Scoot Henderson gives the Portland Trail Blazers the win

Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz’s 122-120 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.

1. The perfect game from the perspective of a forward-thinking jazz fan

This tweet from Jazz fan @superfinn23 resonated with many Jazz viewers this evening:

In many ways, this was the ideal Jazz game for the 2024-25 season. The Jazz competed well and their rookies got significant playing time, including significant clutch minutes. The experienced players like Lauri Markkanen also showed their skills. And in the end, with just 00.1 seconds on the clock, the Jazz were beaten on a near-buzzer by Portland’s Scoot Henderson to take the win. What a disappointment – ​​if the organization were trying to win games.

Isaiah Collier was the team’s starting player and Cody Williams was the first man off the bench to finish the game. The situation was understandable for Collier: Keyonte George was out because of his ankle sprain.

For Williams? There was a drastic change in the team’s approach in the last game where Williams was a DNP-CD – obviously they’ve made a new decision to prioritize his playing time. He didn’t do much in his 25 minutes on the court, with just five points, one rebound and one assist, but he was still out there to finish the game.

In other words, this was jazz embracing #TankNote. I understand if you have significant concerns when the Jazz players don’t do their best to win basketball games. But from my point of view it is certainly better to remain in eternal mediocrity, as they threatened to do otherwise. This will definitely be an ugly time for Jazz basketball, but the young kids playing at least has the potential to turn things around.

Suffering such a narrow loss was the best of both worlds: the Jazz’s rookies had a chance to gain some clutch experience, and it looks more likely that the team will make a difference in next year’s draft.

2. Isaiah Collier, starting point guard

Isaiah Collier made his second career start tonight with Keyonte George out. However, he only played 24 minutes in his first start against Spurs. Tonight he played 35.

The results were mixed. He had seven assists and eight rebounds, but scored just seven points on 3-10 shooting. He also committed four fouls and had six turnovers. If we limited him to the standards of a veteran point guard, his performance certainly wouldn’t be good enough.

There are times, particularly in transition, when Collier takes advantage like no other young Jazz guard can.

There are also times, particularly in the halfcourt, when Collier looks completely out of his depth and irresponsible with the ball.

On the latter plays, Collier looks like a player who expects his high school approach to work. In the NBA, however, the other players are even longer and more physical, especially when driving to the rim. As a result, his approach simply needs to change in the NBA: passes need to come sooner and attacks at the rim need to be more reserved and urgent to be successful.

There’s a balance here that Collier can strike if he recognizes it: attack with the advantage, be more cautious without it. Some young NBA players find it, others don’t. We’ll find out over the course of the year and the years to come whether he accepts it.

3. The NBA TV ratings conversation

Okay, let’s get started.

The general discussion was that NBA ratings were down. The commonly cited statistic is that valuations are down 19% compared to last year.

ESPN responded with great ratings on Christmas Day, which it said was up 84% over the previous year.

Any conversation about this has to start with one fact: the NBA Only signed a new TV deal worth $76 billion over 11 seasons. So that number about Belize’s GDP is, you know, pretty good. That means none of this matters at all: Ryan Smith and his co-owners will pay tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars above what they are currently paying in player salaries in the NBA’s TV deals alone. The Delta Center could see zero attendance and Smith would be fine from a financial standpoint.

But I also understand why people don’t care: people who like watching basketball also like watching basketball with friends. When you feel like you’re the only one among your friends watching the NBA, you feel a little isolated. A little… strange.

I believe in two things:

• First, the NBA is a flawed league and could certainly use some improvements. The TV ratings are not outstanding.

• Second, the negative conversations about them are largely made by people with agendas.

The list of reasons to blame NBA TV ratings is long. Is the NBA too woke? Or has it turned its back on those who care about social justice, such as China? Are there too many games? Too many injuries? Don’t they care enough? Is there too much attack or too many threes? Or too little offense while teams tank? Aren’t there enough stars? Are the stars swapped too often? Are the games blocked too often? Is it too difficult to watch TV? Is America’s Youth to Blame?

Hell, even I’m in on it. Five years ago, I wrote a column in which I blamed NBA TV ratings on NBA analysts not talking enough about the league. I can confirm that it’s fun to blame the league’s ills on your favorite company.

That’s why I ask everyone who now makes these arguments:

What evidence do you have?

Make sure the NBA’s TV ratings reflect a real benchmark. A lot has changed in the last 20 years. If you want to argue that one of them is specifically responsible for the ratings decline, I’d like to see evidence of how to do it Your special talking point is to blame.

I didn’t see much of that. I’m ready to learn. But I need more facts and less talk to decide what, if anything, is driving the NBA down.

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