Utah Jazz Are Competitive But Continue To Make Rookie Mistakes

Utah Jazz vs Phoenix Suns
Jennifer Stewart- USA TODAY Sports

The Utah Jazz have sunk their way to 0-2 on the season, as they lose to the Phoenix Suns 87-84 in the final seconds. Some would argue that the Jazz had more than enough opportunities to get a win instead of a bad loss.

Throughout the night, and the last two games as well, the Jazz have been kicking themselves with costly turnovers and terrible free throw shooting. The Jazz, in two games already this season, are shooting 64.9 percent from the free throw line, which is ranked 28th in the NBA.

So, the Jazz just lost the first couple of games on the year by a combined six points, and they are shooting 64.9 percent from the free throw line. It doesn’t get anymore critical than that.

Add to the fact that the Jazz lead the NBA in turnovers with 21.5, and you begin to understand why a lot of critics have the Jazz finishing the near the bottom of the NBA this season. Sometimes, you just have to keep it simple and not over analyze things. The Jazz just struggle in critical areas.

“And we missed our free throws,” Jazz’s head coach Tyrone Corbin noted after the game via ESPN.com. “We missed 10 again tonight, so we’ve got to get better at those things. Young guys or whatever, we have to make free throws and we can’t turn the ball over.”

Corbin is right. Being young isn’t an excuse for these type of errors. The Jazz looks upon their young star players like Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter and Gordon Hayward to pick up the slack. They have to set an example for the rest of the team with execution on both ends of the floor. If they can’t do that, it will be tough sledding for the Jazz.

Wola Odeniran is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter at WolaOdeniran52, like him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google

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