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What is up, Fellows Thermonuclear A
after his I am Dan Valley coming at

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you with another twenty twenty three twenty
four NBA look Ahead. We're onto the

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team that inspired the Thermonuclear af dagline, the Utah Jazz, and that means

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I get to speak with my guy, Tony Jones of the Athletic. He

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covers the Utah Jazz and the entire
NBA for them does a fantastic job.

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This is year three, Tony,
of You're agreed to come back on and

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so I tell when you make a
third appearance, it's your fault. Like

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the first two, I might have
tricked you, but now you know where

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you're getting into it. So I
appreciate you coming back, but it's also

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a little bit your fault because now
you've agreed to it a third time.

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But I mega appreciate it. Well, my thing is that you know what

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I'm saying, like I need,
I need, I need reasons for for

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people to listen to me. So
you know, your show was one of

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the best out there. So you
know, I figure if I come on

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your show, that's that's going to
be all to the good for me.

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Well, that means a lot coming
from someone as talented as yourself, how

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are you doing? Not the off
season anymore? I mean, did you

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have a good off season? I
had a short off season, a lot

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shorter than than normal. But I
thought that I thought, you know,

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once you got out of the summer
league, you know, I got a

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chance to spend some time with the
family and you know, do some of

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the things that that actual normal people
do. And I didn't have to chase

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around the Donovan Mitchell trade this year. So that was that that was even

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that was even better. Oh yeah, that was absolutely chaos last year.

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I do remember though, when we
were recording last year, I was so

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low on what the Jazz were going
to be. And so my first question

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to you, aside from admitting that
I think a lot of people are wrong

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about them, how much, if
at all, did like that first part

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of last year. We're like,
you know, you even lead into February,

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first top five offense, your one
game over five hundred, you even

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had some like higher end stretches before
that. How much did that alter like

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the way the organization viewed their team
or was going to treat this rebuild.

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And even if it's just a matter
of they didn't expect Lowry to be this

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good, and that of course changes
things to some degree. It didn't.

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I don't think it also did a
lot because and the reason why I said

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that is because they still went and
did what they thought was best for the

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long term health of the organization.
Right. So, you know, they

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could have kept Conley, Mike Conley, They could have kept Malik Beasley and

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Jared vana Bolt, three guys who
are really helping the Jazz in terms of

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getting wins and losses. And the
Jazz could have made the playoffs last year

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at the very least, they could
have made the play in and they said

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no to that. They shipped the
veterans off, and you know, they

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they handed the rings to uh to
the young guys and and you know,

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they got the lottery pick that they
thought they you know, that was was

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best for them. So you know, they you know, they they overachieved

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to a real degree, but they
had to scale back a lot in order

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to be non competitive enough too.
You know, there were guys sitting left

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and right in Marching in April,
and it was it almost became a running

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joke because it was like, oh, well, you know, Jordan Clarkson

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is now sitting out, this has
to do the trick. That didn't do

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the trick. Well, we're just
not going to bring Collin Sexton back that

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do the trick. I didn't do
the trick. Oh well okay, let's

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sit Lowry Marketing. That didn't do
the trick. It was still competitive and

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they you know, then it was
Walker Kessler, you know, I mean,

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you know, Chris, they were
playing Chris Dunn and Lukasamonich and and

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you know, real deep bench guys. By by the end of the season.

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I mean, Johnny Jusan was getting
was getting major minutes by the end

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of the season. So you know, they they were, you know,

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really really competitive. Obviously, they
ca they got off to the ten and

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three start. You know, I
remember, you know, having a conversation

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with Mike Conley and and you know
he's saying, hey, if if they

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really want to be bad, they're
going to have to trade me. And

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you know he said that in like
October and then they could get out and

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start ten and three. So you
know, they they did what was best

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for the long term health of the
organization, you know, but it was

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definitely a fun year and an interesting
year to cover. Do you think they

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were even in internally caught off guard
by how good they were out of the

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gate, and then like, could
they have been caught in the middle of

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them? Should we be like tearing
this thing down a little bit sooner so

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that we can you know, be
in the actual Wemby sweepstakes or adjacent to

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it, rather than competing for what
is like, you know, tenth or

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ninth or eighth, the eighth pick
in the draft. Even before the season,

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I don't think that they thought they
were going to be bad enough to

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be and truly sweepstakes. Ah,
they knew and this this would this bore

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out over the year, but they
knew how good the coach was that they

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were hiring, Okay, and they
were I mean, Will Hardy basically blew

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away the interview process, blew the
Jazz away. He was he was de

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pick. And the Jazz suspected that, you know, Hardy was going to

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make them competitive enough that they weren't
truly going to be in the Winby swoop

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stakes, Like they weren't gonna be
bottom five bad, bottom three bad.

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You know what what it kind of
ultimately took for them for San Antonio to

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get Wimby, and you know,
it just really bore out over time.

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You know, they were competitive.
Will was, you know, great in

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terms of being schematic, but he
was even better than that in the locker

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room. Guys played really really hard
for him. Uh he made a lot

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of right choices, and you know, ultimately they were just too well coached

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team to to to to just be
that bad. So you know, I

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thought that the Jazz had an inkling
of that before the season even started.

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One of my it's thought of like
a generational what if, But like if

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they had never made the trades,
I'm just curious what would have happened with

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the Coach of the Year voting in
Will Hardy if you keep Mike Conley on

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this ross Ricky bet roster and tis
curious he finish high enough? All what

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was he third? Or can't remember
like what you have won? If this

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team is stay together. So that's
just that's just a random what if.

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But looking at this offseason that they
just went through, did they kind of

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reinforce that they're still all about the
bigger picture based off not even what they

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did, but kind of what they
didn't do or you didn't see them kind

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of aggressively trace like Chase excuse me, like any conventional floor general or even

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go after like more more wing type
players. Well, they chased Drew Holiday,

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so I don't know that. I
don't know that, you know,

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that's completely accurate. They wanted Drew
Holiday, and you know, they they

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were very interested in him, and
interested enough to make a firm offer for

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him. You know. The thing
with the Jazz right now is that,

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you know, they think that they
are in a position to rebuild on the

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fly. They don't believe that they
have to go nineteen and sixty three over

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the next five seasons in order to
rebuild. They think that they can incorporate

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their young players and you know,
basically build around hour marketing and use the

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assets that they have to be a
significant trade threat, all while winning basketball

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games. And you know, so
you know, if if they make the

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playoffs, or they make the play
in this year, or they're in contention

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for that this year, I don't
expect to see them pull the plug on

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that. And you know, I
think that they see this as you know,

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or rebuild where there's an avenue that
they can be really competitive and you

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know, maybe even you know,
contention competitive very quickly, not this year,

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you know, I think, you
know, this year, I think

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that you know, they have a
roster that has a ceiling of six and

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a floor of eleven or twelve,
and that's going to be and it's going

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to be solely dependent on I don't
want to say solely dependent on, but

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it's going to be really dependent on
how how well how well a guard play

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is. But you know, they
don't believe that they're that far away,

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you know. So I think that
you know, the Jazz are going to

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come out and try to be as
competitive as possible. I think that they

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want to win at as higher level
as possible because I think that, you

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know, I think the Lowry marketing
his career, like he's going into season

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eight and he's not been into the
playoffs. I think that, you know,

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that's a that's a significant goal for
Lowry as an individual. So you

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know, and they have, you
know, more assets than anybody other than

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Oklahoma City, and you know,
and and I believe they intend to use

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it and try to make a significant
splash pretty quickly. So there they wouldn't

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be a team that let's just say, if they're good enough, like,

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they wouldn't be a team. You
don't think that would shy away from making

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a mid season move, or if
the right, if they deem someone the

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right on the trade market goes out
there, we're Oklahoma City's telegraphed. No,

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we're not doing that, Like that's
just not going to happen. You

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think Utah's a base I mean,
if they pursued Drew Holiday, it seems

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like they're way more open to going
that route. No, they're not.

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There're two things. I believe that
they're not afraid to be a buyer if

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that's the way the season goes.
I don't think they're afraid to be a

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seller if that's the way the season
goes. And I don't I don't believe

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that they're afraid to make a consolidation
move in the backcourt at some point in

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this season. So I do think
that there are a couple of ways that

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this season can go that that could
dictate, you know, the Jazz making

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as seismic shift in January or February. But you know, I think a

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lot of it's going to depend on
what the first twenty five first thirty games

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look like. What do you make
of the John Collins fit with this team,

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and kind of what it does to
the front court rotation and even just

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the wing rotation where yeah, we
saw Lowry play tons of three. We

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know we can do it, but
like now you've basically decided you can get

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to minutes with when Lowry's at the
four. But like now, Lowry is

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just a wing. And so I'm
just curious as to what your your thoughts

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are on the Collins fit it and
it's overarching impact on how the rosters sort

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of run. Well, it's interesting. I mean, you know, I

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think the Jazz looked at John Collins
as a way to get you know,

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somebody who they think can be dynamic
for you know, basically for free.

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They didn't have to give up anything. Rudy Gay was a missing piece and

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Atlanta just gave him away after they
got him. I can't believe it.

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I'm shocked. Yeah, but you
know he's going to be down missing piece

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for the Warriors too. That's what
That's the buzz that this is the time

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we get. That's the buzz coming
out of training Cab is that he's going

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to be the one that get there. I actually think he has a chance

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to make that roster. I actually, if I had to pick right now,

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I'd be shocked if he didn't make
it. I think he is going

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to make a roster. But that
Dan said, you know, John's fit

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is is going to be an interesting
one, right because you know, here's

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a guy who at the apex of
his career and he's still only twenty six

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years old, but at the apex
of his career he was a twenty ten

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guy. He averaged twenty one points
ten rebounds a game in twenty nineteen,

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and then the production, you know, significantly fell to the point where it

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was a significant fall this year.
I believe he averaged thirteen points a game

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last year. You know, so
shot like negative from three or whatever.

