The NBA is an ever-evolving beast. Analytics, sports science and a new breed of professional athlete have pushed the game into an era of floor spacing, pace, positionless lineups and small ball. While the Utah Jazz have mostly embraced this brave new world on the hardwood, they remain a throwback in two fundamental ways.
They’re really, really big and, despite their best intentions, they play really, really slow.
In an era where teams are pushing pace with a bunch of six-foot-eight guys on the floor, the Jazz are building around a couple of giants–Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors–and slowly strangling wins out of their opponents with overwhelming size and stifling defense.