WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:02.120 Our next guest front of the show. But it's been 2 00:00:02.200 --> 00:00:04.240 a while, it's been too long. I mean Al Hassen 3 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:07.000 back on the Drive on a Thursday, I mean, happy Thursday, sir. 4 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:09.519 How you been doing well? 5 00:00:09.560 --> 00:00:10.080 Doing well? 6 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:12.199 Can complain there you go, appreciate the time. 7 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:14.640 So let's get your reaction to the news of the 8 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:17.640 day today, Victor woman Yama will miss the rest of 9 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:21.079 the season with a blood blood clot in his shoulder. Now, 10 00:00:21.559 --> 00:00:24.120 my first my first thought, I mean was Chris Bosh. 11 00:00:24.199 --> 00:00:26.120 I hate to say it, but it just was. Now, 12 00:00:26.679 --> 00:00:28.960 this is in his shoulder, not his lower leg. We've 13 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:33.359 seen I'm and Thompson deal with this, brandon Ingram deal 14 00:00:33.399 --> 00:00:35.840 with this, and a lot of Spurs fans probably be 15 00:00:35.880 --> 00:00:37.039 pretty nervous about the news. 16 00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:37.840 What's your reaction. 17 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:42.960 Yeah, I was taking my show Oddball with Izzy Gutierrez 18 00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:47.200 when the news broke, and he was the one that 19 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:50.320 had to kind of remind me of brandon Ingram and 20 00:00:51.079 --> 00:00:57.759 I'm and Thompson because originally my first thought was Chris Bosh. 21 00:00:57.799 --> 00:01:01.320 And then a good friend of mine, Johnmate, who passed 22 00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:04.640 away not too long ago, a couple of weeks ago. Actually, 23 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:08.959 he was a top five pick in the draft. He 24 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:14.000 his storage career at Notre Dame, but his career was 25 00:01:15.239 --> 00:01:18.200 first like interrupted several times in the clotting and then 26 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:21.519 eventually he had to retire because of blood clouding. And 27 00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:26.280 so it's a very serious issue. It's not necessarily kind 28 00:01:26.280 --> 00:01:30.760 of a end to his career. As we said, there 29 00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:33.079 have been plenty of examples of guys who got on 30 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:35.840 the medication, got it sorted out, and came back and 31 00:01:35.879 --> 00:01:38.319 were perfectly fine. And I haven't had to deal with 32 00:01:38.359 --> 00:01:40.799 it again, but it just, you know, it's one of 33 00:01:40.840 --> 00:01:43.640 those things where I think we all have to be 34 00:01:43.719 --> 00:01:47.920 cognizant day none of this stuff is guaranteed, and you know, 35 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:50.879 you hope that the kid bounces back great because he's 36 00:01:50.920 --> 00:01:52.920 been such a breasive fresh share for the league, not 37 00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:56.200 only with his play, but with his personality and kind 38 00:01:56.200 --> 00:01:59.000 of his genuine energy when it comes to the game 39 00:01:59.040 --> 00:01:59.719 of basketball. 40 00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:02.920 So, based off of what I was reading, this is 41 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:06.640 an instant shut it down entirely for six months situation, 42 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:08.960 based off of the medication that you have to take 43 00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:11.400 right away, because a blood cloud is not a sprained ankle. 44 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:14.319 You have to take action immediately to make sure that 45 00:02:14.439 --> 00:02:17.000 you're taking care of just as a person less loan 46 00:02:17.080 --> 00:02:18.240 of basketball player. 