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Game Thread Jan 20, 2026 07:00PM MT: Minnesota Timberwolves @ Utah Jazz

Added to Calendar: 01-20-26

I feel I should be happy about how Collier played in this game but I still don't trust him to be a long-term piece. He keeps relying too much on his bully drives instead of developing new offensive tools and that makes him very one-dimensional and predictable. And, of course, his free throws and the emotional instability. Clayton is not great at anything but he has no major holes in his game and is always so calm and confident. Walter is just an ideal long-term backup PG.
 
jazznik said:
Do you know how hard it is to get a star who truly likes living and playing in Utah?
Click to expand...

Don't worry, he just said Lauri (EPM rank 16) is a Robin to Keyonte's (EPM rank 116) Batman... and really, even that Robin role should be given to Ace Bailey. So the first priority would be to get rid of a useless max player and then worry about the rest. I'm sure a new, cheaper 3rd option could be found on some scrap heap.

I fully support this line of thought. Lauri's as good as gone! :D
 
Here are my two cents:

- Our half-court defense was, for the most part, pretty solid. We let them run in the first quarter even after made baskets, and in the third quarter both the offense and defense fell apart when Nurk was on the bench. Outside of that, good stuff.
- Great game from Ace, but I didn’t see much he wouldn’t also do alongside Lauri, aside from those awkward ISO possessions that didn’t lead to anything.
- Great second half from Collier. He looked like a completely different player once we got some stops and he was able to push the pace on offense.
 
Man you gotta love this game even if the result wasnt what we needed.

Key posts his career high 43 in a game where he is the only guy with real gravity. No benefit of Lauri drawing defenders and opening lanes for him and the 2nd biggest threat on the court was probably Ace. Key got a lot of help from Nurk (especially screen assists) but he still did a lot of heavy lifting of his own. I was SUPER IMPRESSED by how easily he shot over Rudy on few occasions when everyone else (especially Collier) couldnt do anything when they ran into the big man.

Very encourage by Ace on both ends, except for the few debacle possessions of self-creation. He has to improve his handles a lot before he can start doing that.

Sitting Nurk would have been the correct tank move, but then again if we did that there is no way Key gets his career high. So I'm not mad. This was a game where development ruined tanking.
 
Also while we hope this game does not build up any momentum, we do need these types of games.

This was our first win of the season without Lauri. It came against a good team and was a huge confidence builder for Key and Ace. Box scores arent the only thing helping in that area, The W matters also.
 
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