Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers. Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap, Utah Jazz. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Number Four
Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap, Gordon Hayward, 2011-13
Playoff Appearances: Made it to the first round (2012)
All-Stars: Zero
I know this group did make it to the playoffs whereas the previous one didn’t, so how come this one is rated as the lesser trio? Allow me to explain.
The trio built around Hayward, Favors, and Gobert had a clear identity they could always fall back on. If nothing else was working, then at least they knew they could rely on great defense to win games.
As for the Big 3 of Jefferson, Millsap, and Hayward? They were mediocre-to-good in a lot of areas, but not truly great in any facet of the game.
Believe it or not, this team actually had the sixth-best offense in the NBA during that shortened season, fueled by a healthy dose of Al Jefferson’s back-to-the-basket post moves.
Al Jefferson scored 19.2 points per game in his first full season as the focal point of the Jazz offense. He also led the team in minutes per game, usage percentage, and shot attempts per game, clearly being the best player on the roster.
Yet most of his heroics have gone unappreciated in Jazz Nation due to the mediocrity of the team during his short stint in Utah.
The only time Big Al carried the Jazz to the playoffs, they made it in the postseason by the skin of their teeth, and for what? To be swept away in four blowout games at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs.
Paul Millsap and Gordon Hayward were two future All-Stars in waiting and fit in nicely as second and third options at the time. A lack of coaching and a lack of a reliable point guard hurt this group, but ultimately their ceiling wasn’t much higher than a first-round exit.
This “Big 3” wasn’t big enough to have sustained success in the NBA, and Dennis Lindsey allowed both Jefferson and Millsap to walk away in free agency as soon as he took over general manager duties.
recently wrote about the best trios and power combinations</a> the Utah Jazz have put together. The best trios had multiple All-Star and playoff appearances in their time together.</p>
<p>They had many moments of brilliance, whether it was <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hqxrrv1eg2Q%22 target="_blank" rel="noopener">a baseball pass that went the full 94 feet</a> from <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/stockjo01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">John Stockton</a> to <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/malonka01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Karl Malone</a> in the NBA Finals or a high lob tossed from <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/rubiori01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Ricky Rubio</a> snagged out of the stratosphere and into the basket by <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/goberru01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Rudy Gobert</a>.</p>
<p>Fortunately, Jazz fans have abundantly more of these memories than they do of the complete opposite: missing the playoffs, below-average play on both sides of the ball, and a dearth of talent for the best players on the roster.</p>
<p>It’s remarkable that a small market franchise like Utah has only missed the playoffs only twelve times out of a possible 40 tries. Only eight times have the Jazz won less than 50 percent of their games in a single season since being moved to Utah.</p>
<p>They have never held a season where they won less than 20 games, which usually <em>someone</em> in the league has to accomplish every season (in 2018-19 there were three teams that failed to win 20 games).</p>
<p>In today’s article, I will be discussing “Big 3” combinations from the less than memorable years of the Utah Jazz.</p>
<p>As a small disclaimer, the particular order of these trios is based on my opinion and the talent of the players <em>on paper</em>. Overachieving compared to expectations won’t help or hurt the ranking of the trio.</p>
<p>A big factor that impacts how far a team goes, particularly a lesser team in terms of talent, is the coach.</p>
<p>You will shortly see that some coaches in Utah Jazz history were able to get the best out of their players despite the less than ideal circumstances, and other coaches took the team where everyone expected them to go.</p>
<p>So let’s get started with the worst trios the Jazz front office has put together the past 41 years.</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/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Number Five </a>
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<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-82896 size-full" src=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2236,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fthejnotes.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F461922046.jpeg" alt="Utah Jazz" width="3200" height="2236" srcset="https://thejnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/461922046.jpeg 3200w, https://thejnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/461922046-768x537.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px">LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers. Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, Utah Jazz. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)</p></div>
<h3>Number Five</h3>
<h2>Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, Rudy Gobert, 2014-16</h2>
<p><strong>Playoff Appearances: </strong>Zero</p>
<p><strong>All-Stars:</strong> Zero</p>
<p>Let me introduce you to the first “bad” trio of this slideshow, one that failed to make the playoffs in both seasons they were shining as the three best players on the team.</p>
