How interested/engaged/enthusiastic are you about the Jazz right now?

Ryan Smith and Qualtrics can thank me later.

For inexplicable reasons, even after vexing introspection, I find myself thinking about Utah Jazz thematic issues at a rate greater than is typical in August, high summer here in Edinburgh. I am writing a new treatise on human nature, fortified by ale, and I shall use this topic as a starting point on in-group/out-group psychological dispositions.

The rebuild after the Gobert/Mitchell blow-up has been lackluster at best, and has netted us exactly enough to be middle of the road for the foreseeable future, with nothing in the way of assets to help us get any better. Unless we strike gold in the draft again, something along the lines of Mitchell or Gobert, then we are stuck on the mediocrity treadmill yet again. I have lost most interest I have ever had in the team, and this last draft with the **** the league pulled to get the darlings the best picks all but killed my interest in the NBA in general. **** them and **** Ryan and his "team" who are obviously more focused on putting butts in the seats and acquiring other entertainment venues and vehicles than they are in fielding a truly competitive NBA team. They can go **** themselves with that ****. I am pretty close to just being done with it all. I kind of hope more fans are also done with it so it prompts them to change, but that will not be the case, and they will continue business as usual.

I voted less interest than normal and not likely to regain the same level of interest, but it's not because I'm upset about anything. I am hoping that I am just maturing and realizing that being a super fan is not the best use of my time. I think/hope that I am starting to gain some wisdom as I get older and it's causing me to care about things that add more fulfilment than being a sports fan.

(I'm probably just fooling myself)

Will always be a fan. Hard to stay dialed in and watch 60 losses. I'll more or less be tracking the team thru the box scores / JFC commentary.

I spend a similar amount of time thinking about the NBA, but a lot of that time is spent to more general things like the draft instead of the Jazz specifically. So you could say my engagement has dropped.

It's hard to hold the same interest when everyone around you is clearly less interested. Friends/family clearly are either disgusted or disinterested in the Jazz altogether. The Jazz aren't a topic of normal conversation like they were before. I'm the "Jazz/NBA guy" in my social circle, but I really don't know what to say to people other than that they are trying to lose on purpose by design. The forum has definitely gotten quiter as well, so it's just more difficult overall to be a fan even if you want to engage more.

Following European Football/Premier League has been a new interest of mine and it's been awesome. Football culture/competition is infinitely more entertaining and engaging than the world of basketball/NBA. There is only so much time in a day, so I told myself I cannot become a superfan of another sport so I stay more of a casual fan....but I could eventually see myself switching over to being a football fan first. That has less to do with the Jazz tanking and more with the entire league itself. The NBA is producing a very poor product for the fans IMO and it's getting worse and worse.

KqWIN said:

It's hard to hold the same interest when everyone around you is clearly less interested. Friends/family clearly are either disgusted or disinterested in the Jazz altogether. The Jazz aren't a topic of normal conversation like they were before. I'm the "Jazz/NBA guy" in my social circle, but I really don't know what to say to people other than that they are trying to lose on purpose by design. The forum has definitely gotten quiter as well, so it's just more difficult overall to be a fan even if you want to engage more.

Following European Football/Premier League has been a new interest of mine and it's been awesome. Football culture/competition is infinitely more entertaining and engaging than the world of basketball/NBA. There is only so much time in a day, so I told myself I cannot become a superfan of another sport so I stay more of a casual fan....but I could eventually see myself switching over to being a football fan first. That has less to do with the Jazz tanking and more with the entire league itself. The NBA is producing a very poor product for the fans IMO and it's getting worse and worse.

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Nice, do you have any teams you support or are you just a fan in general. I'm glad the PL season is back, nice to wake up and watch games on the weekend.

prodigy said:

Nice, do you have any teams you support or are you just a fan in general. I'm glad the PL season is back, nice to wake up and watch games on the weekend.

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I mainly support Tottenham. I picked them because they seemed to be similarish to the Jazz when I started following. They were a good team that won a lot but they do not win trophies lol. But that's kind of the brilliances of football. Spurs had a horrible season, and yet they came away with their first trophy in years. Incredible moment. There's so much to play/compete for and every match seems like life and death. Every weekend there is a big match that is meaningful, and once the cups get going there's massive games during the week as well.

Such a change of pace from the NBA where they do anything and everything to tell you why the game you're watching isn't meaningful. I'm just not a huge fan of the "championship or bust" NBA because it means that nothing else really matters. I enjoy the sport of basketball, it will always be my favorite. But the experience of being an NBA fan just sucks IMO.

Timing of this poll could not be worse if you are looking for an honest pulse check.

I will wait and see what my interest level is when TC starts. Last season it was fine until I saw Cody play and TH get injured after which it plummeted.

