Speaker 1: NBA Playoff basketball continues tonight. It has been an insanely
Speaker 1: entertaining start to this spring tournament that, for the third
Speaker 1: straight year, we don't experience here in Salt Lake City.
Speaker 1: We are about twenty three minutes away from tip at
Speaker 1: TD Garden, where the Knicks will try to take a
Speaker 1: two zero lead on the Celtics, and then the late
Speaker 1: game seven thirty on Turner as the Nuggets and the Thunder.
Speaker 1: Our next guest covers the Jazz NBA other things for
Speaker 1: the Salt Lake Tribuny is Andy Larson. On a Wednesday afternoon,
Speaker 1: Happy belated Cinco Day, Mile, my friend, how are we doing?
Speaker 2: Happy as well? I'm doing good? How about you?
Speaker 1: I gotta tell I gotta tell the story for our listeners,
Speaker 1: So just to give you context, I have a lot
Speaker 1: of excuses from people who I enjoy playing golf with
Speaker 1: as to why they cannot join me, so I'm used
Speaker 1: to it. But Andy Larson used the most unique and
Speaker 1: quite frankly silly excuse that I've ever heard my entire
Speaker 1: life when I texted Andy like, hey, can you golf
Speaker 1: on Thursday? And his response was it is Sinco, which
Speaker 1: caught me off guard.
Speaker 3: Andy I gotta.
Speaker 2: Say, so, what the full story was. You were trying
Speaker 2: to set up like a Saturday morning golf and I
Speaker 2: think it was Friday night a couple of years back
Speaker 2: to sink of Mile late on, and so I thought like,
Speaker 2: hey man, I'm going to be out on the town
Speaker 2: on this particular day. I don't know that I want
Speaker 2: to get up early for the golf, and you know,
Speaker 2: given what celebrations might occur on a Sinko.
Speaker 1: To Miyo, only caveat is I know it wasn't Saturday.
Speaker 1: I think it was Thursday, because I was surprised that
Speaker 1: you were going to get that loose on a Wednesday,
Speaker 1: even though it was sinco d.
Speaker 2: That might be true too. Yeah, that's honestly extremely possible.
Speaker 3: All good, All good, my friend.
Speaker 1: All right, we got some unexpected news this week about
Speaker 1: our local basketball team. Will Hardy's contract was not set
Speaker 1: to expire because he had two years left after having
Speaker 1: both options picked up for year four and year five.
Speaker 1: But now the contract goes through twenty thirty one. And
Speaker 1: you give me your thoughts.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it's kind of clarifies a lot of
Speaker 2: the things that we've talked about the last year, right, like,
Speaker 2: I think Will Hardy's really well respected around the league,
Speaker 2: and kind of the question was is does he want
Speaker 2: to stay in Utah or does he want to go
Speaker 2: somewhere where he could win more? And then you know,
Speaker 2: if from a Jazz point of view, is was it?
Speaker 2: You know, are they going to stick with Will Hardy
Speaker 2: for as long as this rebuild takes too? You know,
Speaker 2: Cole left into hopefully a contending team, And I think
Speaker 2: the answer is now definitely yes on both cases. I
Speaker 2: mean to have six fully six more years of Will
Speaker 2: Hardy under contract. That's a long coaching deal. That's as
Speaker 2: long as it gets for kind of the non established coach.
Speaker 2: That's it is nearly unprecedented to have a coach as
Speaker 2: young as Will have a contract like that. So it
Speaker 2: kind of reflects it definitely reflects the belief that the
Speaker 2: front office has in him that he is the right
Speaker 2: coach to coach the Jazz not only through a rebuild,
Speaker 2: but through a contending era as well. And then you know,
Speaker 2: it reflects the desire of Will Hardy to kind of
Speaker 2: settle down in Utah, to set roots here and make
Speaker 2: this his home and his competitive situation for the foreseeable future.
Speaker 3: So a couple of interesting things.
Speaker 1: You know, Greg Popovich of course has stepped down as
Speaker 1: the coach of the San Antonio Spurs, and.
Speaker 3: After coach pop had initially left.
