When the Utah Jazz hired Quin Snyder as their head coach back in June 2014, no one really knew what to expect. After all, he had no NBA head-coaching experience, and his collegiate coaching career did not exactly end gracefully.
So just what were the Jazz trying to accomplish in landing a coach who could not really succeed on the collegiate level and had a very limited NBA track record outside of coaching a D-League team and serving as an assistant?
Well, obviously, whatever Utah was thinking ended up being correct, as Snyder has, somehow, developed into one of the best coaches in the game.
The Jazz have rebounded from an ugly start to the 2018-19 campaign and now own a record of 35-26 and look like one of those teams that is going to be a real pain-in-the-rear end type of matchup for someone.
Utah is long, athletic and rangy, and it can also mix things up once in a while with some physicality. Basically, the Jazz are a nasty defensive team that can make life difficult for just about any opponent, and while a lot of credit has to go to the front office for putting this current roster together, Snyder also deserves some props for instilling this culture in Utah.
The Jazz are kind of like the Grit-n-Grind Memphis Grizzlies in that nothing they do is pretty. Sure, Donovan Mitchell is flashy, but that is where it starts and ends when discussing how fun Utah is to watch.
Chances are, you aren't going to turn on a game to watch the Jazz, just like you probably weren't going to rush to get your popcorn in order to watch Zach Randolph plodding up and down the court for those Grizzlies squads.
But whatever Utah is doing works, regardless of whether or not it is aesthetically pleasing, and much of that is due to Snyder.
He doesn't have the history of Gregg Popovich and he doesn't draw up after-timeout plays like Brad Stevens, but you would be hard-pressed to find a real weakness in Snyder's coaching style, where he genuinely gets the most out of his players.
Who would have thought Joe Ingles would have been an incredibly value three-and-D guy a few years ago?
Not just that, but Snyder really is doing a lot with a little. The Jazz have a solid starting lineup which features Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, Derrick Favors, Ricky Rubio and Ingles, but their bench talent is limited. Quin Snyder just knows how to make it work.
He knows how to utilize his rugged small forwards in Jae Crowder and Royce O'Neale. He knows when to employ Kyle Korver as a three-point threat. He understands when the game may call for Dante Exum's length (when Exum is healthy, of course).
While those guys all have decent attributes, they hardly represent a wealth of talent on Utah's pine. The Jazz aren't like the Golden State Warriors where they can bring in Andre Iguodala and let him run the offense. Snyder really needs to strategize for certain moments of the game to decide which players fit best.
Remember last year against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoffs? The Thunder didn't seem to have any answer for Snyder's methods, and even though Oklahoma City's talent greatly outweighed that of Utah's, the Jazz were able to come away with a six-game series win.
A lot of that had to do with the fact that Snyder simply managed the game a heck of a lot better than Billy Donovan. It's not like Utah posed such a big matchup issue for OKC. It's that the Jazz were just more prepared and followed the gameplan much better, which is a reflection of Snyder.
You have to wonder just how much more attention Snyder would receive as a head coach if he were in a larger market. Of course, Popovich in San Antonio is an exception, but generally, the coaches in bigger cities certainly get more attention.
Is Quin Snyder the best coach in the league? He doesn't deserve that mantle yet, because he has not done enough in the postseason and does not have enough of an established track record yet in general.
However, if the Jazz can have another impressive playoff showing this season and possibly improve upon what they did last year, Snyder will keep ascending the ranks as one of the top coaches in the NBA.
Utah may not be an interesting team to watch, but the Jazz are certainly an interesting story, and Snyder has a heck of a lot to do with that.
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