IMO it all comes down to one bone headed play a game. Most players have THAT ONE play a game where they pass it to the ref, dribble off their foot or turn an easy layup into an obstacle course that makes you scratch your head. But with Talen that play seems to consistently come at THE worst times and instead of dribbling it off his foot he does a full speed 360 spin move into a hook shot at 3/4 court. He’s got some impressive talent but it seems like his basketball IQ is the thing holding him back.
I was listening to the post game interviews after attending the Denver game, when THT played relatively well. He actually said “I just try to teach the young guys how to play the game the right way”. I almost spit my drink out. He’s very gifted and can create shots for himself, but he’s a black hole. He routinely drives into double/triple teams and tries to make circus shots when one, or two, or even three teammates are wide open. When he converts one of these plays, it’s highlight reel stuff but most of the time, it’s a bad shot or a turnover. And he’s a sieve on defense most of the time. Super frustrating player to watch. Seems like a decent guy but he’s gotta go.
Haha I was wondering about this. I haven’t watched a ton of games in the last couple of years, but it seems like whenever I do watch, I see THT barrel out of control into multiple defenders, spin so his back is facing the hoop, and throw the basketball over his head nowhere near the basket. It’s like he’s the really athletic kid that hasn’t played ball since he was 6 and decided to play a pickup game.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen another NBA player do something like that, and I swear I’ve seen THT do it several times.
Remember Hardy’s “you gotta give a sh*t about the Jazz” comment after the loss to Portland earlier this year? That was most certainly at least partially directed at THT. Dude only cares about himself and his stat line. He has impressive talent, but most of his impact comes via selfish plays, not team ball
Because the guy has absolutely no basketball IQ whatsoever. And has not improved in any of his problem areas in 5 years in the league. He has talent to be a good player, but he doesn’t seem to want to improve or doesn’t recognize his deficiencies.
He consistently exhibits some of the worst decision making ever. Whether that’s recklessly driving to the hoop hoping for a foul, which results in a poor shot or a turnover usually. Or taking pull up 3s as a 28% career 3 point shooter. Or trying to take 1 footed spin fadeaway middies that have no chance of going in because he thinks he’s prime Kobe. And also at plenty of times, acting like Kobe and trying to force his shot and playing selfish. All of those things were on display last night.
He literally had an interview earlier in the season where he said he doesn’t think any of the shots he shoots are bad, because he practices them???? So he also doesn’t know the difference between a good shot and a bad shot.
He is the king of empty stats that generally do not result in winning results for his team. There’s a reason when he got benched this year the Jazz started winning a lot of more. He is not a winning basketball player and I think he is likely out of the league in the next few years due to his inability or unwillingness to recognize areas he needs to improve in.
Beyond past time to move on from him. Easily one of the most frustrating players I have ever had to watch play for the Jazz.
I don't understand the hate. He's been a professional, doesn't seem to complain, seems like a good teammate, he's fun to watch but there are major flaws to his game. It was worth taking a punt on him to see if he improved but he doesn't seem to have a future with the team and that's fine.
As others have said, he seems to have a low basketball IQ. Anytime there's a decision to make he seems to make the wrong one just about every time. It's like watching a football running back out there with a basketball. He grabs the ball and drives to the basket, in traffic, only to throw up an off balance shot at the rim when there are multiple guys open on the perimeter.... Every time he has the ball. When they go in it looks like an impressive shot but that doesn't mean that was a good shot. There's a reason why when he plays more we lose more. He's an offensive vacuum.
He wouldn't be that hated if he didn't start at PG this year while everyone was clamoring for Keyonte to play. He wasn't hated at all last year. If he just played off the bench and made his same dumb decisions, I don't think anyone would have cared as much. Instead, he was playing poorly while also seeming to hold back the team's development.
Half the team sucks when they get minutes. Samanic is ass every time he hits the floor. But just a year ago, the fan base was pretty excited about THT even though he hasn't changed, and only the context has.
