Game Day (C19 Scrimmage 1): Suns (26-39) @ Jazz (41-23), Thurs 7/23/20

[Superbone]

Time: 5:00 pm AZ (5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET)
Place: HP Field House, Orlando, FL
TV: FSAZ/NBALP(?)

Wow. Didn't think this day would ever come again in 2020 but there will be SUNS BASKETBALL Thursday night in our first post-covid scrimmage in preparation for continuing the season in altered form on July 31st.

Go Suns!!!

Dis • cuss

[ShelC]

I really can't wait. Hope I can watch or stream it.

[Superbone]

I really can't wait. Hope I can watch or stream it.

I just signed up for regional sports so I can get the FSAZ pre and post game shows. Plus, DTV still doesn't have scheduled whether these will be on NBA LP. Hoping I can just watch it on FSAZ.

[Nodack]

The Game Week Thread?

Somebody is Excited.

[Superbone]

The Game Week Thread?

Somebody is Excited.

It's actually a game day thread. Because we have, you know..., a game... Thursday.

[England Sun]

Love it.

[Mori Chu]

Seeing a Game Day thread brings a tear to my eye.

Wow, were we really 26-39 when the season shut down? That's pretty bad. Somehow I thought we had been closer to .500 than that. Not a great shot of making the playoffs...

[ShelC]

39-26 if Ayton played the whole year.

[bajanguy008]

[bajanguy008]

I posted that tweet without even realizing we are not listed
Reminded me to update my League Pass info so I decided to watch an old game the same time. Chose Feb 22 as that's my bday and we did have a game against Bulls.
I will be honest it felt so strange watching and I even had some memory lapses with Bulls players when first seeing them. Crazy man , just seems like forever ago

[Superbone]

I posted that tweet without even realizing we are not listed

Yeah, wrong thread.

[In2ition]

https://theathletic.com/1938920/2020/07 ... crimmages/

[Nodack]

I could read about two paragraphs of that before getting cut off because I don’t have a subscription.

[Indy]

I could read about two paragraphs of that before getting cut off because I don’t have a subscription.

Spoiler: show/hide

The Orlando restart is almost here for the Utah Jazz.

An opener against the New Orleans Pelicans — possibly without Zion Williamson — looms next Thursday. A scrimmage, one of three scheduled, comes against the Phoenix Suns this Thursday.

It’s about to get real.

So, for the Jazz, this week is about transition. Transition from what has been essentially a second training camp, into game week mode and transition from teaching to preparation. Once the restart officially begins, things will go fast. Eight games, one every other day. A first-round playoff matchup and then either advancement or a trek back to Salt Lake City.

All of that said, here is a bit of a primer for what we can expect from the Jazz over the next seven days. What are some of the things they want to accomplish and how will they go about accomplishing it?

Here is your scrimmage primer.

Let’s go faster
The Jazz want to play faster.

They want to get into offense quicker. They want to go through their reads with more precision. They want to simply pick up the pace.

The scrimmages are a good way to put some of that in motion.

Utah doesn’t want to become the 2007 version of the Phoenix Suns. But the Jazz do want to play quicker.

Why?

Well, because now their personnel dictates that.

Donovan Mitchell is good in the open floor. Jordan Clarkson is terrific at creating offense on the fly and has shown that he can do it and be under control at the same time. The Jazz are going to be small around Rudy Gobert, which means shooting a lot of 3-pointers. And the best time to shoot a lot of threes is in transition.

Subtly, Emmanuel Mudiay will likely re-enter the rotation after having been out of it for a significant time. His main strength as a point guard is the ability to push the basketball in transition and bend a defense off the dribble. It doesn’t make much sense to confine that ability to the halfcourt.

A newfound desire to play faster probably won’t hold for the entirety of the restart because the very nature of playoff basketball is a slower game. But the Jazz want to spread the floor and create opportunity for themselves offensively. Playing with a more upbeat pace is a good way to accomplish that.

“We have a lot of guys who have the ability to create and we want to take advantage of that,” Utah head coach Quin Snyder told reporters last week.

Can any of them help?
By any of them, we mean the younger guys. We mean someone from a group consisting of Miye Oni, Juwan Morgan, Jarrell Brantley, Nigel Williams-Goss, Justin Wright-Foreman and Rayjon Tucker.