47 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:20.520 What do you think this process is going to be like? 48 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:23.439 Because if it's a six month shutdown, he's going to 49 00:02:23.479 --> 00:02:25.280 be knocking on the door just to get ready for 50 00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:27.280 the starting next season. So what do you think the 51 00:02:27.319 --> 00:02:28.919 next six seven months are going to look like for 52 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:29.919 Victor wemen Yama? 53 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:33.280 Well, frustrating. You've got to be frustrated for sure, because 54 00:02:33.319 --> 00:02:35.159 one of the things that you really enjoy doing you're 55 00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:36.199 not going to be able to do. 56 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:36.560 Yep. 57 00:02:37.560 --> 00:02:42.719 You know. The conversation that Izzy and I had was, 58 00:02:43.639 --> 00:02:46.599 you know, these kind of live events kind of take 59 00:02:46.680 --> 00:02:50.439 one or two paths on people impacts on people. One 60 00:02:50.599 --> 00:02:54.360 is the this is another challenge, and I'm going to 61 00:02:54.439 --> 00:02:56.159 teach this challenge and I'll come back better than ever 62 00:02:56.759 --> 00:03:00.639 and kind of you know, just almost determining that comes 63 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:03.719 from it. The other is, oh my god, I've been 64 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:06.439 racing my life, worried about things that really don't matter, 65 00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:09.280 and now that life and death has entered the equation, 66 00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:12.199 I'm going to cherish the things that do matter, like 67 00:03:12.360 --> 00:03:15.439 family and friendship and quality of life and all that. 68 00:03:16.599 --> 00:03:19.400 I tend to think that web ben Yama is more 69 00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:22.759 of the former simply because I think he's already someone 70 00:03:22.759 --> 00:03:26.199 who's with a healthy work life balance. He seems to 71 00:03:26.199 --> 00:03:28.879 be well rounded, he's got interests, he's not afraid of 72 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:33.759 expressing his interests that are not basketball. So I kind 73 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:35.439 of feel like he's going to look at it as 74 00:03:35.479 --> 00:03:39.080 just another challenge to be bested, rather than a wake 75 00:03:39.159 --> 00:03:41.400 up call that he's been living in life the wrong way. 76 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:45.000 What do you think? And I'm chuckling because I'm just picturing. Look, 77 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:49.080 San Antonio twenty three wins, and the Jazz have thirteen. 78 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:52.879 The Pelicans have thirteen, So there's still a major gap 79 00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:54.919 between where the Spurs are now and some of the 80 00:03:54.919 --> 00:03:57.319 worst teams in the league Washington with nine wins. 81 00:03:57.800 --> 00:03:59.319 But what do you think the Spurs do now? 82 00:03:59.400 --> 00:04:01.280 Do you think they can completely just like shut it 83 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:03.639 down and try to get another top lottery pick in 84 00:04:03.719 --> 00:04:06.520 a draft that's absolutely packed? Like, what's the rest of 85 00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:08.800 the year look like for the San Antonio Spurs? 86 00:04:09.960 --> 00:04:12.319 Oh, Spencer, are you asking me if the Spurs are 87 00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:13.840 going to play capture the Flag? 88 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:16.680 Yes? Are you exactly what I'm asking you? 89 00:04:17.160 --> 00:04:20.360 If the San Antonio Spurs, a team that went to 90 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:23.720 the Western Conference Finals in nineteen ninety five and had 91 00:04:23.720 --> 00:04:26.240 the MVP of the league, and the next year one 92 00:04:26.360 --> 00:04:29.160 fifty five or fifty six games, and then the year 93 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:33.120 after that had an unfortunate injuries in a franchise player. 94 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:36.839 Just happened to be the same year that this can't 95 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:39.439 miss prospect that a wake for us is coming out, 96 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:42.199 and then they got them, and then and all of 97 00:04:42.199 --> 00:04:46.000 a sudden they were good again with the best player generationally, 98 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:48.639 probably for his entire class. Are you asking me if 99 00:04:48.680 --> 00:04:51.199 that's gonna happen against man? Is that what you're your 100 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:52.240 kind of questioning? 