National Basketball Association

Utah Jazz Scrimmage at Granger High School

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

The Utah Jazz took a different approach to their annual intra-squad scrimmage this year.

Every year, the Utah Jazz hold an intra-squad scrimmage during training camp. Typically, the scrimmage is held at Vivint Smart Home Arena where thousands of fans gather to get a sneak peek at the team, its new additions and the old standbys. It’s kind of a big deal, especially for armchair hoops analysts like myself looking for clues about how the Jazz will attack the upcoming season.

This year, the team took a decidedly different approach.

Rather than open up the arena for a bit of early autumn spectacle, the Jazz brought their game to the community on Friday. In what had been a closely guarded secret in the days leading up to the event, the team held their annual scrimmage for the students and faculty at Granger High School in the school’s gymnasium.

Math teacher Sarah Thomas told the Deseret News that even the teachers weren’t told that the Jazz would be making an appearance. All she knew was that the administration wanted to reward the students. “There’s a whole different cultural feel around the school this year,” she said. “The administration wanted to congratulate them and celebrate them this way.”

For Jazz players, the experience was equally rewarding.

“It was a fun experience for all of us,” said Rodney Hood after the scrimmage. “It was fun to see all the happy faces. It was great to get out there and play against each other without doing all the drills. I’m glad everyone had fun.”

More from Purple and Blues

One of the stories coming out of the scrimmage itself is the fact that Derrick Favors hit two three-pointers in the game. The team’s starting power forward has been working on his shooting stroke this summer and has apparently added a corner three to his game. However, don’t expect him to become the next Rasheed Wallace.

Favors’ biggest strengths lie in the paint, and with more floor-spacers in the fold this season, look for the team to feed the beast.

Here are some other notes from the scrimmage, via Jazz radio commentator David Locke–

In addition to holding the scrimmage at Granger, the team also donated $1,000 to the school.

This article originally appeared on

share

Get more from National Basketball Association Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

National Basketball Association