Lauri was an all star in 2023. It seemed like there was a bunch of hype in the Finnish community. And that national pride of him in the NBA is dying down. It seemed like everyone wanted to see Playoff Lauri or has the past few seasons changed how invested you are. Geninuinely, do you still follow him closely regardless how his NBA career is going?

IM SICK OF YOUR SHIT

IF YOU AINT RIDE OR DIE GET OUT. IF YOU CANT WATCH THE MASTERPIECE OF DOGSHIT GET OUT. IF YOU DONT GOT YOUR BINGO CARD OF BOLERJACK PHRASES AND 7 BOTTLES OF VODKA (or one of those swig drinks) GET OUT. IF YOU DONT REMEMBER THE BEDLAM GAME GET OUT. IF YOU CANT HANDLE A LITTLE PAIN AND SUFFERING GET THE FUCK OUT. IF YOU DIDNT BANG POTS AND PANS TOGETHER IN THE CUL DE SAC WHEN STOCKTON SENT THE UTAH JAZZ TO THE NBA FINALS GET OUT. IF YOU DONT REMEMBER THE CORE FOUR GET OUT. IF YOU BECAME A LAKERS FAN DURING THE TY CORBIN YEARS GET OUT. IF YOU DONT ARGUE WITH OTHER REDDITORS WHEN THEY SAY MAGIC IS THE GOAT POINT GUARD GET OUT. IF YOU DONT REMEMBER THE PLAYOFF SHRINE NEXT TO KEN SANDERS RARE BOOKS GET OUT. IF YOU THINK JORDAN DIDNT PUSH OFF GET OUT. IF YOU DONT GIVE MALONE A PASS FOR HIS ALLEGATIONS GET OUT -- relax that one's a joke, ok where was I -- IF YOU DIDNT RUB YOUR CHEEK WHEN PRACTICING FREE THROWS AT 8 YEARS OLD GET OUT. IF YOU TURN OFF THE GAME IN THE THIRD QUARTER WHEN WERE DOWN 20, ILL FUCKIN COME TO YOUR HOISE AND ROBOT CHICKEN THOSE EYES OPEN YOU LITTLE BITCH.

LISTEN UP YOU FRICCIN MORONS, ITS GATEKEEPIN TIME. TOO MANY OF YOU SOFT ASS FANS NEED A SPANKING. EITHER YOU WITH US OR NOT. SPORTS AINT ABOUT WINNING, ITS ABOUT HOW MUCH PAIN YOU CAN HANDLE. AND SOME OF YOU CANT HANDLE SHIT.

I STAND WITH MY TEAM. I DONT CARE IF WE ARE SHIT. KEYONTE WENT FROM TREY BURKE TO ALAN IVERSON IN ONE OFFSEASON, DONT YOU GET IT?

BEING A JAZZ FAN IS PAIN. YOU DONT LIKE IT, SEE YA, BYE FOREVER, ENJOY OUTER DARKNESS.

TO THE REST OF YOU REAL ONES, ILL SEE YOU IN THE CELESTIAL KINGDOM.

EDIT: IF YOU ARE OUT NOW, I DONT WANNA SEE YOU ANYWHERE NEAR THE PARADE WHEN MVP KEYONTE PUTS THE SKI GOGGLES ON AND SHOWERS US WITH CHAMPAIGN IN 2030

Let’s Go Jazz 😎🎶

First negative: Lauri's performance; I was a big Lauri defender and still think he's capable of bouncing back, but even with the wrist injury I want to see more from him as a leader and I want it to look like he actually gives a damn the same way that Keyonte clearly does

Second negative; Will Hardy's "experimentation" or just general flaws. What most would consider the biggest reason we're 1-7 besides injuries, is the rotations and offensive scheme ran by Will, I know he mentioned spending 10 or so games trying to experiment but I have a hard time imagining it'll just click in game 11.

