"You Gotta Love It Baby" Official Jazz thread

[MartyFunkhouser]

So we have THT back, JC is back, and Olynyk is back. We also added John Collins from the Hawks for Rudy Gay and a 2nd round pick. I think we're about to be good this year, depending on how the rooks develop.

Really happy with the Clarkson extension. Still a good player. Team friendly salary. Good for the locker room.

Now find aomeone to take THT and Olynyk.

[smokymountainrain]

So Jazz draft pick Keyonte George appears to be pretty good at basketball. through 2 games in Vegas, he's averaging 29.5 pts and 8.5 assists on 54% FGs and 44% 3pt.

[Pelado]

So Jazz draft pick Keyonte George appears to be pretty good at basketball. through 2 games in Vegas, he's averaging 29.5 pts and 8.5 assists on 54% FGs and 44% 3pt.

That seems alright, I guess.

[Commando]

I don't want to look up the numbers, but Donovan Mitchell had a very similar summer league experience. George is a little oversized for a PG, but I'm willing to give him a chance. We're about to be a larger than average rotation here...

[falafel]

I don't want to look up the numbers, but Donovan Mitchell had a very similar summer league experience. George is a little oversized for a PG, but I'm willing to give him a chance. We're about to be a larger than average rotation here...

Already seeing others compare him to Donovan. Someone the other day said that the Jazz traded Mitchell and Gobert and then added their replacements in consecutive years (Kessler and George).

[smokymountainrain]

it was a shame to Key go down with injury last night. he was pretty motivated to win the championship and SL mvp. kid is a competitor if nothing else.

[Commando]

it was a shame to Key go down with injury last night. he was pretty motivated to win the championship and SL mvp. kid is a competitor if nothing else.

Yeah I was conflicted on him playing in summer league after he already proved his mettle. The Spurs wisely pulled Wemby after 2 games.

[Pelado]

How serious is the injury?

[smokymountainrain]

Yeah I was conflicted on him playing in summer league after he already proved his mettle. The Spurs wisely pulled Wemby after 2 games.

yep. i said prior to last night's game i would have shut him down after monday. not so much due to injury concern as much as just shutting him down while his confidence is through the roof after two dominant performances. as you mentioned, he already showed what he is capable of - no reason to risk a 3-15 shooting performance or injury.

[smokymountainrain]

How serious is the injury?

i don't think it's all that serious. i read a report that as he was walking off the court after the game he was barely limping if he was limping at all.

[Commando]

How serious is the injury?

Rolled his ankle. Pretty annoying.

[YOhio]

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So this kind of rubs me the wrong way. This whole effort to make the Jazz some kind of a style brand is some really dumb shit. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if we weren't stuck in NBA purgatory of being bad enough to miss the playoffs but good enough to have little chance of a top-5 lottery pick. I'm pretty surprised at how bad Ryan Smith has been as the Jazz owner. I was excited about him and pretty hopeful he'd get the organization to a title, but so far it doesn't look good. I give him credit for being bold and trying new things, but not the following:

1- Entertaining the idea of building an arena in Draper so we can have hockey. NO!!! Bad idea! The Jazz should be in downtown SLC as God and Larry Miller intended. Do not gut the heart of the city so we can get a Canada sport. I hate this idea so much.
2- The uniform rebrand. The Jazz had some fantastic uniforms and color scheme and they turned it into a laughing stock. Then they framed it as a 'return to purple' while the primary colors were black and yellow and they'd been playing with a purple alt-uni for the previous several seasons. As part of this they also launched the CounterPoint fashion line that 95% of Jazz fans would never wear or purchase.
3- Blowing up the team a year into it. I get the rationale and frustration with the Rudy/Donovan drama. But man I'd have really loved to see one year of that team with Will Hardy. I trust that Danny has a vision here because I'm not seeing it.

He has done some good things. Getting the team on KJZZ. Hiring Danny Ainge and Will Hardy. Got some good young players and loads of draft assets. The value of D-Wade as a part-owner remains to be seen. I hope I'm wrong and he turns out to be the best owner in all of sports ever.

