Since Jazz fans are probably feeling a little bit delicate right now, I’m not even going to call Dante Exum a bust in this description. I will even say that he had a great first half, and made some big plays that got the crowd back into the game. He had a few plays that should give hope to even the most depressed Utah resident.
That said, wouldn’t it be awesome if, when George Hill went down, the Jazz had a ready-made backup point guard ready to step up big on the biggest stage, a point guard who was drafted with a high lottery pick and was finally able to showcase all the talents that made him such a coveted player heading into the draft? That would have indeed been awesome, but it didn’t quite happen that way. Quin Snyder decided that a thing named Shelvin Mack was a better option to start, and Exum should only get spot minutes off the bench.
Is it Snyder’s fault that he didn’t see the greatness waiting to be unleashed in Exum, or is it Exum’s fault that he doesn’t have that greatness to begin with? It’s all academic now, since the Jazz are done playing basketball and we won’t ever know whether Exum would have started a game five after playing over thirty minutes in game four. The only thing we can say for sure: Dante Exum is a bu-
YOU THOUGHT I WAS GONNA SAY IT BUT I’M NOT GONNA