2022-23 regular season. The Tank begins...

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Adrian Wojnarowski: Running back The Woj Pod with Jazz coach Will Hardy, who has won an improbable 8 of 11 games to start his NBA coaching career: https://t.co/BtwKsJTLM8 pic.twitter.com/WzWv7bwJpS

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We are 11 games into the season and the Jazz are 8-3. They are tied with the Phoenix Suns at the top of the Western Conference. They are the only team in the Western Conference to have as many as eight wins. Of those eight wins, six of those victories are against teams that either made the playoffs or the Play-In Tournament last season. “This was tough at first because I’m 35 and I’m so used to having championship aspirations,” Conley told The Athletic. “I came to the Jazz to play for championships. So I was wondering what would end up happening. But once we got a new coach (Will Hardy) in here and he started laying things out, I knew that I wanted to be here. We are building and developing. “I wanted to put my ego aside and focus on the guys. I’ve loved every second of being on this team, and we play a brand of basketball here that we haven’t played in a while.”

– via Tony Jones @ The Athletic

2/3 make the playoff or play-in

Utah’s found a way to beat multiple styles. The Jazz through 11 games have shown they can win a track meet or a slugfest. It’s the start that nobody imagined, not even the Jazz themselves. Not even Conley. “If you had told me in July or August that we would be playing this well, I would’ve said, ‘Hey I’ll take it,’ ” Conley said. “Because it’s so early, I don’t want to take it as validating what we believe because we have a lot of proving to do. We know that we have a lot of room to improve and to get better. We also know who we are and how we can play and how much better we can be. It’s a cool feeling to know we can do some of these things and quiet people in the process.”

– via Tony Jones @ The Athletic







Justin Kubatko: The @Cleveland Cavaliers Donovan Mitchell has scored 251 points this season, the third-highest total in NBA history by a player in his first eight games with a new team.

– via Twitter jkubatko

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Steve Popper: Timberwolves have Rudy Gobert listed as OUT tonight vs. Knicks (health and safety protocols). Quentin Grimes is still questionable right now for Knicks.
– via Twitter StevePopper

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Despite the lack of playing time so far, Simone Fontecchio remains positive and he’s pretty sure that his time will come, as he revealed in an interview with Sky Sports Italy. “This is my first experience in the NBA, so it’s only normal and right that I have to fight for every single minute”, Fontecchio explained. “Slowly, I’m trying to earn my teammates and the coach’s trust. Coach Hardy wants me to be always ready on the perimeter”.

– via Orazio Cauchi @ BasketNews





“I want to say to the Italian fans following me: ‘Don’t feel sorry for me when I’m not playing. I’m feeling good. My moment and my minutes will come, so don’t worry”, Fontecchio added during the interview.
– via Orazio Cauchi @ BasketNews







Jazz have been one of the most positive surprises of the season so far, with a really hot start. Fontecchio explained that the team is playing with a chip on its shoulders. “Not a lot of people took us seriously before the start of the season and that was an extra motivation for us”, Fontecchio stated. “We want to show what type of team we are and how good we can be, we’re very united”.
– via Orazio Cauchi @ BasketNews

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The Peter J. Werth Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Connecticut today announced that Rudy Gay, professional basketball player for the NBA’s Utah Jazz, has joined its Championship Labs Advisory Board, lending his name and support as the face of the university’s innovative initiative to empower student-athletes as they maximize their name, image, and likeness (NIL).
– via UConn Huskies




A first-of-its-kind program, Championship Labs educates and inspires student-athletes to become entrepreneurs to their NIL through education, support, mentorship, and partnerships. Providing industry expertise through The Werth Institute’s award-winning programs, advisors work one-on-one with students to create a blueprint to monetize their personal brand while empowering them with the skill sets of an entrepreneur.
– via UConn Huskies

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Atlanta Hawks PR: The Hawks announced today that guard Tyrese Martin has been recalled to the Atlanta Hawks, while two-way guards Trent Forrest and Jarrett Culver have been transferred to the Hawks.
– via Twitter HawksPR

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https://www.ksl.com/article/50511142...-over-clippers

The Jazz were led in scoring on Sunday by Jordan Clarkson, who had 23 points and five assists, but with the Clippers reaching the bonus early in the fourth quarter, Hardy opted to go with the guard that could put more pressure on the rim. It turned out to be a stroke of genius.

a coach making adjustments based on the game situation. What a revelation!

