Dear Blog reader

Thank you for your support over all these months, all of you, even the people who come here looking for e-mail addresses to use in Nigerian Spam Scams, the 83 people who do not yet have closure on Blue Edward’s paternity case, and of course, the people who are redirected here when searching the ‘net to see if Jeff Hornacek made any all-NBA defense teams. (Btw, the answer is no) I’ve tried to be fair, and write interesting posts for everyone to enjoy. Some deal with stats, others with looking back upon NBA records, or old players or whatever. That said, even when you try you just can’t support 100% of the readership 100% of the time.

So, to the 5 people who visit my blog under 640x480 resolution and the 11 people who visit my blog under 800x600 resolution, I’m really sorry. My blog will not be able to support your continued readership at this point in time. I can only hope that in the year of our Obama-lord 2009 that the only way you are visiting my site (let alone any other) under those pre-millennial resolutions would be if your computer happens to be running in safe mode. I’m flattered, I really am, but if you are in Safe mode, please try to get your computer fixed. The basketball commentary can wait for another time.

If those are the best resolutions your computer can do, it may be time to spend the $500 bucks to buy a new minimum spec desktop that’ll at least take you to 1024x768 and 1 gig of RAM.

And yes, the vast majority of the random / non-repeat reader of my blog comes here to find out more info on Blue Edwards/Kimberly Van de Perre. (That and pictures of CeCe Boozer)

Thank you,

and now we will resume our regularly unscheduled blogging.

So . . . I was right about Ronnie Price

If you aren’t on twitter, then this is news: the Jazz are going to be bringing back Ronnie Price. (also confirmed by 1320 KFAN by txt message and via Twitter and the PR department of the Utah Jazz, via Twitter) Of course, this was a mere formality after Sloan was talking about Price in post draft interviews about Eric Maynor. But really, you didn’t need that either – you just needed to listen to me all along. So, last off-season the Jazz traded Hart for Knight, and by doing so, put themselves in a position where they would end up evaluating two guys for one spot all season long – with the final prize being a contract. I’m sure it must have been a crazy year for both Ronnie Price and Brevin Knight, playing against each other all season long fighting for playing time, both in the last year of expiring contracts.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008 (an excerpt)

Things to look for this season: Brevin Knight

Posted by Amar at 1:30 PM

“. . . More playing time at PG than Ronnie Price: That doesn't mean that Price isn't going to get playing time this season -- he may very well beat out Knight as the season goes on -- but over all Knight is going to get more playing time at the PG than Price will . . . ”

Thursday, October 16, 2008 (an excerpt)

Things to look for this season: Ronnie Price

Posted by Amar at 11:58 PM

“. . . If you haven't been following Ronnie Price's career, this is pretty much his own version of Sisyphus' challenge. His entire career he's had to make a living by beating other guys out for playing time. He did it two years ago in Sacramento (beating Jason Hart out). He did it last year in Utah (again beating Jason Hart out). And he's basically going to have to do it a 3rd year in a row, having to attempt to beat out Jason Hart the guy they traded Jason Hart for (Brevin Knight). Brevin also being in a contract year makes this even 'better', in terms of entertainment value. They are in direct competition with each other for this season -- and the next ones too! The only way to make things a little bit harder for Price would be if his coach decides 'just for fun' (in that exaggerated East Indian accent that Russell Peters has sometimes) to stop playing him at point guard -- and have him fight for playing time against 4 shooting guards (Brewer, Korver, Miles and Almond). Sounds dumb, right? Sounds even better from Jerry's own mouth [Interview, around the 1:54 to 4:13 mark, via 1320 KFAN]. For the record though, he does compliment Price as well during that answer, and suggests that his versatility allows him to play alongside Knight for a really small, quick line-up.

