By REBECCA CADE
SALT LAKE CITY -- The Utah Jazz enter the 2015-16 season without star point-guard Dante’ Exum.
While the team will be forced to make some changes, it’s clear Exum’s injury won’t affect the team too much.
Last season, without Exum, Utah was ranked 13th in defense allowing 104.6 points per 100 possessions, exceeding expectations of fans and media alike. This year, the team will look into their depth at the position to replace him.
“That's a tough time for us,” said guard-forward Gordon Hayward, about Exum. “So there might be a little bit of an adjustment, but we have some great other point guards and I think the beauty of our team is we've already had almost a month together of playing and training an I think that'll help us moving forward to get a jump start."
The offseason proved beneficial for the team. Hayward, forward-center Derrick Favors and center Rudy Gobert put on an ample amount of muscle as well as perfected certain skill areas.
Gobert worked on his post-game, free-throw and near-range shooting while also playing internationally. As the season progresses, the team reiterated they will take it one game at a time, focusing on specific areas like turnovers, moving the ball and being more efficient.
“We need to not turn the ball over and take better care of the ball,” said Jazz Head Coach Quin Snyder. “That'll help our style of play. We still like moving the ball, being hard to guard. But I think we can be more efficient.”
Training camp begins Tuesday, before kicking off the pre-season against the Lakers Oct. 4. Regular season play begins Oct. 28, on the road against the Detroit Pistons.
