The Downbeat #1985: New and Improved Edition

Today we are debuting the new look Downbeat. We went through some different iterations, but it’s a new season and optimism abounds (until the first road trip). So we figured we would debut the clean look of our new downbeat. What do you guys think?

This is an awesome time-lapse of the Utah Jazz’s new court. I’m loving the old Salt Palace look of the court. I am surprised that the Jazz didn’t debut a secondary court design. I can only imagine what that could have been. The Milwaukee Bucks debuted their alternate court to go with their black jerseys. It would have been awesome to see something themed with the Jazz’s alternate sleeve jerseys.

Today George Hill worked at 3 clinics. Teaching kids the fundamentals of basketball: shooting, dribbling, and passing the ball to the more talented player.

Here is George Hill teaching young players how to shoot. Dante Exum is auspiciously missing, but I’ll let it slide this time.

Also, make sure that every time Dante Exum or Chris Johnson takes an outside shot that you yell “B.E.E.F.”.

Has anybody else ever noticed that George Hill has a tattoo of his own logo on his arm?

I guess it’s not the worst type of tattoo that you can get ...

Basketball cocaine is a helluva drug.

In hype train news, Justin Rowan of Hoops Habit put out an article about how the Utah Jazz are the team most equipped to beat the Golden State Warriors. Hmmm... I wonder where I’ve heard that before. Rowan believes the Utah Jazz need one more lead option to fully pull off an upset.

While the Utah Jazz have all of the tools to pull off an upset, realistically this may not be their year. The biggest concern with the Jazz is the lack of a true No. 1 option. They have the ability to score by committee and have plenty of depth.

However, when things break down in the playoffs, you need a lead option that can get you points against a set defense. The Jazz don’t have that player yet.

It’s possible that the team trades for such a player. When you look at the depth they have, and young assets like Trey Lyles, they have what it takes to make a major move. It’s also possible that they experience enough internal growth to overcome the absence of a star.

This seems to be the criticism of the Utah Jazz every year and even when they had Karl Malone and John Stockton. They needed just one more player to get them over the hump. The Utah Jazz don’t necessarily need that extra player. They need health. They’ll get that extra player just by staying healthy. Now they are built with a ton of young assets that they can make a trade if a superstar becomes available out of nowhere, but the solution to their playoff problem does not lie outside Salt Lake City, but within it.

[Update: Okay, slightly edited and fixed. Thanks for the feedback and hopefully this makes it cleaner and less obtrusive Enjoy!]