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We're live today at beer Bar right downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, at one sixty one East two hundred South. We are giving away VIP passes for our ESPN seven hundred Ultimate Tailgate experience prior to the Utah TCU game on Saturday. Porter will be doing the Utah pregame show live from the tailgate starting at four thirty.
All rolled by as well. It's a lot of fun, man.
We have free food from Wingers, we have spirits from Clearwater to Stilling, and we're giving away two passes per person while supplies last. Just for stopping in and saying Hi. Here at beer Bar one sixty one East two hundred South, right downtown Salt Lake. You can see every RSL match here. It's the only sports bar in Salt Lake with no
blackouts because they do have Apple TV. Our next guest likes beer and soccer, yet he's not here at beer Bar, which hurts my feelings since Andy Larsen from the Tribune, where are you, dude?
Yeah, that's there. I would have liked to come out, but I had a meeting, three o'clock meeting and a six o'clock meeting, and I can't I had to do this one from hom So sorry about that.
Were your meetings of juniors or what's the deal?
Hey, that's only on Mondays and Friday?
Okay, fair enough, fair enough?
All right?
Andy, safe to say that the preseason has been somewhat encouraging for the Utah Jazz for a team that's not getting a lot of buzz both locally and nationally.
Yeah, last night was a fun game.
What has stood out most to you throughout the preseason which will wrap up coming up on Friday.
Yeah, you know, I think there's a few things. I think one, the defense does look better right now, and it's start to know how much that is preseason teams thinking it easy on the Jazz. You know who's out there on the floor. Frankly, they're playing a lot less John Collins and a lot more Walker Kessler. But that being said, they're sixteenth in the league defensively through the preseason, which is a lot better than twenty ninth or thirtieth
that they were last season. So, I you know, I think they've taken a up there on transition D and really kind of staying and finishing throughout a play. And then you know, I think there have been some kind of promising steps forward taken from the young guys. I mean, I think Kanty George has looked really good. I think Taylor Hendrick looks significantly bigger and maybe ready to contribute kind of at a role player level, not as a star or anything, but at a higher level than he
did last year. And you know, Cody Williams looks like a pretty good kind of fit in right now kind of player and we'll see obviously how he develops, but I don't think he's taking anything off the table right now, which is pretty rare as a rookie. So you know, I think there's some some good stuff going on here that maybe says, hey, this isn't a fifteen to twenty win team, this is a thirty win team. And you know, again we'll see what that means if preseason is real.
But the I would say they've played better than expected so far.
So what have you You referenced Walker playing a little bit more than John and I hope that continues, but from both the starting line up and benchmit a distribution. Any surprises about Will's preferred rotation so far? And what are your main takeaways from the players that we're actually gonna see Yeah.
I mean, I think the takeaway is that there is like a real youth movement here, but they're not going necessarily all the way in right like, so you know that they it does seem like they're going to play they call your over, Petty Mills. It does look like that like me and Michale you Kin grew you Banks
aren't going to play right away. I do think that it's notable that you know, like Bright sent the bas and the rotation, even though he hasn't looked brilliant, you know, I think there is a lot of youth there, but there's still you know, there's still kind of the four veterans on the roster who do kind of demand playing time.
Obviously Lowry's one of them in part of the future core, but Colin Sexton, John Collins, and Jordan Clarkson are guys that probably don't match up with that timeline and probably they would like to move on from at some point.
And so I think that's the question we'll see during the regular season is like can they trade them or you know, are there any buyers that at kind of some relatively large salaries for those guys, or do they instead kind of play the load management, make up injuries game to make room for the likes of Kyle Philipowski, who is a d M p CD in a preseason
game last night. You know, I think that that's going to be kind of interesting to see how that that really plays out, because I think there are kind of eleven guys at least who probably kind of demands time on this roster and probably nine or ten rotation spots to put them in.
Walker last night four blocks, nine boards. This is a big year for Walker Kestler. Oftentimes, you know, year three, it's when teams more often than not, are deciding on options. You know, for that didn't get his picked up for the Kings after year three. Most of the time rookies
do have that option picked up. It's pretty rare, and I'm not saying Walker's not going to but year three more often than not for most players outside of unicorns like Lebron and Wembin Yama, you got to figure out whether or not this is gonna be a rotational piece for you moving forward, and whether or not you have just a benchwarmer in the league, or is this a guy you can start and rely upon to anchor your defense.
I've not really changed my calculus on him. I mean, the numbers dipped a little bit last year, but it wasn't like a precipitous dip. It was just minor here or there, But it was clear that he didn't take a step up from year one to year two. Have you seen enough in the preseason to give you confidence that we will see a positive step from Walker year two to year three.
Yeah, I think a little bit of one. And I guess I'm not saying huge stripes or anything like that. And I still think, honestly, the biggest thing that would help Walker would be playing with like a top level point guard. You know, I think, honestly, he just looked a lot better in that rookie season, in large part because he was playing with Mike Conley, who could deliver lob passes, you know, compared to County or Who's not secret that, right. But that being said, I do think
he's playing with a little bit more physicality. Will Hardy said that he thought the Decreaseason game against Dallas was the best rebounding game of his Jazz career and picked up fifteen rebounds, including five offensive in that game. You know, I thought he was. I agree with will I thought
he was very good in that game. And I do think, you know, he made a big defensive impact last night, and what was ninety five percent of a regular season game with the Kings playing four starters over thirty six minutes, So yeah, you know, I think ultimately like that is, the question with Walker is not whether or not he's
an NBA player, He definitely is. It's whether or not he is a starter or a bench guy, right, and and really how much do you want to pay him on that extension in those extension talks starting next season? And I think most likely is that he's kind of a tweener in that way, and that you know, he's someone who you can start defensively, but maybe he doesn't have the offensive skill set that you feel really great about doing that, and maybe a player worth in a
tend of fifteen million dollar range. But yeah, he gets to determine that based on how this season goes for him. And you know, I think, again, I'm seeing kind of small steps there with improved physicality on the glass, a little bit better screening, a little bit better hands, but it's not anything I think fundamentally changes who he is as.
A player, how has Taylor fit in next to him? And obviously Lowry and what do you what do you anticipate from Taylor all year long?
I mean, the.
Measurables have always stood out, and the experience he gained last year. Oftentimes, even as a young player with not a lot of experience guarding the other team's best wing, can he grow into a legitimate defensive stopper that will can use on dynamic offensive wings from other teams?
And you think we'll see that this year?
I you know, I think he can, but I don't think he's there now from a game processing point of view. I think, first of all, teams aren't going to be guarding him right Like, there's just not enough confidence in his overall offensive game. Uh. Frankly, the the the handle I think is his weakest point right now as a player, Like he just can't be you know, trusted to dribble to create on his own, even just against closeouts. So uh,
you know, that's an obvious improven point. I think he can knock down threes relatively well, and I think he can stay in front defensively against pretty good players. But I don't think you think he's an elite stopper by any means at this point in his career. And you know, that still makes sense. He's still young, he's still just in his second year, and Jazz knew that this would be a project. But I do think that, uh, you know, if you're expecting him to be a stopper this year,
that's that's going to be optimistic. You're you're you're looking for flashes of development and kind of continual development and his ability to read the game and make those kind of plays. I do think he looks significantly bigger and older this year, right Like I do think like just his body grew up a little bit, and I think we're seeing some of the benefits of that in preseason. But he's still kind of struggling to impact the game
on a possession by possession basis. It's more about flashes right now rather than about putting together a full you know, twenty four or thirty minutes whatever he's going to end up getting in regular season actions.
So is there a chance, Andy, You know, ultimately I don't believe this team has a shot to make the playoffs, But is there a chance As a result of some of the teams in the league that have aged out a little bit, and also the dynamic of simply players not showing up in Salt Lake City, as Tom Haberstrow did the research for US a year ago that as a result of Will playing, and if he decides to do this, if there's no tricky like Lowry has his sprained ankle, he's out for two weeks, and Will plays
his best lineups every night, and they stay healthy and they don't lean into load management, that they might be able to steal a bunch of regular season games that nobody sees coming and maybe even approach like a thirty five to forty wins such like I said, this is not a team that I believe will make the playoffs.