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He did not shoot well from three. He was a square pegging around hole

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in that offense towards the end of
his tenure there, and you know,

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it was clear for a while that
you know, he and that organization we're

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headed for a divorce. So,
you know, he's a guy who I

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believe makes the jazz from very athletic, you know, between you know,

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he's an above the rim guy.
Lollry marketing is about and above the rim

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guy. You know, So he
doesn't put the ball well on the floor,

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put ball on the floor well you
know, so he's going to have

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to, you know, in some
some respects be depending on his guard play.

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So that's going to be really really
interesting. But you know, how

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well does he shoot the ball?
Can he get back to thirty five percent?

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Can he get back to thirty six
percent from three? If he doesn't,

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then you know, then you have
to wonder about some of the spacing

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within the offense. Can he play
a little bit of you know, small

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ball five? Can he exist in
that in that realm? You know,

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it's it's going to be really interesting
to see how well he's incorporated in Will

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Hardy's offense, which emphasizes movement and
you know, coming down off of pin

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down screens, you know, doing
a lot of stuff off the move that

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he frankly hasn't done in Atlanta in
a very long time, if ever.

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You know, So it's he's he's
definitely in a new spot, and he's

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definitely in a in a different spot
in his career on and off the floor.

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Yeah, he's I'm still a big
John Collins believer. I think a

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lot of hand stuff still flew under
the radar last year with his shooting,

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and they just you kind of alluded
to this Atlanta just continued continuously marginalized him

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on offense. They saw what he
did best, and they kept moving him

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away from his strength. It made
no sense. I think the shooting's big

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just because this was a team that
didn't set and because of its guard play

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this year, there might not be
too reliant on a ton of ball screens.

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And even if you are, unless
he is going to play some five,

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like you said, he's not going
to be like the primary screen setter.

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So you need that shooting or at
least the ability. He didn't really

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have to move off the ball a
ton in Atlanta, as you already mentioned.

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So need the ability to knock down
those shots or at least to get

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moving because that's how he's going to
generate his offense. If he's playing next

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to Walker Kessler would be my guest, right right, So I mean,

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you know it's gonna be you know, and and Will is such a smart

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coach that they're gonna find ways to
get him involved in pick and roll.

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You know. For instance, they
were playing Portland last night and he and

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Taylor Horton Tucker ran two or three
side pick and rolls with you know,

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you know, the configuration is you
know, Taylor and John on the side

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with you know, Lowry spacing on
the wing, Walker Kessler actually spacing in

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the corner, and you know,
Jordan Clarkson spacing you know, basically about

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to break at the top of the
key, so you still had the space

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and you know, but it was
it was a little different the way the

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way they configured it, and you
know, they scored off of it.

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You know, Sailor actually made a
really nice pocket pass and you know,

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and they scored off of it.
So it was it was definitely interesting to

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see some of the scheme. That
guy might be one of the most frustrating

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players I've ever watched, where it's
like he always does like two or three

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things every night and I'm like,
oh yeah, and then there's like another

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seven or eight instances where I'm like, oh no. And so but that

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related to that. So you mentioned
Will Hardy a couple times already. What

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have we learned about how the Jazz
are gonna play stylistically at both ends?

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And I know they changed a little
bit of stuff defensively in the middle of

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last season, and like just the
roster churn, Like what can we expect

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with are they going to look to. You know, they really shot up

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their offensive pace last year after the
trade deadline. Is that something we would

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expect to stick? Is there still
gonna be that commitment? I mean there

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will be. Just what is their
offensive rebounding rake going to be with Walker

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Kessler and John Collins on the floor
at the same time. Just what did

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we learn stylistically about what Will Hardy
wants to in part on this team at

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both ends? Well, this is
actually where I think the Jazz have a

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real significant strength. They're very big. You know, Walker Kessler's seven foot

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maybe even seven to one. Liary
Marketing in the seven foot John Collins is

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six' nine. But they're unique
in the fact that they are not big

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and slow. They're big and athletic. Liary Marketing is one of the more

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athletic guys in the league, and
so is John Collins. And I consider

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Walker Kesler one of the most athletic
centers in the league in terms of how

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fast he runs the floor from in
the end. So they played really fast

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last night against Portland. You know, they got a lot of shots up,

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they got a lot of possessions,
they got the ball and bounds fast.

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They pushed their sets were really crisp. They ran through their such they

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knew what they wanted to do,
you know, so they they were really

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they were really fast, and it'll
be interesting to see if they continue to

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play that way, to continue to
play fast, because if they can and

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they don't actually kick the ball out
of bounds every third possession, third or

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fourth possession, they're going to be
more athletic than a lot of the teams

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that they face. And you know, they're a very collectively athletic team.

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And it seems really crazy to say
that about the Utah Jazz because for so

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long, you know, basically for
you know, ninety seven percent of their

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existence, they've been plotting, and
you know, they had a three percent

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they had a three percent existence where
you know, Darren Williams was like that

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point guard in the league, and
they played fast because Darren was just like,

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listen, I'm not slowing down for
anybody. But other than that,

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you know, they they haven't been
a fast team that played really vertically.

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They've been a team that that kind
of out executed you. And this team

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is going to be fast and it's
going to be vertical. So I think

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it's going to be really interesting to
see what the contrast to that is.

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00:19:21,359 --> 00:19:25,839
Speed can also help you offset maybe
some of the concerns you have about the

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guard play where it's okay, well, we have guys who will be the

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lead ball handlers, but none of
them are necessarily conventional table setters, and

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so what do you sort of I
had so many questions about the backcourt that

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I include the outline people, what
do you just make of this backcourt structure

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00:19:40,079 --> 00:19:41,799
right now? I think I guess
the one place to start that's where like

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is it feels like Kanta George is
gonna play like a major role right like

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in his rookie season. At some
point would that be? Would that be

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accurate? Well, I believe he's
going to be in the rotation from night

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one, and I believe that,
you know, at bitch, some point

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between now and opening night in twenty
twenty four, he'll be the starting point

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guard. If he's not the starting
point guard by opening night twenty twenty four,

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something went wrong like he's either hurt
or he has not played anywhere near

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to where to what the Jazz think
be. And I believe that, you

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know, the Jazz are putting him
in a rotation with the expectation and the

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hope that he gets to the point
where they can start him. You know,

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I don't want to say sooner rather
than later, but you know soon,

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you know, they don't they they
think he They clearly think he's the

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point guard of the future, and
they're going they're going to give him minutes

278
00:20:57,039 --> 00:21:02,000
right now. What is it like? Do you have any general impressions of

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00:21:02,039 --> 00:21:03,240
his game, even based on what
we've seen in some leag What is he

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00:21:03,319 --> 00:21:07,519
bringing to this team out of the
gate? I think that right now he's

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the second best passer on the roster
behind Kelly Olynik. I think that he's,

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you know, positively dynamic off the
dribble. I think he's very athletic

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for a point guard. He's capable
of playing above the rim. I think

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00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:34,440
he's a three level scorer. But
I think the reason why I do agree

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that he probably shouldn't start right now
is that, you know, he's got

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00:21:38,279 --> 00:21:41,559
to learn how to He's got to
learn two things. He's got to learn

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00:21:41,599 --> 00:21:45,440
how to run an NBA team,
and he's got to figure out the NBA

288
00:21:45,519 --> 00:21:49,720
from a defensive standpoint. You know, I believe that if you start him

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00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:56,759
at the point guard tomorrow, I
believe that he can probably give you somewhere

290
00:21:56,759 --> 00:22:00,799
between fifteen and seventeen points in five
to seven and sists a night, probably

291
00:22:00,839 --> 00:22:04,319
right off the bat. But you're
gonna lose a lot of games because of

292
00:22:04,359 --> 00:22:08,680
the stuff that he doesn't know.
So, you know, if the Jazz

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want to win games and they want
to be competitive as competitive as possible,

294
00:22:14,599 --> 00:22:19,440
it makes sense to spoon feed him
those minutes. Try to, you know,

295
00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:29,799
get him in the right spots to
where his strengths offensively are accentuated.

296
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But you're hiding in swarts defensively and
otherwise, and just until he's ready and

297
00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:41,079
until he really learns you know,
the NBA game. To me, if

298
00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:48,119
if I make an analogy, you
know, it's probably like you have a

299
00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:52,279
picture that goes through the batting order
twice, and you see the batting order

300
00:22:52,319 --> 00:22:59,200
twice, right, and the batting
order sees the picture twice, and then

301
00:22:59,279 --> 00:23:02,440
by the turn time around in the
batting order, what happens you t you

302
00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:07,279
off on that picture because you've seen
the you've seen him twice now, right,

303
00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:12,000
I think you know with with Keyante, you know, have him go

304
00:23:12,079 --> 00:23:17,480
around the league once, have n't
go around the league twice? Then maybe

305
00:23:17,519 --> 00:23:22,559
by February January, late January or
February, he's ready to take over the

306
00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:26,279
roll. Is there like a chance
that he's just going to be their best

307
00:23:26,319 --> 00:23:29,920
off the dribble jump shooter out the
gate When you kind of look at the

308
00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:33,200
rest of the personnel on this roster, not most confident because we know that'll

309
00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:41,599
be Jordan Clarkson. There's a chance, there's a non zero chance because he

310
00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:47,839
you know, he does things that
he does things offensively that you can't teach.

311
00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:51,039
You know, the way he can
snake, the way he can snake

312
00:23:51,079 --> 00:23:55,279
a pick and roll, you know, take advantage of a big and drop,

313
00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:00,920
you know, push him, put
him with an aggressive dribble and then

314
00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:07,000
pull up on the dime and make
a three. You know, you can't

315
00:24:07,039 --> 00:24:11,440
teach stuff like that. The way
he can get downhill, stop on the

316
00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:14,480
dime, get him in range,
you can't teach that. Get to the

317
00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:18,359
basket. He cuts without the ball, so he moves well without the ball.

