This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Whether you call it urgency or desperation, Jazz coach Quin Snyder would like to see more of it from his team from the opening tip of Saturday night's Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals.
The Jazz return to Salt Lake City trailing 0-2 in their series with the two-time defending conference champion Golden State Warriors. The Warriors have led by six points at the end of the first quarter of Game 1 and by 12 point at halftime. The Warriors jumped out to a 18-point, 33-15, lead after the opening frame of Game 2.
The Jazz have seemed to play better when fighting out of a big hole and trying to erase a deficit.
"We've played with more desperation, and we need to find that more internally instead of that being something that the game has required of us to be in a position to be more competitive," Snyder said. "That has to be more of who we are and not something we do."
Snyder compared the slow starts to the previous series against the Los Angeles Clippers when the Jazz trailed after the first quarter in four of the first five games. The exception came in Game 3 when Gordon Hayward scored 21 first-quarter points and matched the Clippers scoring output by himself.
While Snyder mentioned Game 3 against the Clippers as an example of starting off with more urgency, he did not feel like it was imperative to get certain players started early in order for the team to be successful.
"It's more general than that," Snyder said. "Gordon had a good mindset that game. He's had a good mindset throughout the playoffs. Everybody — we need to collectively share that. I think we have to a degree. It just has to be more."
—Lynn Worthy