And he gives the Jazz another threat to score, as if they needed more scoring threats. On several occasions, he used a pump fake, got his defender off balance and made a play off the dribble. Even at 35 years old, even diminished some as an athlete, Gay has length that makes him a threat defensively to protect the rim. He makes the Jazz a significantly bigger team on the wings. Gay’s size and length are obvious on both ends of the floor.
The ramp up from the Jazz has been slow, especially so, considering Utah has a deep roster and the Jazz simply want to be as healthy as possible for the playoffs.īut, if Thursday night showed anything, it showed why general manager Justin Zanik, Snyder and David Morway put on such a fullcourt press in free agency to get Gay signed and on the roster. His rehabilitation has been tedious and ongoing. Recovering from the heel he had offseason surgery on hasn’t been easy for Gay. In fact, Snyder played him a little longer in the fourth quarter, after it was clear that the Jazz were going to win the game, in order to get him some extra reps up and down the floor. The lack of conditioning showed in a few spots, but it never got to a point where it hurt the Jazz while he was on the floor. There were nerves involved for Gay, but none of that affected how he played.
So to be here, this is something that I’ve been waiting for.” I’ve played against the Jazz a lot in my career, and it’s never fun playing against that crowd. I know my conditioning needs work, but some of that will come in time. So, I think that was something that I wanted to focus on, getting it and moving it. “One thing I did well today? I didn’t hold the ball,” Gay said. And he was a ball mover, as well as a shot maker, which made him a real threat offensively. Gay was a big part of the lineup that ultimately won the game for the Jazz. Gay displayed a keen understanding of Utah’s offense, which has to be an encouraging sign because Quin Snyder’s offense isn’t the easiest playbook to pick up. But, the jumper that he’s perfected to counter some of the loss of the elite athleticism he had in his prime, that was there from every spot on the floor. There were moments when Gay was noticeably winded. Playing NBA minutes at altitude for the first time this season proved a little rough. The ball moved offensively, and his skill set stood out because the things that he does well are some of the things nobody else does well on the roster.įor Gay, just getting the first game out of the way, that meant a lot.
But, Gay was a plus defensively in his minutes. The made shots were obviously the headliner. And then he ran a mile on the treadmill after the win in order to work a little on his conditioning and stamina. He packed this production into 18 minutes off the bench. He made five of his six 3-point attempts. He scored 20 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the field. Good-natured ribbing aside, Gay was magnificent in his Jazz debut. “He’s a hell of a player, 26 years in,” Ingles quipped. And then, Ingles was asked about him postgame. When he did, he supplied the sellout crowd at Vivint Smart Home Arena some of the reasons for optimism. The 6-foot-9 forward and free-agent prize for the Jazz had yet to play in a game before Thursday night. On Thursday night, following a Utah Jazz 119-103 win over the Toronto Raptors, Ingles was asked about Rudy Gay. If you know Joe Ingles, you know the sign of him liking you as a person is how sarcastic he is willing to be with you.