This is a pretty good spot to start the road trip, because you'll know measurably how this team stacks up against one of the very best in the entire league.

Yeah, it's similar to the opening night game against the Grizzlies, and then a few days later you follow up with the rematch at home at the Delta Center, which the Jazz lost, but also that was the game where both Jaron and Lowry went down, so it was a little bit, you know... interesting dynamic during that game.

But you saw some tangible improvements in that rematch against the Grizzlies, specifically guarding Ty Jerome.

And now you're looking at what can they do against the Spurs after that overtime loss a few days ago.

It's a little bit weird that the schedule has already seen multiple rematches, but that's just how it is.

Again, you're looking at, you know, an interesting dynamic of guarding San Antonio's really small lineup.

And now Lowry is back to the Jazz, do have more size this time around.

Going against San Antonio really helps them to understand what we need to do every single night, what level of physicality has to be brought at the NBA level that Denny, Dame, they all impressed me that day.

If he continues to show this, again, year three not being a fluke, the contract extension in the offseason, showing the strides, he is the clear leader of the group, and which makes these games against the Spurs even more highlighted and more important in showing how good he's been all year.

Yeah, I mean, the playmaking and the scoring combination has been elite so far.

So is the efficiency.

But it's also just the way he is carrying himself on and off the floor.

I mean, you know, you go into the locker room and talk to him after that Spurs loss.

And his main takeaway was that this team has to reach and tap into a level that they've never tapped into before in order to win these games.

And that's gonna be hard, obviously.

What can make a successful road trip for the club?

Your reaction to Jaron and the announcement of the MCL tear?

And Keontae has talked about those two as the head of the snake for the Jazz from even as far as last year when they got Jaron.

And the big talking point heading into the season was the limited playing time that Jaron had with Keontae and Lowry.

And what this does, like you said, Lauren, is it just kind of stalls the momentum that they can try and build early in the season.

Obviously, Yusuf Nurkic was out to begin.

Jaron goes down.

I do think the silver lining...

I

For them to not have the ball security absolutely impacted the way that the game went, and they need to siphon those off so that they're taking more security of the ball.

Yeah, I mean, I looked it up this morning because it does feel like the jazz have just been constantly turning it over the whole season.

And they have, you know, they have 53 turnovers through three games.

There are actually eight teams that have turned it over more through three games.

The Clippers have 70 turnovers in their first three games of the season.

Not to say that the jazz don't have to clean it up.

They do.

So it is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Rebounding, missing Yusuf Nurkic, and that showed out.

Yeah, I mean, I think the rebounding, 55 to 38 overall by the end of the game for the Grizzlies.

And, I mean, you are going up against one of the most physical front courts in the league with Zach Eady and Cam Boozer.

You know, you aren't going to always face that level of sheer physicality when trying to box them out.

But, you know, with Nurk's absence, I think everyone focused on first the rebounding, then secondary the playmaking that you get from him.

Not as much talked about was his screening.

I mean, he is one of the best screeners in the league on and off the ball.

And I wonder how Darren goes about trying to meet those, because turnovers are a big issue that Will wants to keep down possession battle and also making sure that they're making the right reads within the offense to keep the ball moving so it doesn't get sticky.

Explain to me why Keontae George and Darren Peterson together can become the best versions of themselves in unison.

I think it's just because both of them can dribble, shoot, and pass.

And that's kind of what you need to do as a backcourt.

I think, you know, Keontae's development as this breakout guy last year, you know, was slow during his first two years.

But that was, you know, he enters the league, he's playing point guard, then he's playing off guard, then he's playing point guard again.

And now with Darren, they can kind of balance it where some possessions Keontae brings it up and initiates, some possessions Darren brings it up and initiates.

Both of them can shoot off the ball, so there's no concerns about if one guy's attacking, there's not enough force spacing.

Will Hardy, Will Hardy, explain to me the Will Hardy thing.

to trade away Walker Kessler in a season that everybody's anticipating to be much better than they've had in previous years.

it was one of the defining transactions of the summer.

I think another one, which also happened in this division, we'll get to later.

But, you know, the asset price and the flexibility that you get with those assets, I think was, you know, what sealed the decision.

And it would have been a financial crunch to keep Walker, re-sign Chianti, Lowry, Jaron, and still have sufficient depth in subsequent seasons.