And if they somehow.
Squeak in, if they face any of the other teams in the West that are in front of them fully healthy, They're not going to win four times and seven tries, but they could potentially win more regular season games than most believe because a lot of the teams that are going to be playing will be sitting players for load management or they're just not showing up in Salt Lake.
Can they overshoot regular season expectations? If Will decides to play his guys big minutes every night, and they simply show up to work and work hard.
I think maybe you know, like I don't want to say, even like forty wins to me is optimistic, and I don't think forty wins gets to a playoffs bottom. That's your Western Conference, right I think there are thirteen teams that on paper are pretty clearly better than the Jazz, right and you know, maybe one or two of those cadjers and you move up to the kind of eleven or twelve spot they've been in in the last couple
of years. But I also don't think that this roster is a tire player, right, Like, I think you're right that these there are good veterans. I think, you know, Larry Market is a really good player. I think it's relatively deep. I think they do play hard. I think there's decent odds that the defense is not worse than
the league like it was last year. And I think you know, they're going to win some significant games because of the home you know, home court advantage, because of the altitude, because of teams resting guys coming into Utah, because they take a lot of threes and three point variants, is a thing, and I think, yeah, there's just going to be some games where like the youth wins out and beat the tire team on the second hand of a back to back or whatever. Right like, it's it's
not a Washington Wizards or Detroit Piston situation. I don't think where they're going to win fifteen to twenty games. I think they they're a little bit better than that. And so you know, really where you get into kind of a problem from a tanking point of view, I guess it's the Eastern Conference right where you do have the Pistons, and when there's a Hornets and Raptors and Bowls and a couple other crappy teams, I'm forgetting here and those are going to be kind of your competitions
for the lottery odds. But yeah, like I think a thirty win season. You know that is there Vegas over under right now, and that feels about right for where the talent level is on this roster.
All right, let's talk about the dynamic that most people really want to discuss, and that is the media meals this year at the Delta Center. So it looks like you and I are going to be smashing some j dogs. Is that the case here?
I've been trying out new things. I mean it's only been three games, right, So like Maxwell's is no longer in the arena, there's a new piece of places called mods. I tried that honestly, was b minus trade if you know, if we're honest. Tried out the nachos at Coasta Beta last night. Those weren't bad. But yeah, this is a season of experimentation and learning about the confessions that the Delta Center for sure for us.
So what we're referring to and I learned this as well, I guess I was at the hockey game and I enjoyed myself a jay dog.
I like a good jay dog from time to time.
Now, now the hockey team the locker room is taking up space, and so there's no more media dining room and we're eating eating with vouchers on the concourse.
Is that the deal moving forward?
Yeah? Yeah, So, I mean I don't know if we're we'll get into whatever, We'll just say everything. Yeah. So where the media dining room was last year is now where the hockey the Utah Hockey Clubs locker room is this year. And they say there's no other space downstairs for media dining, and so yeah, we get twenty dollars vouchers as media members for every game. So that's that's
what we get. And you know, honestly, it's not bad in some ways, Like at least this way you kind of get to choose what you eat if you want, and there are plenty. There were some times last year where heck, I you know, I wasn't in in favor of the media dining buffet, and so we'd go upstairs and get a slice of fizea or whatever. But now that's kind of our deal. And then I personally just eat it in our media seets. But you know, up to you where you want to eat it.
I guess Andy, this is what the listeners want. The listeners want.
To talk about, how the media will be fed. I promise you this is compelling content.
Look, and I mean I don't think it is, but I've heard good things about the by YouTube cono spread, the league, the NBA. Some teams like Detroit has little Caesars Arena you wouldn't believe has the best stake and spread and just the most amazing choices you could ever imagine, you know, like it's better than a Vegas buffet in Detroit.
And then you have a lot of teams now that, yeah, are doing the concession bouchers things, some even liminum for just one place you can buy like chicken tenders from the league. Is changing sence in a way that really matters to our listeners.
