The Utah Jazz began this NBA season in a very disappointing manner, beginning the season with a 7-16 record. Despite the rough start, the Jazz have now won 15 out of their last 19 games. NBA fans around the world are all asking the same question, what changed?
There are many keys to Utah’s recent success, with an obvious one being Lauri Markkanen keeping up with his expectations. Coming off winning the NBA’s ‘Most Improved Player’ award last season, Markkanen had high expectations coming into the season. Every Jazz fan prayed that his stellar performance wasn’t a one-year deal. Luckily, that is not the case. Markkanen is playing at the same level as last season, averaging 24 points and 8.8 rebounds per game on excellent shooting efficiency. Even with players fighting hard to keep him from scoring, he is still finding a way to breeze through defenses and help the jazz win games. At the time of writing, Markkanen took home ‘Player of the Week’ honors, averaging 24.5 points and 11.8 rebounds while shooting over 48 percent from the three-point line. The Jazz went 4-0 during that week.
Another key factor in Utah’s turnaround has been the resurgence of Collin Sexton, a guard that was a key piece in the Donovan Mitchell trade two seasons ago. Since being traded to Utah, Sexton hadn’t been the same player that he was previously, averaging only 14 points per game while coming off the bench and missing the second half of last season with injuries. It seemed like Sexton’s struggles were going to continue this season, with his stats mirroring those from last year. Once Coach Will Hardy chose to insert him into the starting lineup, the version of Sexton that jazz fans were expecting to get from the trade had arrived. Since becoming a starter, Sexton has averaged 21.9 points, and 4.8 assists on impressive efficiency. He has started 19 games, and that has been the 15-4 hot streak the Jazz have been on. It’s as clear as day, when Sexton is given the opportunity to help lead the team, the jazz play winning basketball. Jared Koch, Inside the Jazz, explains Sexton’s value to the Jazz perfectly. He said “Sexton has been unmatched with the intensity he brings each night while putting the ball in the basket.” The energy and excitement he brought to the team makes all the difference in their success.
A surprising contributor for the Jazz so far has been forward Simone Fonteccio, the second-year Italian that is famous because of how fun his name is to pronounce. It shouldn’t seem like a surprise considering he’s on an NBA team, but the guy can really hoop. Last year, Fonteccio was a terrible player for the Jazz. He shot the ball every time he had it in his hands and showed no effort on defense. All of those things completely flipped around this season. Just like Sexton, Fonteccio was inserted into the starting lineup at the same time and has stepped up to the plate. While not scoring a lot of points per game, he is now making the shots that he does take, shooting just shy of 40 percent from three. His defense has also greatly improved, sometimes guarding the opposing team’s best player. In a recent post-game interview, Coach Hardy had high praise for Fonteccio. “His role is clearly different now than it was when he first got here, he’s made it hard to not play him. He does dirty work for us; he makes winning plays for us throughout the game. He’s playing really solid basketball for us right now,” he said. Fonteccio has proven that he is essential for the jazz’s success this season and deserves the minutes that he is getting.
Jordan Clarkson has been playing some impressive basketball as well. The big difference for him, though, is that he is thriving off the bench. Coach Hardy gave Clarkson the starting nod to begin the season, but as the season progressed it became apparent that the lineups were not working well together. Starters weren’t meshing well and neither was the bench unit. Hardy decided those lineups needed to see changes so he took initiative and made it happen. The biggest changes made were moving Sexton and Fonteccio into the starting lineup and bringing Clarkson and Walker Kessler to the bench. Clarkson has gone on a hot streak with this new bench role, averaging 20.5 points, 5.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds. He is even breaking jazz records in this bench role, with recently becoming the first jazz player since 2008 to record a triple-double.
Kessler has also shown some improvement after being placed on the bench. The starting lineup with him, John Collins and Markkanen simply wasn’t working, but now Kessler seems to have much better chemistry with the second unit and is contributing to their success. Kessler still offers excellent rebounding and shot-blocking for the Jazz as a second-year player, with so many aspects of the game he can still improve on.
Hardy has proven to be a very impressive coach and the perfect one for this jazz squad. As previously mentioned, he has been willing to make the necessary adjustments in order to help the team win. In an interview with Deseret News, Hardy talked about his coaching experience this season and how he’s had to adjust. “There’s definitely things that we did from a lineup standpoint that maybe weren’t on the bingo card at the beginning of the year. I think sometimes when you’re forced to do things, it can definitely reveal solutions that you wouldn’t have maybe gone to.”
A big reason why this all is working for the Jazz is because of how deep the roster is. There are a lot of guys on the team that can be trusted with making a good impact on the game whenever the time comes for them to check-in. Due to the deep nature of the team, it allows Hardy to be flexible with the lineups he chooses to use and put together. Sexton expressed this opinion with Deseret News in a post-game interview as well. “I think it just shows our depth and that we can win in a lot of different ways. You’ve just got to be ready when your number is called.”
The Jazz are not in the race for a championship yet, but the growth of all the players and Coach Hardy is something to be afraid of if you were an opposing team. With the rate of growth, the team has had over the last one and a half years, they might be closer to competing for a banner to hang in the Delta Center’s rafters than most would’ve thought. One thing is for certain at this point though, the Utah Jazz are a fun and exciting basketball team!