If you’re following the Jazz during this NBA playoffs you’ve probably seen the team branded hashtag #TakeNote with the Jazz music note logo attached to the end. However, it wasn’t long ago when the infamous #TankNote hashtag was used by frustrated Jazz fans.
Back in January when the Jazz lost to the worst in the East Atlanta Hawks by 14 points the Patriots were still the reigning Super Bowl Champions, The Greatest Showman soundtrack was still trending, and the Virginia Cavaliers men’s basketball team looked more formidable than the Cleveland Cavaliers team.
My how the times have changed. #FlyEaglesFly happened, new movies came out and the UMBC Golden Retrievers happened. Oh, and the Jazz had the best finish of any NBA team since Rudy Gobert’s return. Ricky Rubio has also turned over a new leaf and Donovan and Quin are prime candidates for Rookie and Coach of the Year respectively. This article is an obituary for the #TankNote hashtag that suggested the Jazz should try to lose game so they could get another quality piece in the years to come.
#TankNote Twitter Hashtag:
Born November 17, 2017 in the home of SLC Dunk.
Died Valentine’s Day 2018 when the Utah Jazz became the significant other of every Jazz fan with their 11th straight win to get in the playoff picture. Donovan would win the Dunk Contest at the NBA All Star Weekend and the hype that followed with his NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month awards hit an all time high.
#TankNote had a solid three months of fame. With every loss and injury, the Jazz kept getting pressure to tank the season even though most local media said Quin Snyder was too good of a coach to do that. Ricky Rubio still looked like the low shooting percentage guy that he was in Minnesota. Thabo and Rudy were out.
Besides the infamous Atlanta game along with the league worst road record, the Jazz also lost a few head scratchers at home that caused spikes in the #TankNote hashtag. It seemed the basketball Deity was against the Jazz when they missed three consecutive chances to tie the Jeff Hornacek coached Knicks with a three. Enes Kanter mocked Utah on Twitter and the Tank Noters looked justified that the Jazz would remain the dumpster pile that the former Jazz Treys (Burke and Lyles) infamously claimed they were on Twitter.
Through all these losses one injured 7 foot 1 big man exclaimed “We will be fine.” People probably wondered if Gobert was high but upon his return the Jazz made great strides starting with a Rubio game winning three at Toronto. What followed was Jazz legend.
The Jazz beat the Warriors by 30 and won the 11 straight previously mentioned. The Jazz would beat the Warriors by 40 later in the season. The Western Conference race was a dogfight until the end with the Jazz getting the 5 seed with 48 wins and the Nuggets missing the playoffs with 46. The Jazz also had that franchise record 12 straight road wins.
Now Donovan Mitchell is wearing hoodies that educate Ben Simmons on what a rookie truly is. The Jazz own a 2-1 lead on the Thunder with the opportunity to extend it tonight. Tank Note has been buried beneath a plethora of the Homer Simpson hides in a bush GIF posts. The question is what is the ceiling for the Jazz after this season? Will Rubio and Favors be long term pieces for the Jazz or just nice stories for this year? Time will tell but meanwhile, previous Tank Note fanboys should see if they can return their T-shirts back to SLC Dunk. They most certainly shouldn’t wear them in downtown Salt Lake this season.