SALT LAKE CITY — The Jazz held shootaround Monday in anticipation of their matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers at 7 p.m. at Vivint Arena. Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, and Quin Snyder spoke to the media.

Facing the Clippers

The Clippers are an interesting matchup for the Jazz. First of all, it's the team that the Jazz are most likely to play in the playoffs. Right now, the Jazz are the four seed and the Clippers are a five seed, but that would change with a loss today at home.

The Jazz aren't quite in playoff-positioning mode right now, it's just too soon. But I think that today's matchup can reveal something about a future matchup, especially at the big man spots. How does Derrick Favors defend a more athletic Blake Griffin, especially as Griffin plays in space, bringing the ball up? And how does Rudy Gobert's game hold up when playing maybe his most similar opponent?

Last year, the Jazz lost an April game to the Clippers when none of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, or DeAndre Jordan played. Had they won, I think it's likely they would have made the playoffs. I still think about that game frequently, so I asked Hayward if he does.

"Ah, I mean, it was such a long time ago, and it was a different situation," Hayward said. "No."

This sort of question always fascinates me because I think it's easier to hang on to this kind of stuff from the outside. For the players, they know they gave it their all, even though it may not have worked out. And of course, they're incentivized to move on from bad performances so that they can play well in the next game. For fans and analysts, on the other hand, it's this big deal that they can't control, a missed opportunity.

Favors' role in the offense

With Gobert's roll game having developed to the point where he's one of the most dangerous roll bigs in the league, Favors no longer gets many touches there, unless he's playing backup center. So given that, how does Favors get touches in the offense? I asked both Snyder and Favors. Probably not surprisingly, Snyder's answer was longer than Favors'.

"I think a lot of the thing for Derrick is we're trying to look at Derrick through a lens as a player that's where he was a couple years ago as far as his health," Snyder said. "I think part of it for him, as Derrick gets to be full speed, I think you're going to continue to see him do the things on the court at both ends that may resemble him more a year ago than a week ago or a month ago. Two weeks ago he was sitting out, as we were keeping him healthy."

Snyder continued, "Derrick just needs to keep doing what he's doing, he had a really good game against Atlanta offensively. He's had a lot of games where he's been good but it hasn't necessarily shown up as 20 points. A lot of times what he's doing now is popping, and that makes sense if he's in the game with Rudy if Rudy's rolling. But Derrick, just continuing to recognize personnel, and how people are playing him, and for our players to do the same thing when they're in the game with him. Some of his baskets are going to come through continuity and guys playing together. And right now, it's still been a revolving door. It's hard to work on Derrick and Rodney in the half-roll when one of them's out. So, we've just got to keep at it, and Derrick's got to keep rolling. And hopefully we find him, then the next step is he makes the shot, and we go from there."

"Just gotta adjust, just have to figure it out offensively, I just have to adjust to it, and that's basically what I'm trying to do now," Favors said. "Just play my game. Y'all know my game better than me. Just playing my game. Whatever shot I get, I'm going to take it, just adjusting. Whether it's a pop, or a roll, or a half-roll, just going out there and being aggressive."

Jersey sponsorship announcement

Jazz players and coaches know about the Jazz's jersey sponsorship deal, though they didn't want to reveal specifics before Monday's 1:30 p.m. press conference. So when we asked them about it, they couldn't say a whole lot.

For example, when the Deseret News' Jody Genessy asked "Without giving specifics, do you like what the Jazz have done with the jersey sponsorship?" Hayward simply replied "Yes, yes I do."

Favors was asked what he thinks about jersey ads in general. "I think it's a good idea. You've been seeing it in other sports leagues, so I think it's a good idea for both parties involved."

Hey, the jersey logos are raising that BRI (basketball-related income) that gets split approximately 50/50 between players and ownership, so he's right. Both parties are getting more money.

We'll know more about the sponsorship after the 1:30 p.m. announcement, and will have an article up on KSL.com as soon as possible.

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