I'm no fan of ESPN, I think that the world-wide leader in sports seems to care more about making money and appeasing big markets than actually covering the world equally. I clearly remember watching stories on Tiger Woods and Brett Favre TWICE before a brief mention of the Jazz score, only to cut out to an extended interview with Derek Jeter. Or at least, that's what the TV Network ESPN is like. Their website gives you a lot of information if you know how to find it, and provided you enjoy auto-loading videos of Stephen A Smith having an aneurism while talking about Slava Medvedenko.
Snark aside, there are a number of guys on ESPN who know their stuff. You don't always have to agree with them, but for the most part they kind of know their stuff. At the very least, a lot of them know their stuff a lot more than I know my stuff. And they should, it's their job.
One of those guys is David Thorpe ( @coachthorpe ). Today he had a chat on ESPN and he dropped a few bombs on the Jazz. I was alerted to this by a Jazz fan on twitter, so I had to check it out for myself. If you are interested click on below . . .
Here's what Coach Thorpe (if that is his real name) said:
So, clearly, the one thing we can know for sure is that Clint (@Clintonite33) is going to hate this. Secondly, regardless if we agree or disagree with his replies we should try and see WHY is he saying these things.
- #1: I don't think Paul Millsap is the odd-man out, but I think we all agree that a number of teams would love to have him on their roster
- #2: I think that, if you are following the facts and paying attention, you see that Al Jefferson is totally changing his game and trying to adapt it to playing with more talented guys now. And he's a much more willing passer. He does not get the number of assists he could not because he doesn't pass, but because some guys on our team just can't make shots. Furthermore, he doesn't get the proper recognition around the league (and at ESPN obviously) that he should. He passes now. He gets assists.
- #3: Rig is obviously Randy Rigby here. Rigby is the CEO and President of the LHM Sports and Entertainment division. Well, jokes aside, it appears that Thorpe is clearly sold on the "blow everything up" model where we are forced to play draft picks, a model that never ever works. Ever. Shut up.
- #4: Uh . . . well, the point he's not making is that some guys just don't need great coaching. But it's not like every team that gets a high draft pick actually uses that pick on one of those guys. The Jazz used a #3 pick on Enes Kanter. He's not some basketball genius who can figure it all out by himself if you play him 38 mpg. He's not a Kevin Durant type . . . he's not even a Brandon Knight type (who's having some ups and downs here in Detroit). Kanter is the perfect 'squire' candidate that needs veterans.
- #5: Corbin isn't a 1st Tier Coach! The audacity to say that! (gets type writer out to compose strongly worded letter.)
Thorpe said a lot of things, some things we agree with, and some things we may be hesitant to accept. He's an outsider from the Jazz. But he's still an NBA insider. And these are his views. I think that Millsap, Jefferson, and Devin Harris are all not in our long term future. He advocates moving them, akin to ripping off a band-aid quickly. That way the sooner we can focus all of our attention and development on the youth. I don't know if I would do that. (Though, some people have concluded that's the only thing I want . . . )
What's your take on this, Jazz fans?