Basically, then, all Ronnie Price has to do is beat out Knight, and his future here in Utah will be secure, well it should be, right Mo Williams? Price has some advantages though, as he's been here last season, won the job, and played in every playoff game. Furthermore, he's a popular guy (in that younger crew with Millsap, Brewer and Miles) and the Jazz went 43-18 in games that he played in. That's winning 70.5 % of those games -- good enough for a 58 win season over 82 games. Here are three things to look out for this season from Ronnie Price:

 

Hustle every minute on the floor: Deron Williams plays so much point guard that there is very little time remaining for the other guys. There's going to be 8-12 minutes per game available by my estimation, and that's not nearly enough to play all three guys every game. What Price will do is hustle and play very hard in whatever time he has. Brevin Knight isn't going to jump up there and slam down alley-oops, or run back and block guys on fast breaks. Those are the types of plays that'll help get Price another contract with the Jazz -- especially if he plays within the offense and runs the team well.

 

Be available (and healthy) to play in 80+ games: Knight gets injured every year. He's never played over 80 games and whatever slim window of playing time exists has to be maximized by Price. Price needs to be available every game to go in and give Deron a breather. Especially in the cases where Knight is going to be injured and unavailable to play. It sounds simple, but it makes sense. One easy way to distinguish himself from his competition is be healthy. Coach is going to go with the guys on the roster who can play. Sometimes it doesn't have to be complicated. Knight averages 59 games played a season over his career. There is a window of opportunity for Price here, even if it's not wide open.

 

Eventually beat out Brevin Knight: I'm going to come out and say it -- there are going to be some situations all year where one of the two guys is going to get to play, and the other guy will sit. There will be situations where one guy is favored to play over the other (match-ups, etc). Also, there could be some times on the court where they both play at the same time. Out of all of those situations I think that the veteran leadership of Brevin Knight is going to be a stabilizing force for our team. I just can't bet against Ronnie Price. He's a smaller, scrappy guard who has three point range and has been in this situation before. Knight is smaller, scrappier, and much better than Jason Hart (the guy Price used to beat out each of those previous times), but I think Price has more fight in him. If Knight gets decked by Turiaf I see him on the floor for a while. Price got decked and was ready to fight. It's probably this fight that's going to win him the job sometime after the All-Star Break. . .”

Price eventually did win out, it appears, but thanks to Brevin Knight for being there. He was instrumental in our team starting the seasons on a 5-0 run, but just did not get it going after that. It’s a shame really, because I think we all expected more out of him. Alas, he’ll be looking to play somewhere else next season. Kevin O’Connor (GM): “Keeping Ronnie on our roster was important to us. He is someone who knows our system and has proven capable of stepping in whenever called upon. Over the last two seasons he has shown a commitment to working hard and improving his game, and as a result, we expect his growth to continue.” Randy Rigby (Utah Jazz President): “Ronnie Price is the consummate professional. He is always prepared when Coach Sloan calls on him and we are looking forward to his energy and toughness next season.” “The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has re-signed guard Ronnie Price.  Per team policy, terms of the deal were not released.” (The Utah Jazz, July 14, 2009) If you don’t recall, Price did not get a chance to play massive minutes in the playoffs this season, which is in stark contrast to last season’s playoffs. But in the time that he did play, he played with energy, hustle, fire and without fear. That’s the type of player I want on the court when we’re on the wrong side of an elimination game. And that’s exactly the type of player the Jazz have in Price.

Wooooo! One Year Old!

Happy Birthday AllThatJazz, you’ve been online clogging up the internets for one whole year now. Sure, you really fizzled down the stretch (like the Jazz), but you were really active in the off-season. Guess what? It’s the off-season again. Oh, the things you have seen in your first year of life . . .

• Fesenko had blond hair
• The Salt Lake City media couldn’t get enough of it
• Morris Almond was killing it in the summer league
• Deron got injured
• remember that game in Philly where no one was active to play, and we won?
• Boozer got injured
• eventually everyone got injured
• The team owner died
• Utah went from 1st in the division to 3rd
• we just squeaked into the playoffs and were unceremoniously ousted by the eventual champions, the Lakers
• somehow, over the course of the season, 5 new Jazz blogs came into being

And since then so many things have changed, this season the Jazz look to a new coach and general manager to right this ship, as Deron Williams will be looking to set up all new team mates in the quest for . . . wait what? REALLY? Okay, scratch that, the Jazz will go into this next season with, pretty much, the exact same team, coach and front office and expect better results. Memo, Boozer and Korver all opted into their final years of their contract. Two low draft picks were added, Millsap is a RFA and hopefully the Jazz are healthier next season.

