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The Utah Jazz lost last night, who cares. #PlayoffPush Is here! - The Downbeat #1849

#PlayoffPush

By AllThatAmar
We're all looking forward to one thing now, the playoffs
We're all looking forward to one thing now, the playoffs
Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

We missed yesterday's Downbeat because of all the things we had to cover, so you get two of them today! More NBA Trade Deadline News? Yes. Yes indeed. Also a deeper look into Trey Burke and how he is affected by what did and did not happen for the Utah Jazz yesterday. More national writer love for Rodney Hood, and an important video to help all Utah Jazz fans start lining up for that #PlayoffPush Kool-Aid! Revisiting Steve Novak, and being so busy yesterday that you don't even notice that the Ents of Fanghorn forest are attacking Isengard. Or something along those lines.

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There were more trades last night than just the Utah Jazz / Atlanta Hawks / Chicago Bulls trade. Some were big, others were small. One that's going to make a difference on the West this season (for better or worse) is the move of Lance Stephenson from the Los Angeles Clippers (4th seed in the West) to the Memphis Grizzlies (5th seed in the West). Lance has had to pack his bags a lot over the last little while.

The Utah Jazz are, in theory, chasing the Memphis Grizzlies. Utah are 9th right now after totally blowing off that game last night to the Washington Wizards. And again, in theory, the Jazz can still catch them as they are without Marc Gasol for the rest of this season. But Memphis is now the grand experiment in chemistry. Zach Randolph, Lance Stephenson, Chris Andersen, Matt Barnes, Tony Allen, Mario Chalmers . . . who are the sane people here? Vince Carter and Mike Conley? Everything I know about sports movies tells me that Memphis is either going to set fire to the rest of the West with their crazy personalities and inner-fire, or set fire to their own locker room.

Chemistry is something the Jazz know about, and have been careful to not to play too much with. It's going to be very interesting to see how things work out with Trey Burke, who wasn't moved.

Everyone is saying all the right things here, Quin Snyder, Dennis Lindsey, and the ever-professional Trey as well. Yes, most teams do carry three healthy point guards at the same time and it's not a problem. Hopefully there will be no problems. A strong #PlayoffPush for the Jazz, including continued solid play from Burke, may help the Jazz move him next off-season. The last thing I'd want is for our locker room to end up mirroring the Pacers, Hornets, or Clippers locker rooms. I think the Jazz brass are on the same wavelength as well.

Now, don't get me wrong. This isn't a false equivalance here between crazy old Lance and Chauncy Billups ' mentored Trey. One is clearly better in control of what they say, do, and behave. It's just that I don't want there to be any hurt feelings on either side. I remain a Trey Burke fan, as I was before he joined the team. I can root for his success if he is not on the Jazz too. I suspect a quiet minority of us may all be doing that, regardless.

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You remember Mike Prada, who didn't think any of our role players (including, somehow, Rudy Gobert) were good enough to be even mentioned in his article about role players? Well, he's not a Utah Jazz hater, even if I want to paint him as a villain sometimes.

He's not the only one who has high praise for our prince of threes Rodney Hood either. But it's nice to see national writers recognize that while we'll never get guys voted to be an All-Star Starter that we do have nice players.

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How crazy was yesterday? So crazy that Utah Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey left for work without even noticing that a tree fell on his house.

This Trade Deadline was crazy, at least now everyone can focus on the playoffs.

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Oh, speaking of making a strong #PlayoffPush . . . Coach Nick and the rest of the guys at BBALL Breakdown dropped this yesterday:

Drink that Kool-Aid, I'm making a fresh batch. Rodney Hood is really a big deal.

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In the last downbeat we took a look at what's up with Kendrick Perkins . In this one we have to look at Steve Novak, who was moved once again. The former Houston Rocket, Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder, and now Denver Nuggets forward even got in on the jokes:

It's tough being a journey man, but hey, Steve has made almost $16 million (before taxes) over his career. I'd move a lot more if I was making that money, if he is tired of it!

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