Earl Watson possesses an insider’s knowledge.
After nine years spent playing against the Utah Jazz, the veteran guard is now a jersey-wearing member of the team he once opposed.
Watson’s loyalty obviously belongs to Utah. But his past allegiance affords him a unique perspective. He has studied, dissected and attacked the Jazz. He knows what makes Utah succeed and what also makes the team vulnerable. And one of the primary areas that Watson was taught to exploit when he belonged to the other side is the same issue that Jazz coach Jerry Sloan has put at the top of his preseason to-do list: improving Utah’s transition defense.
“This team has always been a great half-court team,” said Watson prior to a Monday morning workout at the team’s practice facility. “Because of that, teams really emphasize beating them in transition — not letting them set up their perimeter wall or their defensive rules and rotations. You have to play fast against them.”
In recent years, playing fast versus the Jazz has turned Utah into an easy target.
The Jazz allowed an average of 15.0 fast-break points per game in 2009-10, which ranked 22nd out of 30 teams. Just below Utah: New Jersey, Minnesota and Golden State, who were among the worst teams in the league.
Despite a summer of change, there was no initial sign of improvement for Utah on Saturday, when everyone from Sloan to fourth-string point guard Sundiata Gaines highlighted the Jazz’s weak transition defense as a sore spot during an intrasquad scrimmage.
Sloan acknowledged Monday that Utah’s ability to get back, set up and lock in is already a major point of concern as the Jazz attempt to improve an overall defense that ranked 12th in the NBA last season in average points allowed (98.9) but was burned for an average of 109.3 during the playoffs by the fast-break oriented offenses of Los Angeles and Denver.
Sloan said effort, heart and desire are all that are required out of any player who wants to play decent half-court defense. But the transition game — as well as the help defense that often makes or breaks it — is a more complicated affair.
“If we’re going to be a factor at all on the defensive end of the floor, we’re going to have to help each other,” Sloan said. “Have confidence enough in each other to not be afraid.”
Jazz guard Raja Bell — a two time all-NBA defensive team selection — said constant communication can help create confidence.
Bell also reinforced a theme employed by Sloan: Nearly every player who enters the league is initially offense-oriented. Thus, for Sloan to teach the air-tight transition defense to a roster with eight new faces will require time and commitment. But it will also rely upon personal adjustments.
Poor defenders solely focus on keeping track of their assigned man, Bell said. Yet strong transition defense relies upon the exact opposite. Rather than each player worrying if their individual opponent is going to score, everyone must have the same goal — keeping the ball out of the basket at all costs — and provide instant help if necessary.
In addition, good transition teams do not worry about individual players — Kobe Bryant and LeBron James excluded — until the ball is past half court and a defense has been set up.
“It happens at an early age,” Bell said. “You shoot a shot, you miss it, you find your guy and you run down the court. Well, you’re a liability at that point, because there’s a game going on.”
Watson is well aware of Utah’s perceived liability.
