Kirk Snyder's rookie moment came even before his first NBA preseason game got under way.
"To be honest, I came out — and I tripped . . . I tripped over the little wood piece before you make the entrance on the court," said Snyder, one of the Jazz's two 2004 first-round draft choices. "And I felt like a (fool) . . . I thought I forgot how to run."
Kris Humphries' moment to remember came when Jazz coach Jerry Sloan called his name during Utah's Sunday night preseason win over Seattle, and Humphries took a little too long shedding his extra layers of clothes for Sloan's liking as he tried to get into the game.
"We've got some new stuff," Sloan said to ref Zach Zarba, who cracked a wide grin as the grisly ol' Jazz coach watched 19-year-old Humphries wrestle with his warmups. "Can't get it off very fast."
Humphries finally stripped to his shorts and shirt, then promptly committed a lane violation on a Jazz free-throw attempt.
"First time being out there," the Big Ten Conference's 2004 Freshman of the Year said, "you don't really know what you've got to do when you check in."
Maybe by tonight, when the Jazz play host to the New York Knicks in their exhibition home opener at the Delta Center, both of the young'uns will have things down.
But on Sunday both Snyder, a University of Nevada product, and Humphries, from the University of Minnesota, admitted to being in a bit of awe as they saw their first NBA action — even if it was only preseason play.
"The first couple of minutes," Snyder said, "was just fun being on the bench — just to see guys I've seen on TV, like Carlos Arroyo and (Carlos) Boozer and all these guys. It was just a special moment, and I'll remember it for the rest of my life."
"Just getting out there, getting my feet wet, trying to get used to playing with other people, was exciting," Humphries said. "It was good to get out there, run through our stuff, have an opportunity to play with these veteran guys — guys I've looked up to for a while."
Eventually, both calmed down — and performed rather well.
Humphries got himself going with a fast-break dunk, finished with 14 points in 34 minutes that included 8-of-10 shooting from the free-throw line and afterward spoke like a veteran who knows better than to say too much about one spectacular play.
"Anytime, as a team, we get an easy layup," Humphries said of his impressive jam, "it helps everyone else out.
"Obviously (I was) a little bit nervous," he added, "(but) I've felt comfortable playing against this talent just from practice. Practice is harder than games."
Snyder wound up playing 28 minutes, all trip-free, and finished with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field, including one long bucket that just beat the first-quarter buzzer and another that fell from 3-point range.
"When I was shooting my first jumper," Snyder said, "it was incredible.
"It's like . . . you question yourself. I'm not gonna lie: I had a lot of moxie out there, but inside my head, I was thinking, 'This is my time. I haven't been on a game floor. Playing against the SuperSonics, in front of (Sonics coach) Nate McMillan — sitting right there. I mean, this is crazy.'"
Crazy, maybe, but real, for certain.
"After that," Snyder said of the initial shot that got him going, "it was just like playing like I've always played."
Not everything, however, was the same. Even afterward, there were lessons to be learned.
"Let me give you some advice," Jazz vet Matt Harpring, fully dressed, told Humphries, who stood, draped only by a towel, in an otherwise empty locker room. "As a rookie, I wouldn't be the last one out of here."
NOTES: Regulars Boozer (lower-back strain), Raja Bell (groin strain) and Curtis Borchardt (sore right foot) did not play in the Jazz's preseason opener Sunday, but all practiced Monday and are expected to be available tonight . . . Free-agent guard Jason Miskiri sustained a hip strain Sunday, did not practice Monday and will not play tonight . . . Jazz backup point guard Raul Lopez will miss his second exhibition game while rehabbing his weak right leg.
Jazz Preseason
Utah vs. New York
When: Today, 7 p.m.
Where: Delta Center
Radio: KFNZ, 1320 AM
TV: None
E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com