You should know that the moon today is waxing crescent?
Oh is it?
Are you optimizing? Do you have an abundance mindset? I always have that.
Are you optimizing? But I'm not necessarily in tune with the moon at the moment. I have to I have to look into that.
Well, right now, it's a good time to optimize and have an abundance mindset. As the moon, Zach Harper currently as of today is waxing crescent.
Are you prepared for tonight?
You don't have to tell me. I looked at the moon last night. I saw that it was about to wax crescent, so I knew.
The natural follow up is are you optimizing? Do you have an abundance mindset?
I always have an abundance mindset. I wake up with an abundance mindset. I make sure that I speak it into existence. I go to bed with an abundance mindset. I manifest, I vision board, and I do it all.
But are you practicing feeling the feeling even though the thing hasn't happened yet?
Because Zach, what is meant for you will never be kept from you.
Well, not only that, but I journal it.
Oh, perfect, then you know what?
Now? You put it in practice.
I've got nothing to add. You are on your way, young man. I'm proud of you.
Thank you very much. I've done a lot of practice with this one.
More follow up? Are you dating with intention right now?
You have to?
Yeah?
Yeah, that's new, that's new. I didn't know that was The thing is how long? How long has this been going on? You need to help me out.
I'm new on the scene.
Oh, dating with intention, that's about I would say, like dating in with intention and and being in a provider slash protector role has been about a six to seven month face Ah.
Okay, well keep your phone on you because as I'm going through this process, I have a lot of questions.
Okay, yeah, yeah, it's oh man, Yeah, I got I got you with any of that stuff.
Okay, all right, I do I need some guidance? This is wild? All right? Isaiah Callier's optimizing? What transition? No big deal? All right?
So the Jazz have sent out some media package to folks that are voters.
Are you a voter?
To you a voter? Aren't you? Yeah?
Okay, So my guess is you receive one of these and you know, Zach, it's the only postseason Award, the Jazz have any chance outside of maybe the number one overall pick, but we'll get there at a moment. And initially, like you hear like, hey, is Isaiah call your broke? John Stockton's assist record? Well, okay, Like John played eighteen minutes a night his rookie year, he played behind Ricky Green, he had five starts, so I think it's four hundred
and seventy assists or whatever. But ultimately for a season that is void in bright spots for the team. When you look at the rookie class this year, Isaam might have a case to be made for first team, maybe second team, definitely all rookie.
Do you think he has a chance.
I don't think he has any kind of case for first team like that. That seems not possible to me because I think right off the rip, you've got Castle Wells, Resa che Ed Sar, and then Khalil Whar's in there two. You know, like I think six have a better case than he does. But then once you get past those,
second team is definitely in a mix. Like I don't know that there is a strong case outside of those six that would bump him definitely out of out of all Rookie second team, and he's he's closed really well and even even though the team has been a mess, Like, I mean, he had a really good game the other night. Like he's he's playing better. You know, the shot making is whatever, He's making decent decisions out there. The assists
have been there. You know. The scoring is kind of in and out, but like I think you're seeing it's it's tough to tell, but like I feel like you're seeing some progress there, right, Like he's definitely better than he was two months ago.
Yeah, he's thirty two from three since the All Star breaking. Look, that's not awesome, but it's better than like twenty two twenty one, which is where he was at to start the year.
You know, right, Yeah, Like I don't know that the shot looks good, but it doesn't look atrocious. I think his shot decisions are better. And again, like I mean, I feel like we're saying the same things that we did well, I mean, maybe not the same things we did with Kante George, but similar things. You know. With that, it was the shot looks good he's taking you know,
he creates good shots. Why aren't they going in? And that's what we saw at Baylor with with Collier, It's it's a bit of a different conversation in that he was a top prospect coming out of high school. I think the whole USC program and experience set him back.
And now he's trying, you know, he and the Jazz are trying to correct whatever that year you know, kind of messed up for him and getting him in real basketball development, in a real program, in you know, a real abundance mindset when it comes to there you go and trying to correct you know, whatever stunt that that year had to his growth and and I do think it took him a little while to get into good habits. I think he's exhibiting good it's a good decision making
whether the shots today or not. You're at least seeing a much different player from just a professionalism standpoint on the court than what we saw in the first half of the season. And that, I mean, if you're gonna take anything away from this mess of the season for the Jazz, that's a positive.
