10 Takeaways From Jazz Summer League Day 3

By Greg Foster | Jul 10, 2015

Feb 25, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz guard

Bryce Cotton

(8) during warm-ups prior to the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at EnergySolutions Arena. The Lakers won 100-97. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

The Utah Jazz Summer League has come and gone. The court has been mopped, the lockers have been cleaned out and the practice jerseys have been given back to the equipment managers. But these memories, they’re going to last forever.

Suffice it to say, #JazzSummer got kicked off in a big way over the last week, with the resurrected summer league being an unmitigated success. Last night, we got to see our boys build a double-digit lead against the Philadelphia 76ers, only to relinquish it and then battle back for the W in overtime. Yes, that meant FREE SUMMER BASKETBALL!!! Sign me up.

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I was at the ESA last night, nephew on one side, pen and pad on the other. And once again, I jotted down 10 things we can takeaway from the Jazz’s 84-78 victory.

10) Jazz – Rodney Hood + Dante Exum = bummer

Injuries are a part of the game. A big, steaming part of the game. They all but ruined the playoffs for me this last season—don’t tell me the Finals were better without Kyrie Irving or Kevin Love—and I hate them more than just about anything.

The NBA is a league that relies on star power. The Jazz “stars” for this summer league were Dante Exum and Rodney Hood. They were the two best players on the floor Monday against the Boston Celtics. Not having them be able to play kind of sucked.

9) Jerami Grant did this

You know something is special when your nine-year old nephew looks over to you with eyes the size of small planets and screams, “did you just see that?!?!” Oh man, Jerami Grant sent Brock Motum to the crossroads. RIP, kiddo. If this happened to me, I would probably take my jersey off right there, walk off the court straight to my car, and proceed to drive home to bury myself in a bottomless pillow fort of sadness.

Also, this play was a decent summary of Brock’s summer league performance.

8) Jahlil Okafor was very meh

Cooley made some crucial plays down the stretch. In three straight possessions, he blocked a Jahlil Okafor shot, hit two free throws to tie the game and then forced a turnover to send the game into overtime

Jahlil Okafor was a beast his first two games, averaging 15.5 points and 9 boards. Last night he somewhat flamed out. He dropped 11 points and 6 boards to go along with 6 turnovers. At times he looked brilliant on the block, others he looked flustered and confused.

I’ve said it from Jump Street, Jahlil Okafor is Al Jefferson 2.0. He’s going to have a nice career, but he has plenty of flaws and is far removed from being a finished product. I also have no idea how he fits in with Philly, and to be fair, I don’t think they do either.

7) Three-point shooting was terrible once again

We all better hope that the law office of Burke and Burks along with Rodney Hood, Gordon Hayward, Joe Ingles and Dante Exum can get buckets from long range, because it doesn’t look like anyone else can. The Jazz were 2-12 from behind the arc last night (16.7%) and finished summer league shooting a hair over 25%. Yikes.

6) Start drinking the Cooley Aid

I stole that headline from Jody Genessy, it was too good not to. Jack Cooley was flat-out awesome, and posted a PER that’s broken the internet—slightly.

Along with his usual bruising in the paint and beasting on the boards, Cooley made some crucial plays down the stretch. In three straight possessions, he blocked a Jahlil Okafor shot, hit two free throws to tie the game and then forced a turnover to send the game into overtime. I’m hoping to see this guy in a Jazz uniform come preseason.

5) Speaking of Jazz uniforms, give one to Bryce Cotton

I hope like hell this kid sticks. He’s got heart and he plays with a certain fiery tenacity. Last night, Bryce Cotton spent the fourth quarter showing the 76ers how to truly impersonate Allen Iverson. He dunked, hit floaters in the paint, put a defender on his back with a filthy crossover, splashed step back jumpers and hit clutch free throws. More importantly, he led the Jazz to the W while screaming out “this is my s**t!”

Cotton finished the game with 20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.

Utah’s point guard position is loaded, with Dante Exum, Trey Burke and newly signed, Raul Neto. My dream scenario is to see Neto in the D-League to get acclimated this season, opening up a spot for Cotton. We’ve seen what he can do in the league, while Neto is a big question mark. I’ll put my money on the sure thing every time.

4) Trey Lyles can hoop

I know it’s summer league and the competition is lackluster, but Trey Lyles showed me some things last night. He passed the eyeball test. Yes, I could nitpick and say he should’ve grabbed more rebounds or set better picks, but the important thing remains, Trey can play.

Watching him, it’s apparent Lyles has a high basketball IQ. He made smart plays on defense, especially when rotating and cutting his man off to deny easy buckets. On the other end of the floor, after a shaky start, Lyles settled in and started hitting shots. Shots that stretched the defense and kept the 76ers honest. We’ve all been wanting a stretch-four and Lyles just might fit the bill.

Trey finished with 10 points in 21 minutes.

Trey made one play in particular that made me jump out of my seat: a gorgeous, defense-splitting bounce pass off a pick-and-roll that led to a two-handed Jack Cooley smash in overtime. Do y’all know how rare a four-to-five pick-and-roll is? Holy smokes. Having a power forward who can initiate and run an offense is a wonderful commodity. Let’s hope he can keep it up.

3) The Utah Jazz have the best fans in the NBA

Over 12,000 die-hard Jazz fans showed up last night to watch a SUMMER LEAGUE GAME IN JULY! I rest my case.

I can’t wait to see what the ESA will be like in April when the Jazz make the playoffs.

2) Undefeated

Uncork the champagne, raise the banner, and shine up the ring pops, our Utah Jazz just went 3-0 in the Summer League that shares their name. I hereby crown them the official champs. Way to go, guys.

1) Vegas, baby
Wait, you mean to tell me that we get to do this all over again come tomorrow? And it’s in Vegas?!?! If I go missing this weekend, tell my wife I’m on a spiritual quest and I’ll call her on Monday.

Hopefully, we get to see the triumvirate of Lyles, Hood and Exum roll the dice together in Sin City. My DVR is already set.

I love summer hoops. Let’s keep doing this forever, okay?

Next: Does Raul Neto Bump Bryce Cotton?

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