Utah Jazz: Three takeaways from training camp with preseason looming

#1 Team is gelling quickly

During Utah Jazz Media Day, almost every player expressed that this would be a group that would be able to come together quickly and form a tight-knit bond and chemistry. That was exciting news for Jazz fans to hear considering that the cohesion that this team has built over the past two seasons has been an enormous factor contributing to their overall success.

But after losing key glue guys such as Derrick Favors, Jae Crowder and Ricky Rubio, some were concerned that perhaps the team would take a step back in that category this upcoming year. Obviously, they’ll have to prove their chemistry throughout the grind of an 82-game season (plus playoffs), but early indications are that things are going excellently on that front.

Donovan Mitchell recently spoke of his new teammate Mike Conley with the following praise (per UtahJazz.com):

"“Mike’s a guy I try to learn as much as I can from. We’re gelling a lot faster than I anticipated. Just with his knowledge of the game, the names are different but the schemes are the same. He’s giving me feedback on certain things, how to slow myself down, how to find guys. It’s going well.”"

The Conley-Mitchell dynamic is an important one as the two of them figure to be the Jazz’s two best offensive options and they have a chance to be one of the best backcourt duos in the league. Utah has desperately needed a second playmaker to pair alongside Mitchell, and they got it in a big way in Conley who appears to also be serving as a solid mentor to Donovan and the rest of his teammates.

Conley has built a reputation as a great teammate and a guy who’s very easy to get along with and play next to, so it only seems fitting that he would mesh well with this squad right out of the gates.

Meanwhile, after an earlier practice, Rudy Gobert spoke to the media and when asked about how quickly the new teammates were coming together, he was pleased to relay that the chemistry was advancing quite well, and even cited Bojan Bogdanovic throwing him a lob on the very first play as evidence.

That’s an excellent sign to see so many talented guys coming together so well. The lack of egos and drive to win among all these players should produce absolutely phenomenal results.

Gobert wasn’t the only one to praise Bogey as Mitchell also mentioned joking that it seemed as if Bogdanovic “never misses” and he must “shoot 90 percent from 3.” Mitchell also added the following about Bogey:

"“When I’m in transition, he’s the first guy I’m looking for. Him and Joe. When you see those guys, defenses spread. So maybe next time I’m driving, or Mike’s driving or Rudy’s in the lane.”"

That image of Mitchell getting to the paint, Joe and Bogey on the corners and Rudy available for the lob or putback is one that should have Jazz fans salivating.

Last of all, I just mentioned Bogdanovic throwing a lob to Rudy on the first play of practice, but it appears that Bojan isn’t the only one throwing oops. When asked about the team’s early chemistry, Mike Conley mentioned that he’d already thrown more lobs during training camp than he has in a long time. That was expanded on by him mentioning that acclimating to his new teammates has been easy, thanks largely to the players around him and the system Coach Snyder has put in place.

In other words, things appear to be going extremely smoothly on the chemistry front. Despite the new faces and changes in personnel, this team looks to be getting along excellently. Ideally we’ll see a sampling of that chemistry in place in Saturday’s bout against Adelaide, then even more so once the regular season gets underway on October 23rd.