LAS VEGAS — Three thoughts on the Jazz's 79-72 summer league win over the New Orleans Pelicans from KSL.com's Utah Jazz beat writer, Andy Larsen.

1. Without Trey Lyles, Jazz pick up win

I wrote after Saturday's loss that the Jazz's summer league roster really only had one NBA-caliber player: Trey Lyles. Sunday, without Lyles, things didn't look good for the team that was 0-4 coming into the contest.

Naturally, the Jazz picked up their first win of the summer. Sports, basketball, and especially summer league sometimes make no sense.

The key for the Jazz tonight was avoiding the turnovers that plagued them Saturday against the Wizards. Then, they had 21 turnovers for 21 Wizards points; tonight, they turned the ball over just seven times, leading to seven Pelicans points. That's the difference.

"We really moved the ball to the second side on offense," Jazz summer league head coach Mike Wells explained. "We had better ball movement, and guys got open looks."

Joel Bolomboy agreed. "We didn't have Trey to do all of the scoring, so we had to come together as a team, rely on each other, and get the ball moving."

That movement from side to side is so important in the Jazz's offense, because it allows players to attack and gain an advantage in the possession against moving defenders, not ready, stationary ones. I wonder if Lyles' presence hurt that a little bit: with one go-to guy (Lyles has used 35% of Jazz possessions in his summer league time so far), sometimes ball movement can be harder to come by.

When I told Wells of my worries, though, he wasn't as concerned: "Any time you add a good player, it's usually pretty good for you." Touché.

2. Joel Bolomboy has his most solid performance yet

Taking advantage of Lyles' absence, Bolomboy had his best game in a Utah Jazz uniform Sunday night, scoring 13 points and picking up 11 rebounds in 29 minutes of play. Getting his first chance to start, he still seemed too eager to take bad shots, going 1-6 and forcing up some bad ones. But he started to figure it out as the game went along, and finished 4-7 in his remaining looks.

Once he got rolling, he attacked the rim with reckless abandon, almost anger, that's really fun to watch. Especially from my view directly under the basket, it was really clear how high Bolomboy jumps, and how ferociously he throws it down.

Even though the scoring took some time to appear, the rebounding was excellent throughout. Bolomboy uses his athleticism well to fly in and attack the glass. He struggles a little bit more to use that when he's being bodied, but more work on his strength will help him there.

"I think I got a little more time with Trey Lyles sitting out, and it opened up a stuff for me and my teammates," Bolomboy said. I asked Bolomboy if he feels more comfortable as a starter (having done so for his last three seasons at Weber State) than coming off the bench, but he didn't take the bait: he just wants to help the team as an energy guy no matter how many minutes he gets.

That's the right answer. Bolomboy, should he make the roster, will undoubtedly be a bit player behind the Jazz's talented bigs. If he really can help in small spurts, he'll have the chance to develop in the NBA.

3. Tyrone Wallace makes an appearance

Like Bolomboy, Wallace had his best game in a Jazz uniform, leading the team with 15 points. Given that he had 12 total points in the three games he played before Sunday, that's a big step up.

"I haven't been feeling like myself in earlier games," Wallace said after the game.

"I just couldn't get into a rhythm. It was my first couple of games, not knowing what to expect. I was playing off the ball. I just wasn't comfortable yet, and was being too passive. As soon as I caught the ball, I was looking to get rid of it. Today, I just tried to be aggressive, put pressure on the rim, and make good plays."

Wallace's approach was clearly different against the Pellies. Wallace pointed out how he wanted to attack the rim more frequently, but I was more encouraged by his taking six 3-point shots in the game, making 3 of them. That's Wallace's Achilles' heel, but now is the perfect time to develop that skill. At the very least, making the early shots forced the defense to respect Wallace from outside.

On defense, Wallace had most of the time guarding lottery pick Buddy Hield. Wallace kept Hield in check for the first three quarters before Hield escaped a few times in the fourth for open looks. Still, overall, you have to be relatively happy with the results: Hield finished 7-20 from the field, and only shot three free throws. With his size, defense would be a natural calling card for his professional career.

Related topics