SALT LAKE CITY — Rodney Hood couldn’t help but break out into a smile on Monday.
This happy face wasn’t during the rookie’s NBA preseason debut when he scored 12 points and hit two 3-pointers with his silky smooth, left-handed release in the Utah Jazz’s 102-89 blowout win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
And it certainly wasn’t before the game when he sat in his locker deep in the bowels of EnergySolutions Arena looking like butterflies were practicing flight patterns in his insides.
Earlier in the day, Hood and veteran sharpshooter Steve Novak engaged in a post-shootaround 3-point contest that came down to the end.
Novak, proving he’s a wily man who’s been around the league for a while, edged out a victory over the player who missed the first two preseason games with a right hip flexor strain.
“He won by one,” Hood said. “He made me laugh on the last shot.”
Hours later, the soon-to-be 22-year-old had plenty of reasons to smile.
Hood, whose birthday is Oct. 20, was terrific in his first taste of NBA action, which included his first minutes of the exhibition season and his first start because of a new injury to Alec Burks (right shoulder bruise).
“Clearly,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said, “he had an impact on the game with his ability to space the floor.”
Hood missed his first shot — a 19-foot jumper six minutes into the game. But the 2014 second-team All-ACC player swished his next attempt on the following possession — a corner 3 that ignited an 8-0 run and a surprising rout.
“I had a sigh of relief,” Hood admitted. “I was a little anxious, a little nervous, and when that one went down, I just relaxed a little bit and it came to me.”
Hood even added a couple of drives, including one particularly nice-looking floater. At one point, he about caused Jazz fans to lose their voice when he caught the ball and quickly drained what seemed to be a shot-clock-beating 3-pointer.
The points were later taken away because time had expired.
The excitement about this rookie’s performance — in Utah’s third preseason win, no less — carried on.
“He was good offensively,” Snyder said.
If you’re anticipating that the coach then tempered the Hood hysteria with some reality, well yeah, that happened.
Snyder let Hood know — and will remind him again in practice — that he ran into some screens, “got discouraged,” and stopped pursuing and competing on a couple of defensive possessions, and had “some breakdowns” during his team-high 33-minute outing.
“It was a lot of possessions where I did my job and the few possessions where I didn’t (Snyder) got on me about contesting shots even when I feel like I’m out of the play,” Hood said. “It’s something that in practice we’ll take care of.”
But Snyder also credited his fellow Dukie for working hard on the defensive end while mostly going against yet another Coach K alumnus, JJ Redick. The Clippers guard, who kept Hood busy roaming in and out of beefy road blocks, scored 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, finishing behind Blake Griffin’s 31 points for team-high scoring honors.
“It’s hard to chase JJ Redick,” Snyder said. “It’s good for him to have to do that.”
“That reminded me of watching him from Duke, just running around,” Hood said of Redick, who’s 10 years his senior. “He’s a great player, a very professional shooter. There’s not many of those around. It was great just to get a chance to compete with him.”
All the better that Hood’s older brother, Ricky Hood Jr., and sister-in-law flew into town on Monday in time to watch him compete in his first game.
The younger Hood wasn’t completely satisfied with his night, even though it resulted in him being one of six Jazz players in double figures. Point guard Trey Burke had another solid outing with 16 points and eight assists against Chris Paul, Derrick Favors had a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds, and backup big Rudy Gobert hauled in 20 boards and scored 11 points.
Hood said he needs to improve his game speed. He knows those occasional defensive lapses won’t cut it. He also wants to “continue to put more pressure on the rim,” giving him chances to make more of the floaters he’s been working on with Jazz coaches. The 6-foot-8, 215-pounder’s outside accuracy and athleticism could make him a tough defensive matchup with consistency.
Even before the grand opening, Jazz swingman Gordon Hayward said he believes Hood is “ready to contribute at the NBA level” judging on what he’s done in camp. That’s not counting the fact that Hood led the ACC in 3-point shooting last season or putting into account his 7-for-9, 29-point performance from beyond the arc in the summer league against former teammate Jabari Parker.
“(He’s) a guy who can space the floor. He’s shown the ability to knock down shots and he’s not afraid to knock down shots,” Hayward said. “I think that’s huge just to be able to come in and believe in yourself in this league and not be afraid to make plays and be a contributor on the team.”
That is precisely the advice Novak has been giving him in camp.
“The things I’ve talked to him about is just being the border of confident/arrogant. I feel like as a shooter you’ve got to really, really be confident in shooting the ball,” Novak said. “He’s such a nice kid it could almost be a flaw for him. He doesn’t want to be selfish ever, which is great but with his skillset you want him to shoot the ball when he’s open.”
The 31-year-old Novak, now in his ninth season, said he recently gave Hood some advice.
“Be aggressive.”
“Think in your head this is going up and it’s going in.”
“Don’t apologize.”
“The NBA is new for him,” Novak added. “I think once he gets that confidence up, he’ll be a very, very good player in this league.”
Hood, who was also on the All-ACC academic team last season, appreciates the counsel from a guy like Novak, who is a career .432 3-point shooter.
“I'm trying to get up to his level and just trying to learn as much as I could from him,” Hood said. “He’s told me little things, like when you’re fatigued to always keep your form.”
Speaking of Novak, Snyder smiled when asked what he hoped the Meridian, Mississippi, native would learn from the old gunslinger.
“If he could become as good of a shooter as Steve,” Snyder said as his voice trailed off.
Snyder was smiling, but he certainly wasn’t joking. He appreciates the mentorship Novak has given to Hood in the past month, too.
“Steve has a really good way about him, both with his work ethic and he has a way of keeping things in perspective,” Snyder said as he continued his thoughts about Hood and Novak. “Maybe that happens to you as you get older and you go through some things and you know you can’t live and die on every shot or every game.”
Snyder smiled when asked about how Hood was just the fourth player to be allowed to transfer to Duke in Mike Krzyzewski’s regime.
“I think any coach or program would want Rodney to be recruited or to transfer in,” Snyder said. “It has everything (to do) with the fact that he’s got a lot of character and is a really, really good player.”
A humble player for his teammates to tease, too.
Novak wasn’t the only older teammate on Monday to get a grin out of Hood, by the way.
Sitting within earshot of the rookie’s locker, veteran power forward Trevor Booker was asked about Hood’s playing premiere.
“Rodney came in, he did aight (all right),” Booker said.
Hood, soon to feel his first postgame media onslaught, softly chuckled as Booker continued.
“Nah, (Rodney) came in and he did a great job tonight, especially for his first game,” the fifth-year Booker said. “I’m sure he’s going to keep improving. He’s going to be a fun player to watch.”
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