318
00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:21,079
So he's a little unique there because
a lot of a lot of ball

319
00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:26,960
in hand scores who have his profile
don't really move well without the ball,

320
00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:32,279
and Kyante actually moves well without the
ball. And you know, he's a

321
00:24:32,799 --> 00:24:37,480
much better passer than I thought he
was a year ago at this time,

322
00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:42,640
and he makes he's made better reads
as the year is going on. You

323
00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:49,000
can tell that his year at Baylor
did his game a lot of good and

324
00:24:49,039 --> 00:24:53,880
that he really took the coaching Scott
Drew's coaching there, because you know,

325
00:24:55,079 --> 00:24:59,960
I've been watching Kyante play, you
know, probably since he was about fifteen,

326
00:25:00,279 --> 00:25:03,599
sixteen years old, and you know, not you know when he got

327
00:25:03,599 --> 00:25:07,920
the bailor, you know, he
wasn't he wasn't the pastor that he is

328
00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:14,319
now. He's just a much better
passer than he was at this time last

329
00:25:14,359 --> 00:25:19,599
year. So you know, he's
he's he's a guy who's just really talented

330
00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:26,759
offensively, and he's also got the
mental headspace that you know he's going to

331
00:25:26,839 --> 00:25:30,880
keep coming at you. He's a
guy that can be two for fifteen and

332
00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:37,599
still make five shots at the end
of the game to beat you. So

333
00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:41,960
you know, for him, you
know, even with you know, all

334
00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:45,799
of his natural talent and his natural
ability, you know, it's just about

335
00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:52,039
learning to think of the parts of
the game that you can teach, and

336
00:25:52,079 --> 00:25:55,319
you know, learning some of that
stuff and getting stronger and getting his body,

337
00:25:56,000 --> 00:26:02,680
you know, more NBA ready or
more centric, because there's a big

338
00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:07,240
difference in his body in Schoot Henderson's
body right now, which I kind of

339
00:26:07,279 --> 00:26:18,440
took note of last night. Take
note. But you know, the skill

340
00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:21,240
set is there, man, They're
just things that he does right now that

341
00:26:21,319 --> 00:26:26,279
the rest of the roster doesn't do. And so it's just him learning,

342
00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:30,279
you know, the game before you
give him the keys. How do you

343
00:26:30,319 --> 00:26:37,279
feel about how reliant they are on
Jordan Clarkson to continue making at least in

344
00:26:37,319 --> 00:26:40,599
the beginning of the see the incremental
improvements. Is sort of like a leadish

345
00:26:40,599 --> 00:26:42,480
type playmaker. I thought he made
strides last year. It wasn't pretty a

346
00:26:42,519 --> 00:26:45,799
lot of the time, but he
was making an effort, it felt like

347
00:26:45,839 --> 00:26:51,079
to defer when he's getting downhill in
ways that he was not in previous years.

348
00:26:51,119 --> 00:26:52,480
What did you sort of make of
that experience? And is a reasonable

349
00:26:52,559 --> 00:26:56,279
expect that maybe he'll be more comfortable
doing that stuff this season? Well?

350
00:26:56,359 --> 00:26:59,839
To me, I mean, you
look at the guy like Jordan Clarkson,

351
00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:03,240
and that's that's the effect of Will
Hardy's coaching. You know, Will ask

352
00:27:03,359 --> 00:27:07,400
him to be a player that he's
never been at any point in his career

353
00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:11,680
that he's never tried to be and
you know he did it and he pulled

354
00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:15,000
it off. I mean, he
was twenty points. I believe he was

355
00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:18,839
around twenty points a game, five
assistant game, four rebounds a game,

356
00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:22,200
something like that. You know,
I maybe, but you know, averaging

357
00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:25,240
four or five assist a game.
When was the last time we saw Jordan

358
00:27:25,319 --> 00:27:27,359
Clarkson do that? I don't do
even average. I should have looked up

359
00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:32,519
even average ever over two before that
in his career. The answer is never.

360
00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:40,440
Okay, you know, but he
continuously tried, like he didn't always

361
00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:42,599
do it, you know. There
and there were times like other guards on

362
00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:47,039
the roster, you know that,
you know, he kicked the ball into

363
00:27:47,039 --> 00:27:49,240
the third row or threw it into
the fourth row, or you know,

364
00:27:49,319 --> 00:27:52,759
hit Danny Inge and the head would
have passed or something like that. But

365
00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:59,400
you know he there were also times
where he made wonderful reads and wonderful passes

366
00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:06,519
and you know, played unselfishly,
all while keeping the balance of being on

367
00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:10,960
the score that he is. So
you know, the Jazz are going to

368
00:28:11,039 --> 00:28:15,400
ask him to do more of that
and do that this year. I think

369
00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:18,559
it's one of the reasons why you
know, they were comfortable with paying him

370
00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:22,799
and you know, extending him,
but you know, he was he was

371
00:28:22,839 --> 00:28:29,160
a guy who I thought was a
really pleasant surprise last year. What did

372
00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:32,359
you make of the injuries? It
is also shut down, but what did

373
00:28:32,359 --> 00:28:37,640
you make of the first year of
the Collin Sexton experience in Utah. He's

374
00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:41,880
a guy that that you know,
I think that he's had you know,

375
00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:45,680
there are times where he's had real
flashes, but I also think that there's

376
00:28:45,759 --> 00:28:52,599
times state that you know, he's
really struggled. And this is a big

377
00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:59,039
year for him, right Like,
I think he's got to prove that he

378
00:28:59,079 --> 00:29:11,359
can play some point with some modicum
of consistency and ability. And you know,

379
00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:17,519
the Jazz Ah started him the first
two preseason games. They brought him

380
00:29:17,519 --> 00:29:22,920
off the bench against Portland. They
play against New Zealand Breakers on Monday night,

381
00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:26,960
uh, and I believe that that
will be the last preseason game that

382
00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:33,039
the regular rotation either plays in or
plays a major role in. So it's

383
00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:37,799
he you know, he's he's got
a lot to prove from a playmaking standpoint.

384
00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:48,839
I think that he's Utah's best player
on the roster in terms of in

385
00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:55,119
the in transition getting out in transition
and in benning a defense and transition.

386
00:29:56,319 --> 00:30:00,720
You know, he's somebody who's very
difficult to garden spaces, very difficult to

387
00:30:00,759 --> 00:30:07,559
guard one on one with his athleticism
and his quickness. But he is you

388
00:30:07,599 --> 00:30:12,559
know, he struggles sometimes and sometimes
significantly so with the art of playmaking for

389
00:30:12,599 --> 00:30:17,880
others. Can you know, just
the ability to run a team, so

390
00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:22,200
you know he's going to have to
figure that part out. Yeah, And

391
00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:25,400
I think you put it kindly when
you're talking about his struggles as playmaking for

392
00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:27,640
others, Like he can get tunnel
vision, and I think it's really difficult

393
00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:30,319
for him when defenses are more keyed
in on him, because if they're not

394
00:30:30,359 --> 00:30:36,119
worried about other creation threats depending on
who's on the floor, that just makes

395
00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:38,599
it a lot tougher for him.
But he's someone I've always thought can be

396
00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:42,279
more complimentary than people gave him credit
for. I don't know if you set

397
00:30:42,359 --> 00:30:47,680
up to use him in a complimentary
capacity just because they need him, like

398
00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:48,640
a lot of stuff that he can
do on ball, like you mentioned his

399
00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:52,440
speed, but just like as an
off ball shooter, I think that's someone

400
00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:56,799
who can fit into a larger context
of a team in ways that people just

401
00:30:56,839 --> 00:31:00,000
weren't really giving him credit for in
Cleveland. And I know that his tenure

402
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,519
they're ended with injuries and whatnot and
the emergence of Darius Carland, but I

403
00:31:03,519 --> 00:31:04,519
thought he got a little bit of
a bad rap. I'm hoping he stays

404
00:31:04,519 --> 00:31:08,079
healthy just to get a better feel
for what he is with with this team.

405
00:31:10,039 --> 00:31:11,559
How do you think they like what
is the like who else is going

406
00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:14,359
to crop up in this back ord? Like? Are they gonna lean a

407
00:31:14,359 --> 00:31:17,720
lot on Taling Horton Tucker Chris Dunn
played really well to close the season or

408
00:31:18,079 --> 00:31:19,319
or one of them more important than
the other. It seems like they would

409
00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:22,960
lean THHT just because he can play
maybe more wing minutes, but like Chris

410
00:31:23,039 --> 00:31:26,400
Dunn can defend everybody basically. So
what do you sort of make of that

411
00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:30,680
situation? Well, the funny thing
was, so if you want to talk

412
00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:33,920
about Tailing, I mean, you
know, all the Jazz Twitter is gonna

413
00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:38,960
like take a side here, because
I believe he's by far the most polarizing

414
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:45,799
player on the team among the Jazz
fan base, you know, And and

415
00:31:45,839 --> 00:31:48,759
he's he's really interesting because I think
that there's a real chance to he's the

416
00:31:48,799 --> 00:31:56,799
opening night starter at point guard.
Okay, yeah, it's coming in hot

417
00:31:56,920 --> 00:32:00,559
man. I would not I mean, I don't think I would do it,

418
00:32:00,799 --> 00:32:07,640
but I want to see it doing
it. So the thing that I

419
00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:16,279
think is really leaning the jazz or
or making him a real candidate for this

420
00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:23,759
is right now. Okay, Kyante
is not ready to start, So there's

421
00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:31,640
that. But if Kiyancee is not
ready to start, everybody else has a

422
00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:39,960
significant war, right. Yeah,
Colin is small, and he doesn't you

423
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:45,960
know that he's he's got a long
learning curve in terms of being a point

424
00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:50,640
guard. Okay, Jordan Clarkson,
you don't want the ball in his hands

425
00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:57,960
to start every single possession, like
you just don't like you you the possession

426
00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:02,759
might not start, right. So, and I love Jordans and you know,

427
00:33:02,799 --> 00:33:07,200
I think that he's the best perimeter
score on the team, you know,

428
00:33:07,279 --> 00:33:12,160
but you want him coming off screens. You want him doing Jordan clarks

429
00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:16,119
and stuff, even if he's in
the starting lineup. You know, Chris

430
00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:22,599
Dunn, you worry about the spacing
even though he's by far, just like

431
00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:30,599
by far, the best defender out
of any of the candidates. And he's

432
00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:34,680
he also he's figured out how to
score in the NBA, he's figured out

433
00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:39,839
how to play offense in the NBA, and then you get the Tailing right,

434
00:33:40,119 --> 00:33:46,319
So he's he's like a box of
chocolates. You never know what you're

435
00:33:46,319 --> 00:33:53,079
gonna get, but he's if you
put him at the point guard spot,

436
00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:57,319
and I don't think a lot of
people are realizing this, if you put

437
00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:04,640
him at the point guard spot,
he's probably got a physical advantage over ninety

438
00:34:05,119 --> 00:34:09,079
of every starting point guard in the
NBA. He's six foot four, he's

439
00:34:09,079 --> 00:34:15,760
got a seven foot one wingspan,
he's two hundred and thirty five pounds putting

440
00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:23,039
in boldly, and he's very athletic
for being two hundred and thirty five pounds.