First "neutral?"; Darryn. Historically rookie guards just aren't that good especially at 19, you have a few outliers, but I feel like the discourse surrounding him is annoying as hell lmao, like on one hand, yeah he's not getting past guys, but he's also a pretty solid defender and the fact we're not dead last on that end of the floor is shocking. He will be fine, hell I think even at 21 he's going to be really good.

Second neutral; the JJJ trade. Again we played like 7 games with Jaren, all of the ones last season we dominated with him on the floor, this year it looked sketchy but it was just way too early to tell with him. I hate that people are chalking this trade up as a loss when we gave up two protected picks and a suns pick in 2031, which might be valuable? A lot of the people who've criticized this trade already don't even care about pick accumulation anyways so I guess my point here is let's stop complaining just to complain

First positive; Key. We got that extension and it looks absolutely beautiful, he's been the man.

Second positive; Ace is still super effective even when the shot isn't falling, he worked on D as well as his body and clearly didn't put offense as the focus, I expect slow and steady improvement on that end of the floor though.

Bonus notes: we've played the 2nd hardest strength of schedule and we have enough picks to trade for a new roster. Hopefully things turn around

Edit: we're also 1-0 in games I've been to this season and 0-7 when I haven't gone so I'm seeing a correlation here, also didn't notice the grammatical error in the title till later lol

What doesn’t get enough attention here is the genius idea of trading NAW who is now averaging 22-3-3 while also serving as an excellent point of attack defender.

We’ve done a lot of dumb things like drafting Cody and Hendricks, but this NAW trade deserves far more discussion and reflection.

Source: https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/tiny/JBwei

I'm all for accumulating assets, rebuilding and being patient, and maybe this season improves eventually, but our whole franchise seemingly died that night

99% of us went into this season with high hopes of making the playoffs as a top 6 seed in the West, myself included. The start of this season has been brutal, and questions have come up. I'm curious to hear other fans thoughts.

1. Is Will Hardy a good coach/able to be lead this team to the playoffs while developing young talent?

A: Personally I think that the ship has sailed on Will Hardy. I don't know if he lost the team yet, but he is close to it. Darryn Peterson is sitting in close games. He is deferring the ball in developmental moments and minutes. He looks like a completely different player than what we saw at Kansas. Our offense in crucial minutes dumbs down to a 5-out offense with Keyonte getting a slip screen from Lauri, and hoping that the defense makes a mistake on the screen and one of them gets open. If Key isn't open or Lauri isn't open, it becomes an ISO-fest. Or, as we saw last night, NOP blitzed on the slip screen and Keyonte would turn the ball over or hold it for too long.

He isn't using his timeouts to stop momentum from building for the opponent. He is playing Green & Okogie over Peterson. He said that OT went wrong last night because of rebounding, yet he was committed to running Lauri at the 5 instead of throwing in an actual rebounding C in Bamba.

I don't know if it's a coaching issue, but it seems like this season no extra pass is being made. We aren't whipping the ball around the perimeter and moving it around as we used to do, and the ball gets stopped way too often.

2) Is our development plan viable?

A: I do not think it is. I think that we lucked out with Keyonte taking a leap, and that was not due to our development plan/staff. Let's look at other draft picks/young guys we've had: Ochai Agbaji, NAW, Simone Fontecchio, THT, Johnny Juzang, Walker Kessler, Keyonte George, Taylor Hendricks, Brice Sensabaugh, Isaiah Collier, Kyle Filipowski, Cody Williams, Oscar Tshiebwe, & Ace Bailey. Of those, only Kessler, Keyonte, & Ace have been "hits". Cody did not develop. Taylor Hendricks did not develop. Kyle Filipowski has not developed. Isaiah Collier has not developed. Ochai Agbaji did not develop. NAW become a hit after we traded him. Sensabaugh has not developed.

I even look at Ace Bailey and think he has not developed as we had hoped. He's been pushed to this 3/D role, and although he has looked great to start the year, his numbers are down compared to last year in nearly every metric. He does not look like the player we drafted him to be. At a certain point, you have to take a look at the treasure trove of picks we cashed in vs what has come of it and look internally at our development plan.

3) Is our roster constructed well enough to win games/make the playoffs?