So that much hasn’t changed from last year to this year . . . but let’s look at some blogging highlights from the past year! (and no, there are NOT all the blog posts I did all year long, jerks!)

• Why I decided to blog, and early concerns for saturation of Jazz blogs (July 14th, 2008)
• Explaining how awesome Stockton was/is. (July 15th, 2008 a; b; April 20th, 2009)
• Deron Williams signing for the long haul (July 19, 2008)
• The Brevin Knight/Jason Hart trade (July 23, 2008)
• Not-so-Jazzy Nicknames (Part 1: August 4th, 2008; Part 2: November 12th, 2008; Part 3: December 1st, 2009)
• The Making Guard (August 21st, 2008); On a wing and a prayer (April 11th, 2009)
• The NBA's next target: India. Why India? Why not? (August 27th, 2008)
• 10 Things other Point Guards do better than Deron Williams, and why. (August 28th, 2008)
• What if: The USSR played at the Olympics? (September 2nd, 2008)
• Adrian Dantley -- better late than never (September 7th, 2008)
• Hoops-pedia: Game of Destiny (September 9th, 2008)
• The Five Epic Errors of Jerry Eugene Sloan (September 11th, 2008); The Five Epic Qualities of Jerry Eugene Sloan (October 17th, 2008)
• Tangent Alert: sports figures ARE public figures (September 22nd, 2008)
• Mehmet Okur Evolution . . . (October 1st, 2008)
• YouTube Tuesdays! Mehmet Okur Interview Drinking Game (October 15th ,2008)
• Flashback Friday: Andrei back when he was AK-47 (October 24th, 2008)
• YouTube Tuesdays! We're Number Three! (October 28th, 2008)
• Utah Jazz 2008-2009 Season Preview! (October 29th, 2008)
• Flashback Friday- Some other young Jazz players that got better after their rookie seasons or how I stopped worrying and learned to love the Long Bomb (from Morris Almond) (October 31st, 2008)
• YouTube Tuesdays! Millsap owns Kaman (November 4th, 2008)
• Where in the world is Tadija Dragicevic and Ante Tomic? (November 6th, 2008)
• 10 Things Jazz fans should be thankful for (November 27th, 2008)
• Game 6 Recap- New York 107 - Utah 99 (December 13th, 2008) <---- super late game recap
• The King is dead. Love live the King! (February 21st, 2009)
• Walking Wounded (February 21st, 2009)
• To be honest with you Diane, I'm surprised (February 21st, 2009)
• Requisite Oscars/NBA cross over post (February 23rd, 2009)
• The Jedi Voodoo Mind Trick Hype Machine (February 25th, 2009)
• ESPN, and the fans who love to hate them (February 26th, 2009) <--- a must read
• Flashback Friday- WE'RE GOING STREAKING! (March 6th, 2009)
• Contract years, Developing Talent & Front Office Subterfuge (March 6th, 2009)
• Carlos Boozer to English Dictionary -- Episode 1 (March 9th, 2009)
• Rational Jazz Blogger Roundtable 1- Playoffs, Player evaluations & Jazz fan reputations (March 10th, 2009)
• How bad are the Jazz on the road, really- (March 25th, 2009)
• . . . Of Mice and Millsap (March 26th, 2009)
• 2008-2009 Regular Season- What the heck happened- (April 11th, 2009)
• Home (aka SLC) is where the wins are (April 11th, 2009)
• Finishing weak (April 12th, 2009)
• Searching for that PPF- Perfect Power Forward (April 13th, 2009)
• You have got to be kidding me – Jeff Hornacek Mix!!! (April 20th, 2009)
• Round 1, Game 3 Postmortem- Luck (April 24th, 2009) <—Luck off, Lakers fans
• Utah Jazz 2008-2009 Season in Review (Part 1)- The Season that was (May 17th, 2009)
• Who else is sick with the Great Hype surrounding Andrew “Bust”num- (May 18th, 2009)

Hopefully this next season is better for the Jazz *and* All That Jazz (and no, I don’t mean the section of the Utah Jazz Official Website that stole my name, and is featured at the bottom of their page, seriously, that’s a total rip off job) as well. I learned a lot in this last year, and hope to use it by continuing to blog! (Be it here, or elsewhere in some other place)

Hmmmm

This may be super meta, but I’ve come to the conclusion that I wouldn’t read my blog if it wasn’t written by me. Too many words. Not enough pictures. I’m also super lazy, I have to go over all my tags and unify the format . . . I’m really avoiding doing this.

