Chris Jones joins Roundball Roundup 🎙️ | UTAH JAZZ
on location in Las Vegas at Thomas and Mac. I’m JP Chunga. This is Round Ball Roundup on Utah Jazz.com and I’m joined by the head coach of the Utah Jazz during summer league, an assistant coach on staff with Will Hardy, Chris Jones, the pride of pit and New Jersey. Thank you so much for taking the time, man. Thank you for having me. So, tell me about this experience getting to be the summer league head coach. You already said you now have a greater appreciation for Will and what he does daytoday, but what has this been like? Man, it’s been a lot of fun. I think uh for one, you get to see the game from a new lens. You already have that kind of transition from when you’re a player to your assistant coach, but now it’s almost like you’re back a part of the game. So, it’s been extremely fun. Um, it’s been challenging managing different areas of the game and obviously having to manage staff and uh and players as well. So, it’s been a growth moment for me, but I’m just taking it step by step. I have a dumb one for you. Does it take a moment to know that you have to stand because you usually aren’t allowed to stand as an assistant? Right. Right. Right. So, I actually told Mike, I was sitting next to Mike on the bench and I’m like, I’m not going to try to stand for at least a minute. first play happens, I’m up in like nine seconds. So, I didn’t even uh I didn’t think about it. Again, you you kind of get lost in the competitiveness of of the game um even 10 seconds in. So, I was up and ready to go. Yep. Couldn’t last the the full minute. No. Take me back to actually how you got the job with the Jazz because I think it’s pretty inspirational to anybody who looks at a job board to know that there is somebody on the other end looking at those resumes, looking at those applications. Tell me how you got that job. Yeah, it was it was crazy. Um I was actually in talks with Sacramento and Indiana at the time and uh I was online and I saw a job opening for the video room for with the Jazz and I thought nothing of it. I was like, you know what, I’m just going to send my resume in and whatever happens happens. I don’t think I’m getting a job in Utah. And uh the next day Vince Lagarza um called gave me a call and he was like, “Hey man, we want to fly you out. We saw your resume.” And I was like, “What?” Like, you saw my resume. That I feel like that never happens in the NBA. But it just goes to show you that, you know, anything is possible and you take the chances you take and you never know what uh can happen. What do you learn in the video room that helps you as a head coach? So, you watch so much film in the video room. I mean, you learn the game from so many different aspects and uh you get to see what different coaches are doing. So, not just what your team is doing, but obviously the scouting piece of it. Um, and it it it really pushes your growth forward um quickly. So, the other thing about the video room is you you have your hands on everything. So, you you’re on the court where you get the player development aspect. You’re working closely with assistant coaches. Um, so that coupled with the video, it just excels your growth. When you think about how you understood the game as a player playing at Pit, having that experience to transferring to a coach in the NBA, which college and and the NBA are completely different games, right? How did it how long did it take to learn the game in a way that it is to a pro capacity? Um, there’s definitely a learning curve. Uh, at the end of the day, it’s still basketball. Sure. So, you know, you pick up on things pretty quickly. I would say like when when you’re a player, uh, you’re able to learn concepts pretty quickly. So, that doesn’t change when you flip to the other side. Um, I think what you start to realize is how many more options there are, right? Because when you’re a player, things are very specific to your team. And now when you’re a coach, you’re watching so much basketball overall that you realize that there’s so many options and there’s so many different things that you can do within the system. Um, so that learning curve takes, you know, takes some time. I would say the biggest learning curve though is terminology. Okay. Um, and that could be a lot different team from team, league from league. Um, so kind of the basketball language that you speak takes some time to learn. being able to get an opportunity with USA basketball. Yeah. How did that come about and what was that experience like for you? Yeah, that that experience was amazing. So, um Alex Jensen actually got to coach uh one of the teams and he wanted to bring me on as a video coordinator and uh I quickly accepted. I know what comes with UA USA basketball. I know the pride behind it and uh just being able to compete against other countries. Um, it was just an awesome experience and you’re not doing it for the money or the business. You’re doing it literally for the country on your chest. And, uh, we got to go down to the Brazil and compete in the American. So, it was it was just an awesome experience and, uh, got me out my comfort zone a little bit traveling uh, to South America. But, you know, it was it was great. Wjo