Q. Through the first three games of this series you guys got off to pretty fast starts. 8-0, 10-2, thereabouts. And the Clippers finally, in Ty Lue's words, it's become an aggressor versus counter puncher kind of thing. I guess the question is, how do you guys kind of adjust to being able to try to keep those initial flurries extended a bit?
COACH SNYDER: Well, I think as much as anything, it comes down to our defense. Where we are right now with Donovan playing the point and carrying both a scoring load and a playmaking load, because he's getting blitzed and pick-and-rolled, or they're trapping him off the ball, it becomes even more important. That's why I mentioned spacing so much the other night.
But I think it becomes even more important, to your point, that we get stops and we can get out in the open floor and generate some offensive opportunities that way.
So whether you're going on a run or trying to prevent a run, the defensive end becomes really, really, you know, the key thing. And when we're -- we're going to give some things up. I think we can be better just being conscious of personnel and being better individually defensively. And I didn't think we were as connected and as urgent in some of our rotations. And unless we want to let Rudy just guard someone out at the 3-point line for the whole possession, we're going to be in some rotations. And that's not ideal against a team that shoots the ball as well as they do.
So we have to do a better job in those situations and then be able to rebound the ball, I think, when there's 3s taken, too. Some of those long rebounds, we need to come up with, because they can lead to baskets in transition, which takes pressure off Donovan and gives us opportunities to get cleaner looks because it's easier for Georges Niang or Joe or anyone to bring the ball up on a miss than it is to initiate offense in the half court.
Q. My question for you is about Donovan Mitchell. You're using him, as you mentioned, as a scorer and to bring the ball up. Are you fearful that that wears him out, or he's just a young guy, you're going to let him rip and run?
COACH SNYDER: I'm not going to have Rudy bring it up right now. With Mike out, you know, Donovan can make plays for other people. He obviously can make plays for himself. We're asking him to do a lot right now. And when he's getting trapped and blitzed and he's forced to get off the ball, other guys on our team have an opportunity to space and make plays. And that's important.
I'm confident in our group in doing that. But in Donovan's case, he's been able to do all those things as far as scoring mid-range, getting to the rim, making 3s, passing the ball. I think this is unique because, as you said, that he's carrying a load right now.
And we have some other guys that obviously are capable of doing the same thing, but as far as initiating the offense, that responsibility falls to Donovan primarily and obviously Joe at times as well.
So do I worry? I'd like for us to, I'd like for us to be efficient. And Donovan's the guy who can help us do that. So is Joe and so is Bojan and there's other guys -- I think we have to play as a group and a team so that that responsibility gets spread amongst their team.
So as much as being concerned, I think we have to play a certain way in order to be successful. And that means if really we can get stops, as I said before, that it's easier for us to attack in the open floor.
Q. You often attribute good offense to good spacing, at least in part, and iffy offense to bad spacing or (indiscernible) spacing. I'm curious, if you were talking to a fan or someone watching the game, what would someone look out for when looking for good spacing when watching the Jazz?
COACH SNYDER: Well, if you look at Donovan's situation, if they're trapping him in pick-and-roll, he has to have outlets, which means whoever is in front of him needs to surface in order to create a passing lane. And the person behind him needs to pull behind. And then from that point, the initial pass-out, they're so long and athletic that oftentimes it's the next guy that has to be spaced as well because they're capable of rotating or faking at the ball and getting back to their own.
So the better spaced we are, the better opportunity we have, not only to get open shots, but, oftentimes you're not going to get the first shot out. And it's about driving the ball and getting on the rim. And that's really then it gets into the same thing; when they collapse, we've got to be able to -- guys got to be ready to kick the ball out. So for us it's kind of a constant process. And the easiest thing to see obviously is in those situations where they're trapping. But equally true in transition where we can stretch the floor, whether that means Rudy running to the rim, guys getting to the corners, all those things that give us an opportunity to move the ball and get our shots.
Q. Wondering, what has the medical staff indicated to you on what progress Mike's made and what are the steps that he still needs to take before he can rejoin you guys?
COACH SNYDER: Well, I think he's making progress. As far as the exact position of where he is in that process, that is a day-to-day thing. And I don't comment on the status of any individual player, any individual injury. I think that all I can say is we know, we all know he wants to be back there quickly. And that's the place we're working towards.
And obviously all the guys on the team want him back. And we know how he impacts our team. When you're playing without your point guard, it impacts everybody, but that's also something that our guys have dealt with and it's a challenge to take on, and it's the next-man-up mentality, and we have confidence in our group as well. We'll keep doing what we're doing and keep competing and hopefully Mike can get back and help us there.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports