Jazz Newcomers Must Improve Defense, Adapt To Playing With Gobert
Oct 16, 2019, 1:17 PM
Bojan Bogdanovic #44 of the Utah Jazz drives past Jack McVeigh #9 of the Adelaide 36ers at Vivint Smart Home Arena on October 5, 2019 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
(Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz newcomers are still getting used to playing with Rudy Gobert, but they admit it’s all going to come down to effort.
Forward Bojan Bogdanovic was pretty plain in explaining what the Utah Jazz need to work on in their final preseason game against Portland tonight at 7:00 p.m. at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
“We have to be better on the defensive end, especially on transition defense, we struggled a lot,” Bogdanovic said.
— Mike Conley (@mconley11) October 16, 2019
It’s an obvious answer.
Utah has given up an average of 130 points per game in their three preseason games against NBA opponents. They allowed Sacramento to score 78 points in the first half of Monday’s game. That all changed in the third quarter when Utah held the kings to only 23 points in the quarter and it would have been 20 if not for Marvin Bagley’s 3-pointer with 19.5 seconds left in the period.
It wasn’t lost on Bogdanovic and fellow newcomer Jeff Green – they noticed a difference in the second half.
“We know what we have to do to be a better defensive team,” said Green. “A lot of it, for the new guys, is getting the terminology down and getting the rotations down and that stuff takes time.”
Green admitted that it starts with better communication and getting used to having two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert backing him up. After Green fouled a member of the Kings, Gobert told him he had Green’s back.
Through four preseason games, here’s what we have, and have yet to learn from the @UtahJazz. https://t.co/pr6wHbs2cw
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) October 15, 2019
“I have to get out of the habit of over-helping (on defense) because that was the norm for myself in the defensive schemes that I’ve been a part of. Trusting (Gobert’s) abilities is something I’ve watched from a far, but it’s something I have to get used to,” Green explained.
Head coach Quin Snyder hopes that happens quickly.
“To change some of those habits, it does take time. Sometimes it takes competition to give you an urgency that I need to do this…After 18 games last year, we were 18th in defense and we ended up with a pretty good defense,” said Snyder.
Quin talking about #UtahJazz defense. #takenote pic.twitter.com/dU924Dllhh
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) October 15, 2019
The head coach recognized they had different guys playing defense last year and that everyone needs to be patient. He added that this current team cares about playing good team defense and they are okay with being held accountable to the Jazz’s high defensive standards.
As for Green, it’s all about trying a bit harder, like in that third quarter against the Kings.
“(It’s an) an individual effort and pride thing. You can have all the schemes in the world but if you’re not putting forth the effort, it won’t work,” Green concluded.