Is this all because you tweeted about Stewart Adams?
I don't think so.
No, this is your fault, dude, This is all your fault.
The hallway is because I tweeted about Stuart Adams. The dining situation, I do think is like largely just because the hockey team needed the place to have locker room, which is pretty reasonable. Now, look, they're still the club. They're still like the Delta Sky three sixty club for the rich folks in the first five rows. That's still on level one. They're still a family room on level one.
There's still Ryan's Sweet the Underground on level one. But yeah, there's no more immediate dining on level one.
Fair enough, all right, last jazz thing. ESPN's doing their player rank. Lowry comes in at thirty. Lowry comes in at thirty three. They did I think fifty to ten today, that's down five spots from twenty eight. So what ESPN rank is telling us is the best player on the Jazz by far, quite frankly, is the thirty third best player in the league. What does that say to you if anything?
Yeah, the Ringer released their list today too, and I think Glwery was thirty first, and then Colinsecon I believe was ninety seventh. I may have those numbers one or two offs, but yeah, it gives you the vibe like, look for this Jazz seems not the most talented top level with in terms of top level talent, right, Like, that is clearly the thing that the Jazz needs to add in order to be an actually good team again
is a top twenty player in the league. And that's that's why we're talking about thinking, that's why we're talking about big game hunting and all of that. Right. I do think Lowry it basically had the same season he did, you know one year ago. The difference was he played fewer games, and you know, the the win loss totals didn't look as good and so that impacted some of the advanced stats. But like in the end, I you know,
I think Lowery's a good player. I would probably put him like in that twenty fifth to thirty zone rather than in the thirty to thirty five zone. But really where we're you know, putting hairs at that point, And yeah, it's all about how are you going to find that next top twenty guy? Probably even you know, really if you want to be a true contender, a top ten guy to add to the Jazz's roster. And you know
that's yeah again draft right, that's a game hunting. That's all the stuff we've been talking about all off season where we don't really have an answer on how the Jazz are going to find that guy next?
All right, Andy, before I say you lose, the lads are back after a little bit of a break. Pablo joined us last segments Vancouver. It's interesting because RSL plays Vancouver and simultaneously, Seattle plays Portland, and RSL and Seattle are still in the mix for three and Portland and Vancouver are trying to avoid that wildcard spot. So it's going to be a crazy night on Saturday seven o'clock.
What would you like to see on Saturday night to indicate this team is in a good place heading into the postseason.
Yeah, I think a few things. One I want to see. I feel like I'm asking for a lot here, but a win in the clean sheet and a good attack. But like those are kind of what I'm looking for right Like the defense has been a significant question all year long. Can they figure out a defensive rotation that's not allowing a gazillion shot? Uh? You know, who's your starting goaltender? All that kind of stuff, I think is a really interesting question. The offense has you know, dropped
the level clearly. Can Chicho get going? You know, what do they do? You know, in terms of who's starting at the wings, is that Mark Duke is at Locklin Brook?
Is it?
You know, I think they're there are questions will be asked there. Do you definitely start, you know, can diego Luna plane ninety minutes? Diogo the guy in the middle, or do you go with Anderson Julio at some point up top and slide Chicho back? Like they're real kind of rotational questions to answer. But like, to me, kind of the most important thing is this chance I think they if they do end up in third, I believe they could still steel still steal the CONCACAFT Champions Cup placements,
and that would be I think a big deal. You know, I think it's been a long time since ourselves played in that tournament, and I think, you know, a season that was so good in these stretches. I think it could really benefit oursel to have that international competition again.
So that's kind of what I'm hoping for as a fan, is to see them play at that top level, at a continental level again the next year, rather than you know, kind of miss out on it on that tournament like they have in the last what half decade or so.
All Right, buddy, we appreciate the time. Have a good week, gets you out against soon.
Okay, sounds good, Thanks Ben, all Right the.
Great Andy Larson from the saw Lake Tribune. Get them on Twitter at Andy B. Larson is where you find them.