Eric Woodyard: Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert on using anonymous hotline: “I don’t know if someone’s gonna use it.” He says it’s more about respect and making sure guys socialize while respecting each other’s space.
Utah Jazz Rumors
Eric Woodyard: Jazz guard Mike Conley also says guys have went through enough training in regards to safety precautions in the Orlando bubble, so he hasn’t thought about using the anonymous hotline. “At this point, we’ve got to trust each other,” Conley says.
Zach Lowe: I was talking to someone around the league the other day, and we were just sort of spitballing about players. There’s a lot of people within the league that think Donovan Mitchell is still a bit overrated. And this guy was one of them. We were talking about who would you rather have Devin Booker or Donovan Mitchell. And I think the only skill in which Donovan Mitchell is ahead of Devin Booker is defense and I don’t think he’s ahead by as much as you think he’s ahead of Devin Booker.
For Conley, this latest round of training camp represents a polar opposite from his initial foray in a Utah Jazz uniform. He’s comfortable now. He knows what to expect from his coach, from his teammates, from the front office. It’s no secret that the season hasn’t been easy for him, especially when it came to adapting to a new system for the first time since matriculating from high school to Ohio State. But what seems to have been a painfully long integration now appears to be a thing of the past. “It feels like I’ve played a full season already,” Conley said. “I’ve had a chance to build chemistry with my coaches and with my teammates. I haven’t had any questions about plays or my role. I have a clear picture on what to expect.”
Donatas Urbonas: Zalgiris Kaunas started interviewing candidates for the head coach position. G league coach of the year Martin Schiller is targeted by Zalgiris as their primary candidate, I’m told. If Schiller refuses, Ertugrul Erdogan most likely will be offered to take the job.
Eric Walden: Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder, on the importance of Mike Conley going forward: “He’s key. having said that, he doesn’t need to feel any pressure, he just needs to play [Early on] I thought there was a tendency from Mike to think too much. I certainly contributed to that.”
Eric Walden: Quin Snyder, on what he’s most trying to get across to Jazz players right now: “Our guys need to know that we want them to attack. We have some guys who can really go off the dribble and shoot 3s. … I want them to be confident and not overthink.”
Eric Walden: Asked how he is structuring practices, Quin said, “At the beginning of year, we had so many new guys, I coached the team like a young team. Looking back, I may have changed that.” Said he has changed it now. Thus far in Orlando, he’s really putting focus on letting guys go 5on5.
In the meantime, as the Jazz get acclimated to team basketball once again, both Ingles and Mitchell said they’re trying to find ways to settle into a unique situation. “I mean, honestly, for me, it’s like AAU, really. You know, except for the quarantine part. But it’s been like AAU — I’ve been just relaxing, studying film, and just trying to eat as good as I possibly can,” Mitchell said. “… I’m just staying mentally ready, mentally engaged because I can’t tell you the last time I’ve had practice at 6 o’clock every night. It gives you that feeling of an AAU summer camp or a summertime vibe.”
Eric Woodyard: Jazz’s Joe Ingles said the first “48 hours sucked” of being in the Orlando bubble. “When you’re in the room for a couple months, it’s going to get stanky at times.” Says he was with his kids/family 48 hours before this, but the protocol leading up to clearance was “frustrating.”
Eric Woodyard: Jazz star Donovan Mitchell compares this experience to AAU basketball.
Eric Walden: Asked about the difference between yesterday’s practice and today’s, Donovan said this one was a bit more structured, a bit more oriented toward scene and lineup installation. Also, “just feeling the contact, that’s the biggest thing.”
Eric Woodyard: Donovan Mitchell says he continues to rely on Dwyane Wade for advice, but this situation is obviously unique in being away in Orlando bubble. When playoffs begin, he doesn’t think the runs will mean as much without fans so that’ll be a big difference from his other playoff games.
Anthony Chiang: Fox Sports Sun announces it will air all three Heat scrimmage games, but the second (vs. Jazz on July 25) will be on tape delay. All eight Heat “seeding” games will also be on Fox Sports Sun.
Eric Walden: Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert noted that “Staying in a room for 36 hours is not the best thing to do,” but said he’s appreciated the NBA’s level of caution. Said he passed that time by playing Call of Duty, reading a little bit, and sleeping.
Eric Walden: Rudy Gobert, on the wristbands everyone is required to wear, which function as a proximity alarm and provide data tracking: “It’s better to be too cautious than not enough.” Said his alarm hasn’t gone off yet; doesn’t know if it’s not activated or if he’s distancing well.
Andy Larsen: Rudy Gobert, on why he chose “Equality” to go on his jersey: “I think Equality is a powerful word… It’s something that we can strive to attain as a society… I think we’d be lying to ourselves if we thought that was the case today. We’ve got to keep pushing in that direction.”
Eric Walden: Quin Snyder said that his objective for the first practice was just to let guys go out and play, and to get reacquainted with one another on the court. Also said he was looking to get in game situation-type shooting, and to get a handle on everyone’s conditioning.
Eric Walden: Mike Conley said that the first 10-15 minutes of today’s practice entailed “guys just hooping.” He said he was pleased to see that everyone was in shape, that there were “no hands on knees.”
