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SALT LAKE CITY — On Wednesday, Quin Snyder came into the postgame press conference looking to deliver a message.
He was disappointed and angry with his team's latest performance — or performances — and used the usual monotonous ritual to deliver a message to his players.
"We weren't focused on the things that we need to be focused on to win," Snyder said, among many other critiques.
Two nights later, it appears he's satisfied with the team's response.
"You're not going to go into the locker room and see a bunch of smiles," he said Friday. "But you'll probably see some guys that have some pride and can feel good at least about the way they're competing. Over the long term, that's what wins — competitors."
Over the long term …
It wasn't enough on Friday — Utah continued what has now been a three-week slump, falling to the Grizzlies 119-109 in Memphis — but in the midst of a 2-10 stretch, the Jazz (30-20) are continuing to take the long view.
The Jazz might not want to come right out and admit they've reached the moral victory point of the slump, but that's about where they landed on Friday.
Without Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, the Jazz are asking a lot of players to play different roles. Conley had the ball in his hands more; Bojan Bogdanovic was the team's No. 1 scoring option; Hassan Whiteside is a starting center; and Trent Forrest is a big-minute rotation player. Utah's leading scorer on Friday was Danuel House Jr (21 points on 11 shots), who just signed another 10-day contract with the team on Friday.
Utah hasn't been the most talented team in many of its recent defeats — losing those games is understandable. But not giving an honest effort? That's what led to Snyder's critiques. The response on Friday led to his praise.
"We were scrambling, playing hard," Snyder said. "It wasn't perfect, but it was scrapping for rebounds, then we can get out and run. When you play hard, good things happen. When you play unselfish, good things happen. That's what we did."
It wasn't enough to overcome the size and talent advantage Memphis had without Utah's two biggest stars, though.
Newly crowned All-Star starter Ja Morant was sensational and finished with 30 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds, and Brandon Clarke finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Grizzlies to the victory.
For the Jazz, it felt different.
Three weeks ago, Conley said Utah was losing games because there were too many times when players were lackadaisical and unfocused; the Jazz lost because they didn't play hard enough.
That wasn't the case Friday. Bogdanovic dived on the floor for rebounds, Eric Paschall tried to bully everyone in the post, and Conley fought tooth and nail to keep the Jazz close.
The veteran point guard finished with 15 points and six assists, but that statline understates his impact. When he was on the court, the Jazz were the better team. He was plus-13 in his 30 minutes of playing time.
Could the Jazz have upped his minutes and possibly won the game? Possibly, but the team has studiously kept his time low to preserve the veteran guard for the playoffs. A January game in Memphis, especially one where he was getting bumped and grabbed continuously and taking on a huge ball-handling roll, wasn't necessarily worth it.
It wasn't just Conley, either. Whenever Utah's lineups consisted of regular rotation players, they outplayed the Grizzlies.
Moral victory? Maybe. But after going 2-10 over the last 12 games, it's another step to try and get out of the painful stretch.
"We're playing with a much more urgent mindset and playing harder. Guys are giving everything they got with who we have out there," Conley said. "At some point we're going to break through, and things are going to start falling our way."
Things like a missed Bogdanovic 3-pointer that would have made it a one-possession game in the final minutes; or the missed call on a layup attempt late in the game (Snyder was less than pleased about that as he chased down the officials). Utah created chances to win, which is why Snyder believes there was a sense of pride in the performance. It helps that they actually played with some, too. And because of that, the Jazz feel like they are close to turning the corner.
"No moral victories but we feel like we're getting closer and closer to being back to who we are," Conley said. "I think this time is gonna make us tougher and stronger mentally, especially when we get Donovan and Rudy and everybody back."
