Surprisingly, the Utah Jazz are dominating the paint and rebounding areas of the game during the NBA Preseason. Their goal is to improve upon the previous successes of Lauri Markkanen on the All-Star squad and Walker Kessler on Team USA. However, their frontcourt won’t be effective until they have enough breathing room close to the paint. Their offensive schemes haven’t changed much thus far in their games against the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Clippers. Guards like Collin Sexton, Jordan Clarkson, and Keyonte George must step up and shoot the lights out for all of them.Walker Kessler and Lauri Markkanen can only ever be successful in the paint when they are given the right driving lanes and one-on-one matchups. But the Jazz offense in the NBA Preseason does not appear to be playing at a level that fits their style of play right now. All of this is a result of their failure to demonstrate that they pose a consistent external threat.

In their opening encounter with the Clippers, they tried 37 attempts from beyond the arc. Only taking down 11 of them is far less than the league average and would facilitate the stalling of their offense. It is true that Los Angeles has excellent wing and perimeter defenders. Still, not enough schematics have been thrown for them to come to the conclusion that their three-point line-centered sets are ineffective. However, the Jazz continue to have serious concerns about it.

When they played the Clippers twice in the NBA Preseason, it happened once more. Many of their problems from the three-point arc grew worse. After realizing the situation, Los Angeles closed more lanes for passing and driving inside the paint. They were now forced to deal with defensive strategies that required them to fire in dangerous areas. They were only able to dart nine of their thirty-nine outside three-point tries as a result. A 23.1% average shooting percentage from far out in the three-point revolution will surely end their playoff hopes early.