Utah Jazz: Simple Stat of the Day: Game 1
In the Utah Jazz season/home opener, Utah did everything that fans could have possibly hoped for.
As a team that has few expectations and is flashing all the necessary traits of a “tanking” team, it’s an unspoken reality that this team is all in on another “rebuilding” year.
What do teams in the midst of rebuilds hope for?
Growth among young players, an ability to demonstrate competitiveness and a poor enough record to be in the running for a high end lottery pick come draft time.
So far, so good as the Jazz checked all those boxes last night in a narrow 126-124 loss to Memphis.
For Utah’s newest starting lineup, Walker Kessler (16 PTS, 14 TRB, 5 BLK) and Taylor Hendricks (12 PTS, 3/5 from 3, 5 TRB) looked more than capable of the roles they were assigned and Lauri Markkanen scored 35 points in 34:34 minutes on 14 shot attempts.
Those stats would tell you, that’s the good stuff.
On the flip side, rebuilds can also keep fans invested when a player with high expectations is struggling.
Fans tune in every game to see if that player can shake the slump and capture what made fans excited in the first place.
Exhibit A in year three of the rebuild is 2nd year guard, Keyonte George, who played the second most minutes on the team (31) and put up the most shots (18) and was still only the 5th best scorer for Utah.
George struggled from the field shooting 3/18 for a near 17 % shooting night.
5 of his 12 points came from the charity stripe, another area in which he struggled going 5/9.
That’s less good.
Statistics can’t always tell a fan the whole story of a ball game, but in last nights loss to Memphis, Utah’s box score reflects pretty handily what happened.
Today’s simple stat for your now 0-1 Utah Jazz is: 45
This is the free throw’s attempted for Utah on 75.6 % shooting.
Utah got to the line 13 more times than their Tennessee opponent.
45 free throw attempts was basically double of the amount of attempts they would average in a single game all of last year (22.6 per game).
Why does this matter?
Well if your a fan who was hoping for a win to christen the new season, you would be discouraged to know that despite having 13 more attempts than their opponent in a game that was decided by two points, the Jazz still lost.
It wasn’t a Lauri Markkanen turnover in the end or a single missed Collin Sexton free throw that did in the Jazz, it was poor free throw shooting as a unit.
As hard as it is to believe, the Utah Jazz were the best team in the entire NBA last year when it came to free throw shooting percentage.
They shot 83 % from the line last year, practically 8 percent better than what they did last night.
Chalk it up to opening night jitters if you will, after all being #1 at something means that a slip up is inevitable right?
The 75.6 percentage from the charity stripe a negative point in terms of losing the game but it’s really positive elsewhere in the free throw department.
I mean the fact alone that Utah shot 45 free throws is insanely encouraging.
For example, Utah’s best game last season for free throws attempted was 39.
They’ve already eclipsed that in game one of the new season.
Utah only had 4 games total last season where they attempted 35 or more free throws.
The last time Utah hit that 40 barrier in terms of FTA, it was January of 2023, two seasons ago.
The last time they hit 45 or more was January of 2020 when they had 46 in San Antonio.
I wouldn't expect another 45 burger anytime soon, but if this progress is laying the groundwork to help bump up their NBA 10th best of 22.6 attempts a game up last season to, I don’t know, lets say 24 attempts a game, that will be a top 5 team in attempts.
Those number’s don’t come often and if they can hone in on drawing those fouls and getting to the line, that’s something these young players can benefit from when the team is actually trying to compete.
Up the free throw numbers, hit a similar percentage to last season and that’s a crucial aspect to winning games.
Utah next takes the floor for another home contest against Golden State this Friday for a 7:30 home game.