Interesting take on the Jazzers at home

I agree with this take about the fouls. But the Jazz are also much more crisp on offense at home than on the road. They've been this way for what seems like 20 years.

 

The article talks about the defensive fouling that the Jazz do, but what about the off ball offensive fouling? I'm curious if that's even track-able...so many non-stats but so much video is on file. I have a healthy combination of respect and absolute hate for the Jazz, as any decent Rocket fan should have.

So I'm not blindly hating on them when I say their success is hugely effected by the refs. For one, refs always have an effect on games, and two, I'm not saying it's the only factor. Their offensive style uses tons of off ball screening, precision passing, and quick good decisions. I'll admit that they set great screens, make good decisions, and pass and cut very well. Their offense is taught well and run well, and is good to the point where it can get points from scrubs that can't score on their own. That said, they also do A LOT of fouling; not just on defense as the article mentions, but also on offense. They tug, pull, grab, elbow, move on screens, and do everything they can to make the play work. It is absolutely necessary? No, but it makes things even more effective. And in addition to getting away with more defensive fouling at home, they probably get away with more offensive fouling too with the off-ball stuff.

Now this just isn't a Jazz phenomenon. But because their offensive success is more dependent on off ball screening and precision cutting than most other teams, it probably is a factor as to how their offense looks at home vs. on the road. While their system is portable, the degree of it's success is highly dependent on how the game is called.

They're like Ron Artest. His defense is always great, but if the refs call touch fouls all game long, then he has to change or he'll foul out. Usually, the refs won't call touch fouls all the time and he'll keep pushing the envelope as to how physical he can get. The Jazz are like that with their grabbing. If the refs really called all their grabbing on both sides, the Jazz would be all fouled out, but they adjust a little bit, and then keep pushing the envelope, but instead of one player, it's their whole team doing the physicality. Ron Artest is a strong weapon against the Jazz because he knows how to fight back without making it look so obvious.

I think this physical play is what Stackhouse got all upset about and called fake. It's the elbowing you when you're not looking and then flopping. Stack got so mad that he wanted to fight some Jazz players IIRC. At least Artest doesn't flop and he'll elbow you and run you over and won't back down.

 

Surprised they didn't account for the flopping (drawn non-shooting fouls on offense and defense)

Maybe the numbers didn't turn out right for the hypothesis.

 

I agree with what Kim said above...they have been doing that forever though.

I remember one play last time the rockets played them where korver went baseline to set a pick against yao and AK cut in behind korver from the weakside and was right underneath the basket. korver was setting a pick so yao couldnt rotate over to block or intimidate Ak's layup.

as soon as ak had to ball korver moved around yao, grabbed yao around the waist and sort of flung/pushed him towards AK...the play resulted in a out of control Yao fouling AK well after the ball left into his hands and into the hoop for a 3 point play.

all of this happened right in front of the ref on the baseline yet nothing was called on korver who fouled yao to cause the second foul on yao which was called.



things like that, the jazz will push and push. the only ref who seemingly favors road teams is Steve Javie in that he does not get swayed by the crowd or anything. the jazz fans as terrible as we call them are really loud and know how to intimidate refs and i do respect them for that, they do have a tangible effect on their teams success.

for once i would love to see a ref just say F you to the jazz and call every single foul that he sees them commit so they go to playing actual basketball and not this hybrid of basketball and full contact

 

Better bars and strip joints in... well, anywhere but Utah. 'Nuff said.

 

I'd like to see what this stat would look like for all teams. I bet every team gets more calls at home, but I would imagine the Jazz with their physical play, propensity for flopping, and loud crowd they likely have a larger home court ref advantage.

 

The Jazz also run a high risk/high reward offense. That is why it requires precision and while I understand pushing the rules, I half respect it and half think that it's stupid. On one hand, it's on the refs to be enforcers of the rules, so you can't blame the Jazz for taking advantage of refs by manipulating them with their style of play. On the other hand, the Adelman Kings didn't pull the crap that Sloan has been pulling, and the Kings' offense was full of precision cuts and picks and run extremely well.

I call it high risk/high reward because so many of their plays call for deep passing. The Jazz are one of the best teams at scoring in the paint. I'm writing this purely from observation, but I'd wager before even looking it up that they're probably top 3 or top 5 at points in the paint. And the amazing thing is that they don't have a dominant back to the basket post player like a Shaq or Yao. And while Deron Williams is great, his penetration isn't more than Tony Parker and it doesn't account for all the post play.

The Jazz score in the post by back cuts, picks, and picks on picks. They're passing through key holes and setting screens (as Yoyo described above) right under the rim so that when a player catches it, they're either at the rim or flying to the rim. Of course there's the whole Pick N Roll offense too.

The point is, there isn't much iso play or weave plays that have hand offs. It's interior passing. You have to be quick, smart, and precise, and have good hands. In addition to that, if the defense plays well, you almost have to be perfect because anything slightly off would lead to deflections. On the road, I do think that the Jazz are less focused than at home, and thus the precision of their offense is not as good. That leads to turnovers and bad possessions and non-Jazz type shots.

And once again you factor in the grabbing and holding. It's hard to run a great play if the defenders are long, quick, and smart. Even if you run it perfect, you're not always going to get the home-run layup that you want. And that's the type of plays that the Jazz run...Home-Run Layups. So when at home, to get an edge against good defenses, add a little (a lot) of grabbing, moving screens, elbows when no one is looking, and shoving and you got a great offense that pushes the envelope and can hit layups against the best defenses. On the road, take away the home crowd intimidation, take away some focus, and add to that the other home team usually plays a little better at home, and you end up with the possibility of a high-turnover bad offense game that can go awry in a hurry.