It was a special day. You can’t articulate the respect, admiration and appreciation we have for the servicemen and servicewomen and what they do on a daily basis for us. – Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder
HILL AIR FORCE BASE — The main idea was to entertain the military members and their families for an hour or so, but while they were at it, the Utah Jazz wanted to see the progress they had made during their first week of practice as they prepare for the upcoming season.
Both were accomplished Friday afternoon at the Warrior Fitness Center at Hill Air Force Base where the Jazz team made their first-ever appearance in their first scrimmage of the 2017-18 season.
The Jazz played eight four-minute quarters with no timeouts and brief breaks between quarters and at halftime in a game that lasted a little more than an hour. The Gray team beat the Blue team 49-41, but that didn’t mean a lot as most of the main players played on both sides during the scrimmage.
In all, it was a successful day all around.
“It was a special day,” said Jazz head coach Quin Snyder. “You can’t articulate the respect, admiration and appreciation we have for the servicemen and servicewomen and what they do on a daily basis for us. To be able to come and play here . . . gives you a chance to reflect, myself and the whole team. We discussed the sacrifices the people here on this base make for us and their families make.”
“Man, it was awesome to get a chance to come out here and sign some autographs and take some pictures,” added Joe Johnson. “It was fun — we had a great time, so I hope they enjoyed it.”
As for the play on the basketball court in front of about 500 fans, Snyder was pleased.
“We really moved the ball, we played the right way,” he said. “We were efficient offensively and defense is something that’s ingrained in us. Obviously we had breakdowns here and there. They were looking forward to playing. It’s always different when you’re going up and down, the clock’s on and you’re keeping score. I think our guys enjoyed it.”
Snyder also praised his team’s depth, which will be one of its strengths this year. The depth was evident Friday with several players showing off their skills with no one player dominating.
Fifteen players scored with Rudy Gobert and Dante Exum leading the way with about a dozen points each as no official stats were kept. Ricky Rubio wowed the crowd with his passing, several no-look passes including one to Gobert for a dunk early in the game and a couple that caught his teammates off guard for turnovers. Rookie Donovan Mitchell scored several baskets, mostly on floaters in the lane and also had a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter.
Two players coming back from injury-plagued seasons, Derrick Favors and Alec Burks, both looked sharp, Favors with some smooth moves around the basket and Burks with a 3-pointer and the dunk of the game when he went flying down the lane on a fast break and finished with a one-handed slam.
Exum, who will be fighting for time this season behind Rubio at the point, and perhaps with several others on the wing, was impressive in the second half when he got to the basket several times for scores and also sank a 3-pointer.
“I thought he attacked, which is something we know he can do,” said Snyder of Exum. “I thought he made good decisions and tried to run the club too.”
The Jazz will be back at practice this weekend before playing the Sydney Kings, a professional team from Australia, on Monday night in their first game at the renovated Vivint Arena. The Jazz then play Wednesday night against Maccabi Haifa from Israel before Friday night's game against the Phoenix Suns.