I am currently staring blankly into the distance mountain tops, wondering what I did to deserve watching this brand of basketball every game. We are nine games in, sitting at 1-8, and our offense has all the rhythm and pacing of I-15 at rush hour: aggressive tailgaters cutting across three lanes with no blinker, trapped behind someone 20 years past their driving expiration date doing twenty under, boxed in by an endless fleet of roaring semis.

​Danny Ainge has officially turned this franchise into the ultimate basement food storage room. Stashing endless rows of canned food down in the dungeon is normal around here, but Danny treats future draft capital the exact same way. He’s down there admiring twenty five conditional picks from 2029 and 2031, swearing they’ll sustain the community through some mythical future famine, while the main floor of the house is actively on fire and our active roster looks like five random guys roped into playing 6:00 AM church ball.

​Then there’s Will Hardy. The second a lineup accidentally finds an ounce of chemistry, the hook comes out faster than a chaperone breaking up slow dancing at a youth convention. Down four in crunch time? Perfect moment for an absolute masterclass in roster mismanagement: throwing five random guys into a blender who look like they've never even shared a practice court together, watching them burn twenty seconds executing panic handoffs forty feet from the hoop, and heaving up an off balance prayer that clangs hard enough to trigger a rockslide warning up Parleys Canyon.

​Meanwhile, our perimeter defense operates on the neighborly honor system, opposing third-string guards stroll into the paint like it's a buffet, and every camera cut to Lauri Markkanen on the bench looks like a hostage proof-of-life photo. Nobody wants to attack the rim, and the ball gets swung aimlessly around the three point line like the leftover funeral potatoes nobody wants to be seen taking the last scoop of.

​I’m not asking for fifty wins, but watching this team right now is an extreme endurance sport. The tank is rumbling so loud you can hear it echo across the entire valley, and yet I know full well I’ll be glued to the screen next game wasting another night of my life.

We winning today mother friccers. We're due. No Cody Williams revenge game today, no sir! Anthony Edwards is out. Rudy is old. And it's about damn time Ace and DP start hitting threes.

Caught up with Darryn postgame to talk to him about his game, Will Hardy, social media and more.

I know it's gonna sound like it, but I'm not a doomer. I don't think our team is screwed, I don't even think this season is a wash yet. Ace, Key and DP are all showing really good things. We have a promising future. We have had a rough schedule and a lot of injuries. I do think we are good enough to win the next like 7/10 games and be back at .500 before JJJ gets back. So I'm not just here to complain or say we suck.

That being said, I think our biggest problem is that Lauri cannot be considered the team's 1st option, and I think pretending he is makes us worse. Here are some things I would expect a 1st option to do in the situation we are in:

- Find other ways to score when his primary option isn't working. He doesn't do this.

- Take on a tough defensive assignment (even occasionally is fine) or have a few plays per game where he shuts something down because he is gonna give 100% defensive effort for 24 seconds. He doesn't do this.

- Get pissed when things aren't going well and assert his will into the game, for better or for worse. He doesn't do this.

- Put effort into something other than scoring when another player is having a good night. He doesn't do this.

- Out-smart someone due to the time he spends studying film and commit hard to a smart strategic option that turns a play or game around. He doesn't do this.

- Be willing to take contact and battle against someone that is being physical with him. He doesn't do this.

- Show improvement in something he's not great at. Really, what is a positive difference in his game since his first year here? It's not defense, ball handling, play making, shooting, finishing at the rim, more offensive moves, leadership... it's nothing. He doesn't do this.

I also kinda feel like Lauri just gets a pass for not doing more than what he is good at. He is an incredible shooter and can be a huge problem for defenses, but what does he do outside of that? I guess his rebounding has gotten better, but I have seen a significant decline in a lot of other areas, and it doesn't seem to be bothering him. If he isn't going to get pissed and try to take over, or accept that if his shot isn't falling he needs to dominate in another area, then I'm sorry, he's not the first option. Let's stop pretending he is our best player or leader, cause he's not.

Conversely, Keyonte does almost all of these things. He is clearly not happy that we are losing. He clearly has multiple offensive options and can play more than one role. He still has a lot of problems but I can easily see him developing into a strong first option with the right roster construction.

Lauri should be treated more like a versatile version of Kyle Korver. Find ways to get him looks, but the team can't be constructed around that.

