As it is in the NFL, several NBA head coaches use various hand signals and gesture to call out plays. Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder is no different, but it seems his are more elaborate than others.
If you watch Snyder in action, you'll see his hand gestures in full effect. Jazz fans are familiar with some of his motions. NBA advance scouts — staff members who are tasked with deciphering and collation opponents' playcalling — on the other hand, struggle to decipher their meaning.
Via Ethan Strauss of The Athletic:
When you ask scouts about the toughest coach to observe, one name keeps popping up: Utah coach Quin Snyder. “With all that twitching it’s tough to see what’s even a play call,” a Western Conference scout says. “And then he uses all that European shi*.”
Snyder’s calls seem of another tradition, another language. Many of his mannerisms defy simple explanation. Here, scouts must take on a role of a writer with a tall task. Describing Snyder means translating the idiosyncratic movements of a man whose rhythms bob outside the bounds of beings.
Snyder, now 51 years of age, is one of the best coaches in the league, according to most accounts. The Washington native led the Jazz all the way to the second round of last season's playoffs. In the end, though, Utah was defeated by the Houston Rockets in the second round, 4-1.
The Jazz hired Snyder in 2014. Prior to that, he had never been an NBA head coach, though he did serve as an assistant coach with several teams in the past. That's not to say he is inexperienced at the head coaching position, though. In fact, Snyder has been calling plays from the sideline for more than 25 years.
The Jazz have become one of the more intriguing teams in the NBA, to be sure. Let's see if Snyder can lead the team back to the playoffs again this season.
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