Downbeat #2021: Meet George Hill today, be a good teammate with Hearts & Hoops!

It’s the season for Thanksgiving and then quickly after that Christmas. Remember that we’re all on the same team. If you forget, Utah Jazz point guard George Hill is there to remind you. Also, looking at Franchise players in the NBA; being on the same team; the Salt Lake City Stars, and dunks, dunks, dunks!

#Teamwork and Hearts & Hoops

George Hill is going to be at the Gateway Center today! You can meet him, or more importantly, you can do that WHILE also helping the less fortunate!

As I wrote about elsewhere on this site, this is a SLC city-wide program by Hill to get people to donate food and toys during the Holiday season. And the fact that this is happening makes me so happy. Hill really has that “Jazz DNA”; and it shows. Other Jazzmen did things like this, for example Kyle Korver used to have his seasonal drive to buy winter jackets for poor families.

Heck, Bear just did this today!

There are other examples as well — like Karl Malone buying motorized wheelchairs for people with motor function diseases and delivering them himself. I’m really happy to be a Jazz fan because of the efforts by Jazz players to make a difference on and off the court. Hill totally fits the bill.

Anyway, the Hoops & Hearts program is worth supporting. In this era of division politics we have to remember that at the end of the day we’re all on the same team. And teamwork means more than passing the ball expecting that it gets passed back to you. So please donate some boxed food today if you can.

Be on the same team

Speaking of realizing that we’re all on the same team, the good people at the Aunt Viv are trying to make a difference as well!

I don’t like bullies. I think that’s something we all can agree upon. Yet bullies and bullying continues to be something that happens to kids every year. Where does this learned behavior come from? Do crappy parents teach crappy behaviors to kids who then have no programming other than to be crappy to other people? I don’t know. It’s not that simple. But what is very simple is that bullying has caused a lot of harm over the years. A quick Google search reveals that it’s more than ‘words will never hurt me’ anymore; like it was when I was a school aged child.

So in participating with Utah’s Anti-Bullying Coalition there’s a school assembly today right now. Heck, we all know what happened yesterday.

I don’t know what the motive was, but I can be sure that talking, listening, and finding connections that make you all on the same team isn’t going to make the problem worse right now.

Cleanse the palette with some jam(s)

Wow, this is just so preachy right now. Let’s watch some dunks.

Okay, let’s get back to hoops!

Stars not shining just yet

The Salt Lake City Stars played last night, and fell behind early with a 22 to 4 first quarter. They played catch-up all night long, but never really caught up to the Oklahoma City Blue who blew them out 95-68.

Head coach Dean Cooper started regulars Henry Sims, Eric Dawson, J.J. O’Brien, Jermaine Taylor — but instead of NBA D-League draft pick Jaylen Bland he started NBA draft pick Marcus Paige. Paige would finish with 9 points (3-13 shooting, 1-8 from deep) in his pro debut. Quincy Ford also got a chance to play, and while he went scoreless in 16 minutes (one shot), he did end up with 5 rebounds and 4 steals. Tyrone Wallace wasn’t even ON the box score, his spot still taken by Dakarai Tucker who was waived.

DLeague.NBA.com

It can only get better.

Franchise players

According to 538, the best franchise players in the NBA are Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Karl-Anthony Towns, Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and . . . . Gordon Hayward! Wait no. Sorry, it’s Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.

Also their historical best and worst case scenarios are listed. Seems like a lot of high scoring, high rebounding forwards get put into Karl Malone territory. Not bad, he has two MVPs, two Gold Medals, two All-Star game MVPs, and twice got beat by Michael Jordan in the NBA Finals.

So G-Time isn’t Top 10. Where is he, though? 11th to 20th? 21st to 30th?