Tim LaComb: Utah Jazz offseason and Brian Windhorst comments about just how active the Jazz might…
tim Lome jazz pre half and and post voice as well as former BYU coach as well as incredible musician uh so coach I was just down here talking with Corey and a couple of others that represent at the uh player of the week ceremonies and I spoke there five years ago you spoke there at their last ceremony and they said that you are five times the public speaker that I am and I wasn’t surprised but I I’m I’m sure that makes you feel good well I don’t know about that i I think maybe it’s just that I’m you know basketball guys are more nuanced than football guys um I I don’t think that makes you any better or worse but um no you just uh you know if you’re a guitar player you know one speed man it’s heavy and fast and like the way you greet me every time in your face you pick me up and like twirl me around yeah you got to make it memorable right like I was talking to somebody about that the other day they’re like “Why do you got to break my ribs every time you hug me?” And I was like “So that you’ll remember that I love you two weeks while those ribs are recovering.” Like I want you to remember how much I love you it’s been months and I’m still seeing a chiropractor so thanks a lot coach how are you doing outside of the chiropractor how are things going here in the offseason for you awesome really really good it takes me uh you know maybe six weeks to get out of the zombie mode that you get yourself into when you do 82 of those um but yeah there’s a world out here there’s you know we live in one of the most beautiful places in the world so I’m exploring that and as you said you know outside of work playing a lot of guitar and having some fun i love it man i always love the videos it just seems like you’re getting better and better and eventually you’re gonna just leave us for some rock and roll band and you’re gonna start traveling the world is that your dream like do you just want the Party Hounds just to become the mainstay rotation party band oh you know probably not because I’ve lived on the road before and uh it’s not the funnest but I’ll tell you what to have a hobby where you know like I got a call last week and we’re hoping it comes through but some uh you know guy wants to for his 60th birthday wants to blow it out and hire a band and so I’m you know I’m into a couple party planners and got a call last week so we’re hopefully going to do something up there we’re playing in Oklahoma Texas this year and we’re we’re playing a BYU game i just haven’t been able to dial in the date so it’s nice to be able to pick and choose you know and it’s not about the money as much as it’s the experience and those guys I’ve known them for 40 years you know so we’ve been together and known each other that long so that kind of that kind of chemistry whether it be sports or anything it shines through if you want the party hounds you can reach out to Coach Lome and he can make your dream come true they’ll take any party from a one or a two all the way up to a 10 it’s like that last scene we like We like 10 it’s like that last scene of Foot Loose where Kevin Bacon comes running in after the fist fight and says “Let’s party.” And the disco ball turns on and the confetti starts dropping that’s the party hounds like if I could describe the party hounds it’s the incena of Foot Loose it It’s all party all excitement so if you need to take a party up to a 10 you reach out to my guy um hey I wanted to get a couple of thoughts from you today that’s why we reached out to you this Brian Winhorse comment has stirred up a lot of minds and made a lot of people think for those of you that didn’t see it Brian Winhorse who is a national writer and spokesperson for the NBA said there’s not anybody in the Western Conference who is really rebuilding right now everybody’s kind of got the gas put down including the Utah Jazz they are intending to try to turn it up when you heard those comments coach have you had a couple of conversations behind the scenes is this news to you and do you agree with Brian Winhorse that things are going to get turned up well no I think so a couple things number one I I think it’s going to be a crazy summer and you know it all kind of got tipped over yesterday with the Desmond Bane news um but you know if you back up and you know go back to the Austin A press conference and the the time around that you know Austin H talked about you know this team’s not going to tank you know all the vibes I got were when Austin came in um you know that it kind of signified perhaps a new chapter and um you know there’s going to be a lot of really good players are going to be up for uh you know to be traded and I think that the Jazz are you know just like Austin said they’re going to be heavily involved in all that last summer the term that was used was big game hunting and everybody freaked out that uh you know they didn’t necessarily bag up uh anything big but I think through this process they’ve obviously learned how hard it is to hold guys accountable and yet make games you know whether you win or lose you know meaningless uh so they’ve realized them that’s not necessarily the way i think they had to play their cards that way but with Austin Ang and the way that the climate is set in the NBA I fully expected when Austin got here especially after his press conference um and just what he said to anybody listening um you know the Jazz are going to be engaged in a lot of things and I think everybody you know at that point that that was the warning shot across the bow so coach some of the names that are floating out there Zion Williamson or Trey Young Jaylen Brown or John Morant couple of these other guys i I don’t expect Giannis to go anywhere i think Milwaukee is going to lock him down are are any of these names names that you’d like to see the Jazz extend for utilize their assets and really extend for or do you feel like there’s something bigger and better in the cards for the Jazz in the future and they better hold Pat well I think it all depends you know the the great thing about you know guys that understand this process is that every deal stands on its own and um you can’t look forward you can’t look backward you simply have to look at where you are um and what the opportunity is and you know I would just say names being floated around the league i mean there’s there’s a ton of interest when you talk about uh obviously the trouble that John Morance had but um the talent and I think everybody believes hey you know we can we can do it different here with him just because he’s so talented um but you know you understand the risks there i I have obviously heard Jiren Jackson Jr.’s name thrown out yesterday with the the change with Desmond Baines does that shift the way that Memphis goes but I think in every case you know New Orleans is at a crossroads um and they’ve got guys like Herb Jones and Trey Murphy the third who are guys back when they were drafted you know I was talking about those guys being kind of the new age wings in the NBA those really long really active um in in Trey Murphy’s case really shoots it herb Jones is more of kind of a nuisance defensively and a great rebounder and an energy guy but there there are going to be a lot of interesting pieces and if anything we’ve learned from perhaps watching Indiana and Oklahoma City that it’s those little moves you know it’s the moves to get it’s not necessarily that Shay move that that was obviously massive and and you’re hoping for one of those but it’s it’s the moves like Caruso and Hartinstein you know in Indiana’s case it’s uh tradonus and getting Hallebertton um obviously understanding what N Smith was in Boston and getting him over on your side understanding the you know the piece that McConnell can be for a team u so all these moves are really important all of the talent that’s going to be out there is eye opening so again I think with the draft coming up and and everything I we’re going to find out pretty soon but I think there’s going to be a lot of movement leaguewide coach there’s something that I wish I could really put to bed and that’s this top eight protected pick because it’s the thing that just hangs over my ability to open up the floodgates and say “All right the Jazz are going to go all in they’re going to find a team they’re going to go out and win.” And you’ve got this top eight protected pick that hangs over your head that you just can’t forget every time I start to think “Oh man make a run at Giannis or oh gez you know yeah sure he’s he’s a risk he’s a gamble but maybe it ends up paying off and he loses weight and recommits himself and becomes the amazing athlete that we saw him be at Duke.” And and then I have to stop and pause and say “Wait wait wait wait wait you’re in the final year of your conveyance of a top eight protected draft pick and when you go and look at this coach and you study it if you really want to avoid having to hand that pick over to OKC you have to finish with the fourth worst record or worse so either the fourth the third the second or the first worst records that keeps you completely out of the possibility of falling to the ninth pick in the NBA draft lottery if you really want to avoid it it’s got to be top four if you end up with the fifth worst record you’ve got 62% chance of handing that pick over to Oklahoma City if you fall into the uh seventh you got 3.68% if you get into eighth ninth you’re at 32% and 50% so it’s not like oh well you got to have the eighth worst record to be at number eight to make sure that you don’t No no no if you’re at number eight you’ve got a 32% chance of falling to ninth in the NFL draft or the NBA draft lottery so coach you got to be strategic with these things and I mean we’re risking a big future piece with the Utah Jazz if they decide oh we’re going to go win some games so how much does that hang over them well it’s it’s it’s obviously something to consider uh but at the same time I think if anything last year’s journey proved it’s hard to accomplish seven goals at once um and the other thing I would say is that in some cases what looks like it might you know just be an absolute colossal bummer you know at the end of the day it really depends on what like if you were able to score some amazing dudes this year that can really help you and you win too many games i mean the Jazz have first round picks cows come home um so I would just simply say you know as long as it fits and I think you’ve done a heck of a job nailing it down like um you know you sound like Lock right there i mean that’s what differentiates you from most football guys i’ll just have to say it is your your intellect and your work ethic um but no so again like you just don’t I guess an easy way to say it you don’t want to step over dollars to pick up dimes and you know if there are some moves that can really really help you this year um you know like if Spurs came to you and said hey we want to do this and that um and two’s sitting there and you know you were able to get a guy that could majorly help your team um and then make some moves alongside that with some complimentary players and you win too much last next year um obviously you lose the pick but this year you know they had the pick and everybody was frustrated that it’s at five so um you know it doesn’t seem like that that pick necessarily people are dancing around um so I think it’s everything is perspective everything’s paradigm and as long as you don’t try to do too many things at once and you accomplish a goal I think you’re moving that thing forward how well do you know Austin age and what’s he like i know Austin very well um got to know him you know hundred years ago it seems uh but I was coaching at Utah when he was at BYU and was always just impressed with his um the way he saw the game you know there’s certain guys that stand out to you and I thought he was a guy who you know wasn’t necessarily his athletic ability or skill set he he really made his team better because of his his brain and and the things that he saw and I think he’s just taken that you know he he’s he left playing and he went straight to Southern Utah and he learned what it was like to go out on the road and recruit you know I think he’s always had a really good eye even back as a player you know I remember talking to him after games and stuff he just he sees things um you know he recognized good players on our side at Utah and then um really our friendship began more than anything when he then went out to Maine and went with the Celtics he was in Maine two years coaching the the D-League affiliate uh and then he he moved over to Boston and obviously been there for 15 or 16 years and talked to him a ton you know trying to get his feel on players i can just tell you the players he sent me at a really young age talking eighth grade a lot of those dudes became NBA guys and um you know that’s where you really kind of start tracking these guys and I think he’s he’s got a such a great feel for the grassroots piece um the connections the the power brokers out there in the AA world and so he sees these guys young and he’s able to study them for a long time and then when they get to college and he digs into their tape you know it’s not necessarily trying to discern who they are because he already he he understands that it’s now you know getting into the fine details and that’s where that’s where an organization can get a real advantage in my opinion do you think he’s the type of guy that is going to identify the talent like let’s just say he’s sitting there he’s like I got to have Ace Bailey and I don’t and sitting around with Ryan Smith and and and Danny A and saying I got to have Ace where are we going to get him should be Cooper should be Dylan Harper let’s say Ace is there can we get aggressive is Do you think he’s the kind of guy that’ll lock in and then find a way to get it done yeah I think so well I mean if there’s a guy he really believes in I think the example of Peyton Pritchette’s a great one um he was not projected to go in the first round he was a guy that I started to watch when he was in the ninth grade um and just he played with reckless abandon then he plays with it now but you know what really made him different was his irrational confidence shooting the basketball and so I think they understood that his toughness his understanding obviously who he is so that you know from a distance they say that can be a piece on a championship team so they dive into the first round you know that they didn’t have a pick they went in and got it i think somewhere in late first round and got Payton Pritchard and just this last year after several years of really making contributions got that six man of the year award and so yes I think I think that’s what he’s great at and then you ask me what he’s like as a person you know Austin’s very uh very comfortable in his own skin you know he can make hard decisions and live with it you know he’s not you know opposed to criticism and and I’ll just say in a me first world and I’ve experienced this a ton you know you make a lot of friends through the years and those guys you know when you make a friend with me you’re my friend for life you know um and you know I look out for my friends but you know it’s interesting to see as people get power and success that often times they forget the people that you know were there in their lives and I will just say that I sent you know Austin a text congratulating him and within minutes you know sent text back saying “Oh man.” It was before his press conference even um and then what really stood out is last week he sent a text and said “Hey I’m just coming up for air and um you know what kind of advice do you have for me?” Uh and I thought that that was so perceptive because he’s the type of guy that’ll ask that out to 100 people and he’s looking for little nuggets you know and I think that’s an awesome way to live is see successful people or people you value what’s made him great listen to them you know really deeply listen and hey somebody may have a nugget for me and uh so that’s where I really am impressed cuz he’s he’s headstrong and he makes great you know he he he lives with his decisions but I think he’s also a man that uh values insight and isn’t opposed to a different you know view on things which I think is really important too so coach um give me uh let’s just say let’s put a percentage on it the percentage chance that we see um Jordan Clarkson back in a Utah Jazz jersey this upcoming season you know I think Jordan has been it’s been such a a fun piece here for a lot of years i think when he was first acquired by the Jazz it was a time where the bench was was actually pretty shallow and he came in and instantly provided spark and I think he’s still got that ability you know um the situation here has not been ideal necessarily for his value per se um because he you know he really has the same sort of irrational confidence but when you’re on a a team that’s not winning sometimes that irrational confidence looks irresponsible and so I I I would think there’s somebody out there that understands his value i know you know his time’s probably come and gone here in terms of a piece um but I think that uh you know the cool thing about the Jazz is I think they’re pretty transparent about things so if he is in fact you know on his way out I think he’s probably got a fairly good idea and all those things are contingent upon finding the right deal and so there’s got to be interest on the other side uh so I would say that’s probably a move that will happen um but to put a number on it not sure you know I I think the the veteran guys have played their way into a position john Collins being one of them Colin Ston being another who those guys were amazing last year and uh and Collins been good for a couple years so I think you know now just as the league starts to kind of move just like I said Trey Murphy’s interesting piece herb Jones is there’s other people other le you know teams in the league looking across saying oh man you know John Collins we could get John for this or we could get Colin Ston for that two hard playing guys that totally understand who they are and give you something every night is there a benefit or a disadvantage to waiting until the trade deadline to making some of these moves for instance Lowry Markin who I think didn’t we didn’t see peak Lowry last year is there a benefit to putting Lowry out there and showing him with the development and and really pushing him and waiting until the trade deadline to make the moves or do you feel like that you’ve got more leverage in the off seasonason to make a move with some of these pieces that you have some of the current players that you have again I think every deal stands on its own and it’s just it’s really what are teams wanting and willing to do i mean the Jazz aren’t in any hurry to unload Lowry i there’s a ton of value there and and I disagree with those that say his you know stock took a hit i think everybody understood what last year was and um you know Lowry if anybody really relies on a pretty fluid offense with guys making good decisions you know two years ago he led the NBA and shots taken without a dribble um and so I think that just tells you he he’s a timing guy um you know down to the nuance and detail of an angle on a screen that you know gives him a pocket to shoot the ball and if you’ve got young guys out there and they’re late to set it or they’re wrong angle you know their dude slides through and it makes Lowry look not as good um so I think there’s there’s an understanding of who he is and again he’s not a guy that the Jazz are trying to play hot potato with but I do they do understand he’s a he could be a really important piece to a team that is trying to make a move so you just take all that in and and if a deal doesn’t present itself you’re not you don’t have to do anything and so I I think that’s the advantage Hance is they you know unless the deal shows itself and it makes a ton of sense and it helps move things not in a hurry to move him I don’t think man coach I wish you were sitting down here at John Watson Chevy with me i’m sitting in the middle of about 10 15 different cars that are going to be a part of this car show you got old Camaros i this is like if if I could have a if I could have a Mr miyagi moment you remember where Miyagi points at Danielson and says pick one i I wish I could have a Miyagi moment right yeah yeah he did he was your defensive he did we did the wax on wax off and everything and made your hands really good on those uh on those I don’t even know what you call it just those burly moves pass Yeah pass rush drills so that’s all you just pass rose gills and and if he pointed it and he said “Hey any one of these?” Oh man this there’s some beautiful cars in here but hey by the way uh Cory Watson’s sitting on the headset with me hey guys there’s a familiar voice for you Cory yeah you know if you’re interested in waxing I’ll get you busy down here you need some tail bay do you oh yeah showroom floor you could be a you could be the star of the showroom well I already told Coach Lome oh go ahead Coach oh I was just gonna say I I would think you probably have to pay hands with the double because he’d get twice the work done because he can just you know that one buff is enough that’s probably true well coach I appreciate your time thanks for coming on with us um appreciate the insight can’t wait to see what the Utah Jazz do and I just thought this Brian Winhorse comment lit the world on fire a little bit kind of went against what a lot of people were saying and thanks for clarifying some things absolutely have fun over there those are are great dudes with uh a ton of time and business the Watson boys take care of you yeah they do thanks coach sorry man
• Utah Jazz pre/half/post show host Tim LaComb