Going out of town this weekend

This is just a quick note to say that I'm going to be in Austin this weekend -- unfortunately. So I'm going to miss watching the Jazz game against the Nuggets, and most likely the game against the Raptors. Blah.

Housekeeping . . .

• Added a "Twitter" Button on the right, next to all the other (misaligned) buttons. Check it out.
• The Utah Jazz Blog (Top 5 Jazz blog, IMO) is rightly renamed "Jazzardous Materials". Check it out.

What the Twit?

I can't avoid the wisdom in all the suggestions I've received, so I'm now on Twitter as AllThatAmar. I'm just going to use it to comment on other twitter posts and as a general heads up on when I actually post things -- a tactic employed by many NBA Bloggers.

Just like the 'new coke' and 'coca-cola classic'

Okay, less people in my reading base actually have widescreen monitors than I though. I'm going back to posting the main body text into a format that is readable by all -- but I'm not going to change the right side bar thingy. The right side bar thingy was just too much HTML work to put in for someone who was never taught HTML; thus, reverting to what I had before invalidates that one book I bought on HTML. (And the hours I put into that code) This way both groups of people have something to complain about now, instead of just one. For widescreen users you're going to just get used to a lot of trapped white space. For normal computer monitor users, that right side bar thingy is forever going to look jacked up. Basically, all my widescreen revisions of the blog will go down in history as the "new coke era" of my blog. Great. That means that people should like my blog more now that I've put it back to normal again, ha ha . . .

Sometimes Change is good, other times . . .

. . . other times it can be bad. [of if you have been following the NBA Trade Deadline deals, sometimes change can be just for the sake of change, neither good nor bad!] Hopefully the changes in this Blog are for the better. Similarly, tonight is the first day in the rest of the life of the Utah Jazz. Seemingly fitting, it has gotten me off of my butt and elicited posting again. I really do enjoy blogging, and over the last few months I have missed it. Unfortunately things in life require more attention to others -- in the long list of things I am involved in, blogging daily was easy to give up. (Especially because there are so many great Jazz blogs out there!!!)

I've made some changes here, the first one is that I'm not formatting my post posts to be viewed optimally in a native widescreen format. Last year I was still clinging to my teachings of doing things in a newspaper format (including the thin little columns of text, and so forth). This is a new year and a new age. Widescreen seems to be the wave of the future -- and really, if I'm finally using it, then most of the world would have already adapted to this. Surely this sucks for the loyal fans of my blog (I know you are out there, I check out your IP addresses!) who do not view the blog on a widescreen screen. [You know, the people kicking around on windows 98 era computers and/or reading this at work]

Going widescreen has allowed for me to put seemingly more information in the side bar (which was becoming quite cluttered otherwise). I'm sure that this looks horrible in the regular 4:3 screen ratio (I know, I pivoted my widescreen 90 degrees -- like it used to be -- and took a look for myself, it's nasty); but it's just something I'm going to have to live with. Just like we're going to have to live with situations we wouldn't prefer, but have to none-the-less.

I'm also not going to try to post as frequently as before. I was having fun doing that, and had moved into the Top 100 NBA blog rankings @ BallHype.com; but the other big Jazz blogs do that so well already. I don't need to put out a game preview and recap for every game when what I wanted to say has already been said. Kind of like how no soft drink can really complete with the Coke and Pepsi brands, I'm going to once again get back to my roots by posting stuff distinct enough that it warrants reading outside of current Jazz news. I'm going to try to keep up with the YouTube Tuesdays and other regular features though . . . so hold on tight. This is the 2nd half of the NBA season, and I guess, the 2nd half of the blogging season too! Btw, the Blog does look a whole lot better in Widescreen . . . take my word for it!

