Utah Jazz's Scrimmages: What Did We Learn?

The Utah Jazz have completed their three scrimmage encounters before the seeding schedule of eight games kicks off against the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday 30 August. After a slow and rusty performance in a loss to the Phoenix Suns, the Jazz started to look more like themselves in wins against Miami and Brooklyn.

With three games back under their belt, what were some of the major takeaways from Utah’s first NBA action in three months?

Relax everyone, Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert are fine

One of the major storylines heading into the resumed NBA season centered around the relationship between Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.

Post-game after their scrimmage against Miami, Gobert and Mitchell’s positive bond was on full display. On-court, the pair seem to be clicking even better than before, with Mitchell providing three lob assists that contributed six of Gobert’s 21 points against Miami.

That play continued against Brooklyn, where Mitchell showed increased patience in the pick-and-roll, to hit Gobert with a perfect lob pass.

And then this beautiful wraparound feed through Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert, finding Gobert perfectly for the easy basket.

Jazz fans can breathe a sigh of relief, as any sign of a rift between the two franchise pillars seems to be in the past, or at least is having no impact on their on-court production.

After only having three shot attempts against Phoenix, Gobert responded with 21 points on 8 of 9 shooting against Miami, and 20 points on 6 of 8 shots against Brooklyn. The Jazz need Gobert to put in these scoring numbers for success in the seeding games and beyond, particularly in the absence of Bojan Bogdanović.

With their second leading scorer out with a season-ending wrist injury, the pressure is on players like Gobert to up their offensive ante. With him and Mithcell in sync, that happens much more often.

Mitchell’s staying dangerous when his shot isn’t falling

Utah’s star shooting guard has previously struggled to impact the game when it’s not his shooting night. As shown in these scrimmage games, Mitchell is showing an increased ability to find the open man and make the right play.

While “Spida” is capable of offensive wizardry and a tough shot any given night, there are multiple occasions where Mitchell leaves Jazz fans frustrated with an ill-advised tough jumper.

In three contests, we’ve seen Mitchell not only assist Gobert on lobs, but also unlock the defenses with passes out to teammates. Evidenced here in this possession, while Mitchell doesn’t get the assist, he makes a vital pass. Confronted with Allen and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarott, instead of driving to the basket for a tough layup, Mitchell hits Royce O’Neale with a great pass, who creates further space by driving and kicking to Mike Conley for the 3-point make.

Mitchell is a dynamic offensive player, not only for his athletic ability in getting to the rim but also for the variety of shots he can make. Equally adept at pulling up on a dime for a mid-range jump shot or hitting a tough runner, Mitchell’s versatility forces defenders to gamble, leaving pockets of space to make a key pass outside.

Passes like these will not only open the floor up for Mitchell’s teammates, but will also help create gravity and space for the former Louisville guard to get to the basket.

Speaking on what growth he needs to show in Orlando, Mitchell has said that it needs to be centered around “becoming a better passer...more willing passer. I think getting into the lane, obviously, I get there and take certain shots, but I think, being able to find my teammates.”

We’ll see if a more team-oriented Mitchell can lead the Jazz to postseason success.

Now THAT’s what we want to see from Mike Conley

While offseason acquisition Bogdanović had flourished prior to his season-ending injury, recording career-high scoring numbers, veteran Mike Conly hasn’t yet been the seamless backcourt fit Jazz fans were hoping for.

Injuries have halted Conley’s ability to integrate himself into Coach Quin Snyder’s system, meaning the former Grizzly has posted the lowest scoring numbers since the 2011-12 season, with 13.8 points per game.

However, with improved play before the NBA shutdown, Conley has brought that form to Orlando. In 20 minutes during the last scrimmage against Brooklyn, the 32-year old had 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting and 4 of 6 from 3-point range. In the previous clash with Phoenix, Conley added 17 points on 7 of 15 shooting, showing that the veteran guard has been happy to let it fly.

While not contributing great tallies in the assist column, one per scrimmage game, Conley’s taken Bogdanović’s absence as a chance to remind the NBA of what kind of scorer he can be.

Almost stepping into a pure scorer’s role, Conley has let Mitchell and playmaker Joe Ingles facilitate opportunities, while Conley has had more scoring freedom. As the Jazz rolled out a small-ball lineup of Conley, Mitchell, Jordan Clarkson, Ingles and Gobert, Snyder has continued to look for opportunities to be more mobile and score, which Conley has shown he can do.

An aggressive Conley, as seen in his highlights against Brooklyn below, is exactly what the Jazz need to complement Mitchell.

After the scrimmage games, Conley said that “the first three games were a good indicator of my comfort level as I’ve grown with the team.”

If Conley’s steady hand and veteran expertise can provide Utah with someone else to take over late in games, a deep postseason run may be on the cards in Orlando.