Jazz Snyder Lays Out Difficulty Defending Luka Doncic
Apr 25, 2022, 6:22 PM | Updated: 11:04 pm
Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic faces the Utah Jazz (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – The NBA playoffs are often about making adjustments to your opponent, but Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder laid out the difficulty of making adjustments to Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic.
Snyder was asked about adjustments before Game 5 between the Jazz and Mavericks and presented the complexity of planning for Doncic, flashing his own savant-like understanding of the game.
Below is the transcript of Snyder’s impressive commentary on the brilliance of Doncic.
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“Do you send Luka left or right? Do you think Luka cares whether he goes left or right? You can look at the data — send him left and he cuts back right in pick and roll if your big is not up high enough. If he goes right and he’s finding shooters.
Is he a better passer with his right hand or left hand? Because he seems to be able to jump up and passes with two hands over the top — or going to his left.
Is a better step back [shooter] from the upside of the downside? He hit three or four of them against us with Rudy [Gobert] on him.
Should we switch the five on to him? I think he’s the best isolation player against five in the league.
Would you rather have Luka shooting contested three or [Reggie] Bullock shooting in open corner three? Because he’s over 40 percent?
Do you want to double him and get it out of his hands? Do you want to double him when it comes across half court, so there’s more space for him to pass or do you want to wait till later?
Do you want to blitz him and pick and roll because now somebody’s gan oing to roll? You’ve got Rudy in the strong corner and he can’t cover the rim, so that’s an open three.
There are certain guys that make it hard, and obviously, he’s one of them. So you can go through all that stuff and realize that sometimes there may not be a right or wrong answer.
Despite missing the first three games of the series with a calf strain, Doncic returned to face the Jazz in Game 4 and 30 points on an efficient 11-21 shooting to go with 10 rebounds and four assists.
Snyder and the Jazz will look to slow Doncic once again, however that may be, on Monday night Game 5.
The Jazz and Mavericks will tip-off at 7:30 pm MT and can be heard on KSL NewsRadio and The Zone Sports Network. The game will be televised on TNT, AT&T SportsNet, and FuboTV.