and Mike Williams were on that staff. They were on that staff, too. So, I when I was a player, I actually played against WJO’s team of uh Marquette and then I got to meet Mike and uh me and Mike have become really close throughout the process. So, it’s been awesome. What’s the difference between professional basketball and international basketball because they they also seem like two different games. Yeah. So, I would say international basketball is a little bit closer to the college game um where there’s you can sit in the paint on defense. There’s no D3. Um, and then it’s a lot more physical. So, the refs allow you to get away with a lot more, you know, shves in the back, hard screens, um, things like that. So, the different the real difference to me is the protection of the paint. So, you got to really have guys that can catch and shoot and, um, where here the paint is open at times and, you know, we get to that little mid-range shot and things like that. So, there’s a difference. Um, but again, still basketball, right? Yeah. I mean, but this this seems like a a spot where Walker Casser could just camp down there. You literally just get to sit right in the paint. And like for Walker, I mean that if you’re going against a team like you want to get to player like Walker in that setting, it’s tough. When you think about player development, because Walker’s one of the players that that you actually have some touch points with. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. How do you approach trying to help players get better? Because it’s not always going to be I improved today from yesterday to today. I have great days every single day. There going to be some bad days in between. How do you approach it? For sure. And I think uh improvement isn’t always, you know, just going up from a certain point. I I think the failure is improvement, too. And I think that’s something that we try to teach to our guys, especially when they’re younger. Like there’s going to be spots where you fail. And uh sometimes that’s the best learner and we can you know take steps back and we can review and re-evaluate things. But uh you know once we get guys in I would say their improvement starts on one individually what they need to get better at and then two how does that fit in the will will hardy system and um you know guys like Walker and you know Isaiah this year they get minutes in the game and that is so important for development is actually being able to play in the game and try to learn on the fly. Do you find it different working with a point guard or or a guard and a a center in a big Yeah, there’s there’s definitely um there’s definitely some differences there. Um I would say cerebrally like a point guard has to know a little bit more. Has to be uh closer to Will’s thinking um just to be able to run the team, especially a pass first guy like Isaiah. Um, and then for someone like Walker, right, a lot of his coaching came on the defensive side of the ball to start. So those are some of like basketball differences that happened early on. Well, and you said you were a defensive player. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And you that comes a little bit more naturally. Yeah. Exactly. When you look at guard development, how do you coach spontaneity? because I feel like you’ve got so much going on in your head as a a guard that other teams are trying to scheme against. Right. Right. They’re trying to put off that first option. Right. How do you coach somebody to do something that might not be guardable? Um I think you got to give guys room to rely on their instincts. And that’s where the randomness kind of comes is you want to give them guidelines. not anything so specific where they’re overthinking, right? So, the game is too random to do things perfect every single time. So, guys, you know, you’ve been playing your whole life and it’s basketball. You got to rely on your instincts at times. How difficult has the guard position gotten to this point in the league? Um, it’s it’s changed, I would say, like almost every position um in the league where, you know, guards now they have to be able to shoot. um they have to be able to score the ball at times. Um but to me, uh the point guard position is you still have to be able to manage the game. Um think about the clock, think about the way you want to end quarters and things like that. So it has changed. Um I would say that the true point guard is is quote unquote dying out, but I know you still see guys that that that star in that role. Um, but I would I would say that there’s a lot more people that can initiate an offense now. That’s what I was going to bring up because you think about somebody who was on the Jazz a couple years ago, Mike Connley, right? Like I don’t think that we are making Mike Conley’s every single day when it comes to basketball, right? So many of the guards coming up have different skills, play combo, can be off the ball a little bit, have to learn that as well as being on the ball, right? What is that evolution of I can have the ball in my hands, operate, playmate, Yeah. but I can also play off ball. To me, it just makes a beautiful game. Um, it’s no longer like one guy brings it up and we