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Utah Jazz Notebook: Burks, Hood, 20 Days Until Season Opener

By Karthik Narayanan

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With 20 days remaining until the team’s regular season opener, the Utah Jazz already have fans grooving to the sweet sounds of a playoff tune. While it’s too early to speculate on postseason happenings, there’s definitely something about the fabric of the team, its coaching staff and the organization that screams playoffs.

Many NBA pundits and writers have the Jazz fighting for the eighth spot, but the franchise remains focused on development. Making the playoffs is obviously the first step on the road to a championship, but development is the base for years of dominance.

The Jazz need to continue to get better; if a playoff berth comes this season as a result, then that’s great. Either way, GM Dennis Lindsey’s plan of growth from within is still in play.

On One Hand

As a coach, you can run a number of offensive schemes. However, it is impossible to plan for all scenarios on the floor. A broken play, full-court press, or a sudden change in your opponent’s defensive scheme can throw a well-drawn play out the window. Enter Alec Burks.

Players like Burks can create plays out of nothing. He can catch fire from mid-range or the three-point line and he can finish at the basket. Burks uses his body expertly to score in traffic and can break down a defense in a variety of ways.

When he’s not able to finish, a strong rebounding team like the Jazz still hugely benefits from his ability to penetrate. With him breaking down the defense, it creates easy putback opportunities for Derrick Favors, Rudy Gobert and Utah’s big front line.

This is especially important for a team where Favors is really the only big man on the team that is consistently able to get shots for himself.

On The Other Hand

Rodney Hood is a traditional player. He plays by the textbook. He does not force the issue. He takes time to assess what a defense is giving and has a vast repertoire of shots from everywhere on the floor to capitalize on what they give him. He’s not athletic like Burks, but can still beat his man off the dribble, create space on the court and has a much more reliable jump shot.

So, who should start? To me, it shouldn’t matter. With Gordon Hayward leading the charge, both players can play a major role on the wings thanks to their versatility. Hood can play the two or three. G-Time can play two or three (or as a stretch big in small ball situations). Burks, meanwhile, can play at both guard spots.

The Jazz have built a versatile team with solid depth and players who can play multiple positions because of their height, length and skill set. Lindsey and his staff deserve huge praise for the way they’ve constructed the roster.

Wow

So former Jazzman Richard Jefferson gets a spot in PnB tonight for an utter victimization of the rim and Walter Tavares. Try doing this at 35 years of age–

Other Things

The rest of the Jazz preseason schedule breaks down as follows–

  1. UTA vs PHX – 9th Oct
  2. POR vs UTA – 12th Oct
  3. UTA vs POR – 18th Oct
  4. OKC vs UTA – 20th Oct
  5. DEN vs UTA – 22nd Oct

20 days, Jazz Nation. 20 days. Thanks for reading.

Next: Trevor Booker Suspended for Roy Hibbert Slap

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