101 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:54.279 If you want my third eye to be open, I'll 102 00:04:54.279 --> 00:04:55.959 ask you if this is really a blood clot. 103 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:57.519 Bro I can go as deep as you want. 104 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:02.600 Yeah, I'm su the Spurs, though, you know five they 105 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:05.360 would never they would never step something up. 106 00:05:06.360 --> 00:05:07.720 Oh goodness, gracious, you know. 107 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:11.920 It's it's cruel because I feel like the Jazz should 108 00:05:11.959 --> 00:05:15.079 have done what they're doing now a few years ago 109 00:05:15.160 --> 00:05:17.319 when this kid was available, you know, But instead the 110 00:05:17.399 --> 00:05:20.759 Jazz decided to be fine being average for a couple 111 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:22.920 of years, and they had some late lottery picks, and 112 00:05:23.160 --> 00:05:26.240 these kids just really haven't popped very much. So I 113 00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:28.399 understand what you're saying tongue in cheek, But the Spurs 114 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:30.480 did exactly what they should have done a few years ago, 115 00:05:30.519 --> 00:05:32.759 and the Jazz didn't, and now we're kind of paying 116 00:05:32.759 --> 00:05:33.839 the price for it around here. 117 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:40.639 It is. It is remarkable, right that every time there's 118 00:05:40.680 --> 00:05:43.480 a generational talent, these guys just happen to have, like 119 00:05:44.600 --> 00:05:49.839 the the on ramp to being terrible, terrible at the 120 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:52.839 right time and not terrible for too long. Right, you 121 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:54.839 don't have to deal with a whole lot of terrible 122 00:05:54.839 --> 00:05:56.879 of pan Antonio. They're just gonna be terrible for the 123 00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:00.480 small window. And it seems to work out for them. 124 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:02.199 It sure does, It sure does. 125 00:06:02.279 --> 00:06:05.079 So whether it's intelligence, timing, or luck or accommodation of 126 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:06.600 all three, you gotta give them a lot of credit. 127 00:06:06.600 --> 00:06:09.120 But let's have a little fun now with the Utah Jazz, 128 00:06:09.160 --> 00:06:12.199 and let's say, for the first time in jazz history, 129 00:06:12.199 --> 00:06:14.319 the Jazz actually get lottery luck. The Jazz have been 130 00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:16.600 in a lottery nine times and they've never moved up. 131 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:20.800 If they're able to cash in on this really difficult 132 00:06:20.839 --> 00:06:23.800 season for a fan base around here that choose to winning, 133 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:27.199 to digest and snag Cooper flag number one, and they 134 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:28.879 roll in the next season with the front court of 135 00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:31.639 Walker Kesher, Larry Market and Cooper Flag, a front court 136 00:06:31.639 --> 00:06:33.560 that would be very popular around here. I'll just leave 137 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:37.079 it there. Then we're kind of onto something, aren't we. Like, 138 00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:39.759 if this entire process leads to that, maybe this fan 139 00:06:39.800 --> 00:06:41.120 base has something to latch onto. 140 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:46.199 Yeah, I just want to point out how staggered I am. 141 00:06:46.680 --> 00:06:48.560 These said the Jazz have been to the lottery nine 142 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:50.399 times in their franchise history. 143 00:06:50.480 --> 00:06:53.759 Yeah, and they've never moved up I mean, look, okay, 144 00:06:53.839 --> 00:06:54.720 never moved up fields. 145 00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:57.879 Like, oh wow, that's that's kind of tough. But so 146 00:06:58.120 --> 00:07:03.360 only been there nine times. Yeah, yep, pretty remarkable. I 147 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:06.439 mean it's and by the way, three of them, so 148 00:07:06.680 --> 00:07:09.279 thirty three percent of them we're in that right now. 149 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:16.800 That's that's very, very, very remarkable. Now, you know, obviously, 150 00:07:16.839 --> 00:07:18.959 you know, Cooper Flag is a kind of talent where 151 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:23.399 you could thirty teams and they all need a Cooper Flag. 152 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:28.720 Utah is kind of Look, Denny Ainge has a vision 153 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:32.839 of how to do this, He's done it before, and 154 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:37.040 what we're seeing is kind of, you know, the same 155 