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Jasen Lee
Guest
SALT LAKE CITY — After a hard-fought come-from-behind victory against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday at Vivint Arena, the Utah Jazz sit at 8-3 — good for second among all Western Conference teams. While it’s still very early in the season, the team composed of many new faces is off to an admirable start in what’s expected to be a long, competitive campaign.
The Jazz have reeled off four straight wins after losing two in a row early on. Those kinds of ups and downs are to be expected, said coach Quin Snyder after Utah’s most recent win. But watching his players push themselves and each other to become better has been something he has enjoyed observing.
“What you appreciate about guys that are coming off the bench (is) that they can come in and not only make plays for each other, but they guarded (and) they really played for one another,” Snyder said.
After falling behind by 15 points to Brooklyn at halftime, Snyder lauded how the team looked within to figure out what to do to get back in the game — one the Jazz eventually won 119-114.
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Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving (11) high steps his way past Utah Jazz forward Bojan Bogdanovic (44) during the Brooklyn Nets and Utah Jazz NBA basketball game at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019.
“(In) an 82-game season, there’s going to be halftime stuff like that. The biggest thing is be honest with yourselves as a group. Why you’re playing the way you’re playing?” he explained. “We weren’t defending the way that we could and we were sluggish offensively and we just had to be sharper mentally.”
The fact the Jazz were able to make the necessary adjustments to get back in the game is a testament to the kind of people they are, he said.
“These guys have a lot of character. It’s a competitive group and they competed together,” he said. “I hate to measure it by wins. But that’s what they keep track of. And so the competitiveness that this group has shown whether it be in a close game, being ahead and continuing to play (or) being behind.
“You’ve got to be able to handle all those situations mentally, and collectively this group likes each other and likes to compete. They like to play and when that’s the case, you figure out ways to make plays — all kinds of things that happen if you’re engaged in the game and you really want to win.” — Jazz coach Quin Snyder
“You’ve got to be able to handle all those situations mentally, and collectively this group likes each other and likes to compete,” Snyder explained. “They like to play and when that’s the case, you figure out ways to make plays — all kinds of things that happen if you’re engaged in the game and you really want to win.”
Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell noted how composed the team was even in the face of the 15-point halftime deficit.
“We understood (that) they came out and they hit us first, but we came in (the second half and) understood what we needed to do,” Mitchell said. ”We picked it up on the defensive end and made it tougher on them and we were able to get stops and then run.”
Mitchell said the comeback exemplified the mental toughness the team has when forced to overcome early mistakes.
“It’s just a mentality. The biggest thing is being able to stay locked in and stay focused — to understand it’s a 48-minute game,” he said.
Mitchell said in order for the Jazz to become the kind of team that wins night after night, it will take players rising to the occasion whenever called upon.
“That’s our personnel. It can come from any position, anybody, any moment,” he said. “We’ve just got to be able to stay locked in on defense (and) understand that even if we don’t hit shots, things are going to come our way. We’ve just got to be able to find ways to execute defensively and keeping hold.”
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Utah Jazz guard Mike Conley (10) and Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) smile after Conley wiped a pass to Gobert for a bucket during the Brooklyn Nets and Utah Jazz NBA basketball game at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019.
Mike Conley said the Jazz players have spent a lot of time growing together since the beginning of the season.
“Through the highs and lows of the early part of this season, we’ve stuck together and been consistent on what we do even off the court,” he said. “We just still go out to eat together. We’re still in the group chats and we’re still do all these things together as a team, which allows us to stay connected and not get too far away from what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Conley expressed pride in the effort the team made in the comeback Tuesday.
“Tonight was just a great example of all that and all the things we’ve been through in the early part of the season and (I’m) just happy for the way we’re able to complete the win on this one,” he said.
He also noted the high level of intellect on the roster as a major contributor to the Jazz’s success.
“It’s very high — almost too high sometimes. We’ve got so many voices and so many different options because of it, but it’s great. Guys sometimes just listen — like myself — just to be able to sit in the huddle and listen to somebody else’s opinion and be like, ‘Yeah, you’re right.’”
“Just having that kind of chemistry and that kind of trust in one another is going to help a lot to get us a long way,” he added.
Having gone through some early ups — like the Nets win — and downs — the final-second loss to Sacramento — has served to develop the team’s character in a positive way, he said.
“It helps to have the failures with go along with the successes. To have a game like we had in Sac where we literally win the game if we get a rebound — just one stop gets us a win and have other games where we’ve done the opposite and made the play to win,” Conley explained. “Seeing how we react in both moments (and) seeing how we come out of both moments just really allows us to build and keep building from there.”
“I’m really happy with what we’ve been able to accomplish so far early, even not playing our best basketball as a whole and knowing we have a long way to go,” he added.
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