SoberasHotRod said:

I voted less interest than normal and not likely to regain the same level of interest, but it's not because I'm upset about anything. I am hoping that I am just maturing and realizing that being a super fan is not the best use of my time. I think/hope that I am starting to gain some wisdom as I get older and it's causing me to care about things that add more fulfilment than being a sports fan.

(I'm probably just fooling myself)

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LOL, pretty much the same internal dialogue I've been having lately. I'll continue to follow this year mostly to root for the youngsters, but if I see the Jazz pulling the same shiite as last year (i.e., intentionally manipulating games to lose), I'll pull the plug. It's hard to get too enthusiastic until there's evidence that the FO actually has and is executing plan other than "let's suck and cross our fingers we get lucky in the lottery."

HermanG said:

Timing of this poll could not be worse if you are looking for an honest pulse check.

I will wait and see what my interest level is when TC starts. Last season it was fine until I saw Cody play and TH get injured after which it plummeted.

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Feel free to start a poll whenever you think is better timing. This is relevant to how I'm feeling and interested in what others are feeling currently. There are options for different scenarios that could raise your interest.

KqWIN said:

I mainly support Tottenham. I picked them because they seemed to be similarish to the Jazz when I started following. They were a good team that won a lot but they do not win trophies lol. But that's kind of the brilliances of football. Spurs had a horrible season, and yet they came away with their first trophy in years. Incredible moment. There's so much to play/compete for and every match seems like life and death. Every weekend there is a big match that is meaningful, and once the cups get going there's massive games during the week as well.

Such a change of pace from the NBA where they do anything and everything to tell you why the game you're watching isn't meaningful. I'm just not a huge fan of the "championship or bust" NBA because it means that nothing else really matters. I enjoy the sport of basketball, it will always be my favorite. But the experience of being an NBA fan just sucks IMO.

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True. Come to think about it they are very jazz-like. Mabye explains why I became a fan of the Buffalo Bills. Prolific offense that somehow cant put it all together in the big games, seems like we say that they are going to finally get over the hump but than they lose to Kansas City in the playoffs again.

NBA has experimented with a cup/tournament play, I just dont think anyone cares after the thing is over with.

I'm a little more engaged at this point this year than last because I'm interested in seeing how Ace plays, and if the Jazz can tank the season naturally without being too gross. But I'm definitely not like champing at the bit waiting for the season to start or anything like I usually am around this time of year. Last year taught me how not to have the team be at the center of my interests, and I doubt that's changing this year. But I kinda miss having something to obsess about.

prodigy said:

True. Come to think about it they are very jazz-like. Mabye explains why I became a fan of the Buffalo Bills. Prolific offense that somehow cant put it all together in the big games, seems like we say that they are going to finally get over the hump but than they lose to Kansas City in the playoffs again.

NBA has experimented with a cup/tournament play, I just dont think anyone cares after the thing is over with.

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I honestly don’t mind different levels of “importance” throughout the season. That’s something I’ve learned from watching Football. Some clubs will prioritize different competitions more than others, and some competitions simply are seen as important across the board. That is totally fine and actually adds to the product.

I don’t want to hijack this conversation, but I think NBA basketball is great when played at full competition level. The issue is that NBA teams cannot play 82 games + playoffs at that level. An 82 game schedule is simply incompatible with the current game.

Everyone is afraid about reducing the # of games or having games that mean less….I see it as a good thing because if we had X amount of games seen as less important, it would mean that the remaining games would be seen as more important. I think the current situation leads to the entirety of the regular season being watered down. I’d rather have ~60 games that are of high quality/importance and ~20 games that are of lesser quality/importance (like the carabao cup).

I'd like to see Ace start to develop well. He has a ton of potential as a Paul George-like scoring wing on the perimeter and something like Lamar Odom on the interior.

I'd like to see Keyonte and Brice have good seasons.

I'm not going to stan for Cody Williams this year. It's exhausting.

After four decades of being a hard core fan I think I'm realizing what little window we had to win it all has closed. Watching uncompetitive ball is just not that enjoyable any more and as I've grown older I have gained other hobbies that are more personal. I'll likely spend more time watching instructional videos and such to get better at those pass times than watch the Jazz tank. Or at least that is what I say until the season starts. Hopefully Ace, TH, Flip and even Cody improve. I would like to be able to watch through four quarters and think we may have a chance to win on any given night.

very excited and engaged but we need bailey to be really good. there is a lot riding that.

voted more than normal.

KqWIN said:

I honestly don’t mind different levels of “importance” throughout the season. That’s something I’ve learned from watching Football. Some clubs will prioritize different competitions more than others, and some competitions simply are seen as important across the board. That is totally fine and actually adds to the product.