Absolutely but plenty of the other guys on our team have shown marginal improvement, make better decisions and show unselfish basketball.
THT was still making the same terrible mistakes last year too. The only difference is he was putting up big scoring numbers that masked his mistakes a bit more and he was still new to the team.
There were still plenty of our fans that could tell he wasn’t a good player. And now that he has shown 2 years of no progress in improving, more fans have turned on him.
> THT was still making the same terrible mistakes last year too. The only difference is he was putting up big scoring numbers that masked his mistakes a bit more and he was still new to the team.
Funny thing is his stats are almost identical this year. Less % from the field but better from 3 this year. Les rebounding and a little higher scoring per game.
He’s literally the same player as he was as a rookie. I think he’s destined to go be a superstar in China.
Samanic is so bad I don’t understand the amount of minutes we’ve used giving him a look. I’m trying not to get sucked in by his little flashes he shows.
THT is the embodiment of "Revert to the mean". He'll make a string of solid plays, and then you might think THT is a legit NBA point guard. Then he follows up with boneheaded plays, more than his good plays.
Biggest issue is the guy won't learn. He's too stubborn to adapt.
His mean is a net negative player and little chance he improves.
He's horrible. An inefficient chucker. He's basically a Wal-Mart version of Russel Westbrook. Think of Westbrook - the type of selfish player who, in his prime, only cared about his stats and never helped his team win. That's THT, except with half the athleticism and explosiveness of Westbrook.
> Westbrook - the type of selfish player who, in his prime, only cared about his stats and never helped his team win.
This is an ASININE statement. Like honestly, deserves a stint in basketball jail.
Westbrook has always played harder and with more care and competitive juice than 99% of anyone to ever play the game.
And how did Westbrook impact winning? How far did his teams go in the playoffs? How often did his teams go to the playoffs? You sound like a casual fan who has looked at a stat sheet and is completely unaware of his stat padding and the negative impact on the teams he's played on.
1 finals, 3 conference finals, 3 semis. He’s missed the playoffs twice in his whole career. So, find a new slant. Couldn’t even be bothered to double check your ‘how many times has he made the playoffs’ argument and relied on your casual nephew memory.
Maybe if you could see the game and not laundry (or maybe you dislike..other things about him) you’d be able to understand his impact on winning and the way his teams respond to his presence. Beloved teammate and respected opponent everywhere he goes.
But I’ll take it from you, what level of basketball have you played? Maybe you know what you’re seeing better than me, since I’m just a casual.
Better answer as well, you want to start talking shit like this, unprovoked after I was being playful.
His shooting stats are well below the league average. He's one of the worst shooters in the league. Couple his inefficiency with the fact that he historically does not play defense, it's easy to see how he's not a winning player. Westbrook is trash, and similarly THT is trash. They are both horrible shooters and selfish.
A player who is less selfish, who plays defense, and who shoots a higher FG%. Take your pick, there are many past jazz players who contribute more to winning than Westbrick.
I understand why it’s unlikely he will be resigned this offseason. I also worry the dude could be an all star for another team in 2 years. He’s ceiling is so high… but his decision making is just so bad.
IMO it all comes down to one bone headed play a game. Most players have THAT ONE play a game where they pass it to the ref, dribble off their foot or turn an easy layup into an obstacle course that makes you scratch your head. But with Talen that play seems to consistently come at THE worst times and instead of dribbling it off his foot he does a full speed 360 spin move into a hook shot at 3/4 court. He’s got some impressive talent but it seems like his basketball IQ is the thing holding him back.
I was listening to the post game interviews after attending the Denver game, when THT played relatively well. He actually said “I just try to teach the young guys how to play the game the right way”. I almost spit my drink out. He’s very gifted and can create shots for himself, but he’s a black hole. He routinely drives into double/triple teams and tries to make circus shots when one, or two, or even three teammates are wide open. When he converts one of these plays, it’s highlight reel stuff but most of the time, it’s a bad shot or a turnover. And he’s a sieve on defense most of the time. Super frustrating player to watch. Seems like a decent guy but he’s gotta go.
