So far this season (9 games in) I have enjoyed reading posts and posting in the GameDay threads. After watching last night’s game (Pacers) I was surfing the r/UtahJazz posts and noticed an article about THT and why he thinks we should believe in him.

Now I’ve read all the comments about him and Sexton and the rest of the Utah Jazz players and staff. Apparently, some of the players read these posts too. It got me to thinking about some of the things I’ve read and frankly, some of my own posts.

Coaches and players know what bad losses feel like, if you’ve ever coached a youth sport, you know. The fans(parents,families) really lose faith quickly. Second guessing coaches, players, the organization as a whole. They begin shouting at refs, expressing their negative opinions on the sidelines etc … Not a great environment for the players, or any of the participants for that matter.

I’m seeing a lot of that behavior this season with our favorite team. The amount of negative comments about THT, Sexton, Clarkson,just about every member of the team is just not good. If the players read these comments, it’s not good at all.

Some of the best teams start with the worst records. As you build, the winning usually takes care of itself. The atmosphere you build becomes the culture, culture attracts talent, talent affects winning, and the winning feeds the culture.

Yeah, we’ve seen some poor basketball this season and I can empathize with the other fans about those losses but let’s not tear the team apart from the inside out. Let’s respect the players, coaches and staff and support them with positivity. After all, Utah has a tough time attracting free agents when we’re winning, what do you think a bad team with terrible fans will attract ?

  • SometimesIComplainBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I think there’s a level of criticism that is totally fine to levy on a professional athlete. That’s what they sign up for by playing a game for millions of dollars, it’s a more than fair tradeoff. I agree that there’s a line at which it becomes too much or too critical, but frankly I haven’t seen many people go past it (in regard to THT criticism).

    After all, Utah has a tough time attracting free agents when we’re winning, what do you think a bad team with terrible fans will attract ?

    The thing is though that every fanbase in sports is like this, and frankly on average we’re probably less toxic to the players than most. If THT comes away from this thinking Jazz fans are awful compared to the average, IMO that’s on him. People want him to make better decisions and make more shots–I don’t think that’s an unfair thing to be upset about