HOUSTON — The Utah Jazz held shootaround Wednesday morning before they play the Houston Rockets in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals Wednesday night at 6 p.m. MT. Here's what's going on around the team.

Kobe's Detail video

Kobe Bryant debuted a new video series called "Detail" on ESPN, which is basically Bryant watching basketball film and going through his thought process as if he were the player he's watching. It's actually fascinating, and the season's third episode is Bryant breaking down film of Donovan Mitchell's good-but-not-great Game 1 performance.

"To have a guy like that analyze my game, and he was talking as if it was me, which is kind of cool," Mitchell noted. "But there were times where he was basically saying 'that can’t happen, this can’t happen,' and I’m laughing because he’s right. They can’t push me off my spot."

Mitchell didn't grow up idolizing Bryant like many players but has learned in his first season to appreciate Bryant's approach.

"The coolest thing about that is that I wasn’t a Kobe fan growing up. I didn’t understand how much time and his presence and how hard he worked on his game," Mitchell said. "Being in my first year in the league, he’s become one of my favorite players to watch."

Jazz head coach Quin Snyder has his own experience with Bryant, having been an assistant coach with the Lakers. Snyder still stays in touch with Bryant.

"Players teach you," Snyder said. "I learned a ton from Kobe. I think if Kobe's breaking his game down, that's a good thing. It's a compliment to Donovan."

And while Snyder said he hadn't watched "Detail," both he and Bryant agreed on the major thing Mitchell needs to do to improve against Houston in the series. Both noted how Trevor Ariza played Mitchell physically, pushing him to catch the ball out near half-court rather than near the 3-point line, where he could more reliably attack from.

"Any time you play against a team that defends you well, and you play against a guy like Trevor Ariza, and is extending, guarding you in places you haven't been defended in, there's things you have to recognize and adjust to," Snyder said. "A lot of times players do that on their own. But as a coach, it's my job to put him in positions where he can be successful."

Rubber band effect

The silver lining to the Jazz's Game 1 performance was that they cut the Houston lead from 25 points at halftime to 11 points during the fourth quarter, eventually losing by 14. But the Jazz know that that comeback performance may have been a bit of fools gold.

"They were way ahead. When you get way ahead, teams play a little bit differently," Snyder pointed out. "No matter how hard we as coaches encourage them to play the same and not play the scoreboard, it's just a natural tendency."

That's definitely true. There's a natural "rubber banding" effect in the NBA, where teams that are down by a lot start to play significantly better. In fact, teams down 25 are likely to play about 6 points better per 100 possessions than tied teams, according to Jeremias Engelmann who developed ESPN's Real Plus-Minus system. That's about the same impact as just gifting one of those teams a Steph Curry or a James Harden.

So while the Jazz outscored the Rockets by 11 in the second half, that's not as meaningful as if they had done so in a tied game. The Jazz will need to play better early to give themselves a chance.

Royce at the end of the shot clock

Some of that bad play early was due to poor offensive execution. There were numerous plays where the Jazz didn't respond well to Houston's switching defense, and then asked Royce O'Neale to make a play with the shot clock winding down. O’Neale is a capable attacker in transition situations but is less capable in the half-court when the set defense’s attention is squarely on his movements.

"If Royce has the ball isolated at the end of the shot clock, there's probably something before that that we haven't been able to execute or do. Either we have faltered in our execution, or Houston's doing something we have to handle better," Snyder said.

That being said, O'Neale catching the ball at the end of the shot clock with no one defending him — open to make a shot or drive easily for a layup — can be good execution. It's all about creating that advantage and then attacking it.

If the Rockets do force those situations, though, and O'Neale can't consistently create, that's when it might be best to turn to someone like Alec Burks or Dante Exum. Burks and Exum converted on isolation opportunities during the regular season at 0.85 and 0.90 points per possession, respectively, while O'Neale was at just 0.56 points per possession in just 16 attempts.

Harden, by the way, finished the season at 1.22 points per possession on isolation plays; that's why he's the MVP. If that's the game the Jazz get forced into playing, they will lose it quickly.

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