Speaker 1: The Spurs, there were more than a few people that
Speaker 1: wondered aloud if San Antonio would try to contact Utah
Speaker 1: about making Will the next head coach in San Antonio.
Speaker 1: Ironically enough, Andy, a few years back, Tim McMahon on
Speaker 1: this show surmised that Quinn Snyder might leave the Jazz
Speaker 1: at the end of his deal to take over after
Speaker 1: coach pop was done as well. So that was kind
Speaker 1: of out there. And you asked Will a question postseason media.
Speaker 1: I'll paraphrase, if a team that is ready to win
Speaker 1: comes Colin, are you interested?
Speaker 3: And he said, I'm all in.
Speaker 1: I wonder what you think the motivation was for both
Speaker 1: these sides to get this done right now, because to
Speaker 1: your point, stuff like this doesn't happen very often.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I think it was the speculation a
Speaker 2: little bit. And look, I will be honest, you know,
Speaker 2: I asked the question from a speculative point of view
Speaker 2: because I you know, I didn't know what would happen,
Speaker 2: and by I just do know that winning seventeen games
Speaker 2: in an eighty two game season is is really tough
Speaker 2: on coaches. And I know how well how highly regarded
Speaker 2: Will Hardy is around the league that there might have
Speaker 2: been some good teams kind of knocking on that door,
Speaker 2: you know, whether that's like, you know, you could go
Speaker 2: to Phoenix and coach Kevin Durant and Devin Booker maybe,
Speaker 2: or you know, I think they're gonna be in Denver
Speaker 2: and Nikola Jokic. Like there there are a number of
Speaker 2: situations around the league that maybe makes sense for a
Speaker 2: coach that had his eyes elsewhere, And so I wanted
Speaker 2: to know if Will had his eyes elsewhere, and you know,
Speaker 2: I think trail to Woll clear that he did not.
Speaker 2: You know, I think obviously the San Antonio situation also
Speaker 2: would have made sense for him because of you know,
Speaker 2: that organization with with Victor wembin Yama, with Popovich and
Speaker 2: his relationships there, and then you know the fact that
Speaker 2: his family is there too, right, Like I think that's important.
Speaker 2: So yeah, look, it's you know, I think it does
Speaker 2: say a lot that Will decided kind of against those
Speaker 2: things and the stability and security and the situation that
Speaker 2: he has here and overall a belief in the jazz's
Speaker 2: long term plan, even though you know the winds are
Speaker 2: not there right now.
Speaker 1: Do you know how this process started? Do you know
Speaker 1: if the jazz contacted Will and said let's talk. Do
Speaker 1: you know if Will's agents or representatives contact with Jazz
Speaker 1: and said let's figure something out.
Speaker 3: Do you know how this all went down?
Speaker 2: I don't. I asked Well that question on a day
Speaker 2: planned the contract, and he kind of slid past that
Speaker 2: question a little bit and just said, you know, it's
Speaker 2: something largely the negotiations, as you know, as I put
Speaker 2: him like, uh, went through his agent rather than through him.
Speaker 2: So but I don't know, you know how long ago
Speaker 2: these contracts, you know, talks started and I I don't
Speaker 2: know kind of who initiated it? No, I asked him.
Speaker 2: Didn't get an answer.
Speaker 3: All right, So I want to be very clear.
Speaker 1: In a profession with very little security, in a profession
Speaker 1: where essentially more often than not you are hired to
Speaker 1: be fired, in a profession where Michael Malone and Taylor
Speaker 1: Jenkins lost their job, this is something that if you're
Speaker 1: Will Hardy, you sign and you say thank you, and
Speaker 1: you take the nine year runway.
Speaker 3: If he coaches through the rest of his contract.
Speaker 1: However, there is there's a risk involved here, Andy, There's
Speaker 1: a risk that Will Hardy has trusted a process that
Speaker 1: so far has not manifested itself into a position where
Speaker 1: he has good players to take into a gym. Now,
Speaker 1: it's very early on, but what do you make of
Speaker 1: that kind of portion of this? Where to your point
Speaker 1: and why you asked him the question, there are plenty
Speaker 1: of organizations that would be interested in Will, and organizations
Speaker 1: that probably have better players where he has a chance
Speaker 1: to win right away. He is taking a risk trusting
Speaker 1: a process that's so far has been mixed.