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:40.399 sort of formula in terms of when you look at 156 00:07:40.439 --> 00:07:42.759 the deals and you look at him getting involved in 157 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:46.600 that Lake to Maverage deal as a third party, not 158 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:49.079 even knowing who the deal is, for all of that 159 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:54.079 kind of accumulation, accumulation, accumulation. He's doing this in the 160 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:56.560 same way he did it in the mid two thousands 161 00:07:57.120 --> 00:07:59.720 when he realized that Paul Pierce alone wasn't going to 162 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:02.480 get it done and you needed to make a bold move. 163 00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:04.959 And so the question becomes, and I think this is 164 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:07.800 the part where everyone gets frustrated, is you say, what 165 00:08:08.279 --> 00:08:10.959 is that bold move going to be? Well, you don't know. 166 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:14.199 And I think that's the thing when you know, way 167 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:17.720 back when I think of Philadelphia, when people were praising 168 00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:21.759 Sam hinty Oh for doing this and he's accumulating picks, 169 00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:23.120 and this is the way to do it if you're 170 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:26.399 not first, your last with your Bobby style. And what 171 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:28.720 I said at the time is on paper, yeah, that's 172 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:31.759 what you do. But this thing doesn't happen on paper, 173 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:34.879 and you've got ownership to answer to. And even owners 174 00:08:34.919 --> 00:08:37.960 who can pretend they're bought in and it come from 175 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:43.840 tech or finance and they understand these kind of processes. Ultimately, 176 00:08:44.840 --> 00:08:47.720 they still have kids who go to school and get 177 00:08:47.799 --> 00:08:50.279 teams because their dad owns the team and ruined it. 178 00:08:50.360 --> 00:08:55.240 So your capacity to run this playbook, in essence is 179 00:08:55.320 --> 00:08:59.960 directly proportionate to how confident you are in the ownership 180 00:09:00.039 --> 00:09:03.200 behind you speaking behind you. In the case of Sam Presty, 181 00:09:04.039 --> 00:09:07.559 I had full raids you could do it forever, and 182 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:09.159 they were never going to give up on him because 183 00:09:09.159 --> 00:09:11.639 they knew, hey, we got ourselves one of the best 184 00:09:11.639 --> 00:09:16.159 guys in the league. Does Danny Aide have that sort 185 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:20.360 of job security with Ryan Schmick? I don't know. One 186 00:09:20.360 --> 00:09:23.480 would tink because his track record and obviously who he 187 00:09:23.559 --> 00:09:27.399 is locally, one would think that he's got that job security. 188 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:30.240 But again, hell have no fury like my kids coming 189 00:09:30.279 --> 00:09:32.200 home from school crying because they've got made ton. 190 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:36.919 Of Well, look, I think the answer to the job 191 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:41.480 security security question is Danny has tremendous job security. I mean, 192 00:09:41.559 --> 00:09:44.320 Ryan has been front facing about how much of a 193 00:09:44.360 --> 00:09:47.080 fan he always was I Danny because Ryan's a big 194 00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:50.159 BYU fan, and then obviously Danny goes on to do 195 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:53.000 great things in pro basketball. This was born out of 196 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:56.360 a fan relationship between the owner and the executive far 197 00:09:56.440 --> 00:09:59.120 more than it was born out of a friendship. Now 198 00:09:59.159 --> 00:10:01.200 it seems that it has become that now, and I'm 199 00:10:01.240 --> 00:10:04.960 sure Danny appreciates this ability to not necessarily put in 200 00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:07.360 the same type of ground where Xanik does, yet get 201 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:09.720 paid a lot more money and kind of swoop in 202 00:10:09.759 --> 00:10:11.679 what he needs to. And I know that he's involved, 203 00:10:11.720 --> 00:10:13.879 but Justin's the one that seems to be doing the. 204 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:16.639 Work on the ground. But here's the question. 