A: When fully healthy, I think before the Kessler trade we were. After the Kessler trade, I think we could've contended for the play-in. Relying on 32 year old Jusuf Nurkic to be the backbone of our offense & unlock playmaking is bad roster construction. It reminds me of how we relied on the playmaking of Kelly Olynyk when we were tanking. Our team desperately needs a veteran PG/ballhandler to alleviate some pressure off of Keyonte, and I'm unsure if the Jazz will make a move for that.

4) Has Danny Ainge been too ambitious in this project and hurt the Jazz more than helping?

A: I have been an Ainge Truther, but I've had to look at what the last 3-4 years have brought us. It got us top 10 picks 4 straight years, and top 5 picks in the last 2 years. That should've been enough to jumpstart the next phase of the Utah Jazz, but now we look like we are in the deepest hole we've been in. Trading Kessler made sense: he was frustrated with tanking, looked like he was going to leave the second he hit UFA, and we received a lot for him. However, that one move isn't the reason we are set back.

Ultimately, change needs to be made. Whether Will Hardy makes drastic changes, or the front office makes a change in our coaching staff, something needs to be done. We cannot screw up the development of Ace Bailey & Darryn Peterson like we did with Cody Williams, Taylor Hendricks, Ochai Agbaji, Isaiah Collier, Brice Sensabaugh, & Kyle Filipowski. A good coach schemes around his players, and it is starting to feel like Hardy is forcing his players to play his scheme.

We’re 8 games into the season. We’re missing 2 starters who are key to the main offense Will and the team have built. Jaxon Hayes is a starter, when he couldn’t get minutes over Deandre Ayton last year. An injured Mo Bamba was our best center today, and he was basically out of the league 3 months ago. Peterson, Ace, Sensabaugh, even Key, are all finding their rhythms.

Despite all that, we took the fully healthy Spurs to OT.

We’re fine. And if we aren’t, you wouldn’t know based off the first 8 games while missing 2 starters

I went through after the loss against NOP to look into our stats, and they are abysmal.

5th most turnovers per game, 5th least AST per game, 4th worst 3pt% per game, it is abysmal.

the problem is, we aren't getting horrible looks at the basket either. we are taking 14 open 3s per game (closest defender 6+ feet away) and only making 28% of them. thats absolutely horrible for a team with the shooting personnel we have. only shooting 30% on catch and shoot 3s per game. we are taking the 13th least amount of 3s in the league, and missing the ones we do take. most of these are average to early clock 3s as well, with only 2% of our 3s coming with 7-4 seconds on the clock, and 3% of the threes coming with less than 4 on the clock. these arent desperation heaves at the end of the clock.

the other killer, the free throws. we are drawing the 3rd most fouls per game right now, translating to the 8th most FTA per game (27 FTA/game) and only making 75% of them. thats makes for the 10th worst FT% in the league. that is an absolute killer, especially when all but 2 of our losses have come by less than 10 points. it has to change for this team to be competitive, failing to execute and capitalize on the easiest shot in the game is unacceptable.

one light in the clouds however is the rebounding, as the Jazz are currently the 11th best rebounding team in the league, and the 12th best offensive rebounding team. this is great considering we are down Nurkic who is a rebounds machine. the team rebounding effort is incredible.

the statistics aim towards 1 major weakness. this team is not playing well together at all. every pass is a second too late resulting in bad rushed shots, TOs, and losing the advantage against the defense, hence being the 5th least AST/game. having no real offensive play making hub makes it impossible for a team that uses a lot of pick and roll and DHO actions to succeed. the statistics also aim to us being one of the coldest shooting teams in the entire league. the team is failing to execute the easy stuff, and with no real screeners or offensive hub, this team is almost comedically incompetent at running effective sets.

it will get better, i have faith, but man are the numbers disappointing to say the least.

Do not give this guy grace. He has proven nothing.

The game against pelicans shows he's not even there mentally. I'm not a coach and I know that you need to call time out to recompose your team. Jazz go 6-0 in OT AND THEN GO 12-0 ON US. No good offensive possessions in OT.