Speaker 3: To be kind, what are your thoughts on it?
Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, you know, I think what he says, and
Speaker 2: I think he believes, and frankly, I think you can
Speaker 2: make a good case for is that the way to
Speaker 2: win in the NBA is right now through developing players
Speaker 2: in the draft. And you know, you look around the
Speaker 2: teams that have tried to go after the you know,
Speaker 2: expensive free agent route, and they have not done very
Speaker 2: well in recent seasons. The teams that have done well
Speaker 2: are the thunder who built it all through the draft
Speaker 2: and you know, one key trade and teams like the
Speaker 2: Dever Nuggets, who you know, want a championship around Nikola
Speaker 2: Jokis and Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Junior and guys
Speaker 2: that they drafted. I think there is this thought, you know,
Speaker 2: that you can get essentially that this is the way
Speaker 2: to build an actually championship contending team again Boston with
Speaker 2: Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown. He's obviously very familiar with
Speaker 2: that situation. So I think he thinks that that is
Speaker 2: that kind of the path that the Jazz are on
Speaker 2: is the right path. Now, you know, you and I
Speaker 2: and he both we all know that. Like, the Jazz
Speaker 2: have a fourteen percent chance at Cooper Flag coming up
Speaker 2: in the in the lottery next week, right, Like, so
Speaker 2: the odds are not high, but this is the way
Speaker 2: that you can build an actual contender rather than just
Speaker 2: kind of a you know, an ephemeral one one, that
Speaker 2: one that doesn't last for very long because you are
Speaker 2: kind of relying on older guys. Clearly, the Jazz won't
Speaker 2: be there. Now, you know, a lot has to go right,
Speaker 2: so much has to go right. They odd have to
Speaker 2: be in your favor. But like I think the NBA
Speaker 2: as currently constructed with the second Apron and everything else
Speaker 2: is a draft and develop league, and that's the path
Speaker 2: of the Jazz are on.
Speaker 1: All Right, It's tough to ask you about what the
Speaker 1: Jazz offseason is going to look like because we're all
Speaker 1: waiting for Monday to see where they will draft. So
Speaker 1: we did have the Utah Hockey Club land on some
Speaker 1: lady luck in year one in a way that it's
Speaker 1: never landed on the Jazz in fifty years. So take
Speaker 1: us through the exercise, you know, contingent upon what Monday
Speaker 1: brings us. What generally speaking, as you're understanding about how
Speaker 1: the Jazz you're going to approach this offseason, Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 2: Stay the course, right like kind of either way it is.
Speaker 2: It's I don't expect them to like all of a
Speaker 2: sudden ramp up next to either Cooper Flag or Tree Johnson,
Speaker 2: you know, whoever they get at number one or number five.
Speaker 2: This is going to be a long development process, right Like,
Speaker 2: they also hope to get someone good at the end
Speaker 2: of the first round. They hope to get you know,
Speaker 2: they hope to make some changes with the veterans, you know,
Speaker 2: I think finding new homes for John Collins Short and
Speaker 2: Clarkson Collin sects, and that all makes sense. It's just
Speaker 2: kind of whether or not teams other teams are interested
Speaker 2: in trading for those guys. And you know, I also
Speaker 2: don't think that the Jazz are interested in like giving
Speaker 2: up picks or anything like that dump those salaries, because
Speaker 2: you know, why would you given that you're not trying
Speaker 2: to do anything in the next year anyway. Yeah, look,
Speaker 2: I mean I think there's like a there's a path
Speaker 2: maybe that hey, you get Cooper Flag and then you're
Speaker 2: feeling good with that front court and then there's a
Speaker 2: guard that unexpectedly, you know, becomes available and you can
Speaker 2: go out and get that guy. But let's be you know,
Speaker 2: the Jazz aren't trading for Giannis. They would get beat
Speaker 2: by several other teams in that negotiation, and then ultimately
Speaker 2: Gianness would not choose to resign in Utah because they're
Speaker 2: probably not going to win that many games. It's just
Speaker 2: like it's gonna be another year of kind of build
Speaker 2: from within and and you know, I ultimately like the
Speaker 2: lottery pick will determine how kind of exciting the youth is.