So you bring up Kyante George, who's clearly not in the vortex. So let's let's move. I'm sorry, that's just I can't help.
So this is great. I would do this every radio hit we do for the rest of the year if we can.
I mean, I just you know, Kyante clearly is not manifesting like everything is always working out for me.
All you have to do is repeating in the mirror.
But look, we haven't talked about Kyante in a while, and anecdotally, somebody down with the team about three weeks ago said to me, like, you are higher on Keyante than they are behind the scenes. And I'm not that high on Kiante. He just listens to the show. I've
just tried to take this positive spin wherever. Since he was brought off the bench, maybe he's settled into the role that I think he always was going to settle into no matter what, even when he was starting, even when he was the starting league guard.
Way too many bad decisions.
He might be among the worst defensive players in all of pro basketball. I'm getting the sense down there, Zach, that they don't really view him as part of their future, which is wild to think about because last year he was like the only young player that played well. So let's get up to date, Zach Harper take on the player that clearly is not in the vortex right now, Caante George.
Yeah, it feels a little bit like when people talk like, oh, they have like a young child, and then a new baby comes into the mix, and now that baby gets all the yep the attention, right like Isaiah Collier is the new baby, and Kanty George has kind of been pushed aside. I feel like, look, I'm not watching every Jazz game front to back, but I feel like when I check in, like some of the games he has
off the bench, I'm like, he was pretty good. Now the bar is very low, right, Like the bar for him is very low, And so I don't know if I'm judging that, Like I gotta be honest, like, I don't know if I'm judging that based on like what I expect out of a good NBA player or what I expect out of him in the Jazz And so it's probably what it's probably the latter. I think there is a good backup guard within his future. I do
think the talent's there. The decision making has not been there in his in his time in the league so far, and like he has been in the league a while to still be making some of these mistakes. But also, you know, part of it. This is gonna be a
weird comparison. But I've been taking like I've got a bunch of friends who are Blazers fans, and they keep like they've been complaining for three years now about Chauncey Billups as a coach, and I keep saying, Look, I have no idea I Chauncey Billups as a good coach.
I do know he's never been given a good team because even when he took over, like those teams were injured right away and so he was tanking and not given like an actual Damian Lillard's season and not you know, and then finally you know, the trade away and everything. And he's been giving teams that are that are I guess in teardown years and then in rebuilding years, and so I have no idea if he can coach, like
I have no idea. We saw a good stretch with the Blazers this year in the second half and it started looking promising, But I don't know if he's a good coach. With Kianty George, the Jazz have been such a mess in these tear down and rebuilding years. Maybe if you put him around actual good players, it would elevate his game, he wouldn't have to make so many decisions. It would, you know, kind of everything would rise up and kind of steady things for him. So maybe that
is an environment he needs to be in. But man like it, just it do. It's not as promising as he wanted to be. And and when you get into the conversation of like, Okay, he could be a backup guard. There's a lot of backup guard options in the NBA.
Yeah, and there were moments that he showed after he kind of was the only young player to get starts and minutes last year, like okay, maybe we got something here. But yeah, to your point about Isaiah, and you can talk about this with most of their young players, Zach. Which is why whenever I'm asked, I'm always asked the same question. If I go on other shows or do podcasts or even I'm talking to jazz fans, they always.
Say, who will be here when they're good again?
And I honestly, at this point it's probably and I don't know when that's gonna be. And Marketing is in his late twenties, Walker's about to be in his mid twenties.
Like part of me wants to answer the question like there's a chance that none of these players are here when the Jazz are actually good again, because I have so many question marks about so many of them outside of marketing and Kessler, but because they're not close to being good again, I can't even say that Lowry and Walker will be here and the Jazz are actually good because I don't know when that's going to be.
