“Winning is boring,” Jazz coach Will Hardy says as the shorthanded Jazz try to find usual growth

Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz’s 122-103 loss to the Denver Nuggets from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.

1. “Winning is boring”

With Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, Jordan Clarkson, Kyle Filipowski, Taylor Hendricks and Cody Williams out tonight, the Jazz would have a tough time against a good Nuggets team regardless. That talent gap was reflected quite well in the course of the evening.

But against all odds, the Jazz had actually kept this one close for most of the first half — thanks to some pretty relentless attacking of Jamal Murray defensively. And then it all unraveled relatively quickly, and out of a seemingly harmless incident.

Michael Porter Jr. had a pretty thunderous transition dunk with about a minute left in the half. (I wish I could show you video, but the NBA’s play video takes this away. If you have access to a replay of the game, check out the 1:16 mark of the second quarter.) After he dunked it, he was like protected the ball towards entering, just classic games. Keyonte George pushes into Porter to get the ball back.

George then spends the next possession trying to get the switch on Porter so he can attack. He does, and the result is this shot:

That’s about as low a percentage of a shot as you can get, and it passes an open shooter in Svi Mykhailiuk behind him.

The Nuggets then have the ball in transition and George picks up Porter. on defense. Porter, recognizing the mismatch, fights George for a low position. Ultimately, the Nuggets go elsewhere and miss, but George is no match for Porter on the defensive glass and gets the easy rebound.

Next Jazz possession, a quick two-on-one shot from Collin Sexton, followed by a Jokic layup. However, on the ensuing possession at the end of the half, George again tries to get the tackle on Porter, succeeds, and then tackles him again. This time it’s a pull-up three that’s missed.

It’s only three possessions, but George went off what I think was the Jazz’s game plan three times in one minute. As a result, they found themselves down by 10 at halftime instead of right in the middle of it.

To be sure, George is not the only Jazz young player who occasionally falls out of the system. But going out of system is a big part of why the Jazz have these lulls where they lose the plot of the game and find themselves out of touch.

“I’ll tell you what I told the team, which is that winning is boring,” Will Hardy told reporters afterward. “And to win, you have to be willing to do simple things over and over and over and over and over for 48 minutes, and it can get repetitive and frankly boring at times.”

It’s not that George didn’t try hard enough – it’s that he tried too hard, was too competitive. It is completely understandable what happened. But finding that next level of stability and maturity will help young players like George and, by extension, the Jazz.

2. Oscar Tshiebwe gets a chance

Thanks to all the injuries mentioned above, Oscar Tshiebwe was called up to play for the Jazz today – on his 25th birthday.

Oscar Tshiebwe is famously one of the best people in basketball. He gained this reputation first in the college game where he debuted for West Virginia before playing for Kentucky. There, he was named Sporting News’ National Player of the Year thanks to his stellar point and rebound totals.

The rebounding is also absurdly special. In his G-League career, he averages 22 rebounds per game. 36 minutes. Like, are you kidding me? He had just nine boards today in his 15:39, which is only on pace for 20.3 rebounds per game. 36 minutes. I joked during the game that Tshiebwe and Nikola Jokic (who currently leads the NBA in rebounding) were the two best rebounders in basketball – but there’s a good chance that’s actually true.

Tshiebwe looked a little out of sorts today, which was understandable when he was informed midway through the Stars’ practice this afternoon and told to stop because he was playing for the Jazz tonight. He never actually took a shot off the floor, even though he scored three points on three free throws. He had a turnover but got a couple of steals from his 7-4 wingspan. He was fine.

But the game also provided a chance to speak to Tshiebwe after the game, which is always a pleasure.

“I always tell people that I am the light, so I bring the light,” Tshiebwe said. “Light is trying to make everyone happy, motivated and doing well. Sometimes you help someone just by smiling.”

“I love everything about Oscar. Man, he just makes you feel good. He’s such a good person. I wish I was more like Oscar,” Hardy said. “He’s like the sweetest person ever.”

If the season isn’t going to mean much and all the power forwards are hurt anyway – well, I’m glad Oscar is getting the chance.

3. Minnesota’s early season start

The Minnesota Timberwolves are 8-10, good for 12th in the Western Conference. They have lost four in a row.

The quotes from tonight’s loss were rough. Anthony Edwards couldn’t have been more clear about his criticism of the team. From Chris Hine at the Minnesota Star-Tribune:

• “However many of us there are, all 15 of us go into our own shells and we just grow away from each other. It’s obvious,” Edwards said. “We can see it. I can see it, the team can see it, the coaches can see it. The fans … bump us. It’s … crazy, man. We get booed in our home field.”

• “We are soft as a team internally. Not to the other team, but internally, we’re soft, Edwards said. “We can’t talk. Just a bunch of little kids. Like we’re playing with a bunch of little kids. Everybody, the whole team. We just can’t talk. And we’ve got to figure it out because we can’t go this way.”

• “We’re just so negative right now. Last couple of years we were like this,” Edwards said, making a gesture to indicate the team was close. “And I just feel like we’ve gradually grown apart, which is the craziest thing, because most of us have been together. We’ve got two new players, that’s all. Everyone else has been together.”

• “We have to start doing what the coaches say, we always have something to say back,” Edwards said. “… We were supposed to do this and we’re doing something else. We were supposed to be in this coverage and we’re doing something else.”

• “As the person who has to help try to figure things out, it’s hard sometimes,” Edwards said. “Because you look at everybody and everybody has a different agenda. It’s like, ‘What … should I say?’ You know what I mean. I’m trying to get better at that aspect, figuring out what the hell to say to get everyone on the same page.”

So, uh, it’s not good for the wolves. If you felt flashbacks to the 2021-22 Utah Jazz team there, with Rudy Gobert and a young star, athletic guard who was kind of a sniper, sort of, not through the media when the team underperformed…well, you’re not that only. This time, however, the chaos is in favor of the Jazz, thanks to the Jazz essentially owning the Wolves’ draft for the next five years.

Thanks to the pitiful Eastern Conference, being the fourth-worst team in the West is actually only good enough for the No. 11 draft spot. Still, that adds 2% to the Jazz’s chances of landing Cooper Flagg at No. 1, or 10% to get a top four pick if the season ended today.

It obviously doesn’t, and the Wolves can turn it around. But in a rough season for the Jazz, the Wolves’ shenanigans, especially long-term, may be the most positive news for the franchise we’ve seen in the last month.

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