The Utah Jazz is struggling mightily in recent times, they’ve lost 6 of their last 7 games. Nothing seems to be going their way at the minute and they could find themselves in the play-in tournament if they don’t end the season on a bit of a winning run. A large part of what’s going wrong with them seems to be the fact that there is seemingly some tension between their two stars, Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert.
While the players and the organization have often denied any reports of a feud between the two stars, the numbers never lie. And a stat has emerged now that will be a big cause of concern for the fans. Donovan Mitchell, the go-to man for the Jazz when it comes to handling the ball, especially in big moments, averages just over 2 passes to Rudy Gobert per game.
Here’s a fun stat:
Donovan averages 2 passes a game to Rudy Gobert.
Not assists. Passes…
— Dustin Taylor ⌚️ (@DustinT_NBA) April 3, 2022
Considering the size that he has inside, Gobert not having more than 2 passes off of Mitchell is almost hard to believe. The Jazz has often failed to utilize Gobert when he has smaller match-ups in the paint, choosing instead to rely on their perimeter shooting instead. This might be part of the reason they have been going through multiple 4th quarter collapses as busting any run requires some high-efficiency shots.
Gobert needs the ball to come to him, considering that he can’t handle it himself, so this needs to be addressed. Rudy is averaging just 7.7 field goal attempts per game this season, so the fact that he is still averaging over 15 points per game is quite impressive.
If the Jazz can’t sort their issues out before the playoffs, a first-round exit beckons for the team. The team is just a year removed from being the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and if they can’t find their rhythm again, questions about the future of this core will only continue to grow.