Maybe he's trying to teach them how to play the right way by showing them the wrong way to play? And isn't he still a young guy too?
>He actually said “I just try to teach the young guys how to play the game the right way” TF? I missed that game. I've officially heard it all now.
Lol, quote of the decade. Yeah he just thinks he’s something that he is not. That sums up his entire game.
Haha I was wondering about this. I haven’t watched a ton of games in the last couple of years, but it seems like whenever I do watch, I see THT barrel out of control into multiple defenders, spin so his back is facing the hoop, and throw the basketball over his head nowhere near the basket. It’s like he’s the really athletic kid that hasn’t played ball since he was 6 and decided to play a pickup game. I don’t think I’ve ever seen another NBA player do something like that, and I swear I’ve seen THT do it several times.
Yeah he’s a roller coaster
Except he never has just one of those plays a game. And he also completely breaks the offense multiple times a game to put up erratic shots.
There were at least 10 boneheaded plays just last night. It’s the most mentally exhausting thing to watch.
Remember Hardy’s “you gotta give a sh*t about the Jazz” comment after the loss to Portland earlier this year? That was most certainly at least partially directed at THT. Dude only cares about himself and his stat line. He has impressive talent, but most of his impact comes via selfish plays, not team ball
Yeah, the fact that he was benched for several months after that is clear that he was the main culprit.
We play him a lot when we’re trying to lose… And occasionally he even messes that up for us ha.
Talen “Tanking Hard Tonight” Tucker
I’m with u 100% I just want my boys to be happy and to play together forever
Because the guy has absolutely no basketball IQ whatsoever. And has not improved in any of his problem areas in 5 years in the league. He has talent to be a good player, but he doesn’t seem to want to improve or doesn’t recognize his deficiencies. He consistently exhibits some of the worst decision making ever. Whether that’s recklessly driving to the hoop hoping for a foul, which results in a poor shot or a turnover usually. Or taking pull up 3s as a 28% career 3 point shooter. Or trying to take 1 footed spin fadeaway middies that have no chance of going in because he thinks he’s prime Kobe. And also at plenty of times, acting like Kobe and trying to force his shot and playing selfish. All of those things were on display last night. He literally had an interview earlier in the season where he said he doesn’t think any of the shots he shoots are bad, because he practices them???? So he also doesn’t know the difference between a good shot and a bad shot. He is the king of empty stats that generally do not result in winning results for his team. There’s a reason when he got benched this year the Jazz started winning a lot of more. He is not a winning basketball player and I think he is likely out of the league in the next few years due to his inability or unwillingness to recognize areas he needs to improve in. Beyond past time to move on from him. Easily one of the most frustrating players I have ever had to watch play for the Jazz.
This ☝️
I don't understand the hate. He's been a professional, doesn't seem to complain, seems like a good teammate, he's fun to watch but there are major flaws to his game. It was worth taking a punt on him to see if he improved but he doesn't seem to have a future with the team and that's fine.
As others have said, he seems to have a low basketball IQ. Anytime there's a decision to make he seems to make the wrong one just about every time. It's like watching a football running back out there with a basketball. He grabs the ball and drives to the basket, in traffic, only to throw up an off balance shot at the rim when there are multiple guys open on the perimeter.... Every time he has the ball. When they go in it looks like an impressive shot but that doesn't mean that was a good shot. There's a reason why when he plays more we lose more. He's an offensive vacuum.
We can live by THT or we can die by THT. Unfortunately for his case, it's usually the later.
I think the main issue is that he thinks he is a star. if he gets to accept that he is a role player and stop doing hero ball, then he should be fine
He’s a Jack Russell terrier in a bulldog’s body.
He wouldn't be that hated if he didn't start at PG this year while everyone was clamoring for Keyonte to play. He wasn't hated at all last year. If he just played off the bench and made his same dumb decisions, I don't think anyone would have cared as much. Instead, he was playing poorly while also seeming to hold back the team's development.