205 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:21.039 Based off of the dynamic, Ryan fancies himself as a 206 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:25.639 basketball guy. He's in the meetings, he has input, and 207 00:10:26.120 --> 00:10:29.120 I can tell you that both Dennis Lindsay and Quinn 208 00:10:29.159 --> 00:10:32.559 Snyder had just one meeting with ownership and was like, Nope, 209 00:10:32.679 --> 00:10:37.559 I'm good. In your history around the league medaling owners 210 00:10:37.559 --> 00:10:40.320 that think they're basketball people, how does that typically work out? 211 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:46.120 Well, it's funny that you mentioned that the relationship with 212 00:10:46.200 --> 00:10:51.080 between Danny and Ryan was born out of a fandom, 213 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:54.840 because to answer your question, I can think of another 214 00:10:55.399 --> 00:10:58.399 owner GM Combo that was born out of a fandom 215 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:02.799 was Robert Charver and Steve Kerran Phoenix. Robert Tarborough was 216 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:05.120 the university when I was on the Glad and he 217 00:11:05.799 --> 00:11:07.720 was a big fan of Steve Kerr at U of A. 218 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:09.879 He's obviously a big fant of Steve Kerr as an 219 00:11:10.120 --> 00:11:14.279 NBA player, And you know, at first it was like that, 220 00:11:14.360 --> 00:11:17.679 it was like, yeah, he listened to Steve, and then 221 00:11:17.720 --> 00:11:20.720 at some point Robert just thought he knew better. And 222 00:11:20.759 --> 00:11:23.120 so anything that Steve came up with that we came 223 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:27.720 up with as a staff, Robert would basically second gas 224 00:11:27.559 --> 00:11:31.519 and leak to other people asking them their opinions, and 225 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:35.919 our business was out in the streets. So typically, what 226 00:11:36.039 --> 00:11:39.679 I found is the more your owner thinks he knows basketball, 227 00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:46.240 the more dangerous your owner becomes, right, because he's much 228 00:11:46.279 --> 00:11:48.799 more likely to believe. Look, I get it, I understand. 229 00:11:48.840 --> 00:11:51.279 I'm not like you've got a guy I am. I'm 230 00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:54.919 I'm cool, right, And as we all know from high school, 231 00:11:55.159 --> 00:11:59.519 the guy who announces he's cool not really cool, right. 232 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:01.159 The cool guy I didn't have to announce you cool, 233 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:05.759 he just is. And typically these owners who think they 234 00:12:05.799 --> 00:12:09.200 know what they're talking about are not. They don't know 235 00:12:09.240 --> 00:12:11.360 what they're talking about. I'll give you another example. A 236 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:16.200 current example is Matt hb in Phoenix, who I would say, legitimately, 237 00:12:16.279 --> 00:12:18.960 good thing. I know basketball. I played high level V 238 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:21.440 one basketball. I won a national championship. I played for 239 00:12:21.559 --> 00:12:23.879 Togas one of the greatest coaches of all time. I'm 240 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:26.840 friends with Isaiah Namas, I'm friends with Jason Rigidster, I'm 241 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:31.000 friends with all these great NBA players, Zach Randolph, etcetera, etcetera. 242 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:33.840 So if they ever learn with anyone who would say, oh, 243 00:12:33.879 --> 00:12:37.080 I actually know this stuff, it's matt Eshbia and yet 244 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:40.159 it hasn't really turned out great. I'll give you another one. 245 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:42.639 And he may have heard of this guy, Michael Jeffrey 246 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:45.759 Jordan's son might say he knew basketball any of any 247 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:49.960 of us, But when put in that position to be 248 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:53.440 the final saying, he turns out he wasn't that great 249 00:12:53.480 --> 00:12:58.240 at running a basketball team, because at some point it 250 00:12:58.279 --> 00:13:02.000 gets in the way, point your know it all, this 251 00:13:02.519 --> 00:13:06.440 gets in the way, and ultimately the best owner is 252 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:08.519 the owner that at the beginning of the year says, 253 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:12.639 this is