just play pick and roll and we play from there. Like, and I think we saw that in the playoffs. Like Tyrese Hallebertton can play on the ball, he can play off the ball. Um, I think it gives you more options and it makes for a faster pace game and just a prettier game to overall watch. Well, then you have the centers too who can pass and it makes it completely Yeah. unguardable uh no positions. You got Jokic or even a little bit of the passing that Kelly Oolen would do for this team a couple of years back and people see Kyle Philipowski now who has a little bit of that passing skill. That also helps when it comes to playmaking. Yeah, and that’s what I was going to say too. Uh one, it makes a lot it makes it a lot harder for teams to scout and guard. Um, and as we’re seeing in the league more ball pressure, those guys end up becoming a pressure release as well. So, we can flash a Kyle into an action and give him the ball and we can go play offball splits. And, you know, it allows our guys to one conserve some energy, but then it also throws off the defense as well cuz it can’t be fun having Patrick Beverly in your pocket 94 ft an entire game. I tell you what I would do if I was playing and I saw Patrick Beverly picking pick me up. I’d pass the ball. There you go. Pass the ball. Let’s talk about some of these players on this summer league team that Jazz fans are very interested about. Uh Kyle Filiposki. Start there because he had a really good Salt Lake and it’s carried over here to Vegas with 30 points that he had in that very first game. What have you seen from his offensive game that has stood out? Um, I mean, Kyle’s a little bit of a unicorn in a sense where he can do a lot of different things. And to me, what’s been standing out the most with Kyle is as a staff, we all know the things that he can do. Um, but to me, it’s been his confidence. And, uh, he’s been in attack mode every single night, and that’s the most positive thing I’ve seen from Kyle is uh, as a staff, you know, we’re going to try and put him in the positions to be successful offensively. Um, but he also has to go out there with confidence and do them. And I thought he’s been doing that every single night. Have you seen him take that step from last year? He’s talked about how much more comfortable he is with this team and just feeling what summer league is all about. Yeah, I I for sure I’ve definitely seen him take that step and um for him hopefully it continues into training camp and then into this season. Um, and he knows this, so I’ll say this now, but you know, for him, it’s also continuing to get better on the other side of the ball as well. And it’s not a knock on him, but he has to do a lot of different things and has to play a lot of different coverages. You know, some nights he might switch, some nights he might, you know, be in touch, you know, to keep his matchup. Some nights he might be in dropped. So, he just needs to continue to work on that side of the ball as well. And, you know, Kyle can be a really complete player and playing for a long time in this league. Is there even added responsibility and just needing for knowledge that he can play the four and the five? Um, yeah. But I I, you know, I’m sure he’s been in that position his whole life where he has to play two different positions. And to me, it just makes you so much more valuable as a player. And now I can get minutes at the four, I can get minutes at the five. So, you know, it allows you to be on the floor longer. Um, and Kyle’s smart, so he can pick up on those things. He He knows the spacing offensively at the four and five. And, you know, when we want to play our bigger lineups, it’s great to be able to throw him out there. Cody Williams has had some really interesting stretches where he’s shown a lot of aggressiveness. What level is he at in as he heads into year two? Cody’s getting better and uh to me that’s the only thing that matters. Um he’s getting stronger, he’s getting more confident, and like you said, like you can see it in certain stretches throughout the game. Um but my biggest thing for Cody is stay in attack mode on both sides of the ball. Like he has all the physical tools to be a really good athlete and a really good player in this league. Um but he just has to stay aggressive and stay intense. Isaiah Collier has that passing ability. We we already talked about how much guards have when it comes to playing on the floor. How has he taken having to be Will Hardy on the floor and have to have that same mindset as a head coach? Yeah. Um he’s taken it in strides and uh this is something being a point guard in this league, being able to manage an offense, being able to manage a game is not something you pick up in year two or year three. So, I don’t want fans to, you know, expect that right away from Z. Um, I’ve been around plenty of players where, you know, they don’t get that perfectly until year five, right? It’s a growing process. It’s a learning process. He’s trying to he’s still trying to figure out some things in his game and for himself as well before he can think for everybody else on the whole team, but he’s embraced it. And, uh, there’s moments to me where he stars in that. Um, but again, Isaiah is another