The Jazz’s ugly 1-7 start has been fueled by more than just injuries and late-game heartbreak. A big part of the problem has been a cold shooting stretch that has dragged an already shaky offense into the basement.
Utah’s attack has been stuck near the bottom of the league, sitting with the second-worst offensive rating in the NBA at 103.9 points per 100 possessions. Only Charlotte has been worse. That’s a brutal place to live, especially for a team with Lauri Markkanen, Keyonte George and a surging Ace Bailey in the mix.
There’s also been some roster turbulence. Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jusuf Nurkic have both been sidelined, and those injuries have clearly made life harder for Utah. Their returns should help, though the size of that boost is still an open question.
Even with those absences, the bigger frustration is how many clean looks the Jazz have created and missed. Shreyas Laddha of The Salt Lake Tribune pointed out that Utah is shooting just 27.6% from three, a number that stands out even more when you look at the personnel around those main scorers. Brice Sensabaugh, Svi Mykhailiuk, Kyle Filipowski and Josh Green are all on the roster, and all of them are capable of making open shots.
That’s why this start feels so maddening: the process hasn’t been the issue. The shots are there. The results aren’t.
Or, as the source put it with a nod to Mean Girls: “All the work is right. Just the answers are wrong.”
That doesn’t erase the problems Utah still has to solve, and it certainly doesn’t guarantee a quick turnaround. But it does suggest the Jazz haven’t been broken at the foundation. They’ve been stuck in a miserable shooting slump, and teams usually don’t stay that cold forever.
In Other News...
Keyonte George Gave Jazz Fans Hope Before Another Brutal Collapse
Keyonte George gave Jazz fans a brief jolt of hope in a game that had been hard to watch for long stretches, and for a moment it looked like Utah had found a way to steal one from New Orleans. The offense had been fighting through a rough shooting night, especially from deep, and coach Will Hardy had to watch his team keep running into the same efficiency problems while the Pelicans hung around.
George also acknowledged the shooting slump and the rebounding issues that have been dragging at this group, and both problems showed up again when the game tightened. Utah needed cleaner possessions and better work on the glass, but instead the late stages turned into another reminder of how thin the margin is when the Jazz cannot string together enough stops and shots. [Read more 🡒]
Will Hardys Darryn Peterson Plan Is Already Raising Jazz Questions
Darryn Petersons early NBA stretch has already become a talking point around the Jazz, and not just because of the expectations that come with being such a highly regarded prospect. Will Hardy has put Peterson in the starting lineup, but the rookies role has not looked as straightforward once games get tight, and that has added another layer to Utahs uneven start in close finishes.
The bigger question is what Hardy is trying to signal with that usage pattern. For a franchise trying to develop a cornerstone while still chasing wins, the balance between talent, trust and late-game responsibility is tricky, and the Jazz have already felt the cost of those decisions in overtime. It also brings back memories of how Jerry Sloan handled Deron Williams, a reminder that even gifted young players have to earn their way into the most important minutes. [Read more 🡒]
Josh Okogie Revealed The Off-Court Reality NBA Players Worry About
Josh Okogie offered a glimpse this week into a part of NBA life that rarely gets discussed publicly, explaining on the One54 Africa podcast why he keeps close friends at his home. The Jazz guard said the arrangement is as much about security as it is about having company through the grind of a long season, a practical response to the reality that comes with being a recognizable player with a demanding travel schedule.
Okogie, now in his ninth NBA season after signing a two-year deal with Utah, framed it as a way to protect his space while also making the day-to-day feel a little less isolating. His comments came against the backdrop of recent burglary incidents involving several NBA players, a reminder that the concerns around the league extend well beyond what happens on the court. [Read more 🡒]