The Development as a Group - The Downbeat - #1294

The Trey Burke-Alec Burks-Gordon Hayward-Enes Kanter-Derrick Favors lineup has played something like 30-40 minutes together total this season.

Sidney Lowe was asked during the weekly coach's interview on 1280 this week whether the Burke-Burks-Hayward-Kanter-Favors lineup getting more burn lately is a trend we will see more of or a situational thing.

His response:

Well, you know, I think it’s a trend. I think, you know, certainly coach is aware of those guys, and you know, trying to get them in the game together. And you know, we know that that’s the future of this franchise.

And it’s important that those guys get to play now and get the experience of, as we just talked about, playing together, winning, playing on the road, you know, losing the game and being able to handle it and bounce back.

But just the fact that they can play together, you know, that will put us further ahead going next year, and I think that’s what coach is seeing, that if you don’t do it now, then, if you just start doing it next year, then they’re not really used to playing with each other. So, it’s important that those guys play with each other and play significant minutes, as much as possible.

Why do you think it is suddenly important to Tyrone Corbin now -- 50-60 games into the season -- for these five players to develop as a group? Discuss.

The Jazz visited the NBA head office today.

And in turn, head coach Tyrone Corbin presented @NBA Commissioner Adam Silver with a @utahjazz team signed basketball pic.twitter.com/M5PfVKoUpj

— Jonathan Rinehart (@jonrinehart) March 6, 2014

Poll: What did Adam Silver do with this ball after the Jazz left?

Richard Jefferson was asked by David Locke about what he's tried to share with Gordon Hayward this season, which has been a difficult season for Hayward. RJ's response may or may not shed some light on where Hayward's at and what's on his mind lately.

I try and tell him, I’m like, “Look. If, when you got drafted, or when you were in your last year at Butler, if someone told you they were gonna pay you $10 million to play basketball, you would blow your mind.”

But all of a sudden, other places, and again, I don’t know what his number is. I don’t know what’s been offered to him. I don’t know what the Jazz, or any of that stuff–I, just conversations with him, it’s like, now all of a sudden, if you’re only, if you’re getting $11 instead of $13 [million], you’re in a bad mood. And it’s like, no, that can’t be your mentality.

And you can’t worry about what teams have money, what teams don’t have money, if your team–no, because all those things will drive you crazy, ’cause then you’re gonna wanna play well against the teams that have money, and then, you kn–all those things go into that brain, and it’ll affect the way you play.

And it doesn’t stop this year, because then next year you’re gonna wanna prove to everybody that didn’t sign you, “Oh, I’m worth that.” Or the teams that didn’t w–that, “Oh, I’m worth this contract.” And so, you can really mess yourself up for a couple of years focusing on that.

At the end of the day, if you love to play the game, and understand that, hey, you know, you’re 23 years old right now. Even if you sign a four-year contract…you’ll be out of it at 27. That means you can sign another one that’ll take you to 32. That means you can sign–so it’s like, don’t focus on, you know, oh, this is all the money I’m gonna make.

The Jazz posted a photo of Gordon Hayward answering phones at the NBA head office....which led to this string of hilarious tweets from Peter J. Novak.

Basketball John then combined the Hayward photo with a photo of Trey Burke doing a radio interview:

We've got some hilarious dudes over here.

Tomorrow, the Jazz play the Knicks at one of the NBA's most famous arenas, Madison Square Garden.

--Which NBA arena is at the top of your must-visit list?

--How many NBA arenas have you been to; and

--Which had the best fan experience?