Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder knows winless Sacramento Kings will be hungry for victory

Utah Jazz guard Emmanuel Mudiay (8) is called for a foul while trying to block a shot from Sacramento Kings guard Yogi Ferrell (3) during the second half of the game at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019. | Colter Peterson, Deseret News

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The one thing the Utah Jazz and the Sacramento Kings have in common is that they each compete hard every night and want to win every game. But going into Friday night’s matchup in at Golden 1 Center in downtown Sacramento, one squad had won all but one of its first five contests, while the other had yet to secure its first victory of the new season.

Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder, whose team was the former, said he know the members of the latter team will be highly motivated to notch a win with the support of its home crowd.

“They’re always tough here,” he said speaking to media after shootaround. “It’s early in the season. They’re getting their shots and they’re gonna make shots, so we have to be ready to defend and get back and try to make things hard.”

He said just as the Jazz had some trouble on defense in the preseason, giving up more than 125 points in losses against NBA opponents, his players eventually figured out how to adjust and play better which has resulted in four Ws in five games.

“Our track record is our players and guys buying in (to our program),” Snyder said. “You can try to make it hard on (opponents) by what you do. Ultimately guys got to come out and execute.”

He also noted that despite the wins, the Jazz still have some changes to make to improve offensive efficiency.

“Our offense hasn’t been great,” Snyder said. “So hopefully that’ll get better. But it’s a credit to our personnel and our guys that they take care of those things. Players want to win. They understand that if the other team scores, it’s harder to win.”

The Jazz come into Friday night’s contest on a three-game win streak that includes a 32-point blowout of Sacramento, 113-81, at Vivint Arena on Oct. 26.

Since then, Utah has also beaten the Phoenix Suns 96-95 on the road and the LA Clippers 110-96 in Salt Lake City on Oct. 28. After struggling mightily to stop teams from scoring in the preseason, the Jazz have yet to allow an opponent score 100 points so far in the first five games of the regular season.

from Deseret News https://ift.tt/3285vAA