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Dallas • Alec Burks is back and playing for the Utah Jazz, finally healthy with almost two years of injuries and surgeries behind him.
Now, the Utah Jazz just have to integrate him into the rotation.
It isn't as easy as it seems, even with starting shooting guard Rodney Hood on the shelf with a knee injury. With the time Burks will see on Friday night against the Dallas Mavericks, and Saturday night against the Indiana Pacers, the task of getting him up to speed on both ends of the floor still promises to be a difficult one.
"I think a lot of it has to come on defense, we want him to be instinctive over a period of time," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "He's been out for so long that it's going to take time. He's just going to have to go through some of it. Alec needs repetitions, he needs practices and shootarounds. He's instinctive on offense. Alec knows how to play, and he knows what we're doing. We just want him to attack and to be efficient at doing it."
Burks has been up an down since coming back a few weeks ago from ankle surgery. He's the same explosive Burks. He's the same fleet-of-foot Burks that can push the ball from one end of the floor to another as well as any guard on the team.
At the same time — and this reared its head against the Phoenix Suns on Monday night — Burks isn't quite there defensively. He's been a step slow on rotations, and that's where Snyder wants the instinctive part to kick in for Burks.
In Friday's first half, Burks played better than he did on Monday night, scoring five points and grabbing a pair of rebounds. He did have some issue containing Devin Harris, but he was better defensively as well.
"Our job as teammates is to help him along in the process," Utah forward Gordon Hayward said. "He's doing well, and we all know he's going to be fine."
Dallas owner shares some thoughts
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, one of the most outspoken individuals in the NBA, said he watched Donald Trump's inauguration speech on Friday morning. When asked what he thought, Cuban was his typical direct self.
"I don't think American needs to be made great again," Cuban said. "It's one thing to have thoughts, but now we have to see what he does now that he's in office."
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