<p>Rudy Gobert made a huge impact in whatever playing time he could scrounge up early in the 2014-15 season. It was crystal clear he needed to be playing starters’ minutes and once that opportunity opened up, the Jazz went 19-10 to finish the season.</p>
<p>Their net rating during the 2015-16 season suggests they were as good as a playoff team and suggests that they underachieved in the win column only making it to 40 wins on the season.</p>
<p><a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/haywago01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Gordon Hayward</a> was the top-scoring option during this time getting 19 points per game while playing solid defense, grabbing rebounds, and being the main distributor on offense since the Jazz were playing Russian Roulette with the starting point guard job.</p>
<div class="embed embed-video"><iframe loading="lazy" width="500" height="281" src=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.youtube.com/embed/aviUSFC6RPI?feature=oembed%22 frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<p><a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/f/favorde01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Derrick Favors</a> was developing into a beastly pick and roll finisher while maintaining elite interior defense and underrated ability to guard smaller players on the perimeter. His midrange shot was also getting better with time.</p>
<p>This team pushed the juggernaut Golden State Warriors to the brink of defeat on several occasions in thrilling games at the Vivint Smart Home Arena, due to their old-fashioned style of play with two bigs on the floor and a snail’s pace of play.</p>
<p>This trio may not have had very much success, but they knew their identity as the world’s worst dentist with slow, painful, and agonizing play to wear down their opponents.</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/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Number Four </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-82897 size-full" src=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2006,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fthejnotes.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F142241911.jpeg" alt="Utah Jazz" width="3200" height="2006" srcset="https://thejnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/142241911.jpeg 3200w, https://thejnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/142241911-768x481.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers. Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap, Utah Jazz. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>Number Four</h3>
<h2>Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap, Gordon Hayward, 2011-13</h2>
<p><strong>Playoff Appearances:</strong> Made it to the first round (2012)</p>
<p><strong>All-Stars:</strong> Zero</p>
<p>I know this group did make it to the playoffs whereas the previous one didn’t, so how come this one is rated as the lesser trio? Allow me to explain.</p>
<p>The trio built around Hayward, Favors, and Gobert had a clear identity they could always fall back on. If nothing else was working, then at least they knew they could rely on great defense to win games.</p>
<p>As for the Big 3 of Jefferson, Millsap, and Hayward? They were mediocre-to-good in a lot of areas, but not truly great in any facet of the game.</p>
<p>Believe it or not, this team actually had the sixth-best offense in the NBA during that shortened season, fueled by a healthy dose of Al Jefferson’s back-to-the-basket post moves.</p>
<p><a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jeffeal01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Al Jefferson</a> scored 19.2 points per game in his first full season as the focal point of the Jazz offense. He also led the team in minutes per game, usage percentage, and shot attempts per game, clearly being the best player on the roster.</p>
<p>He had some memorable moments in the clutch, such as<a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC-wzP8kEhw%22 target="_blank" rel="noopener"> the tip-in off an air-balled floater</a> from <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/harride01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Devin Harris</a> in Sacramento, the <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qsP4FENFCk%22 target="_blank" rel="noopener">improbable 3-pointer to send the game into overtime</a> in Toronto, and <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.slcdunk.com/2011/3/10/2041523/al-jefferson-tips-in-game-winner-as-the-utah-jazz-beat-the-toronto" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the game-winning tip that beat the buzzer</a> also in Toronto.</p>
<div class="embed embed-video"><iframe loading="lazy" width="500" height="281" src=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.youtube.com/embed/i2jg4GNum0c?feature=oembed%22 frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<p>Yet most of his heroics have gone unappreciated in Jazz Nation due to the mediocrity of the team during his short stint in Utah.</p>
<p>The only time Big Al carried the Jazz to the playoffs, they made it in the postseason by the skin of their teeth, and for what? To be swept away in four blowout games at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs.</p>
<p><a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/millspa01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Paul Millsap</a> and Gordon Hayward were two future All-Stars in waiting and fit in nicely as second and third options at the time. A lack of coaching and a lack of a reliable point guard hurt this group, but ultimately their ceiling wasn’t much higher than a first-round exit.</p>