Yeah, Like I guess I don't look at Lowry like if if they're calling this now like the actual rebuild, then I assume Lowry is, you know, this summer available, right, Like I like the whole reason that with the timing of the extension and everything was so that he wouldn't
be traded this year. But I would assume teams are going to be interested in him this summer and you've got to do your due diligence to see what you can get for him and if that helps, you know, bring in assets of young players or whatever Danny Ainge and Justin Zanek are looking for. And so I wouldn't
expect him to be here long term. If that's the case, then to me, you know, as nice as Collier has looked recently, like to me, Walker Kessler is the only guy who has a definite skill set for the NBA right now, and so he's the only one that I would say, like, yeah, he'll probably be here long term, but I don't, Yeah, I'm with you, Like I don't, I don't know who that is. Like maybe if this kid gets healthy and and can show what he can do defensively on the court, maybe that's Taylor, you know,
Like I don't. I don't know, Like don't, I don't know that they have those guys, which is kind of tough when you've been even drafting a bunch of dudes. You know, in the first round of the last couple of years.
What is your favorite slash most accurate player comp for Cooper Flag. I've you know, as he has kind of played his way because a lot of people probably heard the name and then hadn't watched him play much. And then the tournament rolls around and everybody watches the tournament. So now you cannot log onto the intrawebs without getting another piece and a think piece about who Cooper Flag could be in the NBA. And sometimes the comp game can be a little bit frustrating because it puts on
realistic expectations in the minds of fans. But this is a market that badly is hoping this pain tolerance pays off. And Cooper Flag is a jazz man. Of all the comps you've heard, Zach, what lands the best for you?
Well, I saw someone passed one along to me the other day that they that they saw which I thought was insane, which was lamar Odom, which he like lamar Odom could handle the ball. Cooper Flag dribbles like at the football, Like I don't see that at all. But he can pass like a He's a good pass not like lamar Otum was, but he can pass. To me, I like, I'm sticking with Sean Marion. To me, he like he like he can shoot better than Sean Maryon.
He can pass a little bit better, But in terms of athlete defensive impact, getting up and down the floor, the way he scores on the move, it reminds me a lot of Sean Marion, like with the Sons.
Okay, all right, you know I've heard the Kawhi stuff. I feel like that's probably best case, So let me follow up here, just because it's of interest in the market. Sean Marion was really, really good at his peak. Okay,
but he wasn't like generationally special cornerstone building blocks. So do you do you believe that if Cooper stays healthy he turned he just turned eighteen three months ago, if he stays healthy and is fully developed, you believe he can maybe have a better career than Sean Marriyan.
And actually be a building block for a team.
It's all going to depend on whether or not he becomes someone who can create off the dribble. He just can't right now. I don't understand what people are seeing when he tries to create, Like, yeah, it can work at the college level because like no one like you like watch him in the previous game that they played and pay attention to this weekend, whether they beat Houston
or not. And he's from the great defensive test for him with just the bodies they can throw it him in the defense they can throw at him, It'll be a great test for how he creates shots because he's not strong at handling the ball. So all this stuff that he that he tries to do to create, none of that's going to work at the NBA level. It's all going to be set up off of his athleticism and in him on the move, which is fine. He's
eighteen years old, like he's super young. He reclassified, so he's you know, he's younger than a prick would normally be. All this is fine, and he's got plenty of time to develop, But in terms of people thinking of him as like this guy who's going to be an offensive weapon, he can't dribble like he just he can't create a shot against NBA level defenders consistently within the flow of the game. And if you can't do that, I just don't know how I'm supposed to believe that you are
a franchise level offensive player. It doesn't mean he can't get there. I just haven't seen it yet. There are times he tries to go left where he tries to go against against like even decent you know pressure, and he's kind of loose with the ball and he doesn't quite get there, and so that then he can't utilize his you know, his athleticism or his quickness. When he is able to get into space and you use that, these college players can't keep up with him. That's when
he's dominant. But when he gets a little bit of physicality and a little bit of pressure and he doesn't, you're not able to use that. Then you see that loose handle, that inability to create. That's when it's a struggle for him. And that's what it's going to be at the NBA level. Until he can hone that craft. That might take a year, two years, five years. You know, hopefully it's on the on the shorter side of that and he is able to become that player right away
because he does have so many other special skills. He'll be a good catch and shoot guy. He'll be a good guy who can make decisions off the short roll and moving the ball with the extra pass. He's going to be an excellent elite defender. All those things are great, but in terms of scoring, he's going to be limited until he can hemle a ball.
