5 things we learned about Utah Jazz in 2019, the NBA Summer League



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Steve Griffin, Deseret News

Utah Jazz Center Tony Bradley, right, passes Jacorey Williams of the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Jazz Summer League at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, July 2, 2019.

LAS VEGAS – Tony Bradley took his time out of locker room Thomas and Mack Center after Utah Jazz's 87-78 loss to Houston Rockets on Thursday.

The former great North Carolina player has continued to dominate this season with 23 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and two hits, but the Jazz has dropped to 2-2 in the Las Vegas Summer League after the last defeat.

Even though the team was up and down, Bradley remained rock solid.

"He just worked really really hard," said Vince Legarza, jazz assistant, about Bradley. "He is very attached to the weight room and works with our strength and our high performing staff."

"He is very attached to the weight room and works with our strength and our high performing staff."

Jazz Assistant Vince Legarza on Tony Bradley

Utah will play his last match in Sin City at 2 pm MT Saturday against the Charlotte Hornets on NBA TV. The last few weeks have been filled by players who played in the Salt Lake City Summer League at the Vivint Arena from July 1st to 3rd, and Las Vegas, which started just after July 5th. .

Here are five things we learned about the team during two weeks of activity of the Summer League:

reintroductions: With all the acquisitions and moves made during the off season, Bradley has entered this off season knowing that he needed a great performance during the summer season to prove himself. He began by being in better shape to rebuild his physical setting, and his results on the ground have borne fruit. Bradley received honors from the Salt Lake City Summer League, with his outstanding game in Utah, then followed in Las Vegas scoring the best of his team with 19.7 points and 11, 3 rebounds with 56% shooting, impressive even his former university coach, Roy Williams. .

"I knew right after the season it would be a great summer," said Bradley. "So, I just tried to push myself into the weight room and into the field just to do my best and I feel that this translates into this summer league and I just wanted to make my better."

New guys: Jarrell Brantley, Justin Wright-Foreman and Miye Oni, recruited in the second round, will certainly be part of the Jazz formation, but the trio showed a glimpse of their potential during their first opportunity in the NBA. Like Bradley, Brantley also received honors from the Salt Lake City Summer League with an average of 13.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1, 0 volley per game – including a vicious one-handed poster jam in the last game against San Antonio. Wright-Foreman continued to learn the playmaker position after posting the NCAA's second highest average in his senior season at Hofstra, while Oni was looking to fit into the new frame without doing too much.

"I'm not trying to say," Oh, I have to go to Summer League, "admitted Oni after averaging 9.3 points out of 44 percent shot in Las Vegas." I know a lot of guys think that, but I'm just trying to be part of the team, I think I can be part of a real team and play the same way every time I'm just trying to stay consistent.

John Locher, AP

Johnathan Williams, of Houston Rockets, on the right, and Willie Reed of Utah Jazz, are fighting for a rebound in the second half of an NBA Summer League basketball game on Thursday, July 11, 2019 in Las Vegas.

The return: A shoulder injury that ended the season in January put Willie Reed away from the Salt Lake City Stars center for the rest of the year. However, the former Star No.1 player was perfectly comfortable with the Jazz, with no lingering effect of the injury this summer. In the beginning, Reed had received an invitation to the Jazz Free Agents' mini-camp and another in Dallas, and then used his wisdom and advice, not only for himself, but also to help some newcomers to Utah. Reed averaged 10.3 points and 6.0 rebounds by 57 percent in his three appearances in Las Vegas and could be a valuable asset to the franchise in a certain way this year.

"I'm just working on my game and I'm doing what I can to be on my list, whether it's Jazz or elsewhere, but the fact that they let me come here is a great opportunity," he said. Reed. "It's still work to do. This is not a pressure. "

Moving forward: Quin Snyder's assistant coaches, Lamar Skeeter, Johnnie Bryant and Legarza, led the series during the summer league, while Snyder took a behind-the-scenes approach. Skeeter coached in Utah while Bryant and Legarza took over in Las Vegas. Although many summer league players are not on the final list, coaches saw the opportunity as an opportunity to grow and refine their performance, which will ultimately benefit them in the long run.

"There are some strategic things that we have somehow tried to do, but whether it is to play out of play or to look different from the offensive or the defense," explained Legarza. "So, we will definitely see how things work and what has not worked and see if we can apply it."


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A STAR IS BORN: Before leaving for his Adidas World Tour, Donovan Mitchell visited the Las Vegas Shoe Palace to donate money to the local Boys & Girls Club and his D.O.N. No 1 sneakers and tickets for the new Spider-Man movie during a meeting on July 5th.

He will be away until the end of the month for a tour of Asia, France and Germany, but the star of the guard of jazz continues to shine with each appearance. Adidas even bought a great video ad that projected to the right of the Strip keep pushing his sneakers.

"It's an incredible feeling," Mitchell told Deseret News. "It never gets old."

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