3 Reasons Ace Bailey Is Improving
Now that Ace Bailey rid himself of that manager who was giving the Utah Jazz rook bad advice before he was drafted, is the No. 5 overall selection from Rutgers on a rocket ship to success?
The Utah Jazz grabbed a 129-108 win against the LA Clippers on October 22 in the season opener, and still fans were angry for one specific reason.
“We spent a first round pick on this guy…on THIS guy?!?” said one fan.
Ace Bailey, the Jazz’ No. 5 pick, scored … two points. Two. He had to be the person some aggravated fan was cryptically referring to; who else could it have been? But was it too early for Joe Fan to panic? Here are three reasons why Ace Bailey is improving.
Patience
In 20 minutes, Bailey shot 1-for-5 from the field and was oh-fer from three-point lands on two plays.
Two nights later at Sacramento, with his minutes dwindled to 13, Bailey wasn’t lucky, at all. In fact, he shot even worse than in the Clipper game (0-5) against the Kings, and did not score.
It was a far cry from his first two preseason games, in which 25 and 20 points were scored in 39 and 31 minutes, respectively.
Did the Jazz give up on ace? Not hardly. Slowly but surely, Bailey improved! Newsflash to those Jazz fans that threw the baby out with the bath water: this is a long game, your child is out in the hallway, and all your stuff is on the front lawn while the front door to your house has been dead bolted shut.
Ace went 2-for-5 in his next game in 14 minutes and drilled two triples, scoring six points. The Jazz won 138-134 in overtime over Phoenix on Oct. 27. Two nights later, Bailey had a career-high eight points on 3-of-5 shooting in a 136-134 loss to Portland.
Conscience
From that moment forward, Bailey made a vow to improve other facets of his game, too—and it showed almost immediately.
In a season-high 23 minutes Oct. 31, the Rutgers star hauled down another season high: eight rebounds. That, paired with six points and three assists, showed that Bailey cared and that he was fighting through his shooting slump (2-of-8 on this night).
He wasn’t pinning blame on anyone but himself, showing even the most disgruntled utah Jazz fan that bailey was putting the team first.
Even when his woes continued over the next several games, and culminated in Bailey getting five fouls in one game at Detroit in a loss November 5, the Jazz rookie still had nine points to go with four rebounds.
Persistence
His willingness to embrace his own struggles and persevere throughout, while other rookies around the NBA may have started their careers with more aplomb, may be evening out.
Bailey dropped 12 points in his next game at Minnesota, shooting 4-for-9 from the field Nov. 7. He also topped his previous season-high minutes with 24 against the wolves, and bested his three-point total by making 50 percent of his shots for the first time in his young career. He also had six rebounds and three assists.
In a more narrow loss at home against the same Minnesota team Nov. 10, Bailey again made four of nine shots, but had arguably more impressive numbers: 10 points, seven rebounds, two assists and three steals in 28 minutes, a game that literally started when Ace scrapped with Anthony Edwards:
As the games went on in November, Bailey’s numbers were also improving, to the extent that he scored 20 points against Indiana in a win, in just 26 minutes of play in the Jazz’ latest game at the Delta Center. The rookie finished with season-high displays in shooting: 53 percent overall, 50 from three. «
If you missed the last BVU Show, we argued over whether Utah Jazz guard Isaiah Collier (14 points and 11 assists vs Indiana) should be starting or not:
Overthink These Video Highlights📸
The Runnin’ Utes did not play a great game on Saturday at the Huntsman Center against their one and only in-state opponent, Weber State. Utah and the ‘Cats had epic battles in Salt Lake and at the Dee Events Center in Ogden in the 1980s and 90s.
But times are tough for both programs. Neither Tre nor Andy Smith will be walking back through those doors in their uniforms, though they would if they could (that was a shout-out to our alma mater. Glory to thee…)
Ah, high school. But this short story is about college basketball, and the in-state rivalry taking place in an arena that is only filling up one-third of the way thus far.
That major irritant didn’t stop Utah from playing its “worst game of the season,” according to new head coach Alex Jensen. Nor would the Utes’ hold prevent Weber State from having its best performance of the year.
All told, it was an epic battle that was not decided until Utah guard Terrance brown (game-high 36 points) drained a buzzer-beating corner three to send the game into overtime at 84-84, wherein the Runnin’ Utes outlasted their longtime rivals by the final score of 92-89. «
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Thanks for reading; be safe and be well. See ya next time. Listen to Westside Sportzz, our hot new HS sports talk show that only covers SLC’s West side, Friday nights. And, stay tuned right here for the BVU Show, Sundays.