<p>This “Big 3” wasn’t big enough to have sustained success in the NBA, and Dennis Lindsey allowed both Jefferson and Millsap to walk away in free agency as soon as he took over general manager duties.</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/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Number Three </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-82898 size-full" src=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1119,w_1600/https%3A%2F%2Fthejnotes.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1728105.jpeg" alt="Utah Jazz" width="1600" height="1119" srcset="https://thejnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1728105.jpeg 1600w, https://thejnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1728105-768x537.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Donnell Harvey, Denver Nuggets. Mark Jackson, Andrei Kirilenko, Matt Harpring, Utah Jazz. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>Number Three</h3>
<h2>Andrei Kirilenko, Matt Harpring, Carlos Arroyo, 2003-04</h2>
<p><strong>Playoff Appearances: </strong>Zero</p>
<p><strong>All-Stars:</strong> <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/kirilan01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Andrei Kirilenko</a> (2004)</p>
<p>Relative to expectations, this team perhaps put on one of the best performances in franchise history considering the obstacles they had to face.</p>
<p>They won 42 games and were only two victories away from the eighth-seeded Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference playoff picture, and are rightfully beloved by fans for their hustle, grit, and tenacity.</p>
<p>But this still doesn’t take away from the fact that this group did not have a lot of talent put in place by the front office. When the leading scorer on your team is Andrei Kirilenko at less than 17 points per game, then that’s when you know your offense is in trouble.</p>
<p>AK-47 wasn’t a lethal 3-point shooter or an isolation scorer by any means. He got most of his points through dunks and layups in transition or off an excellent feed from a teammate as he cut to the basket.</p>
<p>If he wasn’t the ideal go-to scorer for this team, then who was?</p>
<p><a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/harprma01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Matt Harpring</a> also cleared 16 points per game on an efficient 47 percent shooting from the field, but he wasn’t best suited as an alpha on offense. Just look at his assist-to-turnover ratio and the eye test, which says he is a defensive specialist.</p>
<p><a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/arroyca01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Carlos Arroyo</a>, an undrafted point guard from Puerto Rico stepped up that season to help round out a Big 3 in Salt Lake City. He placed third on the team in win shares and PER and second in usage percentage.</p>
<p>If you need more evidence to prove that this trio was not supposed to be good on paper, look at the pre-season <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2004_preseason_odds.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">over/under win total</a> that was placed for this group: 25.5 wins, dead last in the league.</p>
<p>This was the first year of rebuilding and moving on from the John Stockton and Karl Malone era, as Stockton announced his retirement the previous spring, and Malone had signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer.</p>
<p>Simply put, this team wasn’t designed to be very good in the first place by the front office. It was by virtue of Jerry Sloan’s sheer coaching greatness that they were able to win 42 games and stay in the playoff hunt up until the very end of the 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/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Number Two </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-82899 size-full" src=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2300,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fthejnotes.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F458781319.jpeg" alt="Utah Jazz" width="3200" height="2300" srcset="https://thejnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/458781319.jpeg 3200w, https://thejnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/458781319-768x552.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Gordon Hayward, Alec Burks, Utah Jazz. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>Number Two</h3>
<h2>Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, Alec Burks, 2013-14</h2>
<p><strong>Playoff Appearances: </strong>Zero</p><div class="widget fs_ads"> <div class="fs_ad_widget-ad" style="margin:0 auto; width: 300px;"> <div class="fs-ll-ad" data-ad-type="minutemedia_slideshow_inline_300x250__desktop__tablet" data-vendor="minutemedia">
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<p><strong>All-Stars: </strong>Zero</p>
<p>Ah, finally the infamous group of this decade. This is probably the most memorable “bad Jazz team” due to the recency of the events, especially for the younger generations of Jazz fans.</p>
<p>This team won 25 games all season long, including an awful start to the season where they sat at 1-14 in mid-November. They had the 25th best offense and the 29th ranked defense in the league, not being particularly strong in any facet of the game.</p>
<p>They didn’t use those young legs to amp up the pace either, as they played games at the fifth slowest tempo in the association.</p>
<p>Gordon Hayward was forced into being the number one scoring option whether he was ready for it or not, and it turns out the latter was all too true that season.</p>
<div class="embed embed-video"><iframe loading="lazy" width="500" height="281" src=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.youtube.com/embed/XVu4jlGlsQ0?feature=oembed%22 frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<p>He only mustered 16.2 points per game on a putrid 41 percent field goal percentage, which was not a good look for him in his contract year.</p>