And, you know, a lot of it is kind of And wanting to see, you know, how good is maybe the main core of this team before we decide to kind of choose the center for the long term? How good is Darren in year one? How good is year two and ace? I think we both have high expectations.

How good is the pairing of Lowry and Jaron? Can Chianti improve off of last season and become an all-star? The other young guys, does anyone take a year three or year four leap and become a solid rotation player? There are still a lot of questions on the roster that you kind of want to evaluate before you say, this is for sure our guy at center at this X, Y, and Z price.

And it is a new spot for Cody Williams for a team that has a 47 and a half over under after a 49 and 33 season.

Yeah

... that Will has written down in his office.

And, um, I think it kinda speaks to how he approaches leadership with the Jazz, is understanding his role.

He is the head coach, very visible figure, you know.

When a team loses, what happens? Fans blame the coach.

"Oh, you didn't make this rotation.

You didn't call that timeout.

But they've completely turned over a starting five that won them a series against the Houston Rockets to this year.

Victor Wambanyama comes into this building and he's going to be a handful for whoever the Jazz put out there at the center position, even if they were at full strength.

Yeah, I mean, this is a guy where, you know, even if Nurk is out there, it's a tough cover.

I mean, he is a game-changing force on the defensive end.

And it will be interesting, I think, to see not only tonight, but also, you know, moving forward in those early regular season matchups of how much do the Jazz try and go with the Carl Anthony Towns approach like the Knicks did in the finals.

You know, really space out Wemby, have him guard a big man that can shoot from beyond the arc and see what that does in terms of being able to get into the paint and finish around the basket.

Because if you're going into the paint and Wemby is there, you're not finishing, probably.

You're kicking it out, and you're driving kick, and you're record-scratching the offense a little bit.

What do you expect from the Houston Rockets this

He goes off for 23 points, 30 minutes, 10 of 18 from the floor in a game that was a bounce back from what Will Hardy termed in his first one, not the same Darren Peterson that they saw during training camp.

Yeah, I think the process overall looked pretty good in that first game, but I mean, he amped up, you know, volume, intensity, everything in that second game and, you know, 10 of 18 from the field, but it was really, it was nine of 12 inside the arc.

The three-ball still hasn't been falling yet, but I mean, the main takeaway was him getting to his spots in the mid-range.

He had a couple nice and one finishes around the paint, including one off a nice cut, um, but he would either, both with the ball in his hands, but then also coming off a handoff, couple dribbles, get into the body, go up for the shot, and he made, you know, I think seven mid-range jumpers in that game.

And I, I don't wanna sound crazy, Mo Bamba said this at media day, there was something, even though they played very differently, Darren's a quicker guard, Kawhi is not a quicker guard, he's a more of a methodical wing, but there was something to how he was operating in the mid-range in that Tuesday game about just, like, he knew he wanted to get to this spot.

He knew he was gonna embrace physicality to create enough separation, and he did both and hit the jumper, and there was something a little bit, just small smidge of Kawhi-esqueness to that performance.

And then you factor in h- his demeanor of, you know, kind of being more of a reserved guy, just all about the work.

Mm-hmm.

This is a big blow to the Jazz's center depth, which was a question that we had coming into this season.

Yeah, one of the primary talking points, I think, heading in, obviously, Walker Kessler trade in the offseason was gained a lot of attention.

How the Jazz are going to overcome Kessler's absence was a talking point heading into media day.

It's a big blow.

I think it's not season-ending.

There is a scenario where Nurk can come back within four to five weeks and be back early to mid-November, which is still that period where teams are still finding a rhythm.

Obviously, much has been made about how vital Nurk is within the Jazz offense specifically, with all the backdoor cuts and off-ball actions and his screening.

Hayes being different from Nurkic, the style of the way that the Jazz play is different from what initially we thought going into the season.

Keontae George, Darren Peterson, Lowry Markkinen, Jaron Jackson Jr., and Yusuf Nurkic, the first five that Will Hardy throws out there.

Probably, I mean, the lineup that most people expected, I think.

When you look at the need for additional ball handling, I think that's what gives Darren the start.

Last night, we'll see, obviously, you know, Will can obviously change it up tomorrow night, the rest of the preseason for opening night.

But, you know, wanting to get extra look at Keontae and Darren in the backcourt, wanting to get the extra ball handling, get Darren playing alongside the team's three leaders and see how he can fit in with that.

