The All-Star Break Edition - The Downbeat - #1549

Ever wondered how Quin Snyder feels about analytics?

I’m a big believer, you know, and that’s not to say, I mean, for me to say that, you know, I, I’m not diminishing the role that I play as a coach, either. You know, I think there’s an opportunity as much as anything, when I say believer, of something that I think helps make me better.

You know, whether it, you know, in the end, it’s the "right" answer or not, it can help me focus on certain things that I need to look at, and look at more closely, and then analyze myself, and accumulate more data, and see where we are.

And you know, some of the metrics on our team, I think it’s been really important for us to understand that, you know, where we’re ranked right now, in some respects, and it’s really a function of the first 20 games. And you know, we’re a team that is significantly better defensively right now than we were at the beginning of the year.

So, if you look at some of those metrics, you’re gonna say, you know, you can come to some conclusion about our team, which, frankly, is true. You know, but it was true in that context, and you know, the last 20 games, we’ve gotten a little better.

And it’d be a mistake for me to tell my team that we’re, you know, not this or not that, based on a number. It would also be a mistake for me to tell them we’ve arrived, based on improvement. But I think all those things can help focus you.

"I gotta put my smooth grooves on…I gotta light a candle or two, and I gotta get in the moment. Son, you cannot rush perfection, son, right, and it’s a production. I don’t talk…and _____ is about 35 to 40 minutes."

Take your best guess what Karl Malone is talking about here.

Caption this:

NYC Subway fun with the Jazz. Trey Burke and Dante Exum. #NBAAllStarWeekend pic.twitter.com/8RtnIAXogL

— Ronda Burke (@Rondaburke2) February 13, 2015

All-Star practice kicks: Who's got the best shoe game?

.@TreyBurke’s shoe game was strong at Rising Stars practice #NBAAllStar #JazzKicks pic.twitter.com/55kR0JP8Rm

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 13, 2015

These were @rudygobert15's shoes from Rising Stars practice this evening at LIU in Brooklyn #JazzKicks pic.twitter.com/GRz6WOiUV5

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 13, 2015

And these were @daanteee's practice shoes... look for something different during the Rising Stars game #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/Ke0pvmHk37

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 13, 2015

Jazz participation aside, which All-Star event do you look forward to the most every year?

--celebrity game
--rookie-Sophomore game
--dunk contest
--3-point contest
--skills challenge
--that event with the legends and WNBA players
--All-Star Game itself
--don't care about any of it