Eric Walden: Utah Jazz PG Mike Conley said that once the team was cleared from quarantine, they went straight to the gym, so they haven’t really had a chance to look around yet. He said everyone is eager to get outside and explore and get some fresh air.
Eric Walden: Asked how he spent his time in quarantine, Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder replied: “Having 36 hours-plus by yourself, you gotta be careful not to overthink things — which I may have a tendency to do.”
In that story, Gobert said he can be “annoying” when it comes to demanding the ball and that he didn’t blame Mitchell for how he responded after both tested positive for the virus. He admitted there had been issues between the two players in the past — and he wasn’t blameless. “I was very impressed at how open Rudy was; how he owned certain points,” Lindsey said. “There was a real vulnerability and some self-reflection. I’ve just seen some real maturity. You know there are some things that we all have to look at ourselves when we get critiqued and I’m not sure I’m good at that at 51 years old. But I was quite impressed that Rudy at 28 could reflect and share how he’s felt about a number of things.”
Eric Walden: Utah Jazz GM Justin Zanik described the process of the team getting into the Orlando bubble: “The weirdest thing was getting on a pane again after 4 months.” Charter flight was met by 2 Disney buses, they were given a police escort to the campus.
Eric Walden: Asked about the controversies the Jazz have had this season, Zanik noted, “There was a lot of stuff about the Jazz when there wasn’t much basketball to write about.” Said he hopes that the experiences help foster more openness within the organization.
Eric Woodyard: Jazz GM Justin Zanik on lessons learned from this year’s controversy: “What it has for us going forward is a chance for our players, coaches and management to think about what’s transpired over this past yr. Looking forward and enjoying being back together.”
David Locke: The Jazz have landed in Orlando. Boys about to be in the bubble
Ira Winderman: Per tonight’s TNT show, Heat center Meyers Leonard to go with “equality” on the back of his jersey for the start of the NBA resumption at Disney:
Ryan McDonald: Also, the Jazz are officially en route to Orlando
There had long been friction between the two, the kind typical with NBA duos, particularly if those star players are relatively early in their careers — and especially in a roller-coaster season such as this one for the Jazz, who have basically played .500 ball aside from a 19-2 run in December and January. One high-ranking Jazz source categorized the pre-pandemic issues between the 28-year-old Gobert and Mitchell, 23, as “a 2 out of 10 on the NBA drama scale.”
But when their strained relationship following the positive tests lingered in public view for months, it increased the intensity of their issues and put a spotlight on an already-tense dynamic. It’s a spotlight that was created because, according to sources, Mitchell blamed Gobert for infecting him with COVID-19.
“You know, I tried to put myself in his shoes,” Gobert told ESPN. “There was a lot of fear, and I think more than anything, he reacted out of fear. That’s why I don’t really blame him. We all have different character; we all react differently. When it’s something like that, when he tested [positive] for a virus that we don’t know a lot about, it’s scary. It was scary for me, and I’m sure it was scary for him. “The most important thing is what you do from there.”
The Jazz wanted to start virtual team meetings and workouts, but Gobert told teammates in early April that he wouldn’t feel right participating until he had a discussion with Mitchell. A month into the NBA hiatus, Gobert and Mitchell talked. “We told each other what we had to say to each other,” Gobert said. “We are both on the same page. We both want to win. We both think that we have a great opportunity, and we know that we need each other. We talked about a lot of things, but the main thing was that we are on the same page and the fact that our team needs us. We can win together. That’s the most important thing.”
As a smiling Mitchell sneaked up from behind and made some silly sounds, Gobert looked over his left shoulder and delivered a one-liner into the microphone: “Hey, pass the ball, god damn it!” Mitchell, who had 28 points on 21 shots and two assists, laughed and turned toward the tunnel to the Jazz locker room, altering his path to give high-fives to a couple of kids in the courtside seats who were wearing his No. 45 jersey. It was a moment that made many within the Jazz organization uncomfortable. They knew Gobert’s quip contained a lot of truth about his feelings on Mitchell’s passing.
Gobert rarely hesitates to let teammates know if they miss him when he is open around the rim. He’ll occasionally point up during play in animated fashion, sometimes as he is running back on defense, to note that a lob should have been thrown. He’ll often air his gripes verbally, during games and again in film sessions. Mitchell hears it the most, simply because as the Jazz’s go-to guy, he has the ball in his hands the most. That, according to several Jazz sources, has been the primary irritant in an overall successful partnership.
That’s why some within the Jazz organization wonder whether Gobert has subconsciously allowed his motivation and relationships to be muddied by his thirst for status — and, by extension, statistics. “I can totally see that,” Gobert said, referring to concern that he had started caring too much about scoring.
Some close to Gobert believe this blend of insecurity and vanity is rooted in his experience growing up in France as a gangly kid with glasses. “Part of it is he’s always trying to overcome being that goofy kid in high school,” a Jazz source said. “It’s that constant never enough, which is good, but it’s also been bad.”
Sarah Todd: on an Instagram live Donovan Mitchell said that he’s a huge fan of The Office and knows whole episodes by heart
Eric Walden: Emmanuel Mudiay said that every Jazz player got a chance to voice their concerns about Orlando. “Everybody’s comfort level was pretty different.” Noted that it was natural that players like Mike Conley, Joe Ingles would have different perspectives than a single guy like him.
