“A Time for Reflection”: Utah Jazz Coach Reveals How the NBA Hiatus Has Been Positive for Him

For Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder, the unexpected break in the NBA season has helped him grow as a person.

“I think it has helped me tremendously,” he said in a conference call with reporters on Sunday (Via Eric Hoodyard of ESPN). “I think sometimes there have to be external factors often times to help you grow and that’s happened for me professionally with a new team. Trying to mold a team and continue to do that with the group we have that’s something, obviously, that happens every year on some level, but it has even more so in some ways this year.”

Utah Jazz played their last game prior to the league’s suspension against Oklahoma City Thunder. It was a Jazz player, Rudy Gobert, who was the first known positive case of coronavirus in the NBA. For Snyder, the time since then has been a time to reflect on.

“I think right when we came back from Oklahoma City and were quarantined, it’s been a time for reflection. And then recently, it’s been not just a time for reflection but a time for education and a time for action and many other things,” he said.

Utah Jazz will be without Bojan Bogdanovic for the season

Snyder has been coaching the Utah Jazz since 2014. Prior to that, he had stints as an assistant coach in the NBA at Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Lakers, and Philadelphia 76ers. Under Snyder, the Jazz have made it to the playoffs in each of the last three seasons. They are also set to make another appearance this season inside the bubble in Orlando. Prior to the league’s suspension, they were fourth in the Western Conference with 41 wins in 64 games.

Talking about the season’s restart for the team, Snyder admitted he had to do a lot of planning.

“I think it requires you to plan even more because it can be a little bit of a maze and you try to figure out if you make a left turn, wow quickly can you go back and make a right turn if you run into a dead end,” he said.

The Jazz also have a few injury concerns. Bojan Bogdanovic has been injured and Snyder confirmed he won’t be returning again this season.