Ace Bailey bounces back with better performance in Jazz win over Grizzlies, Brice Sensabaugh scores 37

Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz’s 120-119 win over the Memphis Grizzlies from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.

1. Brice Sensabaugh shows what he can do

It’s an extremely good sign that Brice Sensabaugh is having this level of success in year three — truthfully, it’s one of the best indicators yet that he’s likely to stick in the league moving forward.

To be sure, Sensabaugh has made more threes than you might even expect him to, going 6-9 on Monday night after 5-8 on Saturday. But even had he shot, say, 33% from deep in these two games, there’s still enough good stuff in his performances that would give you confidence in his ability to stick on an NBA floor.

In particular, he’s using the threat of his shot to get inside, where he’s making decent enough shoot vs. pass decisions. It’s not brilliant, and his athleticism is never going to allow him to get by people without a pump fake first. But if he does have a defender on his hip, he’s been able to draw fouls in this summer league, a trend you’d hope to see continue in the NBA. He took 14 free throws tonight, admittedly six of those in the final two minutes.

He’s also hanging on the defensive end of the floor at a higher level than previously. To be honest, Sensabaugh was one of the league’s worst defenders in his rookie season, and he has visibly and steadily improved on that end. I certainly wouldn’t call him an above-average defender, but he can be out there and be okay.

“The biggest emphasis for me and for the staff was to be nailed down on my ability to become and to be a defensive presence,” Sensabaugh said. “There’s been a few — three or four — plays I took off each game, but think when it really mattered, I was locked in.”

Sensabaugh hedged when asked if he was playing in Tuesday’s Salt Lake City Summer League final; usually, hedging means no. So he was asked, if it is his final game in summer league, what he’ll take away from the process.

“It was important for me to come in here and not to take it as like, ‘Oh man, I gotta play summer league,’ but instead, to use it as something that I can carry over into the season, into pre-season, into training camp,” Sensabaugh said.

I get it — being here in year three can be a sign of disappointment. But Walker Kessler played summer league in his third year, and he can credibly ask for $100 million on his extension now. Maybe this can be a building block for Sensabaugh, too.

2. Ace Bailey’s bounceback game

I was surprised to see the level of commentary about Ace Bailey’s first contest in a Jazz uniform on Saturday. Sure, he scored only eight points, and went 3-13 from the field, but I thought he was generally better than what you might have seen or read on social media.

Regardless, Bailey did have a more productive Game 2 than Game 1. He finished with 18 points on 7-14 shooting, adding seven rebounds, three assists, and four fouls. Here are the highlights:

Did you notice anything when watching that video above?

Every single one of those highlights came as Bailey played outside of his on-ball reputation. On some plays, he was catching the ball and going up cleanly for a three — so cleanly and quickly in that high release shot from the corner that it reminded me of Joe Ingles at his best. On others, he was attacking the offensive boards, then taking advantage of the defense for easy points. When he did dribble, it was to set up teammates, not to get his own shot.

That’s huge. That’s Bailey’s role right away: play off the ball, and make an impact on the glass, with his spacing, and setting up his teammates. (Ideally, he’d make a defensive impact, too, something he did more Saturday than on Monday.)

But being good at those off-ball skills will keep him on the floor as a positive contributor. Then he can develop the other parts of his game much more naturally. Think of how Jayson Tatum or Kawhi Leonard or Paul George played off the ball early in their careers, with a usage rate under 20%. Doing so helped them develop naturally into efficient stars and some of the best players in the NBA.

We don’t know if Bailey can be that yet. But skipping the temptation to be isolation shot heavy right away is a massively positive sign for the No. 5 overall pick.

3. Jazz’s point guards tonight

In Saturday’s Triple Team, I noted how Isaiah Collier’s goal for the summer league was to “improve his efficiency by getting downhill in the paint more often — and then being smart once he’s there.”

He did the former, but skipped out on the latter.

“I think Isaiah just struggled to make the right reads in the first half and forced through some of those shifts where hands are getting on the ball, and they forced him to kind of bobble it,” Jazz summer league head coach Scott Morrison said.

The result was a five turnover game from Collier in which the Jazz had a lot of zero-pass or one-pass possessions when he was in charge. It’s good when Collier gets downhill, but summer league has to be an ecosystem where everybody gets to touch the ball, and the second-year point guard went away from that on Monday.

The rookie Walter Clayton, Jr. — older than Collier, it’s worth noting — had an up-and-down game as well. He finished the first half scoreless with five turnovers as well, and Morrison said the Jazz actually pulled him out of the game early because a lack of defensive focus.

“What he needs to fix, in my opinion, right now is: he’s got to be urgent and locked in without kicking his butt. Last game, we had kind of to give it to him in a timeout to get going. Tonight, we had to take him out of the game in the first half because he was nonchalant,” Morrison said.

“But then we wouldn’t have won the game without him the second half,” he said. From the second half onward, Clayton got the Jazz into an offense, and the result was buckets for Sensabaugh, Cody Williams, and Bailey.

The Jazz’s starting point guard spot is open. Obviously, summer league won’t itself determine the starter — but the winner here may well determine who gets lead reps first in training camp. It’s a battle to watch, for sure.

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