a number, you can't spend over it, and 254 00:13:14.039 --> 00:13:16.600 we come to an agreement on what the expectations are, 255 00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:19.080 and then I don't do anything. I just sit back 256 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:20.399 and watch the show. And at the end of the 257 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:22.639 year we look at the numbers. We look at like 258 00:13:23.240 --> 00:13:26.360 where we were recording to an expertation, if there are things 259 00:13:26.360 --> 00:13:29.879 that make us alter the plan midway through. We have 260 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:33.080 a conversation about that. But the more your hands on 261 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:35.120 and there, sitting on meetings and all that and giving 262 00:13:35.159 --> 00:13:38.039 your opinion, the more you end up with kind of. 263 00:13:39.559 --> 00:13:42.559 What I would like to say is mediocre results one 264 00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:44.759 more jazz thing because you're good at this and you 265 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:47.120 can make it interesting. There's not a lot of things 266 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:49.440 topically with this roster that I really care to ask 267 00:13:49.480 --> 00:13:51.399 you about, because we all know the deal, we all 268 00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:53.840 know what they're doing. But this is a fan base, 269 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:58.120 as we outlined with nine lottery appearances, it indicates that 270 00:13:58.200 --> 00:14:00.799 this fan base is used to winning back basketball. Now, 271 00:14:00.840 --> 00:14:04.279 we haven't had a championship out here, and if I'm honest, 272 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:07.080 we haven't had a championship team here since nineteen ninety 273 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:10.120 eight in my opinion, and that was John and Carl's 274 00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:12.720 best and quite frankly last chance to get it done. 275 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:15.559 And of course Mike took brings off their fingers as 276 00:14:15.559 --> 00:14:17.879 he did to our guy, Pat Ewing and Sean Kemp 277 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:19.440 and Gary Payton, Charles Barkley. 278 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:20.240 We could keep going. 279 00:14:20.759 --> 00:14:23.159 It is a fan base that's used to winning, and 280 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:28.200 his championship thirsty. What's a reasonable expectation during this process 281 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:30.519 where it is asked to accumulation, you hope a young 282 00:14:30.519 --> 00:14:32.759 player two pops, then you hope you get lottery luck. 283 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:35.240 I mean, that's as reductive as I can be about 284 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:38.159 what they're trying to do. What's in that reasonable expectation 285 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:41.360 to this fan base is to win. Winning basketball might 286 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:42.600 be back in Salt Lake City. 287 00:14:43.399 --> 00:14:46.360 Well, I think again, we have to define what winning 288 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:50.600 is winning a championship. I don't know, maybe never I 289 00:14:50.679 --> 00:14:52.440 got something that everyone has to come to groups with 290 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:55.000 every fan in the league except for the Lakers, so 291 00:14:55.080 --> 00:14:59.399 ha do they keep doing it? But everyone else you 292 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:01.799 have to come the grips with. If your thing is 293 00:15:01.799 --> 00:15:05.320 my destination championship, you gotta be ready that you may 294 00:15:05.320 --> 00:15:07.519 never see that destination. So what do you want to 295 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:11.679 see in the meantime. You want to see growth, you 296 00:15:11.720 --> 00:15:15.559 want to see improvement, and you want to see standards right, 297 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:18.159 And the thing I always go back to Sam Presty 298 00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:22.480 Oklahoma City Thunder and comparing contrasting what he did versus 299 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:27.000 what Sam Hinky did in Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, sam Hinky said, 300 00:15:27.080 --> 00:15:28.759 I need to be terrible so I can get all 301 00:15:28.759 --> 00:15:31.360 these lottery picks and just be a clearing house for 302 00:15:31.399 --> 00:15:34.000 other people's craft so I could get keep getting lottery picks. 