The two most likely candidates are Tucker and Morgan. They have hovered around the edge of the rotation for much of the season. Three scrimmages are a good avenue to get those guys some space to play. So, here’s the tricky part. Scrimmages will be 10 minutes per quarter and 40 minutes per game, instead of the usual 12 minutes per quarter and 48 minutes per game. So the challenge for Snyder will be to get enough time for the regulars and get them enough reps needed for the seeding games, while also prepping the younger guys.

Morgan has been a revelation, and sources tell The Athletic that he has real fans among the decision-makers in the organization. He’s stood out this season because of his ability to switch on defense. Should the Jazz run into a small ball team in the playoffs — the Houston Rockets come to mind — there’s a real chance Morgan sees some meaningful minutes.

The Jazz also like the rest of their group. They’ve been impressed with Brantley’s talent and work ethic while in quarantine. So the scrimmages definitively give the Jazz a chance to give those guys a bit of a look, and get them at least a few minutes on the floor.

How does it happen?
Paramount for the Jazz in the three scrimmages is acclimating without Bojan Bogdanovic, the small forward who is out for the season with a wrist injury.

Here’s the new starting lineup: Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell, Joe Ingles, Royce O’Neale, Rudy Gobert.

Here’s the good news about the new starting lineup: The group is plus-8 on the season.

Here’s the bad news: The group has played 14 minutes together this season.

Clearly, the sample size is small. One thing that Bogdanovic’s injury does is get Ingles and O’Neale into the starting lineup together. That’s significant because those are Utah’s two best perimeter defenders. Both have length and are very good at switching throughout the lineup. Ingles is terrific at guarding the initial pick-and-roll and finding his way back into the play after being screened by the opposing big man. O’Neale is Utah’s best option for defending the plethora of dynamic scorers the Jazz will face over the next month.

When you combine that with the Jazz needing to figure out a new rotation sans Bogdanovic, you can see why these scrimmages hold meaning for them.

“Me and Joe, we want to try to use our length and athleticism defensively,” O’Neale said. “We want to be active and disruptive. It’s going to be good playing more minutes with him.”

New faces
Heading into the third week of Orlando, the Jazz are simply looking forward to playing against another team. It can certainly be tiring seeing the same faces day after day in practice. The Jazz, like many of the teams in the Orlando bubble, welcome the chance to see opposition.

“Obviously, getting out there and just playing is going to be big for us,” Ingles said. “Getting time on the floor and getting on the same page with each other is important. We’ve played a lot in practice, but it will be nice to play someone different. It will be nice to find out what’s working and what’s not working.”

Ingles said the Jazz have been working on new plays and implementing new sets. For the Jazz, it’s all a part of the process. And the film from the scrimmages will tell a lot, as we are now 10 days from the restart opener featuring Utah and the Pelicans.

Can Rudy Gobert win Defensive Player of the Year for the third consecutive time?
Ingles certainly thinks so.

“Do I think he’s the best defensive player in the league? Absolutely,” Ingles said. “Even if he doesn’t win it, I think everyone knows what he contributes on that end.”

As good as Gobert is, as good as he’s been the past three years on that end, this season included, he’s is a lock to come up short this season. That’s how good Giannis Antetokounmpo has been on the defensive end this season. Milwaukee’s superstar is also close to winning the league’s Most Valuable Player award.

It’s a testament to how good Gobert truly is defensively that he has not been as good on that end individually as he has been in the past, and yet he is still one of the three best defenders in basketball. He’ll make All-Defense again. If he’s fully engaged on that end, he’ll make the Jazz formidable defensively almost single-handedly.

Gobert’s numbers are typical this season. He has averaged 15 points and 13 rebounds per game, along with two blocked shots per outing. He has been a monster protecting the rim, and he improves every season guarding the perimeter on switches. He has had signature moments — a game-saving blocked shot to beat the Dallas Mavericks comes to mind. But for the first time in a long time, Gobert had lapses defensively that bordered on mysterious. They weren’t egregious, but they were noticeable.

Being a tiny beat behind where he has typically been as a defender, combined with Antetokounmpo being an otherworldly defender this season, will likely be enough to prevent Gobert from claiming the award for a third consecutive season.

[ShelC]

Is it gametime yet??

[Mori Chu]

Suns basketball is back today. YES SIR, MOTHER FUCKERS!!!

[Indy]

I think YES SIR MOTHER FUCKERS!!! is the only appropriate response in this thread before the game starts.

[Superbone]

I can't believe the day is here! It's really happening!!!!!!!!!!!

[Nodack]

We could all use some positive news and entertainment about this time.

[bajanguy008]

Wow
So Mori isn't the only person who dreams about Rubio