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There have been occasions over the past yr and half when the prevailing considered Udoka Azubuike was that he was an enormous miss for the Utah Jazz in a draft the place they may have had any variety of different gamers who may legitimately assist this workforce.
However over the past couple of video games, Azubuike has been given a possibility and has grabbed on with each arms and appears unwilling to let go.
“Dok’s competitiveness — that was the differentiating issue,” Jazz head coach Quin Snyder stated after the Jazz beat the New York Knicks on Monday evening. “It’s onerous to work on simply being aggressive. ... That aggressive element, that offers your workforce a raise.”
Donovan Mitchell stopped himself in the midst of an unrelated reply to say that he needed to shoutout Azubuike for a way he’s taken benefit of the chance that he’s been given.
The Jazz gamers have praised Azubuike for his dedication and his combat and his willingness to study. However what stands out essentially the most is precisely what Snyder was speaking about — there's by no means a query of effort or competitiveness with Azubuike.
“You’re going to mess up, it’s going to occur,” Donovan Mitchell stated. “However the factor about Dok is that he messes up at 125%. All of us love that.”
Azubuike has been given the beginning minutes forward of Hassan Whiteside for 2 consecutive video games and has not disenchanted. He was plus-11 in boxscore plus-minus towards the Denver Nuggets, plus-23 towards the Brooklyn Nets after which a plus-10 towards the Knicks.
It will likely be telling to see what occurs on Wednesday towards the Warriors. Proper now, Rudy Gobert continues to be listed as out, coping with a left calf pressure. If Gobert is upgraded and performs, will Azubuike get the backup minutes over Whiteside? If Gobert stays out, will we see Azubuike begin a 3rd straight recreation?
It doesn't matter what occurs sooner or later, what has already occurred is that Azubuike has proven that he cares about performs that, frankly, it’s appeared like Whiteside couldn’t be bothered with.
Azubuike will make a number of efforts in a single possession, even when he doesn’t get the specified outcome. He'll cost out to the 3-point line to contest a shot, even when that’s not his defensive project. He'll dash down the court docket on both aspect of the ball, even when you may see that he barely has his legs underneath him.
“He’s preventing and competing,” Mitchell stated of his teammate on Monday evening. “While you see a man preventing and clawing, I’m not going to lie, he was the trendsetter for us with that.”
Azubuike has stated that these video games have boosted his confidence and that’s been the most important distinction for him, and he’s prepared to confess that he nonetheless is studying the place he's imagined to be and that he nonetheless must work on his conditioning. That humble high quality can also be going a great distance for the younger middle.
None of that is to say that Azubuike has taken Whiteside’s job, however he’s undoubtedly incomes the minutes that he’s getting and there's undoubtedly a contest for that place.
That doesn’t imply that the Jazz are going to get a cross on what nonetheless may be checked out as a missed alternative within the 2020 draft, however Azubuike isn't practically as a lot of a misplaced trigger as many thought he was.