Weekly Run newsletter: Quin Snyder’s ‘chemistry’ comment doesn’t go unnoticed

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Houston • Of all the myriad words spoken and written about this Jazz-Rockets playoff series, arguably none resonated with Jazz fans more than a line uttered by coach Quin Snyder ahead of Monday’s Game 4 victory.

Asked a softball question about how much it helped to have players who enjoy playing together, Snyder’s response included a potentially loaded snippet:

“Not to discount chemistry as being an important factor — I think it is — but we’re at a point now where we need to make some plays, too.”

Quin: Not to discount the importance of chemistry, but we’re at a point where we need to make plays pic.twitter.com/yUNh44OmuZ

— Eric Walden (@tribjazz) April 23, 2019

Was he speaking solely about the team’s offensive struggles in the first three games of the series? Or was he making a bigger point with an eye toward this offseason?

Snyder’s words certainly raised some eyebrows on social media, with many fans latching on to it to bolster their long-held complaint about the lack of a consistent secondary scorer/playmaker on the team.

That’s all down the road a bit, though. For now, Snyder would likely be happy with a big secondary scorer/playmaker in tonight’s Game 5 at the Toyota Center.

In case you missed it …

The Jazz finally broke through in Game 4 on Monday, earning a win to extend the series back to Houston. How’d they pull it off, though? Well, for one thing, Donovan Mitchell got mad and went off in the fourth quarter. For another, Utah really took advantage of the times Clint Capela was on the bench and the Rockets played small-ball.

Afterward, James Harden praised the Jazz, but vowed the Rockets would be better. So how does Utah keep things going in Game 5?

Well, obviously, they need Donovan to continue to put the team on his shoulders. They need some other guys to help him out, too. They need to shoot better and keep the Rockets shooting worse. They need to make James Harden work for his points. If they can keep Houston’s role players in line like they did in Game 4, that’d be big. So, too, would getting off to a fast start again. And hey, maybe some of the Rockets’ “championship mentality” has rubbed off on them by now, too.

Other people’s stuff

• Tony Jones of The Athletic wrote about how getting valuable playoff experience now helps set Donovan Mitchell up for superstardom down the road.

• Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News takes a deeper look at Quin Snyder’s willingness to be flexible with his rotations, as evidenced by Jae Crowder starting over Derrick Favors, and Fav finishing over Rudy Gobert in Game 4.

• Ben Dowsett took an analytical view of those very moves in a column for Forbes Sports.

• ESPN’s Tim MacMahon wrote about how Donovan’s confidence grew exponentially as Game 4 went on.

• Patrick Kinahan wrote a guest column for KSL.com, making the case for the Jazz to go hard after another scorer this offseason.

• Mitchell is one of 10 finalists for the NBA Cares Community Assist Award. Aaron Falk of utahjazz.com revisits some of the guard’s charitable endeavors.

• ESPN’s Zach Lowe had an incredibly detailed piece about how Harden was attacking the Jazz’s defense.

• The Ringer’s YouTube-based NBA show, “The Mismatch,” touches on a lot of NBA subjects. Part of this episode (33:36 mark) explores how the Jazz avoided elimination.

Up next

Game 5 is tonight in Houston at the Toyota Center. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. MT. If the Jazz win and avoid elimination again, Game 6 would be at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Friday.

from The Salt Lake Tribune http://bit.ly/2vkbXXg