This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Dr. Snyder spoke the truth on Tuesday night about the thing he's creating.

"We're trying to find out who we are," he said.

Frankenstein entered the building, then. In their first preseason game, the Jazz looked like a body of parts that had been pieced together, bit by bit, and that had a new brain dropped into its cranial cavity.

No, not AB Normal's brain.

Quin Snyder's.

That kind of incarnation/transformation is going to take time to complete, featuring both comely and ugly attributes.

There's transition basketball, transition defense and transition offense, and then there's transitioning a team. That's what the Jazz are doing here. They themselves are in transition. Everything is moving from the old to the new: new season, new coaches, new schemes, new priorities, new players, new lineups, new rotations, new hopes, new ways of thinking, new ways of playing, new ways of being.

New ways of winning.

The favorable count at ESA: Jazz 92, Blazers 73.

"There are new habits we want to create," Snyder said.

The Jazz will win some and likely lose more this time around. Vegas has the over/under on Jazz victories this season at 24. Winning a game that didn't count watered down their vibe not one iota.

The opening exhibition at EnergySolutions was one of the more anticipated preseason games in years, considering all the alterations. This is more a revolution than an evolution, despite the fact that all the starters — Derrick Favors, Gordon Hayward, Enes Kanter, Alec Burks, Trey Burke — were with the Jazz a season ago.

Here's what wasn't with the Jazz:

• Enthusiastic get-up-and-go.

It was clear from the opening tip that the Jazz want to rebound and run. No longer will they attempt to slow the pace as a means of limiting their opponents' scoring. Hurrying will fire their own offense. It won't be offense a la Mike D'Antoni. It will be more responsible at both ends than that. The Jazz did push the ball, nearly doubling the Blazers in fast-break points, and shooting 44 percent.

• Defense triggering scoring.

Snyder said it a thousand times before Tuesday night's game: Defense is the ticket to playing time. It's no surprise he would stay on that theme considering it was his impassioned pitch about defense at Greg Miller's kitchen table that sealed his hiring as the Jazz's new head coach. The Jazz held the Blazers to 34-percent shooting.

"It's a long road," he said.

• Sharing the ball is more than a sweet-sounding notion.

Against the Blazers, the Jazz passed the ball - a lot. Once the better-to-best shot is found, it will be sent up, and if it's not, whoever didn't shoot the open shot will get a lecture. "An open shot not taken is like a guy not getting back on defense," Dennis Lindsey recently said.

Here's the thing: Assists can't be accumulated unless somebody finishes by dusting the net. Even the pass before the pass that becomes the assist will be highly valued. Getting assists seems to have become a priority for everybody, including Favors, who predicted a week ago that he would total 10 assists in one game this season and average two or three. Tuesday night, he had one assist; the Jazz had 15.

"A lot of work to do offensively," Snyder said. "… I felt like we were unselfish."

• Favors and Kanter coexisting on the floor together.

There were times a season ago when the two bigs playing together resembled a big brother (Favors) working alongside a little brother (Kanter) who acquitted himself well on some trips, but then, on others, made boneheaded errors. Now, Favors said Kanter is "one of the reasons I'm going to get 10 assists."

Kanter put 11 points on Portland, often shooting from distance, and all the starters finished in double figures.

• Three-point shooting is encouraged.

The Jazz threw up 14 bombs, hitting seven.

"I want more of them," Snyder said.

• Dante Exum.

Exum got 29 minutes, making a circus shot off the glass, and was beat off the dribble a couple of times. His development will be compelling - an ongoing story. Said Snyder: "I liked his spirit."

• Alec Burks getting a couple thousand opportunities to score.

Even within the confines of Snyder's passing offense, space will be made for Burks to fiddle and faddle, to diddle and daddle his way to the basket for points or free throws. Against the Blazers, Burks led the Jazz with 12 points.

• Rudy Gobert becoming a force.

Dude. The center with the ridiculous dimensions who played so well during the World Cup for France was doing more than hurling garlic against the Blazers. He was altering shots and blocking them.

"He's an impactful player," Snyder said.

If it's one thing NBA players hate, it's getting their shots blocked. Gobert in short order will make a name for himself around the league this season.

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM/1280 and 960 AM The Zone. Twitter: @GordonMonson.