I don’t want to hijack this conversation, but I think NBA basketball is great when played at full competition level. The issue is that NBA teams cannot play 82 games + playoffs at that level. An 82 game schedule is simply incompatible with the current game.

Everyone is afraid about reducing the # of games or having games that mean less….I see it as a good thing because if we had X amount of games seen as less important, it would mean that the remaining games would be seen as more important. I think the current situation leads to the entirety of the regular season being watered down. I’d rather have ~60 games that are of high quality/importance and ~20 games that are of lesser quality/importance (like the carabao cup).

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Its funny because I don't think there are very many people that would actually argue that reducing the number of games would be a bad thing from a product perspective. Each game means more, less strain on the player's bodies so they can play harder and be injured less, less need to rest players with a greater potential detriment to doing so. Cutting the games to somewhere in the 60s would be hugely beneficial to players fans and product.

The thing that would keep it from happening would be the money. They'd need to figure out a way that they could suck the same amount of money out of the fans while providing less product. The problem isn't even like ticket sales, I'd imagine most fans would be OK with a 20% hike in prices if it meant they were seeing a better product and had a better chance of actually seeing LeBron or whoever the one time per year they come to town. Its more how the TV deals and player salaries would work with fewer games. I doubt the owners, media, and players would ever be able to negotiate an agreement that would allow a significant reduction in games played.

GunterD said:

Its funny because I don't think there are very many people that would actually argue that reducing the number of games would be a bad thing from a product perspective. Each game means more, less strain on the player's bodies so they can play harder and be injured less, less need to rest players with a greater potential detriment to doing so. Cutting the games to somewhere in the 60s would be hugely beneficial to players fans and product.

The thing that would keep it from happening would be the money. They'd need to figure out a way that they could suck the same amount of money out of the fans while providing less product. The problem isn't even like ticket sales, I'd imagine most fans would be OK with a 20% hike in prices if it meant they were seeing a better product and had a better chance of actually seeing LeBron or whoever the one time per year they come to town. Its more how the TV deals and player salaries would work with fewer games. I doubt the owners, media, and players would ever be able to negotiate an agreement that would allow a significant reduction in games played.

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It wouldn't really affect nationally televised games, so it really only affects local TV deals. I don't understand fully all of the issues, but I know that local TV deals are one of the biggest points of friction in the NBA and cause most of the uneveness among teams. I wonder if at some point local TV deals get figured out and the amount of games can then be reduced.

GunterD said:

Its funny because I don't think there are very many people that would actually argue that reducing the number of games would be a bad thing from a product perspective. Each game means more, less strain on the player's bodies so they can play harder and be injured less, less need to rest players with a greater potential detriment to doing so. Cutting the games to somewhere in the 60s would be hugely beneficial to players fans and product.

The thing that would keep it from happening would be the money. They'd need to figure out a way that they could suck the same amount of money out of the fans while providing less product. The problem isn't even like ticket sales, I'd imagine most fans would be OK with a 20% hike in prices if it meant they were seeing a better product and had a better chance of actually seeing LeBron or whoever the one time per year they come to town. Its more how the TV deals and player salaries would work with fewer games. I doubt the owners, media, and players would ever be able to negotiate an agreement that would allow a significant reduction in games played.

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Eh, there are definitely people that don't want less games for product reasons. I've had so many arguments about this.

The main revenue drivers wouldn't change under this system. National TV games would remain the same number, and you could still have 82 total games—they just wouldn't all carry equal weight. Here's how it could work: imagine a 60-game regular season plus ~20 games from a separate cup competition. Players could choose how much they care about the cup games. If they do care, great—we get a meaningful competition that engages players, owners, and fans. If they don't? That's still great. You'd have 60 higher-quality regular season games plus 20 "lower-stakes" cup games that could serve multiple purposes: rest opportunities, chances for backups to play, and provide a more accessible price point for fans.

The current system makes all 82 games "equal," which makes most of them feel meaningless and leads to the mediocre product. A tiered approach would create clearer distinctions between high and lower stakes games. I think a lot of the disdain for "load management" is that it can come at any time and you have this whole idea that people used their hard earned money just to get snubbed. A tiered system would set expectations appropriately and remove a lot of distrust with fans.

I don't see this happening, though. Both players and owners keep watching the money go up. While a higher-quality product generates more money, revenue and franchise values aren't tied solely to quality. The NBA got a massive media rights deal not because they created a good product that attracted viewers, but because live sports are an increasingly valuable product in a competitive streaming service world. The product being mediocre is a fan problem, not a player or owner problem. While I think they would make more money with a change like this, why rock the boat when you're already making so much?