Mind-blowing turnarounds such as the one the Utah Jazz engineered last season are always more nuanced and subtle than we want to believe.
But it's just so easy to pick out the 2015 All-Star break as the switch-flipping moment when Utah transformed from a wholly unremarkable outfit into a historically dominant defensive unit that crushed the stretch run with a 19-10 record. And it's even easier to point to Enes Kanter's departure as the real tipping point.
Kanter left town via deadline trade to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and when Rudy Gobert took over as the full-time starter in his stead, it seemed like everything changed overnight.
Gobert's arrival as the league's best rim protector was the catalyst for Utah's rise, and along with Derrick Favors, he'll give the Jazz the NBA's top interior defensive tandem this season. But there's a lot more at work in Utah and a lot more behind its late-season rise than a simple change up front.
A very good wing rotation led by Gordon Hayward will have to pick up the scoring slack, but in the second year of Quin Snyder's system, there's a good chance offense will come mo ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Grant Hughes
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October 13th, 2015 by Grant Hughes Leave a reply »
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