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Utah Jazz Media Day (live stream)

FWIW, listening to it live and I think he just handled the question poorly. He started the question off by talking about guarding the perimeter, but seemed to be hesitant to call anybody out specifically. Then his mind kind of shifted to "well, everybody even our best defensive player needs to play better". Since Kessler is obviously our best defensive player it made sense (in his mind) to call him out. I'm sure he wasn't even thinking about contract negotiation stuff.

Manufacturing losses was the goal last year. (They took what could have been a 35-win team down to 17 wins.) It may be again this year. Having a lousy defense is part of the plan. Last year, the Jazz talked about improving defensively then proceeded to be bottom of the league again. Defense is just going to be a sore topic for a while, I’d expect.
 
"not everybody gets to sit in these chairs" what a dude.
I have been (unfairly) a doubter on Ace personality and fit in Utah. Seems like I was way off.
If that video is an accurate representation of his personality then holy cow, how could he not be a fan favorite.
That little Twitter interview clip is about as good as it gets. Just oozing joy from the screen into my body.
 
My biggest takeaway from media day is that I don’t think the Jazz see Walker Kessler as a big part of their future.
 
I disagree about the Kessler comments. Yes it was the only real downer of media day, but I thought he handled it well. He said after answering the question today he didn't want it to be a distraction to the team or for him.

I do want Kessler extended but if you look at it objectively or analytically and take the emotions out of it you can see some reasoning why the Jazz want to wait until next summer. Also if you look at players on Kessler's draft class, I think only 4 players signed extensions and they were max extensions.
Paolo Banchero
2 OKC JWill and Chet...
Are the names I remember.
 
So who won media day?
Ace, with his infectious enthusiasm?

Key, with his off season and emotional response to Hendricks rehab and getting back.

Niang, with just his overall interview, he was answering so well that the media just kept wanting to ask him questions.
 
One of the attributes that both Donovan and Kessler has as rookies was their ability to learn from their mistakes quickly. They both seemed to have super human athletic intelligence where they could struggle with something one game and seemingly be great at that thing the next game.

I'll be watching for that from Ace this year. We all know that he's going to make lots of mistakes, but how capable is he of learning from those mistakes and getting better quickly.
 
My biggest takeaway from media day is that I don’t think the Jazz see Walker Kessler as a big part of their future.
So weird. They are doing a similar evaluation the Warriors are on JK. "We don't want to pay you like anything close to a star" and then "We need a star return in trade".

Pick a lane.

Its different a little as Walker has more trade value imo. The Lakers offered a couple firsts at one point. Should have taken it if you weren't willing to prioritize an extension. Making no decision will appear to be a "flexibility" play but it actually is more likely to paint us into a corner imo.
 
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