303 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:38.000 And he did that by stocking his roster with players 304 00:15:38.039 --> 00:15:41.799 who were not NBA talents. No disrespectful guys, they just 305 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:44.799 weren't NBA caliber players. They were guys who in a 306 00:15:44.840 --> 00:15:47.840 regular situation would never make an NBA team, but in 307 00:15:47.879 --> 00:15:50.000 this situation, because they're trying to be as bad as possible, 308 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:53.080 welcome aboard. And he did that over years, and then 309 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:55.639 even as he hit on some of his guys, he 310 00:15:55.679 --> 00:16:00.080 refused to stock his roster with vets. He refused to 311 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:04.519 have any sort of semblance of we're going to play competitive, 312 00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:07.759 tough basketball. We're just gonna get blown out every night. 313 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:12.159 And the contrast is the Oklahoma City Thunderwear. Yes they 314 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:14.480 were doing the same thing. Yes they're trying to be bad, 315 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:16.600 Yes they were getting a lot of evictuses to their cleaninghouse, 316 00:16:16.919 --> 00:16:22.320 But beyond hitting on their picks, they maintain the entire time. 317 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:25.639 This is the standard. The people talk about heat culture, 318 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:28.519 they got thunder culture over there, and it's that we 319 00:16:28.600 --> 00:16:30.879 have standards and we're going to do things the right way. 320 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:34.440 Win or lose, it doesn't matter. These are the expectations, 321 00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:37.039 and so what happens is the players that you have 322 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:40.679 there are growing up in a system and in a 323 00:16:40.840 --> 00:16:44.720 culture that is positive and a winning culture, despite those 324 00:16:44.759 --> 00:16:47.879 standings not being that. To me, if I'm a bad 325 00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:50.240 team and if I'm a fan of a bad fanchise, 326 00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:52.200 that's what I want to see. I want to see 327 00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:54.919 players that execute. I want to see players that defend 328 00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:56.559 and play both types of the ball. I want to 329 00:16:56.559 --> 00:16:59.000 see players that are developing and be able to do both. 330 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:02.679 You know, multiple things are supposed to being specialists, right, 331 00:17:03.240 --> 00:17:05.680 and I want to see my team be competitive even 332 00:17:05.720 --> 00:17:07.960 if we win twelve games all year long. I want 333 00:17:08.039 --> 00:17:09.920 us to be I want us to win twelve games, 334 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:14.640 lose seventy games by five points, seven points, nine points 335 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:16.359 like I wanted to be. I want us to be 336 00:17:16.440 --> 00:17:18.359 leading and then we blew the lead down on the stretch. 337 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:22.000 Like those are the type of losses where you can 338 00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:25.759 walk away and say we had a legitimate chance and 339 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:29.880 either we got out talented or we made mistakes of 340 00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:32.440 youth that we will not make in the future. And 341 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:35.680 if you're Utah, that's if you're a jass On, I 342 00:17:35.720 --> 00:17:37.440 think we look at this team, you want to see 343 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:39.839 players that play hard. You want to see players that 344 00:17:39.880 --> 00:17:44.200 are competing, and if they're losing due to bad decisions, 345 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:48.079 like when the Collier kid waves off Colin Sexton to 346 00:17:48.519 --> 00:17:51.000 still get an eight second count, you want that to 347 00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:54.200 be feared in his brain. So I think he becomes 348 00:17:55.480 --> 00:17:59.640 a number one time a time in sport situation type 349 00:17:59.640 --> 00:17:59.960 of play. 350 00:18:02.519 --> 00:18:04.200 So well, I want to move over here. 351 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:07.640 We have we've we had Tom Haberstrawan, and Zach Harper 352 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:10.839 on this week, and so we've talked to friends of yours, 353 00:18:10.839 --> 00:18:14.279 coworkers of yours about All Star Weekend, and I think 354 00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:15.559 I'm just now resigned. 