Speaker 2: But I don't expect the Jazz to kind of go
Speaker 2: for it this year because you know there's another excellent
Speaker 2: draft next year. They hope get a top three pick
Speaker 2: in and they hope to retain the Oklahoma City pick
Speaker 2: by being one of the worst eight teams in the league,
Speaker 2: so they don't have to give it to their future
Speaker 2: Western Conference title contender enemy. You know, if you will
Speaker 2: your rival. So yeah, look, I don't see the tides
Speaker 2: all of a sudden turning in the Jazz going for
Speaker 2: winning next year.
Speaker 1: Okay, any outside shot. I understand the way you answer
Speaker 1: the question. I understand the context, but should some sort
Speaker 1: of because there will be plenty of teams that are
Speaker 1: looking to jettison talent and maybe some players to your point,
Speaker 1: Ayiannis who looks to get out any I mean, we
Speaker 1: know how this organization has thought in the past, being
Speaker 1: audacious enough to say we are going to sign Paul
Speaker 1: George and trade for mckel bridges and things like big
Speaker 1: game hunting for Jazz fans that are chomping at the
Speaker 1: bit watching playoff basketball for the third straight You're not
Speaker 1: having that here. Any shot at all that potentially a
Speaker 1: big name is brought in, I mean a little bit of.
Speaker 2: A shot, but don't buy season tickets because of it,
Speaker 2: you know, don't get your hopes up because of it. Right,
Speaker 2: Like in the end, the players that we're talking about
Speaker 2: on the market for the most part are older and
Speaker 2: don't make sense for them to re sign with the
Speaker 2: Jazz long term, or or I think ultimately wouldn't want
Speaker 2: to be in Utah because where the Jazz are competitively,
Speaker 2: I mean think about it, Like the way you think
Speaker 2: about the Washington Wizards is the way other teams think
Speaker 2: about the Utah Jazz right now, and other players think
Speaker 2: about the Utah Jazz right now. So like if you
Speaker 2: are Yannis and the Washington Wizards get Cooper Flag, do
Speaker 2: you still want to go to Washington to go play
Speaker 2: with Cooper Flag? Or you kind of think to yourself,
Speaker 2: Oh no, that's really kind of not enough for me
Speaker 2: to win an NBA championship again, Like I want to
Speaker 2: know he's going to be thinking about playing with the
Speaker 2: other better teams in the league. He's gonna be thinking
Speaker 2: about the Houston Rockets, are they Oklahoma City Thunder or
Speaker 2: what do the Calves look like if they had you know,
Speaker 2: like stuff like that. Right, Like the it's just unrealistic
Speaker 2: in the way today's NBA works, where you have to
Speaker 2: essentially get a player on board, and you have to
Speaker 2: get an agent on board, and you have to get
Speaker 2: the other team on board for you to use all
Speaker 2: of those bass assets of Jazz have accumulated to all
Speaker 2: of a sudden go from zero to contention, right Like,
Speaker 2: we just don't see that. We see up and coming
Speaker 2: teams trade for players like Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert
Speaker 2: like the Cleveland Cavaliers in Minnesota Timberwolves did. We don't
Speaker 2: see teams go from nothing to having to trading for legit,
Speaker 2: top tier talent and becoming true contenders overnight. It's just
Speaker 2: not how the NBA is working right now as it's
Speaker 2: currently set up.
