Time now though for our well hopefully weekly now that the jazz season has started. My buddy Andy Larson stops by on a Friday. Andy, Happy Friday, Man, How you doing. I'm good Man, How I'm good? So as a celebrator of holidays, saincode mile little inside baseball there. I know that your Halloween was occupied by jazz basketball, but there had to have been one or two Andy Larson Halloween excursions.
Yes, yeah, you know. Last weekend was a good time. My friends through a Halloween party. It was a SpongeBob teams party, which was interesting. But I'll tell you what the best part of that party was that two separate couples came as the same couple's costume, one as Sandy Cheeks and one as Mermaid Man. If you're familiar, RESPONSI, well, I don't know, but the what are the odds that two couples come as Sandy and Mermaid man? It's it's uh yeah, unlikely, but it was. It was a lot of fun.
I gotta know what you dressed up as.
Obviously, I unfortunately did not have a SpongeBob costume, and I went pretty lame this year. I used reused last year's costume Alan from the Barbie movie.
You know you're getting old when you start reusing costumes, right.
Yeah, yeah, you know, if we've talked about this on this program before, I am washed. And that's just all there is.
You're thirty. You can't say you're washed. I have adult memories from the year you were born. You're not allowed to say you're washed.
Andy, Listen, I know when NBA player prime is and I am beyondest.
That's true. Can't argue with that all.
Right, before we get to the jazz, since we just did a NBA conversation with the incomparable Howard Beck, we will start with a little RSL so had problem on this.
Week, and you know, it's pretty clear.
That RSL's having issues breaking down the way Minnesota plays. We have three games now and I think one goal in the run of play. What's fair to say about RSL's failure to get the win on Tuesday night, and what are your thoughts on the potential of them coming back home after the match tomorrow.
Yeah. Look, I mean they're just not the attacking team that they were earlier in the year. You know, they don't have the danger on the wings or in the middle to consistently score goals, to make teams scared, to make teams nervous. You know, I think the tempo is clearly lower. The technique in the final third is you know, you're not seeing guys being dribbled around, or you're not seeing shots put on target as frequently. You're it's just a lower standard of play. And look, some of that
is losing Andre skimz Or. I think was a top three winger in MLS this year before he was sold. And you know, again I defended that cell before and I think it was a reasonable call for ourselves. But you know, the big loss, frankly, is that Chicho has gone from MVP caliber player, best caliber, best striker, best player in the league caliber to really bad, frankly, like, he's not even an average MLS striker right now. He is complaining to the referees, he is jogging around the pitch.
He is not contributing on the defensive end, he is not making productive runs on the offensive end, he's not setting up his teammates. And you know, most importantly, he's not scoring goals. He scored one goal in his last whatever seventeen matches. I think it is so look, That's what it comes down to is the players aren't performing like they used to and you know clearly are less talented than they were earlier in the year. And so it's, as an RSL fan, a little, you know, a little
bit of a bummer to be sure. I don't, you know, I think they still have a chance to get a result in Minnesota and come back to Salt Lake, but it's not something they should be favored in by any means, and it's been kind of a yeah, bummer into the season.
One more thing here, and I am far from a tactician or a soccer expert. I'm simply somebody who's now watched and covered it for twenty years.
So I have a little bit of a.
Pults on it, but from an attacking standpoint, because look, if they do not find a solution, and they might only need one solution, I think if they can get one goal, Minnesota will have to engage and then RSL, in my opinion, probably a more skilled team that can out outplay them if Minnesota is actually engaging with them.
But like Diego's your designated player, and you know, maybe I don't fully grasp the whole like Matt Crooks runs far thing, But do you anticipate any changes with the attacking formation where Crooks is centralized, Mark Zuku has been awesome, is outright, Diego's out left, and Chicho up top, Like if they're going to find a solution to break through that wall, do you think the attacking group, just as far as the personnel personnel goes, needs to be different.
I think they're more dangerous with Julio up the top, and you know, and maybe at the expense of Chicho at this point, because again I do think he's been that bad. Now I get it like he's a DP, but both dps frankly, have not been among RSL's top three attacking players in the last few months, right Like I think Sperris Anderson, Julio has been better than Teacho over the last couple of months. Mark Duke certainly has been.
I think Diego Luna has been too. So who of those guys are you going to put come make come off the bench out of that top four? I you know, I look at what happened on Tuesday and think, you know, probably a change needs to be made. There's not a great answer, because Dieogo and Tito haven't been playing well, and so I'm not exactly sure what I do if
I'm Pablo. You know again, I do think it probably involved Anderson Julio from the jump, but I don't have a ton of confidence in that necessarily breaking down Minnesota because of like you said, they are a very good defensive team that is going to be pretty responsible and not necessarily let him get it in behind, which I think is probably his best attribute as a striker.
All right, moving over now to the Jazz.
