High notes and low notes from the Jazz’s preseason finale
The Utah Jazz’s final preseason game was less of a dress rehearsal than it was a chance to get the young guys some run on Thursday night in Sacramento.
With Lauri Markkanen, Kelly Olynyk, Jordan Clarkson and John Collins all resting for Utah and Sacramento playing without Domantas Sabonis, De’Aaron Fox, Chris Duarte, Trey Lyles and Keegan Murray, the Kings came away with a 116-113 win, and the Jazz finished the preseason with a 3-2 record.
Though the Jazz’s stars and veterans were watching in street clothes, that didn’t mean it wasn’t an important game for the Jazz. For evidence of the importance, look no further than the man in black stalking the sideline.
Head coach Will Hardy was yelling, directing plays, calling players over to talk and pacing the floor like the result was going to count in the win/loss column. It wasn’t the result that mattered though. It was the final competitive chance to squeeze everything out of the players on the floor before Hardy and the Jazz front office needs to make some tough decisions.
Though it’s not necessary for the Jazz to waive anyone from their roster (they already cut the training camp players), if they want to start the season with an open roster spot, one player could have seen his last minutes in a Jazz jersey.
For Hardy, there’s five days left before the team opens the 2023-24 season at home against the Sacramento Kings. He needs to make final decisions on a starting backcourt, on rotations and who will close the game, especially if things are tight.
With all that in mind, there were a few things to take away from this final exhibition contest.
High Notes
So much uncertainty remains in the backcourt and two of the players that cause a lot of that uncertainty are Collin Sexton and Talen Horton-Tucker. It definitely wasn’t the prettiest game for both players, but it was certainly the best game they’ve played during the preseason.
I think where I’m landing on this is that Horton-Tucker is actually a good decision maker prior to a deep drive, but once he’s got his head down in the lane, he often fumbles on decision making.
Sexton can also end up with tunnel vision at times when he’s driving, but he can be such a lethal scorer at all three levels.
Both players are often incredibly hard to guard when they’re driving because they’re so strong and fast, so it’s a bit of a give-and-take situation.
It will probably end up being the front office that makes this roster decision for the Jazz (potentially at the trade deadline) and it will give Hardy a lot more clarity when it comes to deciding who to play. No matter what ends up happening, Sexton and Horton-Tucker did a pretty nice job of making their cases on Thursday, combining for 50 points in the loss to Sacramento.
Rookie Taylor Hendricks continues to look green, but a good sign is that he looks more and more comfortable and seems to pick up on small things with every opportunity he gets. I expect for Hendricks to start out the season getting some minutes in the G League and think that the continued reps and time learning the Jazz system will benefit him.
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Low Notes
Keyonte George had a tough time offensively on Thursday night. He came up against some tough defenders and seemed to get a little frustrated at times. But nights like this are good for a developing young player and I’m still impressed that when things aren’t going George’s way that he is able to continue to get to the free throw line. It’s a really good skill for him to have this early on in his career.
Though, speaking of the free-throw line — woof.
The Jazz finished the night shooting 13-of-25 (a whopping 52%) from the charity stripe. If that was my team they’d be shooting some extra ones at practice this week.
I’m starting to worry that maybe Luka Samanic hasn’t done enough during the preseason to warrant the Jazz using the final roster spot on him. He has staggered guarantee dates in his contract (one before the start of the regular season and another in January) so the Jazz could give him a few more months, but I don’t know that it’s going to happen. He’s had a rough preseason.
