The Downbeat 1k31 - We Just Want to Talk About the Jazz

I'm sure all of you heard the news that broke last night, via David James. Andy has all the updates here. I know that the Jazz like to release news on their terms. This is a bit ridiculous. It doesn't take much sleuth work to determine that this is the eventual case. Its a bit sad that the Jazz are bordering on fully smearing DJ's name through the mud in order to maintain their sanctimonious policy of keeping their secrets tighter than The Vatican.

As for fans' reaction, they should be both delighted and dismayed. Delighted in that there was such a large conversation that late in the evening, during a Playoff game. There has been 35 comments in Andy's post, which went up after 10:00 pm. That's a testament to fans' eagerness to be involved in any news this offseason. Its up to the Jazz to find a way to turn that into returning our collective asses to the seats of ESA.

What they should be concerned about is the "ding dong, the witch is dead" reaction that was fairly unanimous on Twitter. Regardless of your stance on KOC's tenure, they are surely mixed. I know mine are. Having said that, I think that almost everyone is excited to see what Dennis Lindsey can accomplish. #DLWSUA, as they say.

From around the net:

Zach Lowe wrote an article chronicling what he calls the "New Shane Battier's"; players that can shoot AND play defense. Its a great list and article. In it he lists our own Gordon Hayward as one of the young ones that shows promise to be on the list.

Tom Ziller is one of my favorites. His smack down of an ill-informed article on the Sacramento/Seattle situation.

With the end of the season, the Hornets officially become the Pelicans and abandon the mardi-gras color scheme in the process. This lead Spencer Hall of Salt City Hoops to proclaim that the Jazz should take advantage and switch their color way. Moni then, being her brilliant self, went and did some fantastic mock-ups on her site, found here.

They look really great and I think the Jazz should absolutely adopt a road and away version of those... as alternate jerseys. I love the current look. Its just the right amount of nod to history and modernization for me. Going full circle back to the purple/green/yellow feels wrong to me. Great players wore those jerseys. A great coach and owner created this thing we love in those jerseys. Lets let them be. Lets move on from that era and embrace the future.

Last week we talked about who we were cheering for in the playoffs. What have been your favorite series' so far? I have enjoyed the Grizz/Clipps and the Warriors/Nuggets immensely. Both have been chippy, gritty, playoff series, one with more offense than the other, both fun. The Nets/Bulls has also been pretty enjoyable.

With the Grizzlies, Warriors, and Bulls set to upset the higher seed, does this change how the rest of the tournament plays out? I think that the shorthanded Thunder are certainly going to have their hands full with a Grizzlies team that plays such great defense. Could be a coup in the West.

What are you more looking forward to, the Draft or the start of Free Agency?