There were cold spells with that group offensively in the early going, both in the first and second quarters.

And I think there was an injection of size and athleticism when Ace Bailey came off the bench and Svi obviously was knocking down shots.

Will, heading into this game, what's going to be something that will be the identity of the team heading into it? He brought up that they share the ball, and that's what we saw in the first game.

Defense was brought up with all three players of those guys.

Probably the biggest theme and talking point heading into the season, and understandably so.

Obviously, finishing 29th in defensive rating last year.

Everyone knows that that won't cut it if they want to have success this season.

I thought there was a lot of...

Jaron's comments, I think, were really interesting about his role specifically.

Obviously, former Defensive Player of the Year.

How are they going to recreate what they had last year? Nas Reed has to be a big part of it.

How do they address that with the players that they have? Yusuf Nurkic played pretty well last year.

Yeah, and that's why Austin said he was a priority to get him back this season.

I think Kyle Filipowski himself had one of the more interesting quotes about the center rotation, just talking about how each of them provides such different skill sets that it's kind of a committee approach.

You've got Nurk, who's a great playmaker, great on the defensive glass, great screen setter.

Flip is also a great passer as well.

Jackson Hayes talked about getting up for lobs, bringing that athleticism onto the floor.

And Mo Bamba talked about his shooting, but also his experience as a defensive anchor, which he was tasked with doing as a rookie for the magic.

Different things will be prioritized.

You know, there's going to be a lot of moments along the way, hopefully, that we're celebrating, and this is just one of them.

And talked about him being kind of the first homegrown guy that you guys have re-signed.

You've had a lot of messages to the team over the past few years.

One of them was that no one's coming to save them.

And Keontae's talked about living that every single day.

How does his journey, his trajectory, him getting to this point, signing this contract, help when establishing the culture for the rest of the locker room as other guys are coming in and they can look at Keontae as an example? I

serve.

Soft serve, yeah.

What was your initial gut check?

Yeah, I mean, I think it's been a story for the entire league with that 2023 draft class being eligible now.

I mean, Thompson got his deal.

Brandon Miller, there's a lot of talk about him getting a contract.

I think for Keontae and the Jazz, it's just the natural progression of how this relationship has developed over the past three years.

He has become not only a much improved player on the court, one of the most dynamic offensive guards, young offensive guards in the league, but a true leader in the locker room.

I mean, if you hear him last year, he is taking ownership of this team, organizing group trips to Dallas.

What did he say about how much of the bond was formed during the dinners, during just the off the court stuff that even we saw Ryan and Will were running alongside them?

Different than college.

So different than college.

That's such a huge thing that I don't think people talk about enough is all these college teams that like to play two bigs that don't shoot, and they're not emphasizing spacing, and then you get to an NBA-level game, and you see all the spacing.

Even Darren talked about it post-game.

That's one of the things that he took away from outside of the fact that everyone was just bigger and stronger was just the added spacing and he came down um one of those pin down screens in the fourth quarter i think caught the ball a little bit inside the arc had the advantage got that tough finish no no foul called but it could have been an and one and that's going to be part of his game that's going to be part of the jazz offense and you know you throw in a guy like ace bailey who had done a lot of those things last year you want more weapons and the jazz have a lot of weapons heading into this next season

Those are the things that you want to see.

Yeah, I mean, I think he was he was definitely building on last season where he thrived as a cutter.

He could finish around the basket and then obviously provided his defense.

Yeah.

But, I mean, when he was on the court this year for those first five games and obviously the past couple years, they have been a really good offensive rebounding team.

And you look at a team, I mean, Houston is the classic example everyone talks about with the offensive rebounding where they don't have necessarily the skill sets you would imagine for a dominant offensive team, but they were actually a dominant offensive team in the regular season.

Kevin Durant shot-making, you know, transition, but a lot of it was the offensive rebounding.

And they lose Steven Adams for the season and all of a sudden the offensive rebounding isn't as dominant, and then all of a sudden they're losing the edge in some of those battles and they, you know, they fall short, I think, of their expectations in the playoffs.

But for the Jazz to have the shot-making, the skill sets, the offensive system, and then to have the ability to possession max with the offensive rebounding.

They also did improve at forcing turnovers this year.

I castigated you.