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SALT LAKE CITY — Jazz coach Quin Snyder thought he had delivered a walk-off quote.
"Do it. Just do it. At some point, it's just like, do it. You do it, you win. You don't, you lose," Snyder said as he got up from the podium.
The question: How do you drive home the need to bring effort and focus every night?
That's been a recurring issue for the Jazz recently, though it wasn't Monday night; guys like Eric Paschall, Trent Forrest, and Danuel House fought and scrapped for everything. The Jazz had a season-high in steals and ran every chance they could; and a much-less talented team was able to stick with the No. 1 squad in the NBA.
In praising his end-of-bench players after Monday's hard-fought loss, it sounded awfully like Snyder was issuing a challenge to the rest of his club. When he sat back down (he had been asked another question), he finished his thought.
"Compete — you don't always win when you do it. But if you don't do it, it's hard," Snyder said.
The message was clear: The Jazz have made it hard on themselves this season.
There's not really any doubt Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic, Royce O'Neale or Joe Ingles, who all missed Monday's game due to various ailments, are better basketball players than the ones Utah threw out there against the Suns; however, it's not a sure thing they would have been any more competitive.
"I think playing hard is as much of a skill as anything else," Snyder said.
That's how Jared Butler, who felt like he never gave up on a play, ended up with four steals; it's how House limited Devin Booker to 0-of-6 shooting in the fourth quarter; it's how Forrest zig zagged his way through much more veteran players to score a career-high 17 points without a jump shot.
In fact, it was the veterans who were available — namely Hassan Whiteside and Jordan Clarkson (to his credit, went supernova in the last two minutes) — that ended up torpedoing Utah's chances at the upset.
Snyder said there are oftentimes where a scheme can be thrown out the window, and as long as the team plays hard and communicates, it can figure the game out; the youngsters figured it out. Lineups featuring Butler, Forrest, Paschall, House and Elijah Hughes had more Jazz-esque ball movement and defensive rotations than anything over the last couple weeks.
"You get confidence from playing hard and playing together, and you get confidence from having an identity, and our identity as a team has gone in and out at times this year," Snyder said. "So that confidence will come when we continue to perform at a certain level — whether we win or lose."
He reiterated that the Jazz still have a long time to strengthen that identity and be playing at their best, but Monday's game showcased how they'd get there.
"I think what we saw tonight was some guys really digging in and doing things to help us get better," Snyder said. "I think everybody felt that — even the guys that didn't play — and that just has to be the standard."
It's obviously expected for players who are fighting for their NBA lives or for more opportunities to bring energy and effort — especially in the middle of a long season; however, Monday showed that Snyder may have more options deep on his bench. There are nights when some players simply don't have it. On those occasions, it might be better for the team to throw in Forrest, House or Butler.
Maybe or maybe not. Monday, though, gave the team some things to think about. If anything else, it served as a chance for Snyder to issue a challenge.
