What Makes Quin Snyder Good?

What makes Quin Snyder good? NO, this is not sarcasm. Let's go under the hood and examine why Utah Jazz Coach Quin Snyder receives rave reviews. It's not media hype, because Salt Lake City isn't LA, New York, Chicago, or even Houston. 

Intelligence. Snyder has both a law degree and an MBA. Who knew? 

Accountability. Accountability means holding yourself to quality standards. 

Coaches, players, and fans either choose accountability or ATTRIBUTION BIAS. Blaming the officiating, schedule, travel, injuries, et cetera doesn't address what we do to perform at higher levels, consistently for longer. Snyder owns his results. 

The Job. Snyder says coaching in the D-League revived his career. "What I began to find out is that this is that I was really lucky. I loved the teaching part of it, I liked the competition...I discovered that this is something that I really like to do...In this case it was just coaching.”

Communication. Snyder knows there's no magic. Players don't immediately buy in; you earn their trust even through rough spots. "And if you make a mistake–and you will–‘Hey, I was wrong." His teaching comes naturally, "Both my parents were teachers, and I think I always just enjoyed learning. I have a curious mind, and I enjoyed being exposed to different types of things."

Philosophy. "He wants to run a motion offense, with lots of reads, spacing, and unselfishness with the ball...he also wants his offense to allow the players to run up and down the floor. Playing with pace really just gets easy baskets and lets players attack.” He has focused on player development and understanding analytics relevant for his team. But he's not above going old school (see video). 

Clinic notes: Good stuff as always from Zak Boisvert, with notes on pick-and-roll defense. At the lower levels (where I am), the challenge is to have a SPECIFIC plan with 5 PLAYERS on the SAME PAGE. It makes no difference how many ways I know how to defend the PnR if we can't even execute one! And if we don't communicate, we don't even know it's coming...

Highlight: 

Watching the NBA Summer League, I see that Jaylen Brown has come a long way in defending the PnR as the Celtics 'ICE' the wing ball screen (keep the ball on one side). At lower levels, you have the option of trapping (BLITZ) or teaching players to hedge (SHOW) if you have the athletes/smarts. 

Video.



This video is a bit dated (3 years), but Coach Nick's analysis is always terrific. It shows the Jazz running the Spurs' "LOOP" (dates back to Chuck Daly Pistons at least), "scissors" action off the high post (another old school), and some staggered screens for ball handlers out of a horns-like configuration. The Jazz played at a slower pace than most NBA teams and we'll see how they adjust post Gordon Hayward leaving. 

Quin Snyder is a technician and teacher; I doubt that changes regardless of personnel.