441
00:34:23,239 --> 00:34:30,199
Plays above the rim, he can
finish, he bent, He probably

442
00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:38,559
he's probably bending a defense off the
dribble better than any of the candidates this

443
00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:45,280
year in training camp and in preseason
games. The problem with Tailing is he

444
00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:51,360
might kick the ball into the third
row every three possessions, and he also

445
00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:58,039
dribble passing. We've a lot of
much to be desired. And he also

446
00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:06,280
might shoot twenty eight percent from three
point ranch and that's not going to stop

447
00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:10,239
him from shooting like he's not going
to Like if you look at tailing and

448
00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:15,039
you say tailing right, look,
you're two for ten from your last from

449
00:35:15,079 --> 00:35:21,079
three, Just get to the bucket. He might still go out there and

450
00:35:21,159 --> 00:35:23,559
take a contest at three. Like
he might do all of that stuff,

451
00:35:24,159 --> 00:35:31,400
but he also might get you a
triple double. And he also might just

452
00:35:31,519 --> 00:35:39,679
be, you know, really hard
to deal with off the dribble and getting

453
00:35:39,719 --> 00:35:43,360
into the paint. He's going to
touch the paint off the dribble at any

454
00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:46,239
point in time. He's going to
get to the basket. He's going to

455
00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:49,920
do that in transition. He's going
to do it in the half court.

456
00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:53,320
The question is what does he do
and do when he gets to the basket.

457
00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:59,280
So if you're the Jazz, there
are a couple of things at play.

458
00:36:00,159 --> 00:36:04,079
You have a front court right now
that's not very ball in hand.

459
00:36:04,199 --> 00:36:07,000
In fact, you have a front
court right now that's pretty much not balling

460
00:36:07,039 --> 00:36:13,400
hand at all. You know,
Lowry is Lowry is such a good basketball

461
00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:19,000
player, and he's he's at a
point where you know, it doesn't matter

462
00:36:19,159 --> 00:36:22,679
who's around him, He's going to
produce and he's going to get twenty five

463
00:36:22,719 --> 00:36:29,320
and twelve. But John Collins isn't
ball in hand. Obviously Walker Kessler is

464
00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:32,719
not ball in hand. So you
need a ball in hand backcourt. So

465
00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:40,639
it kind of makes sense to start
Tailing and Jordan Clarkson because those guys can

466
00:36:40,679 --> 00:36:45,159
recack Havoc off the dribble, and
you know, and your best player,

467
00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:51,119
whether Derek and Havoc off the dribble
and passing the ball or not, you

468
00:36:51,119 --> 00:36:52,480
know, your best player is still
going to go and get twenty five and

469
00:36:52,519 --> 00:36:58,800
ten for you. So what you
need is so you tell Taylor, listen,

470
00:36:59,719 --> 00:37:04,480
just start the possession, just get
the ball moving. And obviously,

471
00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:07,079
if he gets the ball back in
that possession, he's probably gonna call for

472
00:37:07,119 --> 00:37:08,440
a screen. He's gonna go screen
and roll, and he's gonna dance and

473
00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:15,360
boogie and do his thing. But
you're going to do it from having a

474
00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:20,239
standpoint of having a six foot four, two hundred and thirty point pound point

475
00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:24,239
guard as a rather a five for
eleven, two hundred pound point guard,

476
00:37:25,119 --> 00:37:34,119
or you know, Keante who's not
really ready on night one to do what

477
00:37:34,159 --> 00:37:38,039
you need to do. That's conduced
with the winning. So if this happens

478
00:37:38,239 --> 00:37:45,360
in you know, Tailing's the starting
point Guard. It's it's definitely it'll be

479
00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:52,679
a roller coaster, you know.
And I still don't think that this is

480
00:37:52,719 --> 00:37:58,280
settled. It still be calling,
you know, it could still be Chris

481
00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:02,280
Dunne. But I think that if
it is tailing, that's kind of what

482
00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:08,159
the thinking is. You mentioned Lowry
and sort of it's a nice segment when

483
00:38:08,159 --> 00:38:14,079
you're talking about the guard pecking order
and some of their limitations. Lowry is

484
00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:16,119
you said he's not a self creator. It's like sixty five plus percent of

485
00:38:16,159 --> 00:38:20,280
his twos were assisted last year,
over ninety percent of his threes were assisted.

486
00:38:20,679 --> 00:38:22,519
Do you expect them to try and
lean on him for more self creation?

487
00:38:22,639 --> 00:38:27,960
And do you believe watching him a
lot last year that he has that

488
00:38:28,079 --> 00:38:30,760
extra year is not just a self
creator, but maybe is also a passer

489
00:38:31,400 --> 00:38:36,360
Well, I think it's seven foot
and with his athleticism and with his skill

490
00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:38,280
set in terms of shooting over the
top, I think you could do a

491
00:38:38,280 --> 00:38:45,400
lot of God, I don't really
want to make this comparison, may I

492
00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:50,800
think you could do a lot with
Lowry. What Dallas did with prime Dirk

493
00:38:53,760 --> 00:39:00,679
mas Van market and is better than
darks of it. Now we're going to

494
00:39:00,760 --> 00:39:07,199
see it, right, Yeah,
but I but like the vision peak the

495
00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:14,280
vision right, like you put him
fifteen to seven fifteen feet from the basket,

496
00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:17,079
you isolate him at the top of
the at the top of the file

497
00:39:17,159 --> 00:39:25,800
line, right you. And you
know he's being guarded by threes, so

498
00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:30,280
he's most likely going to be taller
than them, or he's being guarded by

499
00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:37,320
force to which he's most likely going
to be quicker than them. And you

500
00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:39,880
know, if you need a basket
in the last five minutes, go give

501
00:39:39,880 --> 00:39:43,760
me a bucket off of that,
Go take one dribble and pull up.

502
00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:46,639
You know. So I think some
of that you could do that, some

503
00:39:46,719 --> 00:39:52,360
of that in isolation, but you're
only doing it in the last five minutes

504
00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:58,760
of games. But the beauty of
Lowry is that it just kind of doesn't

505
00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:01,679
matter what you're doing. He's going
to to make a cut or you know,

506
00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:06,280
he's seven foot you know, he's
going to catch the ball on the

507
00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:08,840
wing and he's going to raise up
and shoot. He's got an easy,

508
00:40:09,079 --> 00:40:16,559
quick shooting motion that that's really low
stress, and he makes forty percent of

509
00:40:16,599 --> 00:40:22,760
them. Or he's you know,
going to get it in transition. He's

510
00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:24,519
he's going to score it that way, or he's going to get an offensive

511
00:40:24,519 --> 00:40:29,199
rebound and he's going to score it
that way, or he's going to get

512
00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:36,119
fouled. And you know, I
watched him against the Clippers last Tuesday.

513
00:40:37,039 --> 00:40:43,599
The Jazz were kicking the ball into
the upper deck and it didn't matter.

514
00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:49,159
Still have He's still at thirteen and
six at halftime, and the offense looked

515
00:40:49,159 --> 00:41:00,000
tremendous. And on Saturday when the
offense looked great, he had like seventeen

516
00:41:00,119 --> 00:41:05,440
in ten in like twelve minutes.
Like he's just really, really really good.

517
00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:12,679
And you know, I think that
he's primed for a really big year.

518
00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:19,760
You know, but you know his
next evolution is can we give you

519
00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:22,000
the ball on the last five minutes
and can you go score baskets for us?

520
00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:28,840
You know, when the defense is
loaded up, got you got a

521
00:41:28,840 --> 00:41:32,079
primary defender, You got one guy
sloughing off on your right, another guy's

522
00:41:32,079 --> 00:41:37,199
sloughing off on your left. Can
you make that diagonal pass to the corner

523
00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:44,719
that leads to an open three,
or can you you go and make a

524
00:41:44,719 --> 00:41:47,159
game winner for us? You know, things like that. You know,

525
00:41:47,679 --> 00:41:52,400
we've gotten down to that part with
Larry Marketing. We know what's going to

526
00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:54,360
happen in the first forty three minutes
of a game. You know, he's

527
00:41:54,400 --> 00:41:58,559
going to get you, you know, twenty two to twenty seven points a

528
00:41:58,639 --> 00:42:00,719
night, and he's going to get
you ten rebounds, and he's going to

529
00:42:00,800 --> 00:42:05,239
do it. Most likely he's going
to do it efficiently. Well, what's

530
00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:08,800
going to happen in the last five
minutes. So that's to me what the

531
00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:13,719
evolution allower market it has to be
this year. I do feel like,

532
00:42:13,920 --> 00:42:15,840
just based off his shooting stroke,
in his size, that if there's real

533
00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:19,599
volume to it, which there's never
really been for his game, in his

534
00:42:19,639 --> 00:42:22,880
defense, that he should be a
better pull up jump shooter than we've seen

535
00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:24,559
at any point in his career.
So I'm very interested to see that.

