The Utah Jazz (2-1) returned to practice today after a successful 3-game road trip to open up the season. After falling in the season opener to the Detroit Pistons, the Jazz bounced back with wins against the Philadelphia 76ers and Indiana Pacers. The Jazz will play their regular season home opener Wednesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers at 7:00 PM at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
Here is the audio of forward Derrick Favors with the media after practice:
Derrick Favors has played well through the first 3 games as he is leading the team in scoring at 21.3 points per game. He is also grabbing 8.3 rebounds a game. Rudy Gobert is doing it once again defensively as he is blocking 3.7 shots a game as well as averaging a team high 13.3 boards a game. Alec Burks and Trey Burke have both been sparks off the bench through the early part of the season. Burke struggled in game 1 but bounced back with 2 good performances in their last two games. Gordon Hayward is averaging 12.0 points per game but is struggling from the field as he is only shooting averaging 35.3%. He will definitely need to pick that up if the Jazz want to remain successful. He most likely will, it is probably just early season woes.
Utah Jazz Head Coach Quin Snyder talked with the media after practice. Here is that audio:
Defensively, the Utah Jazz have been outstanding, as they are allowing 79.7 points per game. They rank fist in the NBA in points allowed per game. The Jazz still aren’t where they need to be offensively as they rank 24th in the NBA at 94.3 points per game. They need to be closer to the 100 points per game average. They are also low in assists per game at 16.3 (28th in the NBA). The team is less than 50% on assist to basket ratio. That has to improve. If it does, their scoring will most likely go up and they will be a more efficient team on offense.
Utah Jazz guard Rodney Hood talked with the media after practice. Here is the audio:
This week will be a good test for the Jazz as they have 3 games in 4 nights. It will be interesting to see how they do on the road on Thursday against the Denver Nuggets as that will be on a back-to-back. The Jazz wrap up the week at home against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.