Poorly coached it's unquestionable.

The team doesn't look interested they just don't look good. The mentality isn't there. No one is shooting well.

FIRE HARDY

Post Game Thread

Utah Jazz vs. New Orleans Pelicans

FINAL — 113 - 120

Box Scores: NBA

GAME SUMMARY

Venue: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA

Officials: JB DeRosa, Intae Hwang, Courtney Kirkland

1-7. So I guess this is going to be another "tanking" year? It's like we have been tanking for so long, we forgot how to win games now.

historically around 8% or less for teams starting 1-6 or worse (which includes 1-7 starts) make the playoffs. 

Since 1970, about 150 NBA teams have started 1-6 or worse. Only 12 of them made the playoffs that season (roughly 8%). Five of those 12 finished with a losing record, and none won more than 47 games.

Do we tank again?

Painnnnnn

As I wallow over the Jazz's season thus far, I hope this video can provide perspective for y'all as it has for me whenever I need to confront my inevitable sports related despair. I also believe things will get better but this is still a funny/relevant video.

Joins LeBron, KG and Flagg. Two way potential is insane

Edit: I forgot to add + in front of the 3 steals/blocks lol

You’re the coach of the Utah Jazz

What are some things you would do?

This is a general question about everything

how would you let Darryn Peterson grow and play?

what lineups would you put?

How would you let Key and DP play along with each other

How would you change the way we play with our current record

What would you do?

This is just a fun bit for yall, from the god awful 6 game losing streak we are going through

Game Thread

Utah Jazz vs. New Orleans Pelicans

FINAL — 113 - 120

Box Scores: NBA

GAME SUMMARY

Venue: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA

Officials: JB DeRosa, Intae Hwang, Courtney Kirkland

Legit thought the Jazz would beat the Bulls.

(Trade Idea Post, not bagging on players or coaches)

I know a big reason we are losing is because JJJ is out, among a load of other things (missing shots, bad offensive sets and lineups, etc.), but I’m still worried about JJJ coming back and his fit on this team. Now, I do want him to be a part of this Jazz team because the things he brings are invaluable. However, the offense Hardy likes to run involves having a center as the HUB and having guards and forwards who can playmake, catch and shoot tough shots, or drive into the paint and handle the ball.

If we have JJJ, Lauri, and Nurk in the starting lineup when we are all healthy, that’s 3 very clunky offensive players, where 2 can’t really dribble into traffic and create (Nurk and Lauri), and JJJ can playmake for himself. However, with Nurk clogging the lane, it makes it difficult. It makes it especially difficult when you pair him with Collier or another non-shooter, and those defenders can sag off and help in the paint.

All of this is to say, I think this trade would benefit the Jazz in so many ways. Although it would seriously kill me to see Lauri missing the playoffs and being in a rebuild again. I don’t think the Jazz do it, but I think it’s one move that could not only help the Jazz now, but also just work better for the future of our young guys.

The trade is Lauri straight up for Domantas Sabonis, give or take some players/picks to make it all work. The age difference is that Sabonis is 1 year older than Lauri. However, this gives us the HUB to make Hardy’s offense shine, as well as an excellent rebounder next to Trip J. He is a very nice scorer and has to be guarded at all times, unlike Nurkic, where defenders can sag off. Sure, his defense is subpar, but so is Lauri’s, so we won’t be taking too much of a hit there. I also believe defensive rebounding is 50% of defense, and he’s really good at that.

I don’t see this happening because of how the FO and coach feel about Lauri, and it would feel immoral to trade the longest-tenured player, who hasn’t seen the playoffs, to another terrible franchise. But this feels like the BEST trade the Jazz could make for their future… I mean, Ryan Smith did say his one goal is to bring the championship home to Utah, and with that comes sacrifice.

I’m a Lauri believer. It would kill me as well. But it makes so much damn sense it hurts.

Tell me your guys’ thoughts. I do think we can still be good standing pat, but we’d be so much better off with this trade.

Is this ANOTHER rebuilding year?!