This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Phoenix • Cohesion takes time.
That, perhaps, may have been the biggest lesson from Utah's preseason-opening loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.
For all of the talk about the new additions, incorporating them into Quin Snyder's intricate offense presents a challenge.
All of that was apparent in Portland, where the Jazz got off to a fast start offensively, then sputtered through the remaining three quarters. Snyder knows his offense isn't going to run smoothly without a few bumps first.
"It's gonna take a while," Snyder said. "It's the first week. The offense has wrinkles and complexity to it. They'll get there. As the knowledge of the system develops, so will the offense."
George Hill, Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw — Utah's prized offseason additions — looked like guys playing their first game in a new offense. At times they looked disjointed, like they were thinking about where they should be instead of reading plays and reacting.
Johnson's strength is isolating and taking guys off the dribble, but those opportunities were few and far between on Monday. Diaw struggled to finish over Portland's athletic big men at the rim, and Hill never found a rhythm.
The three are fixtures in Snyder's rotation: Hill is the starter at point guard, Johnson was the sixth man on Monday, and Diaw was the first big man off the bench, ahead of Trey Lyles.
Snyder doesn't have any longterm concerns. He knows those three are veterans who have a strong mental aptitude, and should get better in the offense as time progresses. If anything rankled him on Monday, it was how uneven the Jazz played defensively.
"I certainly would like to see us get better at that end," Snyder said. "I would like to see more focus there."
Back to action
Point guard Dante Exum had good and bad moments against the Blazers. He made a pair of 3-pointers, displaying a jumper that he worked hard on during his year off from injury. But he also turned the ball over once, and made several misreads in pick-and-roll situations.
Snyder said following the game that Exum looked like a guy who hadn't played in 14 months. On the positive side, Exum looked healthy physically and clearly hasn't lost a step.
"He looked like he hadn't played in a year," Snyder said. "It's going to take him some time to get more comfortable. He was probably pressing. He wanted to play well, he's been practicing pretty well, too."
Taking a break
The Jazz will have five days between games after Wednesday. … Alec Burks missed Monday night's game against Portland has still has not been cleared for contact following knee surgery during the summer.
twitter: @tribjazz —
Jazz at Suns
When • Wednesday, 8 p.m. MDT
Where • Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix
TV • ROOT Sports
Radio • 97.5 FM