This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
There are NBA rookies who swear they don't have a case of the butterflies when it comes to making their debut in the big leagues. Rodney Hood is not one of those rookies. The first year forward from Duke readily admitted to being nervous in the lockerroom on Monday night. An hour before the Utah Jazz face off against the Los Angeles Clippers, Hood is ready, but those first few possessions will be difficult to get through. "I just want to go out there and focus on defense," Hood said. "That's the main thing. That's what the coaching staff has been preaching. The shot and everything else will come naturally." Not only is Hood making his preseason debut against the Clippers, Jazz coach Quin Snyder said he "probably" will start against Los Angeles in place of Alec Burks, who won't play because of a bruised left shoulder. If Hood does indeed start, he will play the shooting guard role while Gordon Hayward plays at small forward, meaning Hood will likely begin defensively on Clippers sharp-shooter J.J. Redick. More important than the starting lineup, Burks typically played with the second unit, to add a scorer. That worked because Burks is creative enough offensively to generate offense for himself and the subs. Hood isn't the kind of offensive guy off the dribble that Burks is. So, it will be interesting to see what Snyder does in his rotation. Asked about that before the game, Snyder said he didn't know exactly how he expected to handle that. "It's something that we have to do by feel," Snyder said. "I'm not going to overanalyze it yet." Expect Burke and Hayward to do the bulk of the ballhandling within the offense tonight. Dante Exum off the bench will have more responsibility from his point guard position. ************************************************************Clippers coach Doc Rivers said minutes for his starters will be limited tonight, as he expects his bench to play a significant amount. Redick will start, along with Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Blake Griffin. Jamal Crawford and normal starter Matt Barnes will each sit tonight. Ekpe Udoh also will sit with a sprained right ankle. Rivers said he will give some good minutes to shooting guard CJ Wilcox, the former Pleasant Grove High star. He's making his return to Utah for the first time as a pro. Tony Jones