November 2008 Monthly Recap

I really mailed it in late this month, much like the Jazz have as well. With my birthday and thanksgiving and all that jazz, I really started to let myself slack on the whole blog front. Anyway, let's try to right this ship here. There were only 31 posts this month (down from a massive 65 in October), but some posts are worth checking out.

Regular Features:

YouTube Tuesdays: [2]

1. Millsap own Kaman
2. Ronnie Price Buzzer Beaters

Flashback Fridays: [1]

1. The first 10 games of the last two seasons

For the records, there were four tuesdays and fridays in this past month, so 3/8 is pretty poor.

Original Articles:

• Poll Results: Aside from the Title, what's the most important goal for this season?
• New Poll: What will happen first? (Poll Results here)
• New Poll: How will the Jazz do on this 5 game Eastern Conference Road trip? (Poll Results here)
• New Poll: What's the main problem so far this season?
• Looking at the Top five 6th men so far . . .
• Cool article / trip down memory lane! (recap of the two regular season games the Jazz played against the Phoenix Suns back in the 1990-1991 season)
• Where in the world is Tadija Dragicevic and Ante Tomic?
• Recent blog articles I've enjoyed -- and the All Euro Team response to the All Whitey Team
• Elie Seckback interviews Kyrylo Fesenko (hilarious!)
• Kosta Koufos signs off his interviews like an Anchorman from the 1950's
• Not-so-Jazzy nicknames . . . part deux (names for Knight, Koufos, Fesenko, Almond and Price)
• 201! (I reached my 2nd hundred posts! Click here for a caption contest)
• 10 Things Jazz fans should be thankful for

News Inspired:

• Game 2 Recap: Utah 101, LA Clippers 79; Game 3 Preview: Utah @ LA Clippers [Jason Hart Revenge Game #1, and #2]
• Detroit trades for Allen Iverson
• Game 3 Recap: Utah 89, LA Clippers 73
• Game 4 Recap: Utah 103, Portland 96
• Game 5 Recap: Utah 104, Oklahoma City 97
• Jerry Sloan wins 1k with the Jazz
• Memo's dad is in the ICU; Deron may make a go of it tonight

Amar's October Recommendations:

Slim pickings this month, but I'd check out the Elie Seckback interview of Fesenko; the re-imagining of 19 year old interviews, starring Kosta Koufos; and the 2nd part of the 3 part series of Utah Jazz Nicknames.

201!

It took me a while to get to 101 posts . . . it took even less time to get from 101 to 201. I really have no life. The winner of the caption contest was Collethegoalie. He won by default. The prize is that he's gets to be named in my blog as the best commenter in the History of this blog. It was still funny though, I just hope more people try this time around . . .

CAPTION THIS!

October 2008 Monthly Recap

Wow, 65 total posts . . . I must have no life . . . or alternatively, the NBA season must have finally started! Hooray! I wasn't always on time, but a major point of October was the season preview. (check it out, it's the best season preview on the net at over 20 pages!) Anyway, on to the links:

Regular Features:

YouTube Tuesdays: [4]

1. Utah Jazz mix from NBA 2k8;
2. Mehmet Okur Interview drinking game;
3. Mark Eaton throws it down;
4. AllThatJazz is #3!

Flashback Fridays: [4]

1. Ranking the Rookie Seasons of CJ Miles, Ronnie Brewer and Morris Almond;
2. The 1990 NBA Draft (or how Derrick Coleman sucks);
3. Andrei back when he was AK-47;
4. Taking a look at how the Jazz have handled rookies, and how long the brass has taken to evaluate them (Morris Almond related)

Original Articles:

• A pictorial review of Mehmet Okur's evolution
• Things to look for this season from: Kosta Koufos; Kyrylo Fesenko; Brevin Knight; Morris Almond; Ronnie Price; Matt Harpring; Mehmet Okur; Andrei Kirilenko; Carlos Boozer; and Deron Williams
• Apparently we were the most clutch offensive team last season . . . if stats don't lie
• Poll Results: C.J. Miles is going to be the 'talk' of training camp this season
• New Poll: Aside from the Title, what's the most important goal for this season?
• The Five Epic qualities of Jerry Eugene Sloan (compliment to the negative article from the previous month)
• Very early look at the Top 10 prospects in the 2010 NBA Draft
• An attempt at finding a solution for the playing time / rotation problem
• The Utah Jazz 2008-2009 Season Preview
• The Best homecourt advantage in the NBA just got better

News Inspired:

• The Pre-Season Schedule was released, and here are the player stats from those games
• A game recap for Pre-Season Game 1 vs. the LA Lakers
• A review of Kyrylo Fesenko's game against Shaquille O'Neal
• Jerry Sloan charged with murder aka calling out Morris Almond, Sloan also rips Kosta Koufos a new one while Fesenko has his only good game of the season so far.
• Preview of the Preseason game vs. the Nuggets, and the post game recap as well!
• Some reporters can't stop writing about Andrei off the bench
• ESPN's Chad Ford likes the Utah Jazz
• Deron Williams' Injury isn't going to hurt the Utah Jazz
• Brevin Knight had a really good 4th quarter, against the Portland Trailblazers (2 points, 7 assists, 4 steals)
• I was right on the money for what to expect in the Nugget's game

Amar's October Recommendations:

1. Obviously, I think the season preview is worth a gander
2. I was surprised and pleased by my placing in LA Ball Talk's Team Blog contest (AllThatJazz is #3!)
3. The whole Deron injury could have made things iffy for the Jazz, but the schedule isn't so bad when you look at it.
4. Andrei is a pretty good player when he gets All-Star minutes, I looked at over 200 games worth of data and figured it out: he's the same guy he was in 2003-2004, look at my findings and see for yourself!
5. The Morris Almond saga: A tale of two cities, limited returns, how he compares to other NBA SG's (objective statistical analysis by The Wages of Wins), the recent news of how the Jazz are not going attempt to find playing time for him -- or pay him $1.15 million dollars to keep him next season.

My Blog looks funny in wide screen

There's a lot of trapped white space (well, light blue space here) in my blog posts when viewed in a wide screen format. I don't care enough to fix it. I have a funny set up with my current home computing systems where I extend my desktop over two screens. One screen (the primary where I view webpages) is at 1050 x 1680 (a regular HD capable screen rotated 90 degrees so that it's tall, and not long). The other screen is wide screen in the regular horizontally aligned rectangle (1200 x 800). This second screen is where I type up my blog entries. Here is an image to show you the 'logical' way to set up two wide screen screens . . . and the bottom two screens depict how I've set my system up.

Yes, I even felt it necessary to put up this image explaining things a bit more. Here it is, the top two "displays" would be a normal very wide screen deal. The bottom two is what I have. The "A" is the primary display device, and "B" is the secondary device. As you can see, my set up is basically an upside down "L" shape. Why is this important?

Why is this important you ask? Well, because it explains why my blog looks funny in wide screen (got me there, SLC Dunk!). Why do I have my screens set up like this? I happen to have to read a lot of pdf files (that are things like scanned journal pages or whatever), or view things roughly x-ray shaped, or read blogs a lot. It's just easier to read something aligned like a page (11" by 8.5") than to have to keep scrolling endlessly.

My Blog looks fine on my set-up, at the expense of looking strange on other computers. Whatever . . .

LA Ball Talk's Top Team Blog Contest

If you didn't know, LA Ball Talk is hosting a Top Team Blog Contest right now. Basically -- from my understanding -- it's a "there can only be one" / Highlander style vote where each of the 30 teams will end up with ONE blog that stands above all. Actually, here's the text from the top of the page that explains it a whole lot better: The following are the sites that are trying their hand at being named the Top Blog for the team that they cover on a daily basis. Passion, pride, commitment and knowledge of the game are key to a successful sports blog, and every one of these blogs has these characteristics. Take a look into each of these sites and admire how much work everyone puts into their blogs. Leave these bloggers some comments and help them grow their site in order to bring you the best that they possibly can. The voting polls will be up and running tomorrow, most likely, and will give all the fans a chance to vote for their favorite blog for each NBA team.  (LA Ball Talk, 2008, from their own blog)