Since you and I last spoke, just a horrific scene, and you know, the the night and several things are horrific, but let's start about you know, let's start with the one involving the injury. You know, the night as we're in Dallas, there was a lot going on. There's football, there's baseball. I've flipped them back and forth, and suddenly, in an instant, my phone just blows up and it was all, did you see what happened to Taylor? So
I switch over, I rewind, I watched it once. I do not want to see a replay, but just gutted for the kid because I do feel like he was showing signs of improvement and potential so just give me your thoughts on the whole thing, your knowledge as of now as far as what the plan is and does it change the calculus at all about what he can be eventually.
Yeah, look, I mean it sucks. I was in the third row in Dallas when it happened, and I'll be honest, I was watching the ball, not Taylor running down the court. I didn't see appen live. I did see. I did hear kind of a scream and I heard the crowd react, and I saw Taylor's leg in the sideway's position in a way that you know, no one ever wants to
see that happened. It just sucks for the kid, Like I do think you're right, Like he had taken clear and obvious steps this year, not that he was a world beater by any means, and was in the starting lineup kind of to fill a role, not because he was like a starting caliber NBA player, but was on the path to being something useful and good.
And.
Now that will be delayed by probably about a year.
The team still has to figure out when his surgery date is going to be and kind of what surgery in particular they're going to be doing kind of how many of the ligaments can need to be repaired and so on and so forth, like it's it's going to be a major surgery though, And it honestly reminds me a lot of Dante Exum nine years ago, where you know, had a you know, pretty raw rookie season, showed some flashes in his second year, and then had that cut short.
You know, I guess Dante had his flashes in summer league and Taylor had his flashes in the first three games of the regular season. But it's it can be a huge deal for a players development and production to have to miss a full year of development and growth, and so it is a significant bummer for Taylor Hendricks. It's devastating for the Jazz, who now no longer have anyone to guard the opponent's best player as well as Taylor did. It's it's as bad as news as a
franchise like Jazz can get. Given that this year is all about player development and giving the young player's time. Now they can't give Taylor Hendrick that time, and it it just does suck all right.
Moving over just to the team overall, I am a huge fan. I love what I'm seeing. I'm going to order my Cooper Flag Jazz uniform when I get home, my Jazz jersey.
I'm andy.
I know it's a tough ask for the fans, it's a tough ask for the broadcasters, it's a tough ask for the coaches and players themselves.
And it's a tough ask for team employees.
But for me, oh eighty two, man, like, I have no issue with this horrible start. The best time to do this would have been two years ago, as we saw a first row last night, the second best time to do it is now.
So tell me where you're at with.
This whole thing where it doesn't look like they're gonna win a lot of games.
Yeah, look, I'm with you. And then it's funny after I think last time I talked to you, remember it was OCU. It was after the Memphis game, was like, hey, they look kind of competitive, and then they have just looked incredibly uncompetitive over the last four where they're they're not even close to even you know, the San Antonio Spurs had only one win coming into last night and had not looked like a reasonable NBA team, and you know, won that game by eighteen. It's it's going to be
a long year. It's going to be a year where we're focused on off court things like the stadium, like the Delta Center, like you know, what's going on with the fan base, what's going on with TV contracts on and so forth. We're going to be watching young development. We're going to see if Keyante George is something or if he's nothing. We're going to see if Cody Williams can make any kind of impact on NBA games. We're going to see if Caylesolow is a reasonable player or not.
Like there's going to be a lot of learning here, but the learning we've done so far is all pretty much in the negative direction, and that's valuable in its own right, but it's not promising, and so yeah, it's a long season. I'm with you. I think it's probably the right move if you are trying to win a championship down the road, if you just want it to be playoffs kind of competitive. I think there are probably easier ways to do that, but that's not what ownership wants,
and I think that makes sense. I think you know, they want to deliver the first Jazz championship ever, and that probably requires a franchise changing star that they don't have on the roster and don't have any other way to get besides this way.
So the question simply is this.
And you know, as I talk about often being on this side of the mic and knowing what it's like on the other side of the doors where decisions are made, there's always the message the front office delivers. Then there's always the truth behind the scenes. And when you're losing, intentionally, you say things like youth, and you say things like development, and you do you do things like replacing Taylor in the starting lineup with other young players.
So do you believe what we're seeing.
Now in front of us is an intentional move by the Jazz?
Yeah, I mean there's no question about it.
Yes.
I mean, look and they say things on the record, and then they say things off the record, and we know what it'll look. It's we can use our own eyes on what's happening here. You know, if the Jazz were trying to win games, Calm Section would not be on the bench. If they were trying to win games.
Kyle Tilapowski is not the replacement for Larry Mark then starting lineup right, Like, you can just see what's going on and the decisions that are like, it's it's it's they don't want to win games, and it does suck like that the current NBA incentive structure, and I wish that weren't the case, but yeah, they're trying to lose.
Yep, yep.
Now that's the deal, all right. So, in the name of development and in the name of trying to understand if these young guys are actually growing, let's have a conversation about Kyante. And I'm not going to regurgitate the stats that I've been spewing all week, but I'll just summarize, with one year of college basketball and one year of pro basketball and five years of his second year, it's pretty simple. He can't shoot. His field goal percentage is horrible.
