Preseason Opener

At long last, the Jazz preseason opener. Denver on the other side. The result is irrelevant — what matters is what’s inside the game.

The starting five was Key, DP, Lauri, JJJ and Nurk, which is what more or less everyone expected. Josh Green, Flip and Brice were all out.

The things I was watching for:

• How the offense functions, and ball movement above all
• How much Ace has grown
• What DP looks like out there
• The defense

Start with the offense. The ball moved constantly and there was essentially no isolation. Lauri was almost entirely catch-and-shoot. During the tank years they had Lauri doing a bit of everything — post-ups, handling — but this season they have excellent guards and JJJ for that, so maybe the plan is to let Lauri specialize in what he’s best at.

Next, Ace. He’s filled out physically, and it looks like he’s going to play a big role defensively. But the growth I was hoping to see on offense wasn’t there. Specifically: driving and drawing fouls. Last season he’d put the ball down, run into a wall, and bail out into a shot or a pass, which I think was part of why his decisions were so poor. To become a star you have to handle it, read the defender, give yourself more options, create doubt in the guy in front of you and draw contact. That felt non-negotiable to me. Over the summer he put in real handle work at Chris Johnson’s workouts, and D-Wade was there too, teaching him about reading defenders — so I was hoping to see some of that show up. Whether the game plan didn’t allow it, or he didn’t try it, or he tried and couldn’t, I don’t know. On defense, though — he’s looking more and more like he could turn into a genuinely excellent defender. He emphasized defense himself in his training camp interviews, and that part came through.

As for DP, carrying the hopes of the entire fan base — well, it was never going to be that easy. The first game was full of hesitation and uncertainty. I imagine he felt the gap between this and the guys he faced in Summer League. He’s still physically slight, too. The indecision took the conviction out of his shot, and most of them ended up short. He also played almost entirely off the ball, which can’t have helped him find a rhythm. I just want him to take his time and settle in. It also struck me that in this Jazz offensive system, DP’s individual numbers might be hard to come by. Offense aside, he showed real appetite on the glass and on defense — even if there were possessions where he got blown by, and a couple where he simply got moved out of the way.

Now the defense, which was the thing I most wanted to see. Key, DP and Lauri defending is a rough watch. When Ace and Okogie came on, the intensity jumped so sharply that the difference was startling. Which left me convinced this team has to go the other way: execute in the half court, don’t turn it over, finish defensive possessions with rebounds, and simply reduce the number of times you have to defend at all. How much Ace can give them on that end might be the single biggest defensive question of this season.

Isaiah Collier’s performance seems to be generating some buzz, but to me it was less “he was great” and more “against second-unit guys, this is about what you’d expect.” He went 2-for-3 from three, which looks efficient, but I think that was luck. The form doesn’t look like one that knocks down outside shots consistently. He’s strong and he plays at a good tempo, so he’s valuable as someone who can change the texture of a game — but whether he’s become a player you can trust and count on is something only a stack of games will tell you.

JJJ, Lauri and Key all played exactly the way I expected, and I can picture their seasons easily. Ace and DP are the ones who will show their growth over the course of the year. What I’m looking forward to is finding out how steep those curves turn out to be.

One more thing — Hinson’s postgame interview got to me. If every guy on this roster took the floor carrying that, this would turn into a seriously good team. You’re the best, Blake!

Oh, and the Mammoth took their first loss of the season. Against the Rangers, it felt like a game where everything we’re good at got taken away. The back-to-back legs, maybe? But they showed they were willing to fight, and the substance of it was nothing like the bad nights of last season. No reason at all to be gloomy about losing that one.

Three more preseason games for the Jazz, I think? Let’s enjoy the wait.