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The Downbeat #1738: The Preseason Is So Close It's Scary Edition

Your Friday Downbeat!

By dianaallen
Sometimes Grant Jerrett wants to be on the cover photo of the Downbeat too! Diana can't always post pics of Rudy Gobert and Raul Neto
Sometimes Grant Jerrett wants to be on the cover photo of the Downbeat too! Diana can't always post pics of Rudy Gobert and Raul Neto
Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

So as you may know, Gordon Hayward likes video games. He likes them a lot.  Yesterday he was on Colin Cowherd defending his passion for video games. Watch it here

  • Gordon defends watching other gamers
  • Gordon defends against the stereotype of gamers. For example, my Lou is a gamer and he is hot and has a life. He does not live in the basement of his parent's house. He is fit (for a man in his mid-30s). Colin Cowherd thinks all gamers are fat.
  • Colin laughs about the pic that Gordon tweeted

  • Gordon talks about the money that is involved in professional video game competitions.
  • Gordon watches other people playing video games to learn from them.

The Jazz have a game on Sunday. I repeat the Jazz have a game on Sunday! The Jazz will play the Lakers. I am sure we'll be putting up a preview, game thread, and more. So keep checking SLC Dunk this weekend. The Jazz are playing the Lakers in Hawaii. That's pretty cool I guess. Personally I liked a few years ago when they had their preseason trip to Boise.

Speaking of the Lakers. D'Angelo Russell got injured in practice. He is trying to play through a bone bruise. From the Los Angeles Times.

Russell made it through the morning practice session with a bone bruise on the bottom of his right foot, though the Lakers weren't sure if he would sit out the afternoon session, or maybe even Friday's practice.

Russell tried to downplay the soreness and knocked an iPhone out of Roy Hibbert's hands when his teammate tried to snap a picture of the foot.

But then Russell had a pertinent question for a Lakers employee who told him it was time to talk to reporters.

"Do I have to stand up?" he said.

He didn't. He sat in a padded chair while media members circled around him.

Russell said he needed to ice the foot more often after practices.

"It's like when I stop, it tightens up," Russell said. "It's just a bruise. It's all good. We'll figure out some different ways around it."

Poor Russell.  The Lakers might have bigger problems though.

H/T to the Shums for this tweet

I am not laughing. I am just grateful we have the coaching staff we have.  Compare that Lakers' blogger's tweet complaints about their head coach to the praise our own Yucca Man wrote about our coach in his Downbeat yesterday.

I really like how much Snyder just seems to "get it." Of all the defensive four factors, the Jazz were weakest at forcing turnovers ... and it wasn't close. I can't say enough how much I like how well Quin Snyder seems to understand where the team is now and what they need to work on next. I felt this last year ... that he was able to let somethings just slide because they needed to focus on other things.

Go Jazz! Beat the Lakers!

SI posted an article ranking the teams from the least hateable to the most hateable. Our Jazz came in at #30 meaning we are the least hatable team in the league. A far cry from our Stockton to Malone days. Personally I think their summary is a little blah. I think we are 30th because they didn't really have anything to say about us.

30. Utah Jazz — While plenty of people hate jazz, no one hates The Jazz. They look like a legitimately promising young team this season, with no rough edges to irritate, no dominant style about which to turn up your nose, no offensive personalities at whom to seethe.

The Lakers are the most hated

1. Los Angeles Lakers — The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most storied franchises in the history of competitive sport, yet they remain the NBA’s defining template for schadenfreude. They lean on legacy like no other, assuming every free agent would sell their only child to wrap themselves in old championship banners. Their head coach and star player are both working on shattering self-awareness. When they were good, they pounded your favorite team and they let you know about it. Now they’ve taken up residence in the NBA’s cellar and refuse to acknowledge it, so soak up these delicious losses and enjoy them while they last.

Read the rest of the article. There are more interesting reasons for hating other teams, than the effort they put forth with the Jazz.

The Junior Jazz have a competition for all you alumni of the Junior Jazz.

Check out how to enter here

Submit your best Junior Jazz photos and/or stories, and we’ll select our top 50 entries. The winners will get to bring a guest (one adult and one child per winning entry) and participate in a special Junior Jazz Generations event on Wednesday, October 21 at the Zions Bank Basketball Center.

Just because we play the Lakers on Sunday and this is always good for a laugh.

Warning: at 3:17 there is some language in this video

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