People say we’re very young, we’re not going to win that many games. You kind of see the age of guys that we have – the Gordons (Hayward), the Alecs (Burks), the Treys (Burke), the Enes (Kanter), the Fav (Derrick Favors) ... They’re all kind of veterans, those guys, now. – Steve Novak

SALT LAKE CITY — In early September, a big chunk of the Utah Jazz roster began playing pick-up ball against one another. Players got a jump on learning the offensive and defensive systems to be put into place by their new coach. They spent time together working out in Santa Barbara, California.

Veteran forward Steve Novak, who’s had more NBA teams than any of his teammates have had NBA seasons, was pleasantly surprised to get such an early start ahead of training camp.

Novak also believes that helped his new team play better than expected in a 5-3 preseason and is why the Jazz are optimistic they’ll be a surprise squad in the NBA this upcoming season.

“I think a big part of (preseason success) was the month we spent before camp together,” Novak said. “Being able to hit the ground with a very good idea of the offense, a good idea of the terminology defensively allowed us to kind of get right to work and not have to do too much teaching.”

Sure, plenty of teaching has still happened, the sharpshooter clarified. That’s to be expected considering the 31-year-old Novak, who’s now on his seventh team in his ninth year, is the only Jazz player to have played more than four seasons in the NBA. He’s also the only player above the age of 27.

“I think we’re at a good point,” Novak added.

The guy teammates lovingly call “Grandpa” also believes the Jazz have made quite a bit of progress — both since the team assembled and also as far as individual improvement goes.

“People say we’re very young, we’re not going to win that many games,” Novak said. “You kind of see the age of guys that we have – the Gordons (Hayward), the Alecs (Burks), the Treys (Burke), the Enes (Kanter), the Fav (Derrick Favors). Those guys are in a point of their career where they’ve really made that jump from a rookie or a rookie feeling to a veteran.

“They’re all kind of veterans, those guys, now,” Novak continued. “I think that their game has taken that jump, too. They’ve made a significant jump in terms of how good they are.”

Point guard Trey Burke is among the players who’s made the biggest strides from a year ago. For one thing, he’s happy to be healthy heading into the tipoff of the regular season as opposed to his rookie year when he was sidelined with a thumb injury.

“Last year we struggled a lot early on. This year, we know kind of more of who we are as a team,” Burke said, referring to the 2013-14 Jazz who went 1-7 in preseason and then opened with an 0-8 record.

“We’re playing at a higher level. We’re competing at a higher level. I think our confidence is high as well. With the new coaching staff a lot of people probably expected us to start out kind of slow. I think we shocked a lot of people in preseason.”

There is an undeniable vibe change around the Jazz squad this season as new coach Quin Snyder has demanded — and gotten — a lot of hard work from his players. The team is shifting from a half-court offense to an up-tempo system with more pace, spacing and passing. The new staff is also committed to ensuring that the team plays with urgency and intensity on the other side of the court after the Jazz finished as the league’s worst defense in 2013-14.

“When we move the ball, I think we can play with anyone,” Burke said. “We obviously have certain guys that we can go to down low on the perimeter (Favors and Kanter). … Like Coach always says, ‘No one’s faster than the basketball.’ The more we move the ball and play with each other, the better we will be.”

Conversely, Burke believes the Jazz will have to overcome the fact that they are the NBA’s second-youngest team (average age of 24.1) in a league where experience can trump talent.

Not only do the Jazz have starters who are all 24 or younger, but they also have two rookies, 19-year-old Dante Exum and 22-year-old Rodney Hood, who are likely to be regular rotation players.

That's not exactly a recipe for success in the NBA.

“I think our weakness may be youth,” Burke pointed out, adding that more experienced teams like the Clippers and Suns were able to get the best of the Jazz in crunch-time situations during exhibition play.

Even so, Snyder has mostly been pleased, especially with his players’ effort, which has sparked growth.

Who knows if it will continue when it counts, but the Jazz offense is scoring at a higher clip than last year and opponents are scoring less, especially in transition.

“I think there’s a general sense that we’re better than we were a month ago. Hopefully we’ll be better in a month from now,” Snyder said. “That’s focus on getting better each day. It’s hard to do. Hopefully, the results can help you achieve that. We had a little bit of both (in the preseason). We won a little bit and got some confidence. We got beat and we got some reality.”

The real reality check begins Wednesday night when the Jazz host Houston in the season opener.

If all goes well, the learning and improving will continue after what could be a challenging season begins.

Novak said it's probably best to hold off making any projections until the team gets a better feel of what it can do in the regular season.

"To put expectations on this early is hard. Obviously there's teams out there that are saying, 'Championship or bust.' That’s not what we’re saying," Novak said. "We’re saying we think that we can improve very quickly and we know the West is a tough conference. We know that there's going to be tough, tough stretches, but we also think that we can surprise a lot of people."

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