355 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:18.680 Look for thirty years or forty years, it was. 356 00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:20.559 The best pickup basketball game in the world, and it 357 00:18:20.599 --> 00:18:23.160 was awesome, and it wasn't every year, and they didn't 358 00:18:23.160 --> 00:18:24.559 play hard one through forty eight. 359 00:18:24.599 --> 00:18:25.359 I understand that. 360 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:28.640 And the reason why I still bemoan what it's become 361 00:18:28.839 --> 00:18:31.359 is I miss that what it once was. Is there 362 00:18:31.480 --> 00:18:33.359 any going back or at this point is it just 363 00:18:33.400 --> 00:18:37.000 going to be an undigestible weekend regardless of everybody yelling 364 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:40.119 about how bad it is, There. 365 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.680 Isn't going back. Unfortunately, the guy who is going to 366 00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:48.039 do that for us is out for the rest of 367 00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:50.599 the year with a blood clot. You know, hopefully he's 368 00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:53.839 fine next year. But it starts in the locker room. 369 00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:58.279 All of these fixes that they've tried, elamending, draft your 370 00:18:58.279 --> 00:19:02.960 Own Team, tournament, like all of these things, they all 371 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:07.440 come down to one simple premise, which is the twenty 372 00:19:07.480 --> 00:19:10.039 four guys in that locker room, for whatever reason, aren't 373 00:19:10.039 --> 00:19:13.880 taking it seriously, and so we're going to do whatever 374 00:19:13.960 --> 00:19:20.480 we can to manufactor something that causes them to ticket seriously. 375 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:25.319 I thought the tournament, the basketball part of it, the 376 00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:28.039 basketball part of it, wasn't improvement over the last three 377 00:19:28.119 --> 00:19:31.319 or four years. We got competitive basketball for the first time. 378 00:19:31.720 --> 00:19:34.880 I thought the rising stars in their game, they actually 379 00:19:34.920 --> 00:19:36.799 that was the best game of the three that we 380 00:19:36.839 --> 00:19:41.759 saw on Sunday. I thought that the championship game was okay, 381 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:43.880 it was decent. I thought the first game was kind 382 00:19:43.880 --> 00:19:47.680 of lackadaisical. But the point is they created this gimmick 383 00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:52.799 because they wanted guys to burn calories. Like you said, 384 00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:55.000 we're not asking for one through forty eight. We're not 385 00:19:55.119 --> 00:19:59.079 asking for Game seven intensity. We're not asked for the 386 00:19:59.240 --> 00:20:02.119 finals intensity. We're not asking for playoff intensity. We're not 387 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:07.759 even asking for regular season intensity. Can I get preseason intensity? Preseason? 388 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:13.920 A preseason intensity looks like basketball people want to watch 389 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:16.440 because here's the deal. These are the greatest players in 390 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:18.599 the world. They dribble better than anybody else, they shoot 391 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:20.839 better than anybody else, They dunk on people, all that stuff. 392 00:20:21.079 --> 00:20:25.640 You know what makes that crazy crossover, that crazy three pointer, 393 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:34.640 that crazy dunk look cool. It's resistance. Resistance makes Oh 394 00:20:34.839 --> 00:20:36.880 he tried to stop him and he couldn't. He tried 395 00:20:36.920 --> 00:20:39.920 to block it and he couldn't. Right the moment you 396 00:20:40.039 --> 00:20:43.720 remove resistance, it's just guys getting shot up before the 397 00:20:43.759 --> 00:20:47.319 pickup game starts. Been it again, Spencer or maybe at 398 00:20:47.319 --> 00:20:49.720 the playground and like we're still like we try to 399 00:20:49.720 --> 00:20:51.759 figure out what teams are. Guys just getting shot up. 400 00:20:51.799 --> 00:20:53.839 That's what the ALSAR game has become over the last 401 00:20:54.200 --> 00:20:59.960