This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Just about when preseason prediction time was rolling around, when enthusiasm was supposed to reach a crescendo, when everybody wants to see daffodils and cherry blossoms and sugarplums, when we're ready to blow sunshine in all directions, guessing how the Jazz will do in 2015-16, what happens? They go out the other night on their home floor and play like a bunch of schnauzers running loose at the company picnic against a legit playoff team in the West — Oklahoma City's Thunder — that's all fired up and ready to win, win a lot.

And the Thunder … well, they ate lightning. The Jazz? They crapped thunder, losing by double-digits.

Yeah, yeah, NBD, right? It was a game that didn't count. Eighty-two regular-season games already is too many, and this one on a lazy Tuesday night had no effect on the real standings, and blah-blah-blah-blah-blah.

So, it's easy to dismiss a lousy performance in a meaningless exhibition and go ahead to predict that the Jazz will do what a lot of us have been figuring they'll do — finish over .500, take great strides and make big improvements, play stifling defense, and qualify for the playoffs, but then … then Gordon Hayward blames us for being too complimentary, saying to a group of reporters: "Guys like you are really hyping us up and hyped us up all offseason and we didn't really deserve any of that."

Did they deserve their multi-million-dollar contracts, then?

And that was a warm-up.

Quin Snyder opens his mouth — maybe you've heard about some of this by now — and starts talking and not just talking, but dealing the straight dope and making you wonder a little bit and, suddenly, those 50 wins you were going to guarantee are not so guarantee-able anymore. His message, though, wasn't for anyone other than his players, each and every one.

He told them to put up and shut up.

This is exactly what Snyder said in the postgame, in it's inglorious entirety, with a few interruptions. (Warning: All you wild optimists out there, lock your doors, hide your children and hold tight onto your shorts and your hope.)

"The thing about our team is we've got some good players. We've got an opportunity to be a good team, but it's not like anybody or our team has done anything. We've played well at times. Our individual players have played well at times. …"

How you doing so far? Hanging in?

"… But you're looking at Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and guys that have a level that … [well], we haven't touched that. So, for us, it's, 'Hey look at what that is, what those guys are doing, how hard they practice. You see them before the game? How hard they went? Those are hungry guys who are All-Stars. If we want to get to that place, individually and collectively, that's what you have to do, you have to say, 'That's it. …'"

OK, this is not good. It should be as clear to the Jazz as the sky overhead and the ground beneath them that they haven't done jack-squat, yet, that they have to work their tails harder than anybody to continue to elevate their play.

"… [The Thunder] appreciate the opportunity they have. Kevin Durant was hurt for a year. They lost in the NBA Finals. They know that level and they looked unbelievably hungry. They just came at it. That's a team that has an appreciation for how difficult it is to win in this league. They know that you have to do everything. And sometimes that's still not enough on a given night, unless you're lucky. We don't understand that. …"

Duh. The Jazz should. They lost more than they won last year, remember? But Snyder explains further.

"… Why would we? We haven't been in that situation. To play a team that's on that level, that's what you have to do to get there. You have to experience it. You can talk about it all you want until Kevin Durant comes down, from three feet behind the line and you go under on pick-and-roll and he drains a 3 and you know that's what he does. That's a credit to them. It's not being down on our team. …"

It sure sounds like it's being down on the team. Doesn't it? No, he said it's looking at things as they are and being real.

"… It's a realistic … um … hey, I love our team. We didn't make a change. We got Alec [Burks] back, we re-signed [Trevor] Book[er]. We've got the same team we had last year. If we didn't feel that way about our team, we wouldn't have done that. But that doesn't mean we're a good team yet. …"

Uh-oh.

"… We were a good team for about two months. And we were a good team when other teams sometimes were resting a player. The competition we were playing in the league was always formidable, but we weren't playing teams that were competing for the playoffs very often. …"

That 19-10 finish that regularly is cited as evidence the Jazz really are headed in the right direction wasn't what we thought it was? It was just a mirage conjured by opponents not trying through a part of the schedule that didn't mean much? Man … the Jazz are gonna suck and we're all gonna die.

"… I'm not dampening any enthusiasm. But I am being realistic about who our group is. And that's what our group needs. We need to be realistic about the level that's out there and if we want to reach it, it's a hard road."

Mark it down, then. Snyder was saying exactly what he should say, what his team is going to hear all season long, and he's going to be relentless about it, and probably a lot more aggressive and angry and colorful with his language to his players in private, in practice and during games. He's going to slap them hard with the message and they're going to buy in … because, without any established stars, they have to.

The Jazz won't win 50, but they'll edge into the playoffs, eating lightning and crapping thunder, en route.

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone. Twitter: @GordonMonson.