It’s no secret that the 2020-21 Utah Jazz team struggled to defend the heavy wing play of the Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference Semifinals.
Utah has a team-oriented defense that centers around the Defensive Player of the Year in Rudy Gobert. This team-oriented scheme works well during the regular season. However, postseason basketball can expose this type of defense if the individual pieces can’t keep up with the shot-making and pick-and-roll heavy offenses that come in the postseason.
The franchise’s only good wing defender is Royce O’Neale. Although Rudy Gay has signed on this offseason and has been solid defensively for stretches of his career, the 34-year-old is certainly on the tail end of his time in the NBA.
If Utah plans to defend the Western Conference contenders, then they will need to find another defensive stopper on the perimeter. One more wing stopper would go a long way to relieve the pressure on O’Neale and give the Jazz another option if he were to get into early foul trouble during a postseason series.
Utah Jazz</a> finished this past season with the best record in the league at 52-20. They looked primed to make a deep run in the playoffs with a chance to make their first NBA Finals appearance since 1998 when a team led by John Stockton and Karl Malone lost to the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the team flamed out in the second round of the playoffs, blowing a 2-0 lead to the <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/08/11/utah-jazz-2-glaring-weaknesses-cost/2/"https://clipperholics.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Los Angeles Clippers</a> with four consecutive losses. Despite that, the 2021-22 Jazz should have reasonable expectations of getting back there and making a deeper run.</p>
<p>They return their top seven players from this past year and have added a few more solid rotation players. Rudy Gay certainly seems like a player who could play minutes for Utah in a playoff series. Eric Paschall and Hassan Whiteside may also be able to do that as well. This roster is shaping up to be a force for the upcoming season, one that should have championship aspirations.</p>
<p>However, there seem to be two weaknesses that the Jazz will need to try and address throughout this season.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #00265D" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/08/11/utah-jazz-2-glaring-weaknesses-cost/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Weakness No. 1 </a>
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<h2>Glaring Utah Jazz weakness: Perimeter defense</h2>
<p>It’s no secret that the 2020-21 Utah Jazz team struggled to defend the heavy wing play of the Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference Semifinals.</p>
<p>Utah has a team-oriented defense that centers around the Defensive Player of the Year in <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/08/11/utah-jazz-2-glaring-weaknesses-cost/2/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/goberru01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Rudy Gobert</a>. This team-oriented scheme works well during the regular season. However, postseason basketball can expose this type of defense if the individual pieces can’t keep up with the shot-making and pick-and-roll heavy offenses that come in the postseason.</p>
<p>The franchise’s only good wing defender is Royce O’Neale. Although Rudy Gay has signed on this offseason and has been solid defensively for stretches of his career, the 34-year-old is certainly on the tail end of his time in the NBA.</p>
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<p>If Utah plans to defend the Western Conference contenders, then they will need to find another defensive stopper on the perimeter. One more wing stopper would go a long way to relieve the pressure on O’Neale and give the Jazz another option if he were to get into early foul trouble during a postseason series.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #00265D" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/08/11/utah-jazz-2-glaring-weaknesses-cost/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Weakness No. 2 </a>
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<span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> Predicting next season's Jazz rotation </a> </div>
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<p>If Utah wants to win the championship next year, they will need to learn how to manage defensively when Gobert is on the bench. Or else, it may cost them a title.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">