536
00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:29,760
I think you mentioned about finding guys
in the corners. I think that's why

537
00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:32,280
John collins Is shooting is so important, because if you get to lineups where

538
00:42:32,280 --> 00:42:37,559
Walker Kessler's off the floor and you're
playing Collins and Olynic, maybe Taylor Hendrix

539
00:42:37,639 --> 00:42:39,960
is involved, whatever, like the
floor is so open. I really do

540
00:42:40,039 --> 00:42:44,800
believe that the defensive attention he's drawing, and then just some of the flashes

541
00:42:44,840 --> 00:42:47,119
he's shown, I actually think and
I don't know if this is a popular

542
00:42:47,280 --> 00:42:52,599
unpopular hot take, Like I think
that's someone who can be an above average

543
00:42:52,639 --> 00:42:54,880
passer for his position when it comes
to just finding guys. And so John

544
00:42:54,920 --> 00:42:59,960
Collins is hitting threes and like you
have him and Olynic on the court at

545
00:42:59,920 --> 00:43:02,400
the same time, or like I
said, Hendrix, whatever, they're gonna

546
00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:07,559
help off those guys because Lowry is
drawing that type of attention when he's in

547
00:43:07,639 --> 00:43:10,199
when you give him space. So
I'm very I think he's going to be

548
00:43:10,239 --> 00:43:13,719
fine. I've wondered if there would
be pulled back on his efficiency, whether

549
00:43:13,719 --> 00:43:16,159
he might struggle this year just because
of the not having a con Ley there,

550
00:43:16,239 --> 00:43:20,440
not even having a you know,
a Molik Beasley three point volume outlet.

551
00:43:20,480 --> 00:43:22,920
But just the more I watch him, I think that it's there,

552
00:43:22,960 --> 00:43:25,159
and so it might just come down
to, like if there are guys around

553
00:43:25,199 --> 00:43:29,239
him hitting enough of those shots where
they can space the floor. Yeah,

554
00:43:29,280 --> 00:43:30,880
you're not gonna slow things down all
the time for him, and you're not

555
00:43:30,880 --> 00:43:35,280
gonna want him to run things from
a standstill that much. But I think

556
00:43:35,360 --> 00:43:38,639
he has that in him, and
so I'm very I'm hopeful, but I'm

557
00:43:38,679 --> 00:43:43,559
just so curious to see how often
he gets to do it, and then

558
00:43:43,599 --> 00:43:45,599
just what it looks like once he
does. Yeah, for sure, Like

559
00:43:46,119 --> 00:43:50,719
you know, you want to see
you want to see the strides of his

560
00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:55,480
game that you know have not typically
been there in the last eight years.

561
00:43:55,760 --> 00:44:00,400
And so you know, you want
to see him evolve off the dribble a

562
00:44:00,440 --> 00:44:04,719
little bit more. You want to
see him evolve in the passing game a

563
00:44:04,800 --> 00:44:08,840
little bit more. You know.
I think the downside for Lowry is that

564
00:44:08,880 --> 00:44:13,039
he's not sneaking up on anybody this
year. Everybody knows he's good now,

565
00:44:13,960 --> 00:44:16,840
you know. So he's going to
see he's gonna you know, when he

566
00:44:16,920 --> 00:44:21,199
when he plays the Los Angeles Clippers, he's going to see Paul George and

567
00:44:21,239 --> 00:44:27,199
Kawhi Leonard. When he plays against
Minnesota, he's going to see Jade McDaniels.

568
00:44:27,760 --> 00:44:29,920
You know, when he plays against
New Orleans, he's going to see

569
00:44:29,920 --> 00:44:31,800
Herb Jones. You know, he's
going to see all those He's going to

570
00:44:31,800 --> 00:44:35,760
see the best of the best now. So you know, he's just got

571
00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:40,760
to figure it out in some of
the ways that he hasn't in the past.

572
00:44:42,320 --> 00:44:45,159
But you know, the baseline that
he has to work on is is

573
00:44:45,239 --> 00:44:46,960
so vast, Like, you know, he's such a great shooter, he

574
00:44:46,960 --> 00:44:52,920
does a miss free throws. He
can score without needing to dominate the basketball.

575
00:44:53,239 --> 00:44:58,400
He's going to have a physical advantage, you know on many many nights.

576
00:45:00,159 --> 00:45:02,280
You know, he's going to have
an athleticism an advantage on many nights.

577
00:45:02,679 --> 00:45:09,760
You know, he do the baseline
they're so vast that you know it's

578
00:45:10,239 --> 00:45:16,840
it's going to be hard to see
him not having a great season. But

579
00:45:17,840 --> 00:45:24,000
you know what the question is,
can he evolve from an All Star level

580
00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:30,599
player to an All NBA level player? Can he be you know we you

581
00:45:30,639 --> 00:45:35,119
know right now his profile looks like
the second best player on a championship team

582
00:45:35,599 --> 00:45:40,159
at age twenty six. Can he
up his profile to where you're looking at

583
00:45:40,239 --> 00:45:44,840
him and saying he can be the
best player on a championship team? You

584
00:45:44,840 --> 00:45:49,079
know, So that's where his challenges
are going to come from this year.

585
00:45:50,400 --> 00:45:52,679
Walker Castle are an amazing rookie season, one of the rookies that I missed

586
00:45:52,679 --> 00:45:58,760
on. Just so impactful defensively.
Do you see the way that he played

587
00:45:58,800 --> 00:46:01,239
last year? Does it maybe change? Like could could the Jazz feasily when

588
00:46:01,239 --> 00:46:04,719
you look at the personnel they have
you mentioned athletics. Some of you mentioned

589
00:46:04,719 --> 00:46:07,760
size, and they're still kind of
going to be out of defensive deficit every

590
00:46:07,840 --> 00:46:12,320
night at every other position other than
Walker Kessler's right, How do you think

591
00:46:12,360 --> 00:46:15,280
that changes at all? Like,
will they look to be maybe be more

592
00:46:15,280 --> 00:46:17,280
aggressive in front of him this year, try to look to force more turnovers

593
00:46:17,280 --> 00:46:21,199
to kind of offset that deficit.
And then knowing, Okay, we have

594
00:46:21,199 --> 00:46:23,480
one of the best room protectors in
the league behind us, and he's pretty

595
00:46:23,519 --> 00:46:28,559
mobile, so that like is something
that they could try, or just any

596
00:46:28,679 --> 00:46:32,320
like, will he change the way
this team defends this year in any way?

597
00:46:34,840 --> 00:46:37,920
You know, I think because of
him, I think that if you're

598
00:46:37,960 --> 00:46:43,320
will harder, you can't be afraid
to do a lot of things and try

599
00:46:43,320 --> 00:46:47,840
a lot of things. You know, play a lot of drop and then

600
00:46:49,199 --> 00:46:54,679
switch and then play some zone and
you know, do a lot of the

601
00:46:54,760 --> 00:47:01,480
things that you know you can do. And you have a robing room protector

602
00:47:02,639 --> 00:47:09,239
like Walker, so you know his
he causes a lot of trouble for for

603
00:47:09,320 --> 00:47:15,679
teams because of how good he is
around the rim on both ends, and

604
00:47:15,800 --> 00:47:19,840
you know how hard he plays and
how hard he runs the floor. Like

605
00:47:20,000 --> 00:47:22,719
you you know, you really got
to bust back against Walker Kesseler, because

606
00:47:23,199 --> 00:47:27,199
if not, he's going to outrun
your big and he's either going to get

607
00:47:27,239 --> 00:47:30,960
a layup or he's going to make
somebody else commit to him, which is

608
00:47:30,960 --> 00:47:37,199
going to lead to other opportunities.
Uh and and and delayed transition. So

609
00:47:37,360 --> 00:47:42,199
you know, he's he's gotta you
know, the thing with Walker is,

610
00:47:42,800 --> 00:47:45,519
you know, the Jazz are gonna
let him shoot threes this year. So

611
00:47:45,599 --> 00:47:52,159
let's let's see how many he makes. I'm not expecting him to be brook

612
00:47:52,159 --> 00:47:57,079
Low pez, but you know he's
he's gonna shoot. He's gonna take some

613
00:47:57,119 --> 00:48:00,920
shots this year. So let's see
how many he makes. Let's see what

614
00:48:00,079 --> 00:48:06,840
happens when, you know, teams
start switching and they put smalls on him.

615
00:48:07,000 --> 00:48:09,159
Can he take advantage of those matchups? I believe he can. And

616
00:48:09,920 --> 00:48:15,840
you know, and let's see what
happens when teams put shooting bigs on the

617
00:48:15,880 --> 00:48:21,079
floor to try to draw him out
of the paint. You know, can

618
00:48:21,199 --> 00:48:27,840
he can he defend well enough away
from the paint to make teams pay for

619
00:48:27,880 --> 00:48:30,239
that as well. So those are
some of the questions with him. The

620
00:48:30,280 --> 00:48:32,679
thing I think that was most surprised. I mean, I missed on so

621
00:48:32,760 --> 00:48:36,199
much about him. I just didn't
see it when I was watching him before

622
00:48:36,199 --> 00:48:38,840
he entered the NBA was sort of
the step per step defense, like not

623
00:48:38,840 --> 00:48:42,800
necessarily the switching, but like if
he's like angled and all, like just

624
00:48:42,880 --> 00:48:45,079
his ability to keep pace with these
quicker ball handlers, which will me to

625
00:48:45,119 --> 00:48:47,440
believe that, Yeah, if teams
want to throw shooting bigs and he's on

626
00:48:47,519 --> 00:48:51,599
them, I just feel like he
can cover so much ground in such like

627
00:48:51,639 --> 00:48:54,679
a coordinated way. It doesn't really
bother me. All the questions on offense

628
00:48:54,719 --> 00:48:57,199
that you mentioned for sure, like
I want to see it, and if

629
00:48:57,199 --> 00:48:59,840
he's going to shoot threes, I
absolutely want to see that he did do

630
00:48:59,880 --> 00:49:02,159
it. Credit I was looking before
we recorded, he shot like sixty three

631
00:49:02,239 --> 00:49:07,039
percent or whatever on non dunks and
non alley oop twos. So like,

632
00:49:07,079 --> 00:49:09,639
this is someone who has a little
bit more offensive skill than he's probably shown,

633
00:49:09,719 --> 00:49:13,159
and so I will be interested to
see, like how can it broad

634
00:49:13,199 --> 00:49:15,280
and can even like improve his quick
passing, like if the Jazz are going

635
00:49:15,320 --> 00:49:21,239
to have so much you know,
body movement around him. Oh, Chai

636
00:49:21,400 --> 00:49:23,400
Baji, what did you make of
him as a rookie and what are you

637
00:49:23,519 --> 00:49:28,159
watching most closely for in year two. I think he's gonna be in the

638
00:49:28,199 --> 00:49:34,119
league for ten to twelve years.
He's you know, he's he's got the

639
00:49:34,119 --> 00:49:40,079
prototype of of being a real thren
d guy. You know the thing,

640
00:49:40,960 --> 00:49:45,719
I think the Jazz have to be
careful with him because they have so many

641
00:49:45,719 --> 00:49:49,880
miles to feed in the backcourt that
you know, you don't want to see

642
00:49:49,960 --> 00:49:53,000
him get lost in the shuffle,
either in terms of minutes or you know,

643
00:49:53,400 --> 00:49:57,840
just getting on the floor getting them
involved in the offense. You know,

644
00:49:58,000 --> 00:50:02,639
he's almost one hundred percent reliant on
others making place for him, or

645
00:50:02,679 --> 00:50:07,639
the ball finding him for open threes, or the ball finding him for transition

646
00:50:07,719 --> 00:50:12,400
layups and dunks. But you know, there's just gonna be plenty of nights

647
00:50:12,400 --> 00:50:16,159
where the Jazz are going to need
him to guard the other team's best perimeter

648
00:50:17,320 --> 00:50:22,360
player because there's nobody else, especially
if Chris Dunn is not on the floor.

