My recollections:
- Biggest thing was how bad the culture was by the end of the year. The reporters all seemed to agree that there was plenty of blame to go around, but they weren't apt to assign blame to any one person or dynamic on the team. Nobody characterized the major issue as a Don vs Rudy thing, though all acknowledged that there was tension there. Sounds like there was probably plenty more than that to the problems.
- They all seemed to agree that both Don and Rudy are simultaneously great individuals but likely bad teammates in differing ways (at least for this year's iteration of the Jazz). All seemed to agree that Don needed to do a lot better on defense and improve playmaking if he wants to take the next step up in his career. All seemed to agree that the organization had been catering too much to him in the broader sense.
- Though they all agreed that the culture was broken, they acknowledged that it wasn't one of those things that could just be easily fixed. Nobody really knew how to fix it despite knowing that issues existed, and (unlike the Celtics) the organization just couldn't collectively turn it around.
- Strangely little was said about much of the team or even Quin. I don't think they mentioned Ingles, Bogey, Whiteside, Clarkson (aside from perhaps the my turn-your turn phenomenon when he and Donovan shared the floor) and many others. I think the only mention of Butler was in terms of the current log jam of guards that will make it hard for him to find time unless they get rid of some of the guards on the team now. They did say that many in the organization don't really like Dok (probably as a player, but it was a little hard to tell if it went further).
- They were most negative (in terms of contributions to team culture) about Gay, followed by the claim that they let House go because he was crazy, and then it sounded like they were a bit down on Royce as well (and therefore were not surprised to see him shipped off).
- Conley's brush with being benched by Quin got mentioned. They wondered and were slightly more optimistic than a couple years ago (if the Jazz can't get rid of Conley's contract) whether he'll accept coming off the bench this time.
- Walker Kessler got a few mentions, strangely enough, with both Andy and Tony seeming to be slightly optimistic. Andy also liked Bolmaro, but wasn't so high on Vanderbilt (for lack of offense).
- Lindsey took quite a few hits in their discussion, particularly for messing up the marginal signings (including the "Dennis Lindsey special" of confounding bad choices by selling of draft picks to get rid of underperforming contracts).
- Some talk of Will Hardy -- especially that he wowed the Jazz in the interview process, and that there's no way he can yet be making decisions about what to do with the team since there's still far too much roster change yet to happen
- Said that many in the Jazz organization were strong Alex Jensen supporters throughout much of the hiring process. Seemed to say that Johnny Bryant had both supporters and detractors among the organization.
- Argued somewhat about whether the Jazz are intending to trade Donovan. Unsurprisingly Tony was strongest on the side that they didn't intend to. Ended up with semi-agreement that the careful phrasing that trading Donovan is "not currently in the plans" (or something close to that) is probably the best way to describe the situation. All agreed that Donovan would go if a great offer came up.
- Throughout the Donovan trade discussion, I think it's fair to claim that Tony sees his job more as reporting what he's told and not going much beyond that (probably even when he can see the writing on the wall). Andy (and Sarah to an extent) seem to have more interest in interpreting beyond the for-the-record comments. (My own perspective is that there's plenty to value from both approaches, especially as long as you're aware what each of them is doing. Andy will say out loud what seems to be happening more often, but he might occasionally overinterpret things. Tony won't stake strong claims often, but he's often the one that will be the best signal that something real is afoot when his tune changes (since you'll know that it's really the Jazz that are talking through him).)
