Jazz Summer League
The Utah Jazz Summer League in Salt Lake City concluded Thursday night with a game between the Utah Jazz and the Philadelphia 76ers.
It’s the first time the NBA summer league has been played in Utah since 2008, when it was known as the Rocky Mountain Revue. Fans turned out en masse for the event; the announced attendance at Thursday’s game was 12,128 — the highest ever for a summer league game.
“I knew it was going to be packed,” said second-year Jazz player Rodney Hood. “Regardless of what time of the year it is, Utah fans are always going to come out and support.”
Jazz rookie Trey Lyles, who played for the University of Kentucky last year, compared the basketball passion in Utah to what he saw in Kentucky.
“In a basketball aspect, it’s just as big here as it was there,” Lyles said.
The excitement surrounding the team at the summer league was fueled in particular by the strong finish of the team last season. The Jazz went 19-10 over the final three months, including wins over Portland, Oklahoma City, Houston, Memphis and San Antonio. The team also had the best defense in the league over that time.
Defense continued to be the focus of the team in the summer league.
“Our good defense turned into our easy offense,” said Jazz Assistant Coach Alex Jensen, who acted as head coach during summer league. “That’s something we tried to continue from last year, saying get a stop on this end and that’s where the offense starts.”
The coaching staff has been impressed with the development of the team’s young players, Jensen said.
Dante Exum dazzled the crowd on Monday with a 20-point, 5-rebound, 5-assist performance. The second-year point guard shot 10 free throws in the game, exhibiting a confidence and willingness to make plays with the ball in his hand not often seen last year.
Exum suffered an ankle injury at the end of the game and wouldn’t play for the rest of the session.
“The big thing with him is to try to be aggressive and attack the basket, which he did a good job of once he settled down,” Jensen said. “When we need a bucket he can be the one who’s aggressive, and he got to the free-throw line a lot tonight.”
Hood has spent this summer developing his shot consistency, his ability to finish at the rim and his ability to score in the post, he said.
He carried the Jazz offense for stretches, scoring 23 points in the first game and 18 in the second (he sat out the final game to rest).
Lyles got his first action in a Utah Jazz uniform in the final game, scoring 10 points on three of nine shooting against the 76ers. The rookie showed off some of the unique skills and mobility that made the Jazz draft him when he dribbled around a Jack Cooley screen and then passed the ball to the rolling big for a crucial bucket late in Thursday’s game.
“That’s a part of my game that I’ve worked on for a long time and it was something that coach wanted to see out of me tonight,” Lyles said.
The team finished undefeated in the three games in Utah. The Jazz will play next in the Las Vegas Summer League, which runs from July 10 to 20.
—Thomas Sorenson
—Twitter: @tomcat340