[Commando]

Eh. Patience. Look at the Thunder now after their blow-up. We are already seeing embers of our own, with very promising youngsters and returns on development players like Fonteccio, Sexton, and George. Obviously we have sucked this year but the last 15 games the team looks different and may be in the playoffs by the All Star Break.

[Sizzle]

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So this kind of rubs me the wrong way. This whole effort to make the Jazz some kind of a style brand is some really dumb shit. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if we weren't stuck in NBA purgatory of being bad enough to miss the playoffs but good enough to have little chance of a top-5 lottery pick. I'm pretty surprised at how bad Ryan Smith has been as the Jazz owner. I was excited about him and pretty hopeful he'd get the organization to a title, but so far it doesn't look good. I give him credit for being bold and trying new things, but not the following:

1- Entertaining the idea of building an arena in Draper so we can have hockey. NO!!! Bad idea! The Jazz should be in downtown SLC as God and Larry Miller intended. Do not gut the heart of the city so we can get a Canada sport. I hate this idea so much.
2- The uniform rebrand. The Jazz had some fantastic uniforms and color scheme and they turned it into a laughing stock. Then they framed it as a 'return to purple' while the primary colors were black and yellow and they'd been playing with a purple alt-uni for the previous several seasons. As part of this they also launched the CounterPoint fashion line that 95% of Jazz fans would never wear or purchase.
3- Blowing up the team a year into it. I get the rationale and frustration with the Rudy/Donovan drama. But man I'd have really loved to see one year of that team with Will Hardy. I trust that Danny has a vision here because I'm not seeing it.

He has done some good things. Getting the team on KJZZ. Hiring Danny Ainge and Will Hardy. Got some good young players and loads of draft assets. The value of D-Wade as a part-owner remains to be seen. I hope I'm wrong and he turns out to be the best owner in all of sports ever.

I actually can't fault Ryan for any of the moves he's made / directions he's taken so far.

Potential move to Draper – While I agree I'm not the biggest fan of this, following the money means that more businesses are in the Lehi / Draper corridor than downtown and if that makes it more available / accessible / permanent long term, so be it. I'd guess the majority of Jazz fans the trade off is either a "push" in terms of time / distance or reduces their commute. For those up north, it definitely sucks, but I can understand the thought process / rationale behind it.

Uniform re-brand. I know I'm in the minority, but the actual gear they've produced since has been so much better - save the CounterPoint line. Now the actual uniforms – I think there are some of those that it's just unfortunate because the potential is there.

Blowing up the team. You can't look at the return(s) that they got for Mitchell and Gobert and not have felt like it was 100% the right call. And some of the pieces they landed have been better than expected which has prevented the true "tank / rebuild" . Now, if you want to talk about moves that have backfired, letting Conley go to Minnesota wasn't a great one, because the T-Wolves have been better since the trade which has negatively impacted the Jazz assets.

I think as a small market team, you HAVE to go the asset collection route so you can trade for or draft the star players required. Honestly, Philly's "Process" took longer than they may have wanted it to, but they've been a top team in the East the last few years. Haven't won it all yet, but they're a team actually has a chance to do so. Oklahoma City – they're finally starting to see the returns and still have a ton of assets. So yeah, patience is key. Danny knows what he's doing as well as just about anyone else, so you've gotta trust that it'll play out.

[smokymountainrain]

Eh. Patience. Look at the Thunder now after their blow-up. We are already seeing embers of our own, with very promising youngsters and returns on development players like Fonteccio, Sexton, and George. Obviously we have sucked this year but the last 15 games the team looks different and may be in the playoffs by the All Star Break.

the thunder didn't half ass it though. they legit tanked and got the 6, 2 and 12 picks in two consecutive drafts. they also traded their Lauri to bring in SGA - who happens to be the key to everything they are doing along with those 6, 2 and 12 picks. the jazz think they can have their cake and eat it too by playing vets big minutes and hanging on to those vets, staying competitive while trying to build something with late lottery picks. good luck with that.

sometimes i wonder if even they know what their plan is assuming they even have one. it seems to be, let's just win as much as we can with the roster we have and hope to get into the play in games - and if we're really lucky a first round playoff loss and pick 13th in the draft.