@Tschmack posted:So much for the Jazz
They completely fell apart in this series. Reminded me a lot of the 2019 Bucks.
theringer.com had a good story on this.
https://www.theringer.com/nba/...hell-nba-free-agency
Basically, the Jazz had a team two years ago that prioritized perimeter defense at the expense of offense. They didn't have enough offense to make a deep playoff run. So, this year they prioritized offense and set up a system that took advantage of Gobert's paint protection to compensate for subpar defenders. It worked in the regular season because other teams would play a typical 5 that allowed Gobert to stay close to the paint. In the playoffs, teams shorten their rotations and went small against the Jazz. Gobert is still a very good defender for his size on the perimeter so it's not that he's a liability. It's just that he's no longer there to clean up in the paint when their poor defenders get beat off the dribble.
It points out how playoff basketball is very different. Small-ball centers would wear out playing major minutes against bigger guys for 70+ games, but they can get by for a couple of weeks in a playoff series.
The Bucks aren't getting beat when Lopez is getting drawn out because they lack paint defense (Giannis is still usually on the floor), but they do often give up more offensive rebounding when Lopez sits. For as poorly as Middleton, if they get one rebound when they were up 111-107 with under 2 minutes left instead of giving up 3 shots (and a made 3 to make it a 1-point game) on that possession the game would have likely been closed to being clinched. Lopez was sitting at the time.
| 1:52 |  | Trae Young misses 31-foot three point pullup jump shot | 107 - 111 | |
| 1:49 | | John Collins offensive rebound | 107 - 111 | |
| 1:45 | | Solomon Hill misses 28-foot three point jumper | 107 - 111 | |
| 1:43 | | Clint Capela offensive rebound | 107 - 111 | |
| 1:39 | | John Collins makes 23-foot three point jumper (Trae Young assists) | 110 - 111 |