649
00:50:22,920 --> 00:50:28,000
Yeah, so you know, he's
he's a really good point of attack

650
00:50:28,079 --> 00:50:34,719
defender. I believe that he's developing
into a really good shot blocker, especially

651
00:50:34,760 --> 00:50:37,599
trailing the fast break. And you
know, if he can put that together

652
00:50:37,719 --> 00:50:42,760
and then he can shoot thirty five
to forty percent from threes. I mean,

653
00:50:43,480 --> 00:50:47,079
you know, he's the guy that, to me, every championship roster

654
00:50:47,199 --> 00:50:52,719
needs. You know, he's the
Bruce Bowen, or he's the Danny Green,

655
00:50:52,920 --> 00:50:57,840
or he's the Bruce Brown or the
Centavious Calwell Pope, those six four

656
00:50:57,920 --> 00:51:05,719
to six six long and athletic three
and d guys that you know that make

657
00:51:05,800 --> 00:51:09,039
a real impact on the championship roster
in twenty five to thirty minutes tonight on

658
00:51:09,119 --> 00:51:14,639
both ends of the floor. You
know. So I think that if you're

659
00:51:14,679 --> 00:51:20,960
the Jazz, you definitely want him
around long term. I believe that there's

660
00:51:21,000 --> 00:51:27,519
a world where, you know,
to maybe two three years down the road,

661
00:51:28,039 --> 00:51:32,119
Keyante George develops into a twenty to
twenty five point per game score and

662
00:51:32,159 --> 00:51:37,719
then o Chai Basi is the perfect
too guard next to him, because it

663
00:51:37,760 --> 00:51:40,280
gives you athleticism, it gives you
length, it gives you size, he

664
00:51:40,320 --> 00:51:44,679
gives you defense, and he gives
you shooting and the ability to get out

665
00:51:44,719 --> 00:51:49,920
in transition. But you know,
this is you know, an example of

666
00:51:50,639 --> 00:51:54,920
how many miles to feed that are
in that Jazz backcourt. You know,

667
00:51:55,159 --> 00:52:02,159
against Portland, they put a lineup
out there that was Colin Sexton. It

668
00:52:02,199 --> 00:52:08,320
was Colin Sexton, Chris Dunn,
Kyante, George, Ohi Baji was playing

669
00:52:08,320 --> 00:52:13,960
the four, and Walker Kesseler was
playing playing the five. You know,

670
00:52:14,320 --> 00:52:21,280
there's so many guys that deserve to
play that. Will Hardy just was like,

671
00:52:21,480 --> 00:52:23,039
Ah, screw it, Let's make
a lineup of the guys that deserve

672
00:52:23,079 --> 00:52:25,480
to play. You're gonna give me
this many guards. I'm gonna play this

673
00:52:25,599 --> 00:52:30,760
many guys. Just play them.
And they just ran up and down the

674
00:52:30,800 --> 00:52:34,760
floor for like ten minutes, and
it was actually hilarious because it was like,

675
00:52:35,559 --> 00:52:37,760
oh my god, you just had
three seven footage on the floor and

676
00:52:37,760 --> 00:52:43,800
now you got to chase three six
three guys around, you know, But

677
00:52:44,079 --> 00:52:50,480
it's just it's it's just an example
of of how many guys that the Jazz

678
00:52:51,320 --> 00:52:55,039
have to figure out roles for.
I do hope we get to see a

679
00:52:55,039 --> 00:52:59,159
lot of him with Kant. George
is because I think George is probably their

680
00:52:59,199 --> 00:53:01,920
best point of attack right now,
and which I is so good at just

681
00:53:01,960 --> 00:53:06,519
moving away from the ball and like
all different directions and finding seams, and

682
00:53:06,519 --> 00:53:07,800
I think that's the best. I
don't know what to make of him defensively

683
00:53:07,880 --> 00:53:12,320
yet, but I'm excited to see
if he's gonna go up against that caliber

684
00:53:12,360 --> 00:53:16,000
of assignments. Before we enter the
cookie cutter portion of the podcast, any

685
00:53:16,039 --> 00:53:21,280
feel for I'm assuming Bryce Senseibot just
won't really play much and give him the

686
00:53:21,280 --> 00:53:22,639
state of the back court right now
this year. But I'm in love with

687
00:53:22,719 --> 00:53:25,840
Taylor Hendrix and yet the front court
is pretty crowded. Are either of these

688
00:53:25,840 --> 00:53:30,559
guys gonna get you know, if
the jazzer forget about the end of the

689
00:53:30,559 --> 00:53:32,000
season, if they decide to pull
back or whatever, But like, is

690
00:53:32,000 --> 00:53:37,159
there any chance of them playing meaningful
minutes in meaningful games? Bryce sens the

691
00:53:37,199 --> 00:53:40,360
ball has yet to see a minute
in the preseason. I was reading that

692
00:53:40,480 --> 00:53:45,000
and it's I thought he was injured
or something. He's not. It's fully

693
00:53:45,039 --> 00:53:50,719
healthy, and he just hasn't seen. He hasn't seen any time. I'm

694
00:53:50,760 --> 00:53:55,199
hoping to see him on Monday against
News against New Zealand. Get him a

695
00:53:55,239 --> 00:53:59,480
couple of minutes, a run,
put him on the floor. Let's see

696
00:53:59,480 --> 00:54:00,880
what it looks like like, you
know, for better or for worse.

697
00:54:02,920 --> 00:54:09,239
Taylor hendricks Man, It's funny because
I just I just hope the Jazz.

698
00:54:09,599 --> 00:54:16,679
I just hope Jazz fans have patience
with him because he's not ready right now.

699
00:54:17,920 --> 00:54:27,199
But he has the ability to develop
into an absolute star level role player,

700
00:54:29,000 --> 00:54:34,039
like you know, star level,
to the point where even though he's

701
00:54:34,079 --> 00:54:37,800
a role player, he can he
might see a few All Star games.

702
00:54:37,239 --> 00:54:44,880
He's he can guard threes, fours, fives, and I believe he can

703
00:54:44,920 --> 00:54:50,719
even guard twos. He can shoot
the ball. He's long and athletic,

704
00:54:51,519 --> 00:54:57,800
and he's a guy that I think
that you know, you just look for

705
00:54:58,559 --> 00:55:02,920
like those uniforms, extend those renal
corn six ten guys that can guard absolutely

706
00:55:02,960 --> 00:55:09,039
everybody, And that's what I think
that he can develop into. You know,

707
00:55:09,079 --> 00:55:12,199
but he's not ready right now.
He's not gonna be ready on Open

708
00:55:12,280 --> 00:55:14,599
the Night. He's not gonna be
ready in January. He might not be

709
00:55:14,639 --> 00:55:22,000
ready in March. And you know, he's gonna spend possibly a lot of

710
00:55:22,000 --> 00:55:27,760
time in the G League. And
you know, I think that that Jazz

711
00:55:27,800 --> 00:55:34,480
fans are going to have to reconcile
themselves with that, just because he was

712
00:55:34,519 --> 00:55:39,360
the ninth pick and and just be
patient because you know, by year two,

713
00:55:39,440 --> 00:55:45,199
year three, year four, he's
got a chance to be really really

714
00:55:45,239 --> 00:55:51,840
good and be really really impactful on
both ends of the floor. I am

715
00:55:51,880 --> 00:55:55,079
so high on him. I think
that there are gonna be teams Orlando Indiana.

716
00:55:55,119 --> 00:55:59,559
Why did we take Jarvis Walker?
Why did we take Anthony Black I'm

717
00:55:59,559 --> 00:56:02,000
so high the ground he could cover, It's like he teleports. I believe

718
00:56:02,000 --> 00:56:05,519
in the shot. I don't think
he needs like all these ball skills to

719
00:56:05,519 --> 00:56:07,280
be, as you said, an
impactful player. I will not be patient.

720
00:56:07,320 --> 00:56:09,880
I demand to see Taylor Hendrick minutes
right out of the gate because I

721
00:56:09,880 --> 00:56:15,480
think he's gonna be an exceptional NBA
player. Listen, I think I think

722
00:56:15,559 --> 00:56:22,039
he can be Jaron Jackson Jr.
Like you don't got to sell you know

723
00:56:22,119 --> 00:56:23,639
what. I think he's gonna be
better than Jaron Jackson Junior. A by

724
00:56:23,679 --> 00:56:27,400
the time he's by the time he's
how old is Jared now? Is he

725
00:56:27,440 --> 00:56:30,519
twenty five? Uh? He's on
a second contract. Let's see Aaron Jackson

726
00:56:30,599 --> 00:56:36,840
Junior is twenty four. Geez okay, just turned twenty four. Wow,

727
00:56:37,000 --> 00:56:45,199
So Taylor is nineteen five years from
now, like five six years from now.