Anyway, some teams have more participating blogs than others:

• The LA Lakers have 7 blogs (!)
• The LA Clippers have 2 (even more amusing than the 7 Lakers blogs)
• I'm pretty sure the 5 Utah Jazz blogs could take the Houston blogs out in the 1st round, then cream the Golden State blogs in the 2nd. (sorry, 2006-2007 playoffs flashback) Nah, both fanbases have really strong followings and entertaining blogs (specifically the Dream Shake and Golden State of Mind)
• The Charlotte New Orleans Hornets have a whopping 8 blogs, one for every non-bandwagon Hornets fan in human history
• Some blogs have no other competition, like Indy Corn Rows's dominion over all things Pacers related
• The New York Knicks have 6 blogs, one for every "point guard" on their roster

Anyway, there are more than 5 Utah Jazz blogs, so I am honored to be selected/nominated or whatever. Alas, I'm one of the newest ones, and I do not have a large following. This hurts me in this competition, as well as the fact that I don't blog everyday. I'm not going to be able to 'out scoop' the other Jazz blogs when it comes to news either. And that's fine. Those blogs are really good for what they do, so I've had to carve out a niche doing something else -- like writing posts with very large word counts.

I don't even look at this as a competition at all, just a chance to get more inter-team blog flow, and to present the Jazz blogging unit (all of us, not just any one particular blog) as the best NBA Team Blogging fans there are!

Seriously? Our Top 5 blogs are better than any other Top 5 team blogs out there.

1.  SLC Dunk is solid and dependable -- it starts things off, and is there to finish the game when things are tight like Deron Williams. Everyone likes SLC Dunk.
2. True Blue Jazz, formerly My Utah Jazz, is slightly unpredictable, often controversial, but puts up big numbers and has won the notice of these online blog wars before . . . like how Carlos Boozer is a beast that has been recognized as an All-Star more than once.
3. The Cowhide Globe is not a blog name that rolls off the tongue for some people who are not familiar with our team, but is capable of posting clutch articles that make a big difference, like Mehmet Okur
4. UtahJazzBlog.net has long been in the game (2006! wow!), though has not been keeping up with the rest of the starting five of late. Some may argue that The Utah Jazz should be in this starting five even! In this case, UtahJazzBlog.net appears to be the Derek Fisher to The Utah Jazz' Ronnie Brewer (circa 2006-2007).
5. Last we have All That Jazz, a versatile blog that doesn't get many touches (hits), and wants to play with a spark (write well) but is riddled with translation problems (occasional type-o's) and xenophobia (a Jazz blog written by a Canadian guy living in Detroit). Yes, this is the AK-47 of blogs as I do a little bit of everything, occasionally do something awesome, but over-all am a shadow of my former self. (Back in the early 2000's before Blogs I was really active in writing basketball posts on message boards)

No new posts since Oct 5th, 2008

Yeah, I haven't posted anything since then, but well, what can I say, things have been busy at work, and I haven't really *made* the time to blog. The time to blog exists, but I was rather distracted . . . you know . . . some things are more fun than spending hours in front of a computer screen. Hopefully I will make more time with the season almost here -- though I seriously doubt I'm going to be able to compete with the more 'newsy' related Jazz blogs that promptly blog about and discuss each and every game. (like SLC Dunk and True Blue do)

In the meantime, here is a funny picture of Dee Brown and Deron Williams back when they were in college.

Their place was a lot cleaner than my place was back in undergrad

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!

While some other blogs may try to imitate, my blog is the one that started to bust out Shakespeare Quotes for this C.J. Miles drama from the beginning, and ran with it. Anyway, this is the official "CJ is Back" post to notify the world (5 days after the fact). After waiting the full time period allowed, Kevin O'Connor, Jerry Sloan and the rest of the Jazz Brass have agreed to match the initial offer signed by restricted Free Agent C.J. Miles for a reported amount of $15 million dollars over 4 years. So, sorry Northwest Division rival Oklahoma City Barons, no Ceejay for you! I'm not surprised by this news, and expected it after the whole Brevin Knight / Jason Hart trade. I also approve of this move, as you don't want to make the Utah Jazz some sort of college for shooting guards who are drafted right out of high school -- this team deserves to see some returns for this investment.

