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SALT LAKE CITY — Jazz rookie Ochai Agbaji downplayed his nerves before the first regular season game back on Oct. 19.
Yes, he admitted, there were butterflies; he was human after all. But he was pretty sure he had gotten most of them out during the preseason. Regardless, his feeling that night paled in comparison to his first real collegiate game at Kansas.
That game came midway through his freshman year after his redshirt season was unexpectedly pulled.
"Guys knew the rotation and I was just jumping in — a new player out of nowhere — so it was more nerve wracking," he said before Utah's season opener.
In some ways, though, that described his experience on Friday against Denver, too.
Illnesses sidelines three rotation players for the Utah Jazz in their loss to the Nuggets. Add in some foul trouble and suddenly Agbaji and second-year guard Leondro Bolmaro saw rotations minutes for the first time this season.
Agbaji scored 9 points on 4-for-7 shooting in 19 minutes of action — the first 19 minutes of play during the regular season for the rookie from Kansas.
"I thought Ochai did a good job recognizing his opportunities to cut from the perimeter," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "I thought he got out and ran in transition. Ochai's taking the challenge defensively that we've kind of given him; his physicality can really impact the game."
All four of Agbaji's buckets came near the rim. On his first NBA bucket, he drove in from the corner and made a nice acrobatic finish around Bones Hyland. His second came on a finish through Nikola Jokic after a nice cut inside. Then he had two transition chances to finish off the game. His only misses came from 3-point range.
"For his first NBA minutes in the regular season, again, I thought he represented himself very well," Hardy said.
Bolmaro, meanwhile, finished with 2 points and two assists in 15 minutes of action. Hardy credited his quick decision making and his strong drives for helping Utah get into a flow in the second quarter of the loss to the Nuggets.
"We love Leandro's toughness. We love his ability to guard the ball defensively. The pace that he plays with, the fire that he plays with on both ends is definitely representative of how we want our team and our program to be," said Hardy, later adding that he thought Bolmaro had a bright future.
After seeing them put in extra work in practice, even on off days, Hardy said it was good the two got an opportunity in a game. He added that he was happy with how they performed.
"Those guys work really hard," he said. "They play a lot at practice, and on off days to stay sharp because they haven't been getting a ton of game minutes. I thought they executed the way we want to play very well. I thought they competed on the defensive end, they got out in transition, and they tried to share the ball."
And with Rudy Gay and Simone Fontecchio in COVID-19 protocols, opportunity might just beckon again on Saturday.
"I'm happy that they got to get in and get some real minutes and some quality time out there," Mike Conley said. "So I'm sure they're looking forward to getting more."