728
00:56:45,320 --> 00:56:49,000
I believe that Taylor can be Jared
Jackson Jr. Again. You know

729
00:56:49,039 --> 00:56:52,559
he's not as big, not quite
as big, but you know, I

730
00:56:52,599 --> 00:57:00,079
believe he can be that defensive player
of the year level guy who you know

731
00:57:00,239 --> 00:57:06,800
can recap it inside and shoot forty
percent from three. I'm sold you talked

732
00:57:06,840 --> 00:57:10,800
me into it. Uh, all
right, we're in the quick hitter cookie

733
00:57:10,840 --> 00:57:15,360
cutter portion of the podcast. Are
there any strengths or weaknesses flying under the

734
00:57:15,440 --> 00:57:19,639
radar about this team or just stuff
that we haven't talked about that you think

735
00:57:19,679 --> 00:57:23,559
needs to be hit very quickly?
Well, the point guard spot. I

736
00:57:23,559 --> 00:57:29,239
mean to me that that's going to
make a break Utah season in terms of

737
00:57:29,280 --> 00:57:35,880
what they're going to be. If
you know, I believe that they have

738
00:57:37,440 --> 00:57:40,000
the kind of regular season roster that
can win a lot of games, but

739
00:57:40,039 --> 00:57:43,519
they don't have a playoff roster.
And the Jazz know they don't have a

740
00:57:43,519 --> 00:57:47,880
playoff roster. Like there's a world
where they get a six, seven,

741
00:57:47,960 --> 00:57:52,800
eight seed and they just get demolished
in the playoffs because they don't have a

742
00:57:52,840 --> 00:57:57,880
playoff lovel roster. And you know, we all know that there's we both

743
00:57:57,920 --> 00:58:02,360
know that there's just so much difference
between you know, a regular season team

744
00:58:02,400 --> 00:58:07,000
and a playoff team. Yeah,
and the Jazz have a regular season team.

745
00:58:07,039 --> 00:58:09,280
They have a bunch of young whipper
snappers that are going to get up

746
00:58:09,280 --> 00:58:12,719
and down the floor every night,
that are going to win a bunch of

747
00:58:12,760 --> 00:58:15,960
games in January because nobody, nobody's
gonna want to play in January. And

748
00:58:16,679 --> 00:58:21,679
they're the antithesis of the heat is
basically, yeah, exactly, they're the

749
00:58:21,760 --> 00:58:27,400
antithesis of the heat. So,
you know, it'll be interesting to see

750
00:58:27,400 --> 00:58:30,239
how this roster develops this year,
and you know what, if any changes

751
00:58:30,239 --> 00:58:35,360
are made to this roster as the
year goes on. I know there will

752
00:58:35,400 --> 00:58:37,480
probably be a lot of shape shifting
when you're looking at the rotation. But

753
00:58:37,480 --> 00:58:39,760
when we're trying to figure out,
like who are the ten guys that are

754
00:58:39,800 --> 00:58:43,679
going to play the most this season, it does feel like there's a healthy

755
00:58:43,719 --> 00:58:50,119
amount of locks. Jordan Clarkson,
Akbaji Marketing, Collins Kessler, Sexton thht

756
00:58:50,880 --> 00:58:53,079
And then I think you would have
Keyante George Penzilton is a lock, which

757
00:58:53,079 --> 00:58:57,280
brings us to eight. And then
Kelly olynnok is he a lock? Like

758
00:58:57,320 --> 00:59:00,519
that would be not? So then
who's like who you think gets that?

759
00:59:00,639 --> 00:59:02,159
Like, when we're looking, okay, these ten players played the most minutes

760
00:59:02,199 --> 00:59:06,320
for the Jazz this year, who's
that tenth guy? Please say Tyler Hendricks.

761
00:59:07,599 --> 00:59:10,599
I'm gonna say Chris Dunn. I
get it. I'm not happy about

762
00:59:10,599 --> 00:59:17,320
it, but I'm gonna say Chris
Dunn. Uh fair enough. Uh So

763
00:59:17,400 --> 00:59:22,199
this is to some extent matchup dependent. But if we're fast running to the

764
00:59:22,280 --> 00:59:24,760
end of the season, what will
have been the jazz is most relied upon

765
00:59:24,960 --> 00:59:37,679
crunch time unit. Hmmm, it's
going to be Jordan Clarkson. Oh,

766
00:59:37,719 --> 00:59:42,800
that's a good one, bower,
He's in there right. Let's guess it's

767
00:59:42,800 --> 00:59:51,719
gonna be Jordan Clarkson Liary Marketing.
Oh, I was gonna have Walker Kessler.

768
00:59:51,760 --> 00:59:59,440
Pensilvan is like, he'll be okay, No, Like, it could

769
00:59:59,440 --> 01:00:07,800
either be Kell John, it could
either be a Bajie or Walker. I

770
01:00:07,840 --> 01:00:13,400
think it's going to fluctuate from night
to night and some especially earlier in the

771
01:00:13,400 --> 01:00:17,639
season. But Lowry is your biggest
mark, your biggest lock. I believe

772
01:00:17,679 --> 01:00:21,639
Jordan is your second biggest lock because
you just got to have his scoring on

773
01:00:21,679 --> 01:00:29,000
the floor. And I believe that
Walker Kessler is probably your third biggest lot.

774
01:00:29,400 --> 01:00:34,360
I believe that Kelly Olink is one
of your busy biggest locks because he's

775
01:00:34,440 --> 01:00:38,960
far and away the best passer on
the roster, and he can also shoot,

776
01:00:39,000 --> 01:00:44,239
and he also plays really well with
Lowry. But like, you know

777
01:00:44,519 --> 01:00:49,679
what, if you're playing a roster
of point guard, whoever point guard is

778
01:00:49,760 --> 01:00:55,320
Jordan Clarkson, Ochi Bajie, Kelly
olink Loarry Marketing, you know something like

779
01:00:55,360 --> 01:01:00,960
that, or it could be Walker
Kessler and something like that. I did.

780
01:01:00,039 --> 01:01:02,119
I wasn't gonna say. I think
Oshai ends up being a lock,

781
01:01:02,440 --> 01:01:06,679
like if he's not immediately just because
of the skill set that he brings.

782
01:01:06,719 --> 01:01:08,920
And if we're talking about Kris Don, there's just too much offensive trade off

783
01:01:08,960 --> 01:01:13,440
when you're looking at we need to
cater to defense. Then thhd's decision making

784
01:01:13,519 --> 01:01:19,719
is just destructive at point. So
so this team as we record this on

785
01:01:19,880 --> 01:01:25,599
October fifteenth, they're over under is
set at thirty five point five. It

786
01:01:25,639 --> 01:01:30,079
actually went up a win in the
past couple of days. Would you take

787
01:01:30,119 --> 01:01:34,679
the over or the under on that. I'm gonna go ahead and take the

788
01:01:34,760 --> 01:01:39,280
over, and I'll take the over
because I just think that that will Hardy's

789
01:01:39,320 --> 01:01:45,519
do good. I took me under
when we did over under, just because

790
01:01:45,519 --> 01:01:47,880
there's so few wins to go around. And that leads me into the question

791
01:01:47,920 --> 01:01:51,800
of like what teams in the West
right now? Would you sit here and

792
01:01:51,800 --> 01:01:55,440
say, for the regular season,
the Utah Jazz will definitely be better than

793
01:01:55,519 --> 01:02:00,199
them. I came up with I
came up with the three, and I

794
01:02:00,639 --> 01:02:05,079
like, I have the Rockets,
the Spurs, and the Blazers, and

795
01:02:05,119 --> 01:02:07,719
two of those teams aren't trying to
win. I'm just not high on the

796
01:02:07,800 --> 01:02:10,960
Rockets. And then I struggled to
like envision okay, like, well,

797
01:02:12,000 --> 01:02:15,880
who are they beating out? After
that, I'm going to say I'm going

798
01:02:15,880 --> 01:02:22,679
to abstain a little bit and not
say who I think they're better than or

799
01:02:22,719 --> 01:02:28,079
not better than, but I will
say that, you know, it's my

800
01:02:28,159 --> 01:02:30,320
belief that you just play your eighty
two and you figure it out from there

801
01:02:30,920 --> 01:02:36,320
because you're not playing against you know, the San Antonio Spurs or the Potland

802
01:02:36,360 --> 01:02:39,360
Trailblazers. You're you know, in
so many ways, you're just playing against

803
01:02:39,360 --> 01:02:45,159
your schedule. Like, you know, what does the first twenty games look

804
01:02:45,239 --> 01:02:50,840
like? What does what do the
dog days look like? When you get

805
01:02:50,880 --> 01:02:54,559
into January and you get into the
first week of February, first two weeks

806
01:02:54,559 --> 01:03:00,199
of February, what does your post
trade deadline look like? So This is

807
01:03:00,239 --> 01:03:02,599
what I mean. Right, Like, the Jazz are ten and three to

808
01:03:02,639 --> 01:03:14,199
start this season because they had a
veteran roster led by you know, one

809
01:03:14,199 --> 01:03:19,159
of the best point guards of the
generation. So Game fourteen, the guy

810
01:03:19,199 --> 01:03:22,920
who's one of the best point guards
of this generation gets hurt sprains and ankle,

811
01:03:22,119 --> 01:03:28,639
which is what Mike Conley does at
some point almost every year, Like

812
01:03:29,400 --> 01:03:32,400
you know, he gets he gets
hurt a lot, so he misses I

813
01:03:32,440 --> 01:03:36,199
don't know how many games he miss
He missed twelve games, and the Jazz

814
01:03:36,199 --> 01:03:39,280
couldn't get into an offense without him. So they come back to Earth and

815
01:03:39,320 --> 01:03:45,000
then Conley gets back and they right
the ship and they study themselves and they're

816
01:03:45,079 --> 01:03:49,360
very competitive again. And then the
Jazz pulled the plug because they're like,

817
01:03:49,480 --> 01:03:53,239
oh, you know what, we're
winning way too much right now out there.