His three point percentage is horrible. So at what point do we just simply become concerned about Kyante's growth and whether or not he can ever just simply be a guy that can make shots at a higher clip.
Yeah, I think it's completely fair. I mean I think, and frankly, I guess the second point on that would be, if he can't shoot, he can't be an NBA player, Like he can't get to the rim well enough He's not a good enough paster and is one of the worst defenders in the league. So his only value is if he is a good shooter. And as he pointed out, the field goal percentages throughout his college and NBA career
have not been good enough. I do think some of that is because of shot selection, and I do think like there's a world in which he trims it down and gets kind of makes the open looks and develops, you know, two or three percent, and you know, becomes a better player, becomes a better shooter where he is useful, you know, like I think there's like a George Hill
without defense kind of angle there. They know, like I'm trying to come up with another player complex Seth curry E. You know, maybe even there they're backup point guards kind of in the NBA. That makes sense. But look, I was higher on Keyante coming into the years than this, and he's it's only been a week, and maybe it's just a terrible first week, but he has been the worst player on the floor in at least four of
these five games. And there's some Trey Burke frivees here where you know, Trey Burke had a pretty good rookie year and then came into his second year and had the worst shooting percentage in NBA history for the forty years Previo and pretty clearly showed that he was not an NBA player. And if Keyante doesn't turn it around, he's not an NBA player. He still has all the opportunity to the world in the world. He's smarter than Trey Burke is. I think he's watched more film than
Tray Burk did. I think he's more mature than Trey Burke was then, who had some kind of like unreported immaturity issues at that time. But like in the end, it's about how you're good are are on the basketball floor, and he is not good enough right now if he continues to play this way to be in the NBA.
Are you surprised that you referenced Colin Colin Sexton. Are you surprised that they've decided to put him on the bench and Star Clarkson.
Again? What is the point of this? What is the goal of this team?
We're just doing radio Andy, I've got about five minutes left.
Yeah, Look, and they're not trying to win. I mean, Colin is good enough to win games. I'll say this also, like Colin is dealing with a finger injury. He hasn't played that well off or on the bench this year, So I don't think, you know, I think Jordan's maybe
makes more sense as a two than Colin does. But I mean, it's it's all they're just trying to get their young players in positions to succeed, right, Like, so they think Jordan's probably a better passer, maybe a better teammate to the young guys in the first unit, and then Colin can kind of drive action with John Collins and you know, and Bryce sent the bah and blah blah blah, so that you have like a semi reasonable
competitive second unit. But like it's it's not again, if you really wanted to win games, you would be playing Colm Section thirty five minutes night.
All right, man, I don't know.
Walker Kessler's been kind of good, question mark right.
Kyle Philipowski has been good, has been more NBA ready than I thought he would be, has actually looked physical on the offensive end, has done some nice stuff passing, has is not a great defender right now, but is honestly keeping up more than kind of the worry. He was both Kyle and Walker. I think are the positive stories on the jessne other than that it gets it gets rough quickly.
All Right, before I set you loose, because I know you got to get to it, Let's talk vibes. Let's look for the gen Z years and the millennials out there. I'm a results over vibes guy, but we know results are put aside. I was there on op night against Memphis. The crowd was great. My buddy was there last night against the Spurs. He said it was very underwhelming. And I'm certainly not going to blame fans because this product is going to be horrible. But since you're there every night,
how are the vibes, how's the crowd? And how do you think the team is holding up during this really difficult time.
Yeah, honestly, it's been fine. I think it's something definitely to watch moving forward. And look, we're in the first week of a really long season, right like we saw somebody and more games of this, But I think the crowd has been, you know, relatively into it. It was pretty empty at the beginning of last night's game and then filled in more second and third quarter. It's also Halloween,
so everyone has other stuff to do. Tickets are extremely cheap on the secondary market, right, Like you can buy tickets to sit in the lower bowl last night for fourteen dollars. Like, So that being said, I do think even at that price, like fans are gonna buy them, and like kind of someone's gonna probably sit in that seat and the arena won't look completely empty. And the players, you know, like Lowry knows what's going on, Colin knows
what's going on. He's just like, you know, they are extremely well compensated to kind of deal with these kind of situations. So maybe the vibes I'm more worried about are from say like Walker, Kestler and Kyante and Taylor. Now obviously he's had this catastrophic injury. It's like kind of the long term pieces and to see how they do with losing and see how much effort and focus they put into their development. But so far, honestly, it's
been it's been fine. It hasn't been a problem. Well, we'll get back to you in January and February when it really becomes dog days, but we're still I guess it's November first now, It's it's still fine right now.
Fair enough. Andy, appreciate the time, man.
We'll let you get to it O have a good weekend and we'll see if the lads can get it done.
Yeah, no worries, Yeah, sound good?
Thanks all right.
Andy Larson covers the Utah Jazz for the Salt Lake Tribune. Right, it's a data column for them once a week as well. Get them on Twitter at Andy B. Larson or Andy Blarsan as he likes us to say, a little behind the glass coming up, Neil Smith or some Utah hockey club. We'll bring in Zach Harper. Get back to college football later on. Got to tell you about my friends at
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