In the Jazz’s two games played since returning from the All-Star break, Raul Neto has played a combined 19 minutes, shot 1 for 7 from the field, and totaled two points, four rebounds, and seven assists.
Those stats don’t exactly jump off the page, but the team insists that doesn’t diminish the importance of having him out there.
“He’s always ready,” big man Derrick Favors noted during Monday’s practice at the Zions Bank Basketball Campus. “He always comes in the game and makes an impact, whether he’s starting, whether he’s coming off the bench.”
It’s no secret that the team’s point guard depth has been depleted for virtually the entire season, going all the way back to Neto suffering a right hamstring injury in late September before the team even opened training camp.
So, with Dante Exum still out due to a sprained ankle and bone bruise, and the Jazz opening their post-break schedule with a draining double-overtime marathon in Oklahoma City, then flying home and taking the court the next night against the Mavericks, having capable, experienced players out there is advantageous.
Exum got hurt Jan. 5 in Detroit. Ricky Rubio was injured early in the Jazz’s next game, on Jan. 7 in Milwaukee. Suddenly, Neto had a big opportunity for minutes, and he got the start in the team’s subsequent game, on Jan. 9 against Orlando.
While he, of course, hated to see his chance come as a result of teammates’ injuries, he also understands that’s the nature of the business, and intended to take advantage of it: next man up, as they like to say, after all.
Unfortunately for him, an injury of his own in that same contest meant his opportunity didn’t last long.
“When we had Dante and Ricky down, I had to play a lot of minutes," Neto said. “My body wasn’t used to it, and that’s when I got my hamstring and my groin issues.”
Going out at that time was a big letdown for him but one he felt he needed to quickly get over to get himself back into a position where he could help the team once more.
“It’s always frustrating to get injured, no matter what. My situation was kind of hard, because when you’re in my position, you’re waiting for this opportunity, you’re waiting for this time to play, and when the time came, I went down,” Neto said. “…When you get an opportunity, and your body doesn’t handle it that well, it was a couple days that I was down [mentally]. And then I was just ready to get to work, ready to get healthy, and ready to compete again.”
That’s what he did.
Neto said the biggest challenge along the way was readjusting to the rhythm of the team, noting that coach Quin Snyder likes to make small tweaks, refining little details that can alter a scheme ever so slightly. He acknowledged being surprised when Snyder inserted him into the action in his first game back.
His teammates, though, didn’t think twice about it.
“He’s a guy that fights through his injuries, he fights through whatever situation he’s in,” Favors said. “… He always stays ready. He’s a big part of this team. He helps us out a lot on the offensive end, just being able to hit shots, get into the paint and find guys. And, defensively, he’s just always in the right position. So he helps us out a lot.”
If Neto gets the chance to help out even a little more — “play good defense, and push the ball and make the team run, making good decisions, being aggressive when I have to be,” he said of his role — well, he certainly won’t complain.