818
01:03:53,320 --> 01:04:00,360
Yeah, So what does this what
is what is the eighty two game

819
01:04:00,400 --> 01:04:03,199
schedule look like for the Jazz?
Do they stay healthy? If they do

820
01:04:03,239 --> 01:04:09,360
stay healthy, do they play as
hard every night this year as they did

821
01:04:09,440 --> 01:04:15,360
last year? You know, I
just believe that outside of you know,

822
01:04:15,440 --> 01:04:21,360
the first four or five teams right
now, pretty much outside of Denver,

823
01:04:21,519 --> 01:04:27,599
La and Phoenix, like I think
those three are the best three rosters.

824
01:04:28,880 --> 01:04:32,000
I'm a Clippers fan. You're a
Clippers fan, oh, I said,

825
01:04:32,119 --> 01:04:35,000
you said, La, you're really
in on the Clippers. Huh oh,

826
01:04:35,159 --> 01:04:40,239
Yeah, I'm so in on the
Clippers. But I believe that the Lakers,

827
01:04:40,239 --> 01:04:45,960
the Nuggets, and the Suns are
you know, significant, I don't

828
01:04:45,000 --> 01:04:48,400
want to say, yeah, probably
significantly better than the rest of the West

829
01:04:48,679 --> 01:04:53,159
in terms of construction. I would
agree with you for Denver and Phoenix.

830
01:04:53,239 --> 01:04:57,880
I don't have the same level of
faith in the Lakers. I just Lebron

831
01:04:57,920 --> 01:05:00,000
and the foot stuff last year,
and like, you need Anthony Davis to

832
01:05:00,039 --> 01:05:03,559
again be your best player and then
for him to play in enough games for

833
01:05:03,599 --> 01:05:06,760
that to matter. I just I
like what they did this austly. I

834
01:05:06,800 --> 01:05:13,559
like their I actually happen to think
pretty much the other way. I don't

835
01:05:13,559 --> 01:05:18,119
think this roster is actually dependent on
Anthony Davis and Lebron in the regular season.

836
01:05:18,159 --> 01:05:21,440
Now they're depending on it in the
playoffs. If they're not in their

837
01:05:21,440 --> 01:05:24,559
best in the playoffs, they're not
going to win in the playoffs. But

838
01:05:25,119 --> 01:05:29,280
you're that high on Cam Reddish,
I'm that high on I'm that high on

839
01:05:29,280 --> 01:05:34,119
that roster, Like I think that
roster's got uncommon depth in versatility, actually

840
01:05:34,199 --> 01:05:39,440
got depth, Yeah, for sure, for sure. You know, I

841
01:05:39,480 --> 01:05:45,079
think that they can go a string
of five or six games and D'Angelo Russell's

842
01:05:45,119 --> 01:05:48,079
winning them three or four of them. If you know, your first two

843
01:05:48,119 --> 01:05:51,800
are not playing, so but the
older as that may, I mean,

844
01:05:53,039 --> 01:05:57,800
besides like the first three or four
or five, you know, everything else

845
01:05:57,880 --> 01:06:01,800
is variables, right, Like you
know, Denver's matchup proof. As long

846
01:06:01,840 --> 01:06:04,039
as Yoke as your Murray playing,
they're going to be at the top of

847
01:06:04,079 --> 01:06:08,840
the conference. You know, as
long as Booker and Durana playing, they're

848
01:06:08,880 --> 01:06:12,719
going to be at the top of
the conference. You know. But everybody

849
01:06:12,800 --> 01:06:15,599
else, I mean, it's like, you know, how do you defend

850
01:06:15,719 --> 01:06:17,199
night to night? How do you
shoot night to night? You know,

851
01:06:17,679 --> 01:06:21,159
how do you how healthy do you
stay night to night? You know,

852
01:06:21,599 --> 01:06:26,519
And it all affects their variants.
Like I think that there's a world where

853
01:06:26,639 --> 01:06:30,280
if Minnesota stays healthy, they're the
fourth best team in the West. You

854
01:06:30,360 --> 01:06:32,480
know, you're all me and you
same wavelength, you guys. Tell me

855
01:06:32,639 --> 01:06:35,639
I'm still I'm still in on the
Wolves. Yeah, I'm in on the

856
01:06:35,679 --> 01:06:43,000
Wolves this year, Like especially with
an entire year, Mike Conley actually organizing

857
01:06:43,039 --> 01:06:48,039
that roster, and you know,
I think Anthony Edwards is amazing, So

858
01:06:48,599 --> 01:06:56,320
you know, I definitely think so
with the Jazz, Like you know,

859
01:06:56,400 --> 01:07:01,599
I just don't look at it as
who are they better than looking as what

860
01:07:01,599 --> 01:07:08,480
what does the eighty two game schedule
due to them do for them? And

861
01:07:08,519 --> 01:07:12,440
how they handle it and and if
they handle it, well, you know,

862
01:07:12,559 --> 01:07:15,039
you look up and you're forty two
and forty and you're forty three and

863
01:07:15,079 --> 01:07:20,320
thirty nine, and you're you know, you're you're the A seed and you're

864
01:07:20,519 --> 01:07:27,000
you're you're in the playoff playing if
Lowry market and misses twenty five games,

865
01:07:28,320 --> 01:07:30,159
or they don't play as hard night
to night as they did last year,

866
01:07:30,239 --> 01:07:34,400
or if John Collins shoots twenty four
percent from three, you know, or

867
01:07:34,440 --> 01:07:39,280
any number of variables, if they
kicked the ball into the stands every third

868
01:07:39,320 --> 01:07:43,159
possession, then they're thirty three and
forty nine and they're looking at a lottery

869
01:07:43,199 --> 01:07:46,119
pick? Is there before I get
you out of here, anything or anyone

870
01:07:46,159 --> 01:07:53,239
we didn't talk about that you think
needs to be be covered. Man,

871
01:07:53,320 --> 01:07:59,519
I was looking at looking at uh
nah, I think we're good. You

872
01:07:59,519 --> 01:08:02,400
don't what I mean, you don't
like really spicy like Drell Brantley takes.

873
01:08:04,239 --> 01:08:12,480
No, No, Dre Brantley takes. Let's see, there were people who

874
01:08:12,480 --> 01:08:15,520
were all flutter about, not jazz
specifically, but there was some social media

875
01:08:15,560 --> 01:08:19,560
stuff about like how much Yurt can
help a team in the NBA specifically being

876
01:08:19,600 --> 01:08:26,520
a jazz any any strong opinions on
Yurt depends on how well he shoots it

877
01:08:26,720 --> 01:08:32,039
and how well he rebounds the ball. You know. I do think that

878
01:08:32,079 --> 01:08:36,279
there's gonna be a world where he
gets chances. I think that everybody's gonna

879
01:08:36,279 --> 01:08:43,239
get a chance at some point in
this uh. I think that everybody's gonna

880
01:08:43,239 --> 01:08:46,319
get a chance at some point uh
in the season. So it's just gonna

881
01:08:46,319 --> 01:08:49,920
be a matter of, you know, what he does with his chances when

882
01:08:49,920 --> 01:08:56,319
he gets when it gets there.
But you know, he can really shoot

883
01:08:56,359 --> 01:09:00,880
it, and I'm confident of that, and I think he can really rebound

884
01:09:00,880 --> 01:09:03,600
it. So how does he defend
in space? You know? And this

885
01:09:03,720 --> 01:09:09,359
is the other thing, like who
gets hurt? You know? And what

886
01:09:10,520 --> 01:09:15,199
opportunities open up there? Tony,
this was great. Are you able just

887
01:09:15,239 --> 01:09:17,279
to tell our listeners where they can
find you in all the terrific work that

888
01:09:17,319 --> 01:09:20,479
you do. You can find me
on t Jones on the NBA at on

889
01:09:20,520 --> 01:09:25,680
Twitter. I'm never calling it x
no, that's why. Hey, the

890
01:09:25,720 --> 01:09:30,199
logo on the screen, if you
see it's Twitter still, so you can

891
01:09:30,199 --> 01:09:36,680
definitely find me there. You can
find me on Instagram as well, and

892
01:09:36,720 --> 01:09:40,560
if you were you know, you're
really old school, you can find me

893
01:09:40,640 --> 01:09:46,520
on Facebook. So yeah, I
tried to. I told my daughter that,

894
01:09:47,840 --> 01:09:53,960
my nineteen year old, I said, I gave you a birthday shout

895
01:09:54,000 --> 01:09:59,039
out on Facebook? Did you see
it? And she was like, no,

896
01:10:00,000 --> 01:10:03,039
what is Facebook? She's like,
I'm never gonna be on Facebook.

897
01:10:03,119 --> 01:10:09,920
Dad. Uh. So definitely,
you know, find me on any one

898
01:10:09,960 --> 01:10:13,800
of those platforms and I'll try to
do the best work that I can.

899
01:10:14,399 --> 01:10:16,840
You do great work. The link
to his Twitter and his Athletic profile page

900
01:10:16,880 --> 01:10:20,039
will be in the podcast and YouTube
description. So go subscribe to the Athletics.

901
01:10:20,119 --> 01:10:24,720
You can read Tony's work. Subscribe
to the Athletics. Please keep me

902
01:10:24,760 --> 01:10:28,079
employed. Yeah, keep Tony employs
that he'll gree to keep coming back on

903
01:10:28,079 --> 01:10:32,479
this podcast. And also because Tony
lets me send him memes in DMS or

904
01:10:32,840 --> 01:10:38,560
spam his mentions during the season,
My favorite thing to ask about what fans

905
01:10:38,560 --> 01:10:41,279
do in your mentions. They'll say
that I'll see the strangest shit that you

906
01:10:41,319 --> 01:10:43,600
quote tweet, So I just respond
and be like, what does this mean

907
01:10:43,640 --> 01:10:47,279
for the chances of the Jazz acquiring
Zion Williamson and then Tony rolls with it.

908
01:10:47,319 --> 01:10:51,520
I always appreciate someone who's willing to
be not so serious in those distances,

909
01:10:51,560 --> 01:10:56,159
So go subscribe to the Athletics.
Thank you so much for doing this,

910
01:10:56,199 --> 01:10:57,800
Tony, and I'm sure, as
you know by now, I'll be

911
01:10:57,960 --> 01:11:00,000
festering you again in the future.
Thank you, man. I appreciate you

912
01:11:00,039 --> 01:11:01,359
having me. This is a lot
of fun.