You Are The Worse Coach I Ever Met’ Star Player Disparaging The San Antonio Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich…

SALT LAKE CITY – Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks blew past Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama for a slam dunk during Utah’s game against the San Antonio Spurs.

Gregg Popovich delivers hilarious answer before Spurs' loss to Cavs

Taylor Hendricks drive past Victor Wembanyama

The Jazz hosted the Spurs at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday, February 25.

In their first meeting this season, the Jazz beat the Spurs in San Antonio, 130-118, on December 26, 2023. Lauri Markkanen led Utah with a double-double that featured 31 points on 12-17 shooting and 12 rebounds. Jordan Clarkson poured in 24 points off of the bench in Utah’s win.

Keldon Johnson scored 26 points to lead all Spurs scorers. Victor Wembanyama had 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists, one steal, and five blocks in San Antonio’s loss.

Since the loss to the Jazz, the Spurs have only won seven games. The Spurs arrived in Utah with an 11-46 record, good for the third-worst in the NBA. San Antonio is 6-25 on the road this season.

By comparison, the Jazz welcomed the Spurs with a 26-31 record, including 17-11 at the Delta Center this season. The Jazz are currently four games out of the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference.

The Spurs and Jazz will play each other one more time during the 2023-24 regular season. Utah will host San Antonio again on March 27.

On Sunday night, the Utah Jazz defeated the San Antonio Spurs 109-128 to end a five-game losing streak.

In their first win since the trade-deadline, the Jazz hosted recent first-overall pick and Rooking-of-the-Year award favorite, Victor Wembenyama. The 20 year-old phenom impressed in his first visit to Salt Lake City, scoring 22 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and blocking 5 shots. Devin Vassell led the Spurs in scoring, posting 27 points and adding 6 assists.

Despite Wembanyama’s immense talent, the Spurs are a lowly NBA team. They’ve only won 11 games this season and hold a roster loaded with question marks. Keldon Johnson has regressed since last season, Devin Vassell still remains an inefficient scorer, Jeremy Sochan lacks impact on the offensive end, and the team’s point-guard play has been questionable. That has culminated in the Spurs likely landing at the bottom of the Western Conference standings for the second-straight season.

The Jazz, however, were in need of a gimme. They’ve struggled since trading away Kelly Olynyk, Simone Fontecchio, and Ochai Agbaji, but snapped their skid with a composed performance against a lesser opponent. Lauri Markkanen led Utah with an all-around performance, posting 26 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Jordan Clarkson had his best performance in weeks, notching a double-double with 22 points and 10 assists. John Collins chipped in 20 points and 8 rebounds.

The Kings-Lakers beef had suspicious refs and poison?

We don’t often do a team v team beef but with this one there were so many participants it only seemed right. When the Kings got good at the turn of the century and challenge the Lakers you had stuff like Shaq declaring LA had supplanted Sacramento as California’s capital. You had Phil Jackson calling Kings fans hicks. You had the refs allegedly choosing sides. You had a Sacramento hotel allegedly poisoning Kobe Bryant via cheeseburger. There was a lot going on, from a lotta angles. Enjoy this beef, and you just have to trust me that it’s not poisoned.

Taylor Hendricks, who started his second-straight game, showed more flashes of his defensive potential. Tonight served as a good measuring stick for his development, as he spent most of the night defending Wembanyama. The pluses included a number of impressive defensive plays, including this block:

With his length and athleticism, Hendricks has the chance to become a Jaren Jackson Jr.-like weak-side rim defender. Both as a three or four, Hendricks has the physical tools to defend nearly anywhere on the court. He could have an immense impact as a roamer on defense, as shown in the play above.

The negatives remain his court awareness and offensive impact. Hendricks fouled out in 26 minutes, including three fouls in three-straight possessions on Wembanyama. Two of the three were silly and he’ll need to learn how to defend without fouling moving forward. Offensively, Hendrick’s impact continues to come through tip-ins, dump-offs, and rebounds. He shot 1-5 from three for the second-straight game and continues to struggle with ball-in-hand creation. Obviously, these are all things that won’t improve overnight. But the hope is that by the end of the season, we can point to these aspects of his game trending in the right direction.