With the NBA season set to begin in one week, Will Hardy and the Utah Jazz know how much work has to be done in order to be ready for the Denver Nuggets on Oct. 19.
Hardy and the Jazz will have the opportunity to showcase their growth two more times this preseason, beginning tonight with the San Antonio Spurs. Tipoff if set for 7 p.m. MST from Vivint Arena.
Here are three things to watch in Utah’s next two games.
1.) Rotation Questions
With just two games — 96 minutes of court time — left before the season opener, how Hardy elects to go through his rotations will be key heading into next week.
Mike Conley, Lauri Markkanen, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Kelly Olynyk all started the first two preseason games. Malik Beasley started the opener but Jordan Clarkson — the reigning sixth man of the year two seasons ago — got the nod against Portland.
With those six firmly entrenched in the rotation, Collin Sexton, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Walker Kessler have been the first players off the bench and gotten a significant amount of time on the court.
That’s nine players already — with more surely in the mix for minutes. Stanley Johnson, Cody Zeller, Ochai Agbaji, and Rudy Gay have all played well in spurts throughout the preseason, giving them the opportunity to carve out roles.
It’ll be interesting to see how Hardy navigates the upcoming two games, especially with the starters expected to play more minutes in order to ramp up conditioning before the start of the year.
2.) Defensive Effort
One of the issues that plagued the Jazz the most over the past couple of seasons was their struggles matching up defensively.
With Hardy now taking over and nearly an entire new roster in uniform, he’s has made it a point to focus very heavily on the defensive side of the ball.
“Guard your yard,” was Olynyk’s response about the core value of Hardy’s defense.
Through the first two preseason games, it would appear that the Jazz are continuing to improve in that area.
After a rough opening against Toronto, Utah’s effort against Portland was significantly better. The Jazz appeared much more comfortable in rotations, as well as communication. There were less breakdowns and better closeouts, a great sign moving forward.
With only two games left in the preseason, Hardy will continue to want to see this defense evolve and get a little more complicated as time goes on.
3.) Late-Game Scenarios
Over the past couple of seasons, it was clear that whenever the Jazz needed a bucket — particularly in crunch time — Donovan Mitchell would have the ball in his hands.
But with Mitchell now taking over in Cleveland, it leaves Utah with a hole in late-game scenarios.
There are a number of players capable of creating their own shots like Markkanen, Sexton, and Clarkson. Conley is a phenomenal shooter and one of the best facilitators in the game.
How Hardy navigates shot clock and late-game management is definitely something to watch the rest of the week.