Haberstrow this week on the show dropped the Kevin Garnett what do you think of that?
That's insane? That Like it was insane when they did it with Anthony Davis. And is he better than Anthony Davis as the prospect? No?
No, there are very few prospects that were better than ad coming out of college. A lot of people don't, you know, don't remember that, all right, let's move off the jazz for a moment, and you know, it's just time to say that it is okay seeing everybody else, and it has been for quite some time. Golden State, what is it twenty and four with Jimmy Butler. You know, they beat LA last night, you know, and everybody played, which is always nice because it gives you an idea
of exactly what sort of hand we've been dealt. And every time I lock in on a Warriors game and Draymond looks like Draymond blowing up sets like he was, and of course Steph is still Steph, and you.
Know, Jimmy's always a wild card.
But it's probably time to say that, you know, Golden State needs to be taken a little more seriously than they have been prior to where we're at currently.
Is that fair?
I think so? I mean, I think they're right on the cuff there. You know, last night it looked better. But there's still plenty of games where they don't generate a lot of easy offense, you know, like there's it's still it's still like a lot of tough buckets to create. Now, sometimes Steph can make that easy. Sometimes Jimmy can make
that easy. And there are times where they run a couple of plays where you know, they'll they'll run a dribble handoff, or they'll run a play where where Draymond's got the ball, you know, kind of on the elbow extended, and Jimmy's running a pick play with Steph, and Jimmy slips the screen because all that attention is going to Steph and he's got a you know, a wide open laft, wide open dunk, and it's just like that's unguardable. I don't know, I don't know where you put your attention
on that. And so they can they can get some easy buckets. But for the most part, I still think some of their offense is a slog now that can be held by kuminga stepping up and getting into a flow or you know, last night, Pachemski shot out of his mind. He's not a shooter like that, So that was a big bonus for them. If Buddy Healed starts shooting like he's supposed to be shooting, that helps a lot.
But their offense still isn't as smooth as it needs to be, or it has been in their previous championship years. But man, Their defense is elite. Their defense is so good with Jimmy in the mix, and I think they're right on the cusp of being there. I mean, if you other than OKC you want me to like put them up against like a Denver or the Lakers or anybody, I'll put them ahead of everybody else in the West. It's just we got to see what okay See looks like in the playoffs, you know for sure.
Let me ask you about two teams, because every week we do this thing where Okay, we all agree that okay See is historic.
Okay, so Lakers get Luca. Do we like them? Of course?
Yo?
Kitches Yo kitch Denver's Denver.
But are you buying anything about the recent run from either the Clippers or Kawhi's back? And I know you always say that clips are gonna clip? Are you buying anything about the recent run and play of either Clippers or the Timberwolves.
I mean, the Clippers look great, right, But I mean we can't do this every year. I know, you know, like and nobody wants to believe in Kawhi being back more than me. I mean, he is my favorite. Like, I love Kawhi and I want him to be healthy and I want to see another playoff run because he's just I mean, he is a great show when when
he's healthy. But I just can't believe in it like it's and even and even if he is healthy, as good as they've been, I don't know that I want to believe in this version of James Harden stepping up and being the number two guy. I just I think there's a little bit missing there. Maybe that's Norm Powell, maybe that's Zubox who's been incredible, but there's just there's something missing there. But but the Clippers are dangerous. Wouldn't want to play them in the first round. The Timberwolves,
I don't know. It's still a lot of Julius Randall, you know, it's a lot of Julius Randall at times. And Aunt can go super nova and he can he can make up for a lot of that. We saw that. I mean, he was at a terrible game against Denver that night and then he just went crazy in the fourth quarter and picked them up. And he can do that like he's you know, with the way he fixed his shot, he is he is still great and capable of taking over, but he still makes some pretty rough
decisions at times. Uh, and and it kind of comes down to like, is McDaniel's going to make shots? Is Mikail Alexander Walker gonna make shots? I don't. Even though they shoot well, I never fully try trust that they're that you know, that shot looks good to me, and I just I don't trust Julius Randall. But but they do seem to have some advantages over really good teams. I mean, they they own Denver over the last six year, They've beaten them six straight games, dating back to the
playoffs with game six and seven. And that's another team. With the way Ant goes and the way their size is. I wouldn't trust them, but also wouldn't want to play them.