<p>Derrick Favors and <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/burksal01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Alec Burks</a> <em>should </em>have been scoring options two and three, but other players were trying to assert themselves as offensive options.</p>
<p><a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/burketr01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Trey Burke</a> had a long leash to make plenty of mistakes as a young rookie, and jacked up the second most shot attempts on the team, making only 38 percent of them.</p>
<p>Those looks would have been better had they been released from the hands of Alec Burks, who was averaging more points (14.0) per game than Burke (12.8) on a much more palatable 45 percent shooting from the field.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Derrick Favors was scoring more points per game (13.3) than <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/kanteen01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Enes Kanter</a> (12.3) despite Enes taking 0.5 more field goal attempts per game than Derrick while converting less than 50 percent of his shots.</p>
<p>Not only was this team bad on both sides of the ball, but they didn’t have an identity to fall back on, much less a trio they could remotely call a “Big 3”.</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/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Number One </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-82900 size-full" src=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fthejnotes.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F82555027.jpeg" alt="Utah Jazz" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://thejnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/82555027.jpeg 3200w, https://thejnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/82555027-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Norm Nixon, Los Angeles Lakers. Terry Furlow, Ron Boone, Utah Jazz. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>Number One</h3>
<h2>Adrian Dantley, Terry Furlow, Ron Boone, 1979-80</h2>
<p><strong>Playoff Appearances: </strong>Zero</p>
<p><strong>All-Stars:</strong> <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/dantlad01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Adrian Dantley</a> (1980)</p>
<p>Last and <em>certainly </em>least of all these trios is the very first team to call themselves the “Utah Jazz”. When the team moved from New Orleans to Salt Lake City in 1979, it was laughable.</p>
<p>There was no Jazz music in the Wasatch Front that could hold a candle to the big brass bands on the historic streets of New Orleans. The name didn’t fit the place at all.</p>
<p>In addition, the Jazzmen were struggling to win games and fill seats in the venues they played in. Their basketball team went 24-58 the first year in Utah, and that stands today as the worst record of All-Time since moving from the Bayou.</p>
<p><a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/maravpe01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Pete Maravich</a>, the former All-Star and scoring leader of the NBA played in just 17 games that season. He was unhappy being in Utah and wasn’t a real difference-maker on the court.</p>
<p>In the limited time that he did play for the Utah Jazz, he followed the trend he set in his time in New Orleans, which was: scoring lots of points, but not positively impacting the game.</p>
<p>In other words, for much of his career Pistol Pete put up empty stats, and that certainly held true in 1979-80. He was dead last on the team for win shares with a <em>negative </em>0.5 in that category. Pretty bad for supposedly being one of our best players.</p>
<p>Adrian Dantley willed this team to 15th in offensive efficiency by scoring 28 points per game on 57 percent shooting from the field. But he also averaged more turnovers than assists.</p>
<p><a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/boonero01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Ron Boone</a> was on the last legs of his career at 33 years old and posted a negative in offensive and defensive box plus-minus scores, and VORP (value over replacement player).</p>
<p><a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/f/furlote01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Terry Furlow</a> wasn’t that much better, as he was barely floating a positive in VORP and offensive box plus-minus. Sadly Furlow wouldn’t get any more time beyond the 1979-80 season to develop into a better player.</p>
<p>He was <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://www.deseret.com/2018/10/18/20656409/remembering-terry-furlow-and-the-tragedy-of-a-once-rising-talent-for-the-utah-jazz#piscataway-nj-1980-terry-furlow-25-of-the-utah-jazz-looks-to-shoot-the-ball-against-the-new-jersey-nets-during-the-game-on-february-14-1980-at-the-rutgers-athletic-center-in-piscataway-new-jersey-photo-by-ron-koch-nbae-via-getty-images" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tragically killed in an accident</a> in May of 1980 with traces of cocaine in his bloodstream.</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="Before Clarkson's bench eruption, there was Burks" data-url="https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/05/utah-jazz-jordan-clarkson-bench-eruption-alec-burks/" data-call-to-action="Next"> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background: #00265D" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/06/utah-jazz-five-worst-trios/3/"https://thejnotes.com/2020/05/05/utah-jazz-jordan-clarkson-bench-eruption-alec-burks/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> Before Clarkson's bench eruption, there was Burks </a> </div>
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<p>This team started out by losing 18 of their first 20 games before making the trade to acquire Furlow. During that stretch, they lost 14 straight games, which is the second-longest losing streak in Utah Jazz history.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">