 

The Jazz got rid of DeShawn Stevenson, and now he's a solid NBA starting guard who can pass, score, shoot the three and be an athletic defender. (Isn't this exactly what we want, a potential mix of Brewer, Korver and Almond?) Part of the reason why the Jazz didn't let Ceejay go was because he is still the youngest SG on the roster (just turned 21), and has the potential 'upside' to become that Gestalt type of character that we need.

Furthermore, C.J. Miles is a Dallas area product who came directly to the NBA from Skyline High. He was drafted in the same year as Deron Williams (himself a product of The Colony in the greater Dallas area as well); and sees himself as an older brother type for the young Ceejay. (He even got Lil' John to come to CJ's birthday party!) The chemistry in the team is quite good and Miles is a part of this younger group of players who all get along with each other. If nothing else, this was an opportunity for Deron Williams (aka the face of the franchise) to flex some of his star power muscle.

Photo by NBAE / Getty Images

Miles' friendship with the star of the team may not be enough to guarantee playing time, and he knows it:

"It's been discussed that if I come in and work and show that I should play, then I will play, and that's what I plan to do." (Miles, 2008, ESPN.com)

It's funny, though, the number of outside observers who thought that Miles would be gone, or that, perhaps, Miles wanted to go. What Miles wanted was security. He has that. He gets paid the same to run around in the shadows of Kevin Durant / Jeff Green on a virtual expansion team as he does getting to play with his friends and win division titles and play deep in the playoffs every year. Which would you take? This is what C.J Miles said on the 1320 KFan shortly after the news happened:

"I don't have any hard feelings [about what Jerry Sloan said to the media] . . . I'm in Utah, back in a Jazz uniform where I belong, and I look forward to playing [with my boys Deron, Ronnie B, and Millsap] again." (Miles, 2008, 1320 KFan)

Both photos from Andrei Kirilenko's New Years Party (Dec. 31, 2007)

Miles also pointed out that he did not want to leave Utah, and that he does not feel like he was put in a situation where he had to leave, either. He would have to work hard, and fight for minutes on any team -- so why not work hard and get minutes on the Utah Jazz? So, now we get to see if he can be that guy that we need, a solid SG who can improve upon his work last season (48 fg%, 39 3pt%) and continue contributing where and when we need him to!

Unexplained Hiatus

Hey readers (readers . . . readers . . . readers . . . echo . . . echo . . . echo . . .) -- sorry for the unexplained hiatus. What can I say? My Clark Kent Job needed some extra attention these last, uh, million years. What has happened in the time period? Well, the RMR finished, CJ's offer sheet by Oklahoma City was matched and . . . uh . . . stuff. I'll get right to it!

Housekeeping . . .

The previous layout, while easy to look at, was not efficient. Function trumps form here at All That Jazz . . . hence, this new layout.

Enjoy.

Explanation #1

Okay, I've been a jazz fan since 1987, I've never lived in Utah . . . and I visited only once back in 1984 when I was a kid. I enjoy some types of music, Jazz happens to be one of them. My top 5 Jazz players are (in no order): Karl Malone, John Stockton, Mark Eaton, Jeff Hornacek and Andrei Kirilenko. No, I have not see the film All That Jazz, but I did visit its' IMDB.com page while researching names. Here is a list of a few Blog names that I thought about:

• one potential name surrounded Mark Eaton (though I got wary after visiting his publicist's information page);
• Manute Bol was another likely target, hence: "Bol(d) Basketball";
• Dominique Wilkins was drafted by the Jazz, would have been pretty good running with Stockton and Malone. Due to this, I thought fans would like to cry about it like I did, hence "The Human Crylight Reel";
• "Horny Ceksual Assault" (no, you didn't read that, keep moving on);
• "Dunk it like Benoit!", in reference and reverence towards that one time John Stockton's kