That’s right, make no mistake about it. Deron Williams is here to lead the Utah Jazz. Considering the fact that the Jazz are coming off a season where no player exerted themselves as a leader, the timing is perfect.

You can see it in his every action. When the revue team came out on the floor, it was Williams leading them out. The Jazz won the opening tip and before Williams crossed mid court he was already pointing out to his team where they needed to be. Several times during the game Williams grabbed his teammates and huddled them up. Other times he grabbed individual players to go over something with them. When the Hawks got out to a quick start by pounding the ball down low, Williams got between Whaley and Nelson and encouraged them to keep standing tall.

While William’s defensive intensity set the tone for the Jazz, he picked up a lot of quick fouls and thus his time on the floor was limited to 22 minutes while picking up 5 personal fouls.

Williams’s foul trouble meant extra time for the backup point guards. Surprisingly, Jermaine Boyette, odds on favorite as the Williams main backup and a guy with a decent chance to make the Jazz roster if McLeod were to go elsewhere, only played 6 unimpressive minutes. Melvin Scott showed a good mind to distribute the ball but picked up 3 fouls in 4 minutes. Leaving the majority of the backup duty to Andre Owens, who played 19 solid minutes pushing the ball and pounding the boards from the point guard position.

Robert Whaley was also impressive in his first showing in a Jazz uniform. He was able to hit shots from 20 feet out as well as hit some big shots under the hoop. Whaley led the Jazz in rebounding and showed willingness to hit the boards – which has been tagged as Whaley’s biggest on court weakness.

It’s easy to remember that CJ Miles is just a kid. While some athletes making the jump from high school to the NBA have the look of a man – Miles still looks like a kid. He is tall and thin and he wears a constant big smile that stretches from ear to ear every minute he is out on the court. If physically Miles did not look like a polished NBA player – mentally he showed he could be. He kept in the offense – made good decisions and has a great shot with a high release. It’s hard to judge after one game but Miles looks like he will get it and ultimately be the player the Jazz were looking for in Pavlovic.

Kris Humphries had a solid game. He played tough on the defensive end. He still has a lot to learn about defending but the effort was there. On the offensive end Humphries passed the ball well along with showing a new running hook across the paint.

Kirk Snyder played a solid role as a role player. He played 19 minutes of tough defense and moved well in the offense with or without the ball. His stats are not the most impressive, but as Sloan and the other coaches looked on he showed he could do what they wanted him to do the most – play within the offense.

It was a solid first showing for the Jazz revue team and the rookie point guard out of Illinois. There are still plenty of lessons for the young guys to learn, but they beat an NBA team Friday night. Atlanta’s revue team boasts 6-8 players that will be looked at as the core of the Hawks future. Judging from the Hawks past performance in the NBA, that might not be the biggest bragging point, but it’s a great start.

Make no mistake about it.