SALT LAKE CITY — In sports, there are few words that are exalted quite like the words “identity” and “commitment.”

Both convey general discussion of being, but they are impossible to qualify and quantify on an objective scale.

How do you understand what a player’s commitment is to the team? Truly understanding an individual's perspective on this would require being inside each player’s thought process.

Identity is a little bit easier to measure, as players and coaches frequently talk about what type of team they want to be. Identity and commitment are linked together, but which one comes first?

The Utah Jazz are trying to build a defensive identity, and they want every player on the roster to be committed to playing good defense.

Players who seemed to have troubles committing to the defensive mentality have been moved on (cough, Enes Kanter), while players who attack the defensive end with more vigor have gotten promotions and more playing time.

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Since the All-Star break, the Jazz have had one of the league’s best defensive ratings and have gone 8-2 in their last 10 games. Fans have largely attributed the success to second-year center Rudy Gobert, who is awing crowds with hammer dunks and blow-opponents-away blocks.

However, Gobert isn’t the only player who is helping Utah create an identity, and he certainly isn't the only player making a commitment to playing better defense.

Jazz coach Quin Snyder, in a long discussion of Utah’s defensive turnaround before the Knicks game Tuesday, explained the reasons why the Jazz are getting better defensively.

“Rudy’s the most visible person on the court, almost all the time,” he said. “Rudy’s minutes have gone up, but only about 10 minutes a game, so he’s been playing all year. He was playing when we weren’t very good; he’s playing when we’ve gotten better, and lately we’ve been pretty good. He’s certainly a big part of it; we all know that.

“I think Derrick (Favors), playing with Rudy, being at the (power forward position) makes him a unique defender. His ability to guard on the perimeter with his length (is impressive).

“The other guy that gets lost in the shuffle is Dante (Exum). You’ve got a guy that’s embraced defending the point of the ball, and I think Dante’s made Trey (Burke) a better defender. Elijah (Millsap) has played a role, Gordon (Hayward) and Joe (Ingles) — both (tall) and able to switch. There’s a lot of things that this team has gradually found an identity, but it’s taken work. You learn when things are hard, and things have been hard. I think that’s maybe a more comprehensive look at the situation.”

Exum entered the starting lineup primarily for his defense, and he is starting to become more efficient offensively. However, defense is a primary concern of his, and he understands the importance of his role in making the team better defensively.

“Everyone has a part in playing good defense,” he said. “It’s worked well being able to switch a lot of screens between us guards, and having Rudy down there helps a whole lot. It’s been a team effort from everyone.”

Opponents around the league are paying the Jazz compliments, and talking about Utah’s defensive improvement has become an almost cliché topic amongst national media.

While the increased respect is a welcomed change for a team that hasn’t had much to boast about in the last three seasons, pressure comes with the change. For instance, teams have adjusted their offenses to try and minimize Gobert’s impact. New York’s Cole Alrich may be the prime example. He scored 17 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.

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Favors said the team has to continue to improve if it wants to stay ahead of the league’s minds.

“We’ve still got a lot of work to do,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do on the defensive end. Communication can always be better; rotations and trusting each other a little bit more.

“We’ve had a big improvement from the beginning of the season to now, but we can’t put too much to it because now teams are starting to understand we have a good defense. Now they’re scouting and figuring out ways to get past our defense, so we’re going to have to get a lot better.”

While the Jazz have made a vast improvement since the All-Star break and have beaten several high-quality opponents, it’s important to realize a few facts about the team. Its starting point guard is 19 years old (Exum); its franchise players are 24 and 23 (Hayward and Favors); and its starting center is in his second season (Gobert). Youth is a long-term positive, but it can be a short-term negative.

Utah makes mistakes and can take steps back. This was seen in how the team responded to home wins over Portland and San Antonio — a 100-97 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

For that reason, Snyder said it’s important to remember where the team is in its climb up the league rankings.

“The thing about our team lately is we’ve been a very intelligent, young team,” he said. “For being really young, we’ve got a group of guys that are really working at understanding what we want, but that takes concentration, and it’s not habitual enough yet.”

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