Are you hesitant to annoying the Clippers because of Kali's seeming inability to balance the masculine and the feminine energy.
No, it's mostly that James Harden sucks in the playoffs.
Okay, yeah, just kicking the tires.
I have an idea, guy, all right, Zach, before I say you lose, I mean watching Yoki, it's a sixty points triple doubles.
So dumb and so like, Yeah, MVP, where ye at? Where are you at right.
Now, I just it's two historic seasons. Yep, it is, And like, I don't I hate that everyone's dismissing the historic season that that Shay is having. Everyone wants to talk like, well, yeah, but Yoki is doing that. I'm like, yeah, but no one's done what Sheha's done, right, Like, it's different values of what you want to talk about. And what Yoki is doing is historic, but so is Shay,
and so I don't want to ignore that. To me, it's even enough that at least right now, and I got another week to flip flop on this, but at least right now, I think the team dominance of Okay, see, Like I think the winning is the is the tiebreaker for me. Like I'm gonna keep re evaluating and see, but I think the winning has to matter, you know, I just do. And when you look at the impact that Yokic has on and off the floor with Denver, it is obviously severe. Go look at the numbers of
when Shay is on versus when Shay is off. It is kind of a like it's closer to a coin flip than you would think when he's off the floor, and it is historically dominant when he's on the floor.
Yeah, no, I'm with you.
If I had a vote, I'd give it to Shay. But I'm not mad at any he gives it to Jokics because he's awesome.
I don't fault you for voting for Jokics. I just I think I'm leaning Shay right now.
Now, I'm with you, all right.
I'm gonna put this out into the universe that this weekend, Zach, you will find your vibrational match.
Best of luck with that and good chatting.
Also to you, vibrational match abundance, all that stuff.
We're the worst. Thanks man.
Having a good weekend, all right, Zach Harper from the Athletic Brought to you today by our friends at the Salt Lake Bees.
Salt Lake Bees have anuw hive join us for opening Week.
It's coming out April eighth through the thirteenth as we kick off our inaugural season at the ballpark at America First Square in South Jordan. Every game will feature exciting giveaways so that I'll miss out. Experience the thrill of America's favorite pastime, and join us the season for professional baseball, family friendly entertainment and unforgettable memories. Giveaways include pennetts, t shirts, beanies and more on every night of the first home stand.
Single game tickets are on sale now. Visit SLBs dot com for more information. This season, the Bees are going to feature fireworks and drone nights throughout the year, brunch every Sunday home game. They're doing Barking the Park for nine games, which means you can bring your dog to the game. We're going to do a Superman Night Cowboy themed weekend as well. The ballpark at America First Square is designed for year long use. Coming soon, a brand
new Bees team store will be open all year. The site's going to have a megaplex theater that includes movies, bowling, arcade, and dining restaurants in a concert stage. Salt Lake Bees are dedicated to providing a premium experience with wallet friendly ticket pricing. The privately financed stadium has a capacity of eight thousand fans and offers open lawn, premium, club and field level seating options. There's going to be a ticket
and a seat for every type of fan. Phantom enities include locally inspired concessions, a grab and go market using smart technology, alcohol free family zones, spectacular views of the Wassatch Mountains, improve transportation and access to the ballpark, more parking, lower costs for parking, a new track stop at center field for America First Square, increased walkability, cherided game day experience for fans at America First Square, comfortable seats on
expansive video board, premium seating options, and fans seated behind home plate in the new suites are going to be closer to the batter than the pitcher. Visit SLBs dot com, get your tickets and come see the Bees.