Jazz Looking For More Threes Against Heat

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Quin Snyder would like to see his Utah Jazz team shoot more threes against the Miami Heat. The Jazz fell to the Phoenix Suns in their first scrimmage inside the Orlando bubble after attempting only 24 three-point attempts. Despite making a healthy 42 percent of their attempts, 24 tries simply isn’t enough for Snyder’s offense.

With forward Bojan Bogdanovic sidelined after season-ending wrist surgery, the Jazz must find a way to make up the sharp shooter’s nearly eight three-point attempts per game. Snyder said before the Jazz faced the Heat that that responsibility falls on the team’s other shot makers.

“We’ve been mainly a catch and shoot three-point team,” Snyder said of the Jazz. “In order for us to absorb those eight threes and hopefully have more, I think we have to shoot off the dribble more. We have some guys that can do that. Donovan [Mitchell], Mike Conley, Jordan Clarkson, Joe Ingles. So we’ve got some guys that can shoot it.”

📹| @spidadmitchell with 17 points, 4 assists and 3 made threes in 21 minutes in our first scrimmage.#TakeNote | #WholeNewGame pic.twitter.com/vnm8usyava

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) July 24, 2020

Mitchell and Clarkson combined to knock down six of their 11 attempts, a good sign for the team going forward. However, the other players Snyder mentioned, including Royce O’Neale and Georges Niang need to look for their shot more aggressively.  Ingles, O’Neale, and Conley shot a combined 0-4 from the three-point line in more than 60 minutes of floortime.

“I think for us it could mean more early clock threes, but it’s definitely a priority,” Snyder said. “If Donovan or Mike, or Jordan are going to find the rim, We have to really be spaced out and those guys taking those shots may be as important as them making them. I think if they take them, we will make a fair share.”

Jazz Still Working Out Kinks

Despite more than two weeks of practice, and having a scrimmage under their belt, the Jazz are still working out the kinks in their roster. Unfortunately, three scrimmages might not be enough time for the Jazz to have solved all of their problems before facing the New Orleans Pelicans in the first of eight seeding games on July 30.

Snyder said without Bogdanovic, in addition to replacing his attempted threes, the Jazz are working on redefining their style of play to finish the season.

“I don’t think we’ll be blind,” Snyder said of the team’s first game. “But I do think that there’s an adjustment period. Anytime you lose a player of Bojan’s caliber, other players have to adapt and adjust their own games.”

If the Jazz want to replace Bojan Bogdanovic, Joe Ingles, Mike Conley, and Royce O'Neale need to become chuckers.

I wrote about it @KSLSports. https://t.co/TqG0CGIxLt

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) July 24, 2020

Snyder toyed with several lineups during the Jazz first scrimmage and will have to continue to do so into the seeding games.

“You saw last game we were playing a few different lineups, different combinations,” Snyder said. “That’ll be important for us to be able to use our bench, potentially in different ways. It’s not going to be as consistent as far as how rotation in the game may look, but I think everybody’s got to be ready to play.”

The Jazz and Heat tipoff Saturday afternoon at 2 pm MT. The game will be rebroadcast at AT&T SportsNet at 7 pm MT.