This one, no one saw coming! Even if the Jazz is in a bad patch, the reception of the Rockets was the perfect opportunity for Rudy Gobert’s teammates to set the record straight. It has not happened ! Quin Snyder’s men were never able to put the Texans out of harm’s way, and they ended up suffering another embarrassing setback against the bottom of the class in the West (111-116) .
The Rockets started to believe in their chances when Christian Wood finished the third quarter with a 3-pointer from midfield at the buzzer on Rudy Gobert’s head. The kind of basket that made Stephen Silas’ men think that anything was possible in this game. And that will be the case, since Houston will shoot at 49% from behind the arc (22/45) and kill the suspense on a final basket from Kevin Porter Jr. 22 seconds from the end… at 3-points.
Too many mistakes
Usually measured, Quin Snyder could not contain his anger after the meeting, especially on the lack of concentration of his team in defense.
“We simply had multiple failures during the match, on several points, at the defensive level”he regretted. “We helped when we shouldn’t have, we didn’t recognize our advantages in one-on-one situations, we weren’t focused on the details of what we’re trying to do on the defensive plan. We did not communicate or react collectively. We had absences, with guys that we weren’t supposed to leave alone and that we let get shooting situations. We haven’t been as focused on our defensive execution at all levels and when we’re not shooting as well, that makes the difference.”
In this sense, Quin Snyder explains the success of the Rockets on outside shooting more by the lack of involvement of his players in defense.
“They put their shots, but they had open situations because we didn’t communicate or made a mistake”, he added. “There’s a lot they shouldn’t have been able to take if we had been more focused and communicated the way we should.”
Watch out for Detroit tomorrow!
While you might have thought that Utah’s defensive worries would be resolved with the return of Rudy Gobert, the last two games have reminded Quin Snyder’s troops that defense is everyone’s business and should be the priority of each player on the team.
“When you think about the attack, when you react to missing a shot or a whistle, when we are not connected on this side of the floor, it makes it more difficult for us. It concerns everyone, from Rudy (Gobert) to Bojan (Bogdanovic) via Royce (O’Neale), Trent (Forrest), Joe (Ingles)… all of us. The defense is played collectively, and the air pockets that we experienced this evening brought us to this situation, and we paid for it. Everyone has a job to do and if you’re not focused on your job on nights like tonight, the opponents will make you pay for it.”
Reaction expected this Friday with a new home game within reach of the Jazzmen, against Detroit, even if the Pistons have already beaten Utah ten days ago in Michigan, before attacking the “back-to-back” of death, on the floor of Golden State and then of Phoenix.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Donovan Mitchell | 40 | 33.5 | 45.0 | 33.9 | 87.6 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 4.0 | 5.2 | 3.0 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 2.5 | 25.5 |
| Bojan Bogdanovic | 44 | 30.8 | 46.9 | 39.1 | 85.8 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 18.0 |
| Rudy Gobert | 40 | 32.4 | 71.3 | 0.0 | 68.6 | 3.6 | 11.4 | 15.0 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 15.8 |
| Jordan Clarkson | 44 | 26.0 | 40.0 | 31.7 | 80.7 | 0.7 | 2.8 | 3.5 | 2.3 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 15.2 |
| Mike Conley | 40 | 28.4 | 46.1 | 42.9 | 80.7 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 3.0 | 5.3 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 14.0 |
| Rudy Gay | 27 | 19.9 | 41.9 | 35.9 | 81.4 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.9 | 9.1 |
| Hassan Whiteside | 36 | 16.4 | 62.6 | 0.0 | 68.5 | 2.3 | 4.6 | 6.8 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 2.9 | 8.2 |
| Joe Ingles | 40 | 24.9 | 42.1 | 36.7 | 77.8 | 0.3 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.8 | 7.5 |
| Royce O’Neale | 42 | 31.6 | 48.9 | 40.5 | 75.0 | 0.9 | 4.4 | 5.2 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 7.5 |
| Daniel House | 4 | 16.2 | 43.8 | 36.4 | 100.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 5.0 |
| Eric Paschal | 31 | 11.7 | 49.5 | 32.1 | 72.5 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 4.9 |
| Elijah Hughes | 10 | 6.2 | 52.6 | 50.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 3.0 |
| Jared Butler | 20 | 5.7 | 34.6 | 33.3 | 66.7 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 2.6 |
| Denzel Valentine | 2 | 9.2 | 50.0 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 2.5 |
| Excavator | 3 | 6.3 | 60.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 2.0 |
| Udoka Azubuike | 7 | 7.3 | 71.4 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Trent Forrest | 34 | 8.9 | 48.8 | 25.0 | 75.0 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.6 |
| Malik Fitts | 7 | 5.0 | 22.2 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.9 |
| Miye Oni | 16 | 2.8 | 22.2 | 12.5 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Zylan Cheatham | 1 | 5.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
