This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated.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.

So if the Jazz are going to play basketball up to expectation this season, there is one thing they must do fairly consistently over 82 games: And that's play offense with better pace.

It sounds so…..cliche. Playing with pace. And part of that is coach Quin Snyder and his love with the phrase.

But it's true. The best offensive teams in this league are the ones who figure out how to get easy shots early in the shot clock.

This is one of the places where the Jazz largely failed last season. Consistently, they were a team that faced late clock scenarios. They were a team that consistently saw people like Gordon Hayward and Trey Burke and Derrick Favors forcing looks against set defenses with their possessions at stake.

Tuesday's training camp practice focused on that issue to a degree. The players know it's a problem and so does the coaching staff.

"It's tough to play against set defenses all the time," Hayward said.

So how can the Jazz combat that this year?

1. Health - It seems simple, but this may be the most important thing. Alec Burks loves to get to the rim and quickly. So having him back is big. And having health means having depth. And having depth means having fresh bodies. And having fresh bodies means having fresh legs at the end of games. All of that equates to pace of play.

2. Pushing the ball - The point guards need to push the ball off makes and misses. Getting the ball up the floor means having more time to run offense.

3. Hayward/Favors/Burks/Hood - Those four are the best playmakers for the Utah Jazz, the guys who should decide the bulk of the possessions this year. Getting them the ball early and often and letting them do their thing is a big key for the Jazz in 2015. They can all break down defenses and all can do so in their own unique way. They should rightfully be the decision makers this season.

The Jazz were one of the slowest teams in the league when it came to pace last season. That's not how Snyder wants to play, ideally. So the Jazz would love to speed themselves up offensively, while playing the same great defense that they exhibited in the second half of last year.

Tony Jones