focusing on with Isaiah Collier’s development, and one answer of his surprised me: the way in which Collier gathers the ball on his drives.
“An area of focus for him is his gather when he drives, and not gathering through the middle of his body,” Hardy said. “I think Isaiah is used to being a lot stronger than people that he plays against, and at this level, it just doesn’t work that way.”
Here’s an example of what Hardy is talking about from tonight’s game. Collier gathers the ball on his drive and then ends up taking it in to the body of Bub Carrington, so Carrington can easily get the block or steal.
“If you’re driving most of the time, there’s somebody on your side, and that person usually has, in this league, relatively long arms. So if I gather the ball and bring it to the middle of my body, he has a chance to swipe it. I think the elite players are very good at gathering on the outside of their body and protecting the ball so that the on ball defender doesn’t isn’t able to get their hands on it,” Hardy said.
On this play, though, he picks up the ball further away from his body and seems to do a better job keeping it away from the defender.
It’s a bit of a wild shot anyway that goes in, but still, it’s different than his typical gather. Hardy felt improving on his the gather process was one way to reduce Collier’s turnover rate, which is among the highest in the league. He only had one tonight — progress.
3. Oscar Tshiebwe quotes
Oscar Tshiebwe is putting up just ridiculous numbers in the G-League. Today, the Stars played the Mexico City Capitanes in the Delta Center in the morning, and Tshiebwe put up an absolutely bonkers statline: 37 points and 26 rebounds on 15-18 shooting, in 40 minutes of play. He was a +40!
(I love Oscar, but a stat line like that is a bit discouraging about the overall state of play in the G-League. That’s a Chinese Basketball League stat line.)
Regardless! Then, he played in tonight’s Jazz game too. Played 18:29, shot 1-3, had four points and, of course, 10 rebounds. 41 points and 36 rebounds in a day of basketball. Pretty crazy.
Naturally, we had to interview Tshiebwe after the game. Here are some of the best things he said:
On what it’s like to play nearly 60 minutes in a day:
“You’ve got to be a machine to do that.”
What do you do in between two games in one day?
“Eat and sleep. I need to stretch a lot too. And I read. That’s what I do.”
Do you read before every game?
“I read every time. That’s probably my favorite thing to do, is just read, read, read.”
What do you read about?
“I read about life. I try to understand more life. And I try to discover more about myself, because my dad used to tell me that you have to study to understand life. I study a lot of things, but no crazy things, the things that are going to help me grow.”
When you have a stat line like this morning’s, what reaction do you get from friends, family and teammates?
“They say, ‘Are you even a human?’ I say I’m a human. Some people are asking me, ‘Is there anything I take, am I on any type of things? Are you on steroids?’ I say no. Some people say ‘No, you gotta get tested, we don’t believe it.’ But it is your mind. And the way you take care of your body. Make sure you get a good night’s sleep.
“I know my team loves me, they need me to help my team. So I have to make sure that I always win, because I want to win. I hate losing. Every time I see the Jazz losing, I just get mad. But tonight, is probably the best night I’m going to have, and I’m going to get a good night’s sleep.”
Do you ever feel like too much is being asked of you?
“No. The season will finish soon and I will sleep for two weeks. I’m good. This is a great chance, it is a blessing to be here. It doesn’t matter if they asked me to play five games in 24 hours.”
Something Will (Hardy) said in postgame: there are some young players who want to do the least they can do, but you’re not like that. Why not?
“For me, everything is an opportunity. I learned from my dad that, he used to tell me, you have to do something you love with all your heart. Some people wish today they could play basketball. One of my friends, he’s old, he told me ‘I wish I could play golf again.’ He had an accident and they cut his foot, so he couldn’t play golf no more. So he cried every day. So every time he sees somebody play, he always says, do it with all your heart.
“So if I get a chance to do it, I don’t want to say tomorrow or one day, that I wish I would have given all I had yesterday. Every time you get to do something you love, you have to do it with all your heart.”
That was another thing Will said: he wants his players to remember that they’re living out their dream, and play with the pride and joy that they’re in the middle of it.
“We always think we stay young and that we’re going to do this the rest of our life. But we don’t know, it might end tonight, it might end tomorrow. I feel like today is all I have, and today I have to give everything I have. Every time I go to bed, if I feel like I didn’t give everything, I am so mad. I go back in the gym at night. And then maybe I go on the treadmill and run, and make sure I empty out my tank.
“Tonight, I will sleep. I played 56 minutes and had 36 rebounds. That’s still not enough. That’s my attitude. Today is the only thing you have, and you will never get to do it again. That’s what I do.”
Well, guys, I’m off to the gym. And maybe the treadmill after that. Oscar Tshiebwe forever.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz center Oscar Tshiebwe (34) as the Utah Jazz host the Washington Wizards, NBA basketball in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, March 19, 2025.
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