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After a practice earlier this week, Jazz radio PBP man David Locke asked Joe Ingles if there was more talent in the NBA now than when he first arrived in 2014. Joe drew upon his experience of playing in Australia, Spain, and Israel to give a thoughtful response on how lucky American basketball fans are to be inundated by so many exceptional players.
“I was a little fish in a big pond back then. I didn’t really probably understand a lot,” Ingles said. “When I first got in, I was playing against Kobe and that older era that were kind of starting to retire. I mean, there’s a lot of good players every year in this league, obviously; there’s some really good young kids that are coming through this last year or two. In terms of if it’s better, I don’t know. You’ve probably got a stat on that.”
An injury report featuring … a facial infection?
I tweet out Jazz injury reports all the time, but I’ll acknowledge that seeing the likes of “Eric Paschall — QUESTIONABLE (Facial Infection)” was a new one on me.
Naturally, after seeing EP play against the Nuggets with a small bandage on his face, we had to ask him what had happened.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz forward Eric Paschall (0) as the Utah Jazz host the Denver Nuggets, NBA basketball in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021.
“I’m the same as y’all — I don’t know,” he said. “I thought I had a pimple the other day, and I think it just got infected. I just had a bump [on my face], then all of a sudden I wake up and my eye is swollen, my whole face is swollen. I’m OK, I’ll be alright.”
An early review on the new points of emphasis
The NBA’s new point-of-emphasis rule interpretations in which refs have been trying not to reward players who create unnatural contact in search of free throws has been a hot topic around the league thus far. Mike Conley said players are already seeing some trickle-down effect, and wondered how long such calls will last:
“The emphasis on the ball-handler not being able to jump into a defender, they’re letting that [created contact] slide. But it seems like they’re letting a lot of other things kind of slide, too, and play out and be more physical. I’m OK with it as long as it’s gonna be consistent. If that’s just how we’re playing, that’s how we’re going to play. But we’re just trying to find out what’s truthfully going to be called for the rest of the year, and kind of dictate our games based on that.
“… Always when there’s a new emphasis on the rule, they definitely pay more attention to it early on and they let things go a little bit more, or they make that call over the more, whatever they’re trying to emphasize. So I’m trying to learn as well: Am I allowed to do this or that? Or is this a foul as opposed to this? I’m trying to find the line in which I can kind of step over it or not. So if I find myself in that position in a game, I’m not complaining about not getting a foul.”
Dividing up road trips
Someone asked me on Twitter the other day how Andy Larsen and I decide who goes on which road trips, as the Tribune has two beat writers. It’s not as simple as just alternating every trip. First off, with 41 regular-season away games, we have a 21/20 split as our first principle. Also, if there’s a multi-game trip, one person is taking the entire thing.
Next, we put it out there which places we’re hoping for, and then negotiate. For instance, I’m trying to get to every NBA arena, so the Dec. 5-11 trip was high on my list, as it will cross off two stops for me (Philadelphia and DC). I also requested the sprawling Jan. 3-10 trip, because it includes one of my favorite cities to visit (Toronto) and will technically get me to completionist status with a Jan. 5 visit to Indiana. (Such status will have an asterisk, though, as I’ve visited Brooklyn’s Barclays Center for an NHL game, but not an NBA one. And Andy is covering the Nets game this season.)
After that, it’s kinda just filling in the blanks to make the math work, while sort of trying to alternate so that no one is spending the bulk of an entire month on airplanes and in hotels. Road burnout is a real thing. Anyway, our setup is pretty ideal and incredibly fun.
JC … side hustle as a rideshare driver?
Since we’re talking about travel, a quick funny story. I was just back from Sacramento last weekend, and waiting Mrs. TribJazz to pick me up at the airport. A matte black Rolls Royce with a purple hood ornament pulled up mere feet away from me to pick someone up, and none other than Jordan Clarkson stepped out of the driver’s side.
When I saw him next two days later at practice, I jokingly asked him why he didn’t give me a ride. And, bless his heart, he laughed and replied, “I didn’t know that was you, man!”