guy who been in Utah the whole summer. He’s been putting the work in. He’s been watching film. He’s been learning. So, I think we’ll only uh continue to see him get better as well and his passing numbers increase and um his scoring ability in the paint and outside would be able to increase as well. Rookies starting with Walt cuz he he played in in Vegas, his shooting and playmaking, how how does that shot help him in those other areas when it comes to being a guard on this team? Yeah, I mean, uh, the catch and shoot three, the the off the dribble three, the movement threes, it’s a highly valuable, uh, weapon in this league, and I think that’s something that Walt can bring to the table right away. And it creates closeout situations for him. It creates uh, defenses to focus on him where we can use him um, in a variety of different ways. but walk and shoot. Just flat flat out playing. He can shoot and he can make shots and he’s he’s not afraid of the moment. He’s not afraid to take big shots and I know we’ve seen that in college. Um so Walt’s been good. Does that college translate to the NBA? Cuz he played huge games at Florida. Yeah, for sure. Everybody saw it in the national championship. Yeah, I I think it does. Um I think one thing that also translates is shooting. Uh, but Walt’s played in some big games. He’s playing in some big games, he’s played a lot of basketball as well. So, you know, this is while there will be some learning curves for him, this is nothing new. Ace Bailey hasn’t played yet in Vegas, but you’ve seen him what he was able to do in Salt Lake. So much potential with with him. How can he contribute at an NBA level? I mean, I with Ace, you just see the talent pop off the page. So, uh, that answer for me to that question of how he contributes is open-ended. Um, but for right now, I think what Ace can immediately bring is just that athleticism. Um, and in Salt Lake, the biggest thing I saw was him competing on the defensive end. And that was the most intriguing thing for me. I know he’s going to make shots. I know he’s going to have highlight plays and dunks at the rim, but if he can guard one through four and uh be long in his shifts and uh attack the glass with defensive rebounding, I think Ace can be an extraordinary player, both sides of the ball. That rebounding piece is something that Yeah. I think shocked a lot of people Yeah. in Salt Lake. But if you watched him at Ruckers, he was asked to play like four positions. Exactly. Exactly. But um it it just brings a new dynamic to your team when you have somebody that long, that athletic um and who to me he plays with a pop. Plays with a pop to him. He gets off the floor fast. Uh even he had a couple plays in Salt Lake where he’s pushing in transition. He just looks comfortable. So I think, you know, sky is the limit for us. They had him bringing up the ball when Dylan wasn’t on the floor. And you think about that and the ideas get a little fantastical when you start thinking about ACL but reliably so. Exactly. Exactly. And uh the biggest thing for him though is to continue to compete. That’s the biggest thing on both ends of the floor and then we can kind of fine-tune from there. Kyle has brought that up of learning just the level of competition that you need to bring every night in the NBA. Yeah. What is it about this league that takes a moment for young players to understand that? Uh, winning is hard. Winning is hard. And it’s being able to do the little things over and over and over again. And um you’re doing it against the best players in the world, the smartest players in the world, some of the smartest coaches in the world for 82 games, right? Yeah. So, um it’s going to eb and flow at times, but uh you just want to get the guys to understand what it takes to actually win a game. And it’s not pretty. It’s not the draw plays. It’s not the 30point nights, but it’s the nitty-gritty. It’s the 50/50 possessions. It’s being able to get crucial stops at times. Um it’s being able to block out and get rebounds. So, uh, once guys kind of flip into that mode, it’s smooth sailing from there. You enjoying yourself? I’m enjoying myself for sure. You love it. Loving being a head coach. Are you enjoying the added responsibility? I I I know Scott got the Salt Lake U end of it, but being able to be in control in Vegas. Yeah. Yeah. Big job. It’s a big job and it’s a lot of fun, but I I will say that I’m relying on a lot of people. Um, many people that I know have gone through this and they’re helping me. They’re giving me advice. Um, so it’s not just me. My staff has been great. Talking to uh, WJO, Rick Higgins, Mike Williams, those guys have helped me so much already. And, um, so it’s been a lot of fun. But three G- League head coaches, right? Yeah. Three G- League head coaches. So, you know, I’m just constantly asking questions and seeing what I can do better and seeing in ways that I can help. Chris Jones, thank you so much for jumping on the podcast. Appreciate you, JP. Chris Jones here on Round Ball Round Up.
Summer League Head Coach Chris Jones hops on the mic with JP Chunga and they report from NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.
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