Jazz practice: Rodney Hood's shooting threes; Gobert's rebounding


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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz practiced on the day before their Game 6 matchup against the L.A. Clippers. Head coach Quin Snyder, guard Rodney Hood, and center Rudy Gobert were made available to the media.

Rodney Hood's shooting goal

Rodney Hood led the Jazz in shots (he was 6-17) and 3-point attempts (he was 4-10) in Game 5 Sunday. But the Jazz's coaches and players liked that Hood was taking that many shots, as they felt it was because he was the natural outlet in the offense when the Clippers rotated.

"The only way he can make a mistake is not to attack," Quin Snyder said.

Hood has hit some really big fourth-quarter shots, but has struggled at times earlier in the game at hitting those looks. But he said that's no accident. In fact, there's a little bit of a self-diagnosis process that occurs.

"When I miss shots, I know," Hood said. "I get a little bit of a gist as to why I missed the shot. Am I leaning too far forward, or whatever it is. I make an adjustment during the game and I'm able to fix it by the end of the game."

And Hood's set a goal as to the number of 3-point looks he'll get.

"A goal of mine is to get eight (3-point shots) a game," Hood said. "If I get those same looks, I'll hit them."

Rudy's rebounding

Snyder was asked what has been the biggest impact of Gobert since coming back.

"Well, he fouled twice at the end of the game, so that impacted everything," Snyder pointed out.

But then he went into a somewhat more positive answer. "I think his competitiveness and presence on the defensive glass as much as everything. I can't say enough about him on the glass," Snyder said. "There's a lot of things, but that's the thing that jumps out to me."

Gobert was asked a long question about what his strategy is to stop DeAndre Jordan from getting rebounds, to which he simply replied, "just put a body on him."

Jordan has gone from averaging 14.3 rebounds per game in the first three games of the series to 11 rebounds per game in the two since Gobert's return. Another interesting stat: the Clippers were averaging 11.3 second-chance points per game in the first three games of the series, that number is now down to 6.5 in the second two games. Definitely a small sample size, but Gobert seems to be making a big impact.

Playing in important times

During the most important times of the 2015-16 season, the Jazz faltered. From the loss against the Clippers when they rested their three stars, to the critical home loss against the Mavericks that would have earned the Jazz a spot in the playoffs, to season-long clutch issues that made them the 27th worst clutch defense in the league.

We've seen the opposite of throughout this series, as the Jazz have come through in the end despite tough fourth quarters. And just as they've improved their efforts in closing out games, they'll need to show their skills at closing out a series Friday.

"At the end of the day, it's just basketball," Gobert said. "It's just that there's a level of focus that's a little bit higher in the playoffs."

Snyder talked about needing to keep that focus high. "Whether or not it's our Game 7, we don't want to go back to Los Angeles," he said. "That's not saying anything surprising. On the other hand, if we don't, that's why there's a Game 7."

Clippers starters update

Yesterday, I wrote about how the Clippers figure to make an adjustment to the starting lineup. Today, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers told assembled reporters in Los Angeles about the changes he wants to make.

> Doc Rivers said either Paul Pierce or Mo Speights will start tomorrow at forward > > — Brad Turner (@BA\_Turner) [April 27, 2017](https://twitter.com/BA_Turner/status/857658086395269120)

I am very confident that neither aging Paul Pierce nor the defensively confused Marreese Speights are the answer at the power forward position for L.A. In fact, that has been such a bad look for the Clippers that I wonder if Rivers is trying to fool the Jazz, rather than actually planning to start those players.

I think more likely is Rivers starting Raymond Felton alongside Chris Paul, and starting small. But even then, they'd run into some serious problems.

But if the Clippers really do start "The Truth" (Pierce) or "Mo' Buckets" (Speights) at power forward, the Jazz would be very happy with that choice.

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Andy Larsen

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