Oct 9, 2014; Portland, OR, USA; Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder signals to his team during the first quarter of the game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center at the Rose Quarter. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports
Excitement in the 801 is already palpable. And for good reason. The Utah Jazz are 3-0 to start the preseason as the Quin Snyder era is off to a roaring start with a visibly improved defense and a dynamic offense that prompted Doc Rivers to pride by forcing his Los Angeles Clippers starters to actually play in a preseason tilt far longer than anticipated. These Utah Jazz are already a must-watch 2014-15 NBA League Pass team. And it’s only preseason.
Take, for instance, the preseason matchups with Western Conference powerhouse Portland Trail Blazers.
The Jazz spanked the Blazers in their preseason opener in Utah, showcasing transition defense and a motion offense that netted all five Jazz starters double figures, then went up to Oregon to get some more two days later. Portland head coach Terry Stotts had stuck to his guns in Game 1, saying his starters would play only 20 minutes. And that’s exactly what they played.
Game 2 in Portland, Stotts, at home, wanted a W for the fans, and Blazers starters played an extra few minutes building a late lead in the fourth quarter, before he’d pull them to sit, not risking something on what amounts to nothing on the time clock of an NBA season.
But Quin Snyder wasn’t playing around.
Snyder put his starters back in, and behind, to finish the game. And they ultimately pulled out a close comeback that came right down to the wire largely due the clutch play of Trey Burke. The same Trey Burke who had broken his finger a year before in the preseason and had to watch the Jazz start his rookie campaign 1-13 without him as their starting point guard.
Risky, by NBA preseason standards. Maybe even stupid, among veteran coaches.
It might seem petty, but there’s a purpose to Snyder’s seeming madness; building chemistry while learning for himself what these guys can do as a unit or units.
Then came the Clippers — with an aging San Antonio Spurs and a hobbled Kevin Durant in OKC, maybe the favorite to win the West in 2014-15.
Doc Rivers didn’t intend to play his big boys so long. But the Jazz built a ridiculous lead that left the now-dominant LA franchise licking wounds they hadn’t counted upon versus the supposed lowly Utah franchise in the midst of a rebuild.
Just asked a player in the Jazz lockerroom how hard the Clip starters were playing. He said "Don't get it twisted, they were trying to win"
— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) October 14, 2014
This wasn't quite like the Portland game when the starters only played half the game. Clippers' first five each went between 26-31 minutes.
— Jody Genessy (@DJJazzyJody) October 14, 2014
This is what Quin Snyder evokes in the competition, the want to win. They want to beat him. Why? Because he has a will to beat them down, humiliate them, even in the preseason. And they don’t like that stepping outside the box, the norm, that comfort zone of how it’s supposed to be done. How it is done.
How dare Snyder break rank? Does he not understand how the game is played, or is supposed to be played? You simply don’t play your best players late in a preseason game, for goodness sake. The nerve!
And yet, no one made Stotts or Rivers attempt to respond. And yet they did.
Quin Snyder has a little of that nasty in him. He’ll make you grind your teeth, bite your lip, wipe your brow. Because he can.
Ask any Utah Jazz fan if they’re excited for this season. Go ahead. Take a second. Jazzland is thrilled beyond belief for what they can see coming, and for good reason.
The Utah Jazz are a watchable team at the least this year, and with Quin Snyder manipulating the pawns, may even check your king. Y’know, just for fun.