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At one point, Mike Conley thought he would be on the move to the LA Clippers. He received a message from a person he trusted that a move to the Clippers, a team that coveted Conley for multiple seasons, could be real. But the Clippers went with John Wall.
– via Tony Jones @ The Athletic





“This was tough at first because I’m 35 and I’m so used to having championship aspirations,” Conley told The Athletic. “I came to the Jazz to play for championships. So I was wondering what would end up happening. But once we got a new coach (Will Hardy) in here and he started laying things out, I knew that I wanted to be here. We are building and developing. I wanted to put my ego aside and focus on the guys. I’ve loved every second of being on this team, and we play a brand of basketball here that we haven’t played in a while.”
– via Tony Jones @ The Athletic






“If you had told me in July or August that we would be playing this well, I would’ve said, ‘Hey I’ll take it,’ ” Conley said. “Because it’s so early, I don’t want to take it as validating what we believe because we have a lot of proving to do. We know that we have a lot of room to improve and to get better. We also know who we are and how we can play and how much better we can be. It’s a cool feeling to know we can do some of these things and quiet people in the process.”
– via Tony Jones @ The Athletic

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Andy Larsen: Jarred Vanderbilt listed as questionable vs. Lakers due to his adductor soreness. Leandro Bolmaro now back in action, off the injury report.
– via Twitter andyblarsen

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Austin Krell: Danuel House Jr is out tonight. Embiid still questionable.
– via Twitter NBAKrell

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Ryan Miller: Lakers coach Darvin Ham on Will Hardy: “You’ll find out he’s a really really good coach. How they play out there is reflection of him — how they’re playing, how they’re moving the ball, just their activity.”
– via Twitter millerjryan





Eric Walden: Will Hardy on Lauri’s post-up game: He doesn’t have a singular go-to move, he’s still working on how to keep it simple. … But we put him through a variety of situations every game, not giving him the ball in the same spot, so he’s reading situations.
– via Twitter tribjazz

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https://saltcityhoops.com/sc7-pure-j...watch-context/

The Nuggets, Clippers, Pelicans, Timberwolves and Grizzlies were all considered virtual playoff locks before the 2022-23 NBA season began. The plucky, surprising Utah Jazz have already beaten all of them.

not sure any of them were locks between injuries and being unproven

The Lakers have been a total mess, at 2-6 even outside their loss to Utah.

they had been good defensively though and the Jazz scored on them

The Jazz won and lost to the Rockets, who are 0-8 in all other games. Third-leading Houston scorer Alperen Sengun didn’t play in either game.

back to back scheduled loss

The Wolves were healthy when they fell — also in overtime — to the Jazz, but they are 5-4 in all other games and their stars are still figuring out how to play together: Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards are -5.1 per 100 possessions as a trio.

need to figure it out. Too much talent

Collin Sexton is having the most efficient season of his pro career, with .607 true shooting through Sunday. He is maximizing his shot profile: a career-high 34.5% of his shots are threes (which he’s hitting at a 39.5% clip), and he has attempted just one long two all season.

better than Mitchell!

The Jazz are allowing teams to rebound 31.1% of their misses, the third worst figure in the league. They also allow 24.4 plays per 100 reboundable opponent miss, the highest figure in the league.

not good when your playing bigger than most teams

When the Jazz offloaded stars and started collecting future picks, nobody would have guessed that the least favorable of their 2023 owned picks would be their own. But 11 games in, that’s where things stand.

2 lottery picks still!

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https://www.ksl.com/article/50511969...record-in-west

Davis had 19 points at halftime and took advantage of Utah's lack of true shot blocker for much of the game.

what is Kessler if not a true shot blocker? Not to mention Udoka

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https://www.ksl.com/article/50511906...h-20m-donation

Now can you do just one thing for me and trade the bum?

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https://kslsports.com/495186/lakers-...-loss-to-jazz/

The awkward build allows Horton-Tucker to throw down thunderous dunks like the one he did against the Lakers in the third quarter while also converting acrobatic finishes around taller defenders at the rim.

and keeps him from being a good shooter?

Walker Kessler scored eight points and grabbed nine rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench.

and 2 blocks. Udoka had one. Thought Udoka looked good in his GT minutes