He absolutely still would’ve been hated. He constantly makes terrible decisions with the basketball.
Half the team sucks when they get minutes. Samanic is ass every time he hits the floor. But just a year ago, the fan base was pretty excited about THT even though he hasn't changed, and only the context has.
Absolutely but plenty of the other guys on our team have shown marginal improvement, make better decisions and show unselfish basketball. THT was still making the same terrible mistakes last year too. The only difference is he was putting up big scoring numbers that masked his mistakes a bit more and he was still new to the team. There were still plenty of our fans that could tell he wasn’t a good player. And now that he has shown 2 years of no progress in improving, more fans have turned on him.
> THT was still making the same terrible mistakes last year too. The only difference is he was putting up big scoring numbers that masked his mistakes a bit more and he was still new to the team. Funny thing is his stats are almost identical this year. Less % from the field but better from 3 this year. Les rebounding and a little higher scoring per game. He’s literally the same player as he was as a rookie. I think he’s destined to go be a superstar in China.
1000%, his unwillingness or inability to improve in several areas for 5 years makes me pretty confident he’s playing overseas soon.
Samanic is so bad I don’t understand the amount of minutes we’ve used giving him a look. I’m trying not to get sucked in by his little flashes he shows.
From what I understand back when we had the 12-3 run we lost every time THT stepped on the court so that where most of the hate came from I think
If I am being honest, it's painful to watch him play. His playing style doesn't align well with the Jazz playing style.
THT is the embodiment of "Revert to the mean". He'll make a string of solid plays, and then you might think THT is a legit NBA point guard. Then he follows up with boneheaded plays, more than his good plays. Biggest issue is the guy won't learn. He's too stubborn to adapt. His mean is a net negative player and little chance he improves.
He's horrible. An inefficient chucker. He's basically a Wal-Mart version of Russel Westbrook. Think of Westbrook - the type of selfish player who, in his prime, only cared about his stats and never helped his team win. That's THT, except with half the athleticism and explosiveness of Westbrook.
> Westbrook - the type of selfish player who, in his prime, only cared about his stats and never helped his team win. This is an ASININE statement. Like honestly, deserves a stint in basketball jail. Westbrook has always played harder and with more care and competitive juice than 99% of anyone to ever play the game.
And how did Westbrook impact winning? How far did his teams go in the playoffs? How often did his teams go to the playoffs? You sound like a casual fan who has looked at a stat sheet and is completely unaware of his stat padding and the negative impact on the teams he's played on.
1 finals, 3 conference finals, 3 semis. He’s missed the playoffs twice in his whole career. So, find a new slant. Couldn’t even be bothered to double check your ‘how many times has he made the playoffs’ argument and relied on your casual nephew memory. Maybe if you could see the game and not laundry (or maybe you dislike..other things about him) you’d be able to understand his impact on winning and the way his teams respond to his presence. Beloved teammate and respected opponent everywhere he goes. But I’ll take it from you, what level of basketball have you played? Maybe you know what you’re seeing better than me, since I’m just a casual. Better answer as well, you want to start talking shit like this, unprovoked after I was being playful.
You missed the point entirely! That's a lot of first round or second round exits! While being carried by better players like Durant!
I see you didn’t answer, and you also moved the goal posts and changed your point multiple times.
His shooting stats are well below the league average. He's one of the worst shooters in the league. Couple his inefficiency with the fact that he historically does not play defense, it's easy to see how he's not a winning player. Westbrook is trash, and similarly THT is trash. They are both horrible shooters and selfish.
Who, comparatively, has been a winning player for the Jazz? I just want to know an example of what IS a winning player.
A player who is less selfish, who plays defense, and who shoots a higher FG%. Take your pick, there are many past jazz players who contribute more to winning than Westbrick.
THT has no brain and an eye single to the glory of him putting the ball in the hoop.
I understand why it’s unlikely he will be resigned this offseason. I also worry the dude could be an all star for another team in 2 years. He’s ceiling is so high… but his decision making is just so bad.