His the decision to bring Joe Ingles off the bench completely ruined him? Using my advanced abilities to look at the “splits” section of basketball-reference, I have come to an educated and informed answer to this question. And the answer is “yes”.
Ingles has started in 37 games for the Jazz this season and come off the bench for the other 26. The difference in minutes is not huge between those two sets of games: he, on average, plays four fewer minutes per game when he comes off the bench. But the statistical difference between the games he starts and the games he doesn’t is huge:
As a starter, Jinglin’ Joe averages 11 points and 6 assists on 46% shooting (43% from three).
As a reserve, “Suckin’ Dingaling” Joe averages 7 points and 4 assists on 39% shooting (33% from three).
What’s up with that? Does the Jazz bench suck so much that Ingles can neither find space to score or find ways to set up his teammates? Is there some player in the starting unit that Ingles has such immense chemistry with that he simply can’t play with that player’s backup? Have Wallabies been chewing on his bald spot thus causing wild fluctuations in play due to the resultant anxiety? I don’t know.
The only thing I know is that, Quin Snyder, you gotta start this man. For the glory of Australia.