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According to the data at mySynergySports.com the Jazz are the #27th best team in the league on isolation plays, and smartly rarely elect to finish a play this way, only 6.9% of plays end in Isolations. That said, you still need guys who can make their own shot. Especially with the clock ticking down after you abort a play (when the post up is stopped, and when the other team closes out well on a spot up shooter who hesitates just a second too long). You have to have guys who can be 'money players' -- especially with all the close games we seem to be having lately. You need guys who can isolate and produce. Let's take a look at isolation plays:
| Isolation | |||||
| Bigs | # of plays | % of plays | PPP | Rank | FG% |
| Al Jefferson | 54 | 5.4% | 0.94 | 16 | 49.0% |
| Paul Millsap | 74 | 8.1% | 0.77 | 89 | 38.2% |
| Derrick Favors | 16 | 3.0% | 0.50 | NA | 22.2% |
| Enes Kanter | 4 | 1.3% | 0.00 | NA | 0.0% |
| Jeremy Evans | 0 | 0.0% | NA | NA | NA |
| Wings | |||||
| Raja Bell | 6 | 2.9% | 0.83 | NA | 25.0% |
| Josh Howard | 58 | 13.0% | 0.84 | 55 | 38.5% |
| C.J. Miles | 48 | 8.4% | 0.50 | 184 | 17.9% |
| Gordon Hayward | 34 | 5.3% | 0.68 | 140 | 34.8% |
| Alec Burks | 33 | 8.8% | 0.61 | 167 | 28.0% |
| DeMarre Carroll | 4 | 10.8% | 0.00 | NA | 0.0% |
| Point Guards | |||||
| Devin Harris | 43 | 7.5% | 0.95 | 13 | 53.3% |
| Earl Watson | 21 | 8.1% | 0.52 | NA | 26.7% |
| Jamaal Tinsley | 22 | 17.1% | 0.55 | NA | 31.6% |
Here is where Devin Harris and Big Al really prove their worth. They are both #20 in the NBA rank on isolations. That's huge. And well, it kinda means we should be winning more close games I think . . . except for the fact that we (as a team) never go to isolations. Perhaps with more attempts our proficiency or deficiency would be only more pronounced? I think that's what it is. Also, our playbook is based upon sharing. The flip side is that we spend a lot of our forth quarter with the ball in Big Al's hand as he eats 4 seconds off the shot clock before even making a move to the basket.
Paul Millsap and Josh Howard are both our next best isolation performers. I kind of think we need Hayward and Burks to get there though . . . we need them to get better so badly . . .
Btw, I asked earlier today on twitter who was better: Enes Kanter in isolations or Jeremy Evans off of Spot-Ups. The answer is no one. They both have had 4 attempts and missed all four tries. Evans was fouled once, and made a FT though, so technically, he's better. But technically if the game comes down to isolating for Kanter or getting Evans to take a spot up jumper we've already lost the game.