The Downbeat - 6 February 2017 - #2030 - The Smell The Roses Edition

Let’s be honest. For Jazz fans, and for a lot of fans, there is only black and white. Losses spell the end of the season while wins invoke invincibility. Never mind the fact that the Jazz are 32-19, leading the Northwest Division, and are currently on track for having home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

What gets me through the losses is the fact that I know they can win the next game. That’s one of the hallmarks and benefits of a good team. When the team is rebuilding, as the Jazz have been up to this point, it’s easy to get hung up on losses, especially when they’re so close to getting back to the playoffs.

The wins in rebuilding seasons are glorious peaks while losses become the norm. Why is it that we celebrate those wins in down seasons more than we do in winning seasons? Expectations, no doubt, play a large part of that. Let’s set new expectations for wins and losses. Wins continue to be great while losses are going to happen.

But the next game is the next chance for a win.

That’s just brutal, even for Rudy. I don’t know what Favors does to get him back, but he can’t let this stand.

The Pick and Roll sat down last week with Joe Ingles for an interview. Should we be sending Doc Rivers a annual gift basket for releasing Ingles? He’s not just an intangibles guy but nearly every stat shows that the Jazz are a better basketball team with him on the court.

I remember his first season here with Quin Snyder and Ingles would get pulled from the game quickly and Snyder would voice his displeasure and not let Joe sit down until he was done.

I don’t recall the last time I saw that. It might not have happened since that first season. Ingles admits he was trying to fit in when he first got here,

“Especially when I first came in. Trying not to step on anyone’s toes and fit in a little bit. Trying to see how it works. My first year and a half, first season and a half, was a lot of learning and a lot of watching.”

No doubt he’s one of the team’s leaders now both on and off the court.

An interview with Joe Ingles isn’t complete without getting asked about Dante Exum and vice versa. If Ingles’ first couple of seasons in the NBA were a learning experience despite his previous time in Europe and playing in Australia, then maybe we should give Exum a little more slack,

“Obviously the knee injury hits you pretty quick for six. It was always going to take time. He’s 21 and got so much basketball in front of him. If you look around, I think Gordon didn’t play his first two and a half years in the league.”

Exum has had an inconsistent role to start his career. The jump from a teen playing in Australia straight to starting against NBA talent can’t be overstated. We’re in a golden age of point guards where even the worst starters are miles ahead of the competition that Dante had faced previously.

Nicholas Sciria on twitter breaks down some of Exum’s growth here. There are some things there that can’t be taught. The perfect scenario is that he continues to develop and grow under Snyder and his staff and takes over things a few years down the road (assuming George Hill is still here).

We also have a tendency to treat players in a black and white case. They’re either trash or a superstar. It’s hard to enjoy the growth and development of a player because we want results now. Let’s take the setbacks with a grain of salt and look forward to improvement down the road.

Monday open poll...

What type of player, if any, do the Jazz need to acquire for the stretch run and the playoffs?