Jazz still expect more from Keyonte George after season-best performance in Chicago

CHICAGO — Keyonte George went to the free-throw line with 23 seconds left and a chance to put a bow on his best night of the young season.

He could secure a Jazz victory, sure, but with two makes he would also have a new career high.

And, yes, he knew about the last part.

"I try not to look up (at the scoreboard). I try not to look up. I just tried to stay in the moment, stay in the flow of the game. After, I was gonna figure out how much I have," George said with a smile. "But, obviously, they told me the career high on the free throws."

George missed the first one and had to settle for only matching his career-best 33 points. That miss was one of the few things that went wrong for George in Monday's 135-126 win over the Chicago Bulls.

The second-year guard may have played his best game as a pro: George went 6-of-12 from the 3-point line and had nine assists to just two turnovers. The shots were mostly the same ones he's taken all season — the usual off-the-dribble pull-ups and on-the-move 3s — but the more crucial part of his game was how he ran the offense.

Before the game, Jazz coach Will Hardy said the team had lacked "tempo" in its offense. During its 0-6 start, Utah had mostly walked through its offense with slow reads, slow passes and a whole lot of dribbling.

That, Hardy believed, was the culprit for Utah's horrific offensive start. He wanted to see quicker passes, quicker decisions, quicker movements, quicker ... well, everything. George set the tone in Chicago, racing up the court and immediately got the offense moving.

Sometimes that was just a simple pass to the wing, and sometimes that was running a pick and roll. Regardless, there was a concerted effort to play at a faster tempo

"He's recognizing when to shoot and when to pass a little bit better, and he's starting to gain the respect of his teammates with just his general understanding of what's going on the floor," Hardy said.

The Bulls, who lack a true rim protector, often sent weakside help to the roll man to stop the lob at the rim. That opened up the corner 3s for Utah, which George found on multiple occasions.

Those are the reads that lead guards need to make for offenses to function at a high level.

"A lot of growth from Key, man," said John Collins, who had a monster 28-point night. "He's had a lot put on his plate; and coming into a second year, man, I'm just excited to see his playmaking develop and his confidence. I expect a lot from him. It's my little bro. Of course, I am proud, but I'm expecting more of that from Key."

Why are the expectations so high for the 20-year-old Geroge who is still new to playing point guard?

"His talent level," Collins said. "Sometimes that talent will tell on yourself a little bit, and Key understands that we feel like you can be really good."

Hardy echoed that sentiment.

"I want more. I'm always going to want more (of George)," Hardy said. "I want Keyonte to be great for himself. I want him to be great because it helps our team and our organization. He knows that I'm not going to stop being a pain in his ass."

As for George, he wouldn't want anything less. He now thinks of himself as a point guard, and spent the last year learning the position, so now he wants to prove he can be a winning floor general.

"I want to show I can impact winning, no matter what I'm doing on the floor — scoring, passing, manipulating the offense, getting guys the right spots and getting guys in rhythm," he said. "Ultimately, just really want to show that that I can play the point guard role and lead to winning on a night-to-night basis."

Monday's game was a blueprint for how he can do just that; and that made that late missed free throw easy to swallow.

"It is what it is," he said. "But the win was way more important."

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