This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
In the beginning of the Quin Snyder era, the Jazz introduced Rudy Gobert to the world, established themselves as a defensive force in the NBA and inspired belief among their fans.
Now comes Chapter 2 — It Gets Tougher.
Having improved by 13 wins last season in posting a 38-44 record, the Jazz hope to continue their growth with another jump toward the Western Conference playoffs. They're trusting Snyder and his staff to develop players and keep rising in a competitive business.
That's not easy. Many teams in recent NBA history have surged, only to stagnate. The Jazz are not offering any guarantees, that's for sure. In 2004, entering coach Urban Meyer's second season, the University of Utah boldly marketed its football team with a campaign of "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet." The Utes delivered a 12-0 record.
In contrast, Snyder's theme basically is "We haven't done anything yet."
That may be sound strategy, because following through is difficult in the NBA. In the past decade, according to SaltCityHoops.com, 38 teams have improved by 10-plus wins from the previous season. Fewer than half of those teams won more games the next year, and five added seven or more wins, a logical number for the Jazz to make the playoffs.
The encouraging bit of history is that the 2006-07 Jazz were among those teams. Having gone from 26 wins in the injury-riddled season of '04-05 to 41 in '05-06, the Jazz then improved to 51 wins. The team traded for guard Derek Fisher, drafted forward Paul Millsap and made Deron Williams the starting point guard in his second season, resulting in an immediate boost — although the Jazz leveled off somewhat after a surprising 12-1 start.
This season, the Jazz have made fewer upgrades. Alec Burks has returned from the shoulder injury that sidelined him for most of last season, but the Jazz have lost point guard Dante Exum for the year with a knee injury.
The marketing folks are sticking to their franchise branding of "We Are Utah Jazz." The organization once used annual promotions including "I Can't Wait" and "This Is Our Year," but the current season-ticket push is geared more toward making fans feel valued.
Clearly, though, the franchise's expectation is to make further progress in Snyder's second season. His influence, coupled with Gobert's emergence, turned the Jazz into one of the league's best defensive teams in the second half of the season, and their 19-10 finish offered signs of what's to come as Snyder settles into his job.
Snyder joked about looking out the window of his home this past summer and not seeing a moving van, formerly an annual fixture. For the first time since 2010, he's in the same place for a second season — and before then, his D-League roster in Austin turned over every year, so continuity was nonexistent.
It's different here. The Jazz have kept their team mostly intact, and the players are accustomed to Snyder, who spent training camp "just refreshing things, rather than teaching it all over again," said wing player Rodney Hood. "He's a lot more, I wouldn't say relaxed, but he's a lot more confident in us."
As he spent the summer processing his first season, Snyder said, "I know more about the team now than I did last year. Some of it was adjusting to who we have and who I know, what I know they're like — in particular offensively, but also defensively. And then when we lost Dante, that changed, too. There's been a period of adjustment over the last couple months."
Snyder's solutions include an unconventional approach — especially in terms of Jazz tradition of point guards such as John Stockton or Williams running the offense. In the preseason, he used various lineups with three or four wings sharing the ballhandling, rather than having one player orchestrate everything.
That's an effort to fill Exum's vacancy, maximize his roster's versatility and keep the ball moving. As Burke said, "Year One, it was just, like, mind-boggling for all of us, just so much being thrown at us. … Now we know counters. We know if the defense takes something away, somebody else is going to be open. We know where guys are supposed to be, and we hold each other accountable."
Fans will do the same, wanting more from a coaching staff and players who gave them some hope last season. A franchise that last won a playoff game in April 2010 is capable of a postseason breakthrough in 2016, although nobody is promising anything.
Twitter: @tribkurt