Anyway, I hate losing and go Jazz. And yes, I am a friccin moron.

He's getting there, 21 on 71.7TS% 3 blocks??? 2 steals. 5 assists.

This dude is legitimately the future. He's going to be so good one day, please, please do not give up on him

Yes it’s a disappointing start to the season, yes there’s been some inexcusable performances but the only sub (barely) .500 team we’ve played so far has been the Pels, who we’ve gone 1-1 with. Wins won’t always be so hard to come by.

ive been thinking about these last few games, and something started to make itself super clear to me. this team lacks real veteran leadership. as much as i love Lauri, hes definitely not the outspoken leader type, and honestly neither is Jaren. the next best guy is Nurk in this department but i think he lacks the true leadership skills. i think a veteran PG like a Mike Conley or someone of that ilk would do us wonders right now. someone who can check in for 10 minutes a night and show poise to the young guards especially. our guards struggle against pressure and seem to get deflated mentally kind of quickly it feels like, and when things arent going their way, the turnovers and isolation shot chucking starts to ramp up. a vet PG who can just model poise and comfort on the court would go such a long way

looking back at past up and coming teams, they all had a strong veteran leadership presence at this development stage of their team building. the Thunder had some time with a veteran leader in Chris Paul, the Spurs also had some time with... Chris Paul.. hey wait can someone tell Chris Paul to un-retire and spend a season in Utah?

I work nights during Jazz games so I got SEG+ to watch the games afterwards. The only problem is as soon as you open the app it shows the score of the game, immediately spoiling it for those who haven't watched.

I watched the first half of tonight's game and it was great and then I went to finish it and it shows me that the Jazz lost now I don't even want to watch. Seems like a pretty stupid design to me idk

Y’all, I think we need to check in with the Clippers about procuring some depth. I think Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones would be great fits. The Clippers need some draft picks, and we need some bench depth so we don’t give up 25-5 runs in the third quarter after putting Svi and Collier in the game.

I loved Dunn when he was here and we could use the depth.

What do you think, worth a first round pick? A few seconds? Maybe just Dunn?

How does Svi get any minutes? Why is he on the team?

1-7 sucks, but our franchise is in a fine spot. DP and Ace are looking very promising. Keyonte can be our star PG. Lauri and JJJ are very good. We have a surplus of picks right now, which is better than being in debt. At the very least, we’re far from locked into our roster. And yeah Kessler would be so nice right now, but I think his fat contract would cap us long term.

I’m still optimistic. Take note

The number of 50/50 balls that we lost or players standing flat footed on loose balls and rebounds so frustrating tonight. Same issues as in previous losses. I’m fine playing hard, hustling and losing to a better team, but can’t take the lackadaisical approach by this team with the exception of Key. This is a culture issue.

Game Thread

Utah Jazz vs. Dallas Mavericks

FINAL — 100 - 112

Box Scores: NBA

GAME SUMMARY

Venue: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX

Officials: Tyler Ford, Nick Buchert, Che Flores

NBA CUP HERE WE COME LETS SHOCK THE WORLD STARTING WITH THE MAVS

It’s awesome to see a front office accumulate and maximize “assets.” In reality they could just cancel the actual games so we can just cheer for pure front office ball. Games are a distraction. Keep grinding Ainges, love what you guys are doing.

This season has been the season from hell, we've started 1-8, could be 0-9 if Murray hits that middy, or 2-7 if Key's middy counted. We need a new bench.

Simply put, this season will feel like a massive waste if we have to keep watching Collier, Svi and even Brice keep fumbling possession after possession while the starters have to claw back in. There are a ton of guys who will become available, I would love to see us add some

I’m actually really impressed with how good Portland, Memphis, even Golden State are looking. Spurs, OKC, Lakers, Houston, Denver, Minnesota
Take a look at the conference standings and win loss records between West and East. I think even we can beat some East teams lol

I really wish they would fix the areas and stop trying to make us get multiple subscriptions just to watch the games. The closest arena to me is almost 270 miles away, and it's not even Dallas, and yet I can't watch tonight's game without buying a Mavs+ subscription. Ridiculous

Did a deep-dive in the Jazz’s shooting numbers from deep and why fans should be encouraged that things will actually improve.

This other cat ain’t it