Speaker 1: So you and I have spoken about this in the past,
Speaker 1: but because it's topical based on what we're seeing in
Speaker 1: the NBA playoffs, and I'm going to bring it back around
Speaker 1: in case our listeners have not heard the conversation from
Speaker 1: your prison before, because you're as uniquely qualified to discuss
Speaker 1: this as anybody out there, quite frankly, and since we
Speaker 1: are seen Rudy Gobert with a historic twenty twenty game
Speaker 1: against the Lakers to eliminate them, Donovan nearly dropped half
Speaker 1: one hundred last night, albeit in a losing effort. Since
Speaker 1: we're seeing a litany of former Jazz players play well
Speaker 1: in the postseason, is there ever any part of you
Speaker 1: that looks at what's happening and questions the decision of
Speaker 1: this new front office to break that team down brick
Speaker 1: by brick or was it just simply their only option?
Speaker 2: I you know, I think it's fair to reevaluate that
Speaker 2: as the picks have gotten have decreased in value, and
Speaker 2: as you know, their own rebuild has taken three years
Speaker 2: instead of one. Right like, the Jazz thought that they
Speaker 2: were going to be in the running for victed Remba
Speaker 2: Yama and instead were kind of played it in the
Speaker 2: middle for two years that ended up being relatively wasted.
Speaker 2: That being said, Donovan Mitchell was just extremely unhappy in Utah,
Speaker 2: and I do not think that he would have resigned.
Speaker 2: I understand that publicly he has said that he wanted
Speaker 2: to stay in Utah. I do not believe it for
Speaker 2: a second. I do not, you know, Frankly, I have
Speaker 2: talked to too many people behind the scenes. I have
Speaker 2: heard too many people who are close with Donovan talk
Speaker 2: about this. I do not believe that he would have
Speaker 2: stayed in Utah, and then it's like, Okay, well, then
Speaker 2: do you really want to keep the Rudy Gobert contract
Speaker 2: moving forward? Probably not. Maybe there's a world in which, like, hey,
Speaker 2: maybe you run it back one more year with a
Speaker 2: new head coach and see what happened. But ultimately, like
Speaker 2: that's kind of the same process that the Phoenix Suns
Speaker 2: tried with Mike Buttonholzer. Just now, you know, replacing Frank
Speaker 2: Vogel with Bud and now their situation looks even worse,
Speaker 2: and now you know their assets aren't credable anymore. Right, So,
Speaker 2: uh look, I don't think I still think it's probably
Speaker 2: the right move. I think more of my criticism goes
Speaker 2: to happened in the last two years, where they played
Speaker 2: out in the middle, getting the ninth and tenth pick
Speaker 2: and ultimately not plishing the franchise in either direction in
Speaker 2: those years looks like a mistake.
Speaker 1: Right now, you think, Okay, see is in trouble. Last
Speaker 1: time you and I spoke, we felt, I mean, I
Speaker 1: felt like we were on the same page. And you know,
Speaker 1: I'm just INDI I'm always hesitant to simply anoint a
Speaker 1: team that has not had a deep playoff run together.
Speaker 1: And I am fine when I'm proven wrong, because ultimately
Speaker 1: sometimes teams do rise up, but more often than not
Speaker 1: it's right of passage. They swept the Pelicans last year,
Speaker 1: they lost to the MAVs in six. It's just a
Speaker 1: different game, man, come playoff time jumps opposed to regular
Speaker 1: season basketball. And I was just wildly impressed watching the
Speaker 1: Denver Nuggets. I know it's cliche, and I know it's
Speaker 1: not something we can use analytics for, but it was
Speaker 1: championship medal.
Speaker 3: It was effort to the end.
Speaker 1: It was not giving up, it was staying in the thing,
Speaker 1: and then a great final play. What you know, Westbrook
Speaker 1: finds Aaron Gordon knocks down that game winner. Man, if
Speaker 1: they don't get it done tonight, it's gonna be interesting
Speaker 1: to hear the conversation. Do you think, okayc he's got
Speaker 1: something to worry about.
Speaker 2: I mean a little bit worried about, certainly. And I think,
Speaker 2: like you know, they need to play better. I think
Speaker 2: they need to make some rotation changes, you know, like
Speaker 2: playing hard and stein more. Probably I think the chet
Speaker 2: hol grin that is probably less important against December team,
Speaker 2: and then then needs to coach better. Frankly, like they
Speaker 2: can't foul up three as early in the game as
Speaker 2: they did against the Nuggets in Game one. You know,
Speaker 2: and this is a guy who is last season's NBA
Speaker 2: Coach of the Year, and I it's really highly regarded
Speaker 2: and I think it's a very good coach. But I
Speaker 2: think there are some you know, this is where you
Speaker 2: need to make Mono Imano kind of matchup changes in
Speaker 2: kind of a Ti Lou sort of way. And that's
Speaker 2: a different kind of playoff coaching is very different than
Speaker 2: regular season coaching, and and you know, we need to
Speaker 2: see kind of the best efforts from from Danol. I
Speaker 2: think ultimately, I'm still picking the Thunder in the series.
Speaker 2: I'm still picking the Thunder to make it even to
Speaker 2: the Western Conference Finals. But yeah, you know, like it was,
Speaker 2: you know, a questionable performance and the Nuggets stole one
Speaker 2: that they probably shouldn't have. I think there are questions
Speaker 2: about like whether Shay's and Jalen's offense works as well
Speaker 2: in playoff basketball as it does in regular season basketball.
Speaker 2: That all being said, they still I think are the
Speaker 2: best defense in the league, I think by a significant amount.
Speaker 2: I do still think like the Nuggets have significant depth
Speaker 2: issues that like if Michael Porter junior cell phone goes
Speaker 2: gets it all worse, or if one of their players
Speaker 2: goes down or something happens like that, then they're in
Speaker 2: really deep trouble. You still need good games from Jokich
Speaker 2: and Jamal Murray I think to win games in this series.
Speaker 2: And you know, I still think eventually Oklahoma City, besides
Speaker 2: Jokic is out talents the Nuggets. So yeah, anyway, we'll
Speaker 2: see what happens. And I do think all four teams
Speaker 2: with home court advantage need to be worried right now,
Speaker 2: given they're down in the series. The Thunder might be
Speaker 2: the one team because of what they did in the
Speaker 2: regular season and because of their talent, because of the
Speaker 2: defensive strengths that I'm least worried about among those teams
Speaker 2: so far.
Speaker 3: Who did you vote for?
Speaker 1: And maybe you sent this out because I know you're
Speaker 1: a voter, because where I'm at is, Jokic is still
Speaker 1: the best player in the world.
Speaker 3: But I do think Shay's the MVP. What's your take?
Speaker 2: I voted Yoga's MVP. I honestly lost left on it though, Dude,
Speaker 2: Like I I just think Shay's season was awesome. He
Speaker 2: was obviously the best player on the best team, even
Speaker 2: ignoring that contact like he was clearly at least the
Speaker 2: second best player in the league. It's so close. Jokic's
Speaker 2: having his best ever season and Yokic shooting forty five
Speaker 2: percent from three, and then Jokic making his teammates better
Speaker 2: I think at a higher level than Shaye does. Probably
Speaker 2: made a difference for me. But like you know, resuscitated
Speaker 2: Russell Westbrook's career. Christan Brown had an incredible year this
Speaker 2: year despite not having much of a bag. Aaron Gordon
Speaker 2: revitalizing his career offensively just through like cuts and the
Speaker 2: space that Jokic provides. It's it's all awesome. So I
Speaker 2: voted Jokic. I it's an impossible choice. I you know,
Speaker 2: Shay's NBT makes sense to me too, it is what
Speaker 2: it is. But yeah, I couldn't not vote for Yoki's
Speaker 2: base on just the individual season he had all right.
Speaker 1: Away from Hoop for a moment, just to get some
Speaker 1: thoughts on some things happening around town.
Speaker 3: Well end with little RSL, but we.
Speaker 1: Do know the permanent name of the hockey team that
Speaker 1: plays in our market. The Utah Hockey Club is no more,
Speaker 1: and they shall henceforth and forever be known as the
Speaker 1: Utah Mammoth.
Speaker 3: Andy. What's the take.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, it was the best name I thought
Speaker 2: of the three. It's the The logo is really good.
Speaker 2: I think Ben Barnes over there is does a tremendous
Speaker 2: job when they they asked him to make the logos
Speaker 2: like he you know, is asked to create logos of
Speaker 2: other teams nationally and he's on the Utah Jazz and
Speaker 2: I guess the SEG payroll right like it is. It's
Speaker 2: kind of awesome that one of the best logo designers
Speaker 2: in the world works here and is from here in Utah.
Speaker 2: I think, uh, kind of the secondary logos looked well,
Speaker 2: you know, I thought the jerseys were maybe I was
Speaker 2: expecting maybe a little more of a change up rather
Speaker 2: than just you know, putting the Mammoth logo right over
Speaker 2: where it said Utah before on on the jerseys. But hey,
Speaker 2: you know, it's I I think it's a good look.
Speaker 2: I think it's totally professional. It looks like the national
Speaker 2: response was pretty positive as well. I didn't think like
Speaker 2: the fan vote profit best was handled amazingly well, but
Speaker 2: and obviously they leaked the name early, so today's announcement
Speaker 2: wasn't a surprise or anything. But yeah, you know, it
Speaker 2: was a relatively good seven or eight out of ten outcome.
Speaker 1: All right, final thing, RSL goes to Vancouver, gets the yell.
Speaker 1: Vancouver randomly is like awesome, which I didn't know about.
Speaker 1: But they smoked Miami in the League's Cup or whatever
Speaker 1: the hell that was, and they're a top of the
Speaker 1: table in the West. I don't know, man, It's tough.
Speaker 1: Johnny Russell is now hurt. He's not playing this weekend.
Speaker 1: We saw Agada for a moment. Just where's where's your
Speaker 1: confidence level in RSL before I set you loose?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean not. I look, Vancouver's a really good team,
Speaker 2: and I didn't think Artell played poorly against the Vancouver
Speaker 2: line up with pretty heavily rotated. They weren't playing some
Speaker 2: of their best dudes, at least from the starting whistle.
Speaker 2: Because of their matchup against Miami and the Champions League
Speaker 2: and that they won that is awesome. And they do
Speaker 2: play some really really good soccer. I think we saw
Speaker 2: some of that in that matchup. It is my goal
Speaker 2: one day RSL can beat Miami too. Right like that,
Speaker 2: we do not just consider RSL's goals to be to
Speaker 2: make the playoffs, but indeed to contend for champions leagues,
Speaker 2: then to contend for the top of the Western Conference,
Speaker 2: and to contend for MLS Cups. And you know, when
Speaker 2: you're signing thirty five year old Johnny Russell as your
Speaker 2: free agent and trading five hundred thousand dollars for Willie
Speaker 2: Gatta as your starting striker, those are low ambition moves.
Speaker 2: So until you know, while Diego Luna and Omechaanelly and
Speaker 2: I think a number of Raphael's cabral a number of
Speaker 2: RFL players are very good, some of the best among
Speaker 2: their positions in MLS, the team will continue to be
Speaker 2: kind of mid. You know. Right now they are eleventh
Speaker 2: in the Western Conference, you know, and well out of
Speaker 2: the playoffs. They will continue to be pretty mid until
Speaker 2: they have good players all around the pitch and until
Speaker 2: ownership and management steps up to buy the best players possible.
Speaker 2: Now they no longer can do that because the transfer
Speaker 2: windows closed, and so we have to wait until the
Speaker 2: summer transfer window, which ends with eight games left to
Speaker 2: go on the season. So you know, as far as
Speaker 2: I'm feeling about this season, I'm pretty pessimistic. I think
Speaker 2: they're a Mids team. My hope is that the Millers
Speaker 2: will invest in it to the degree necessary for them
Speaker 2: to become contenders, not just also ran playoff teams. I
Speaker 2: will be watching that carefully and closely.
Speaker 1: All Right, fair enough, Andy, thanks for the Tom Buddy,
Speaker 1: have a good week and we'll chat soon.
Speaker 2: Sounds good, Thanks Ben.
Speaker 1: Andy Larson covers the Jazz and the NBA for the
Speaker 1: Trip and rights a data column for them as well.
Speaker 1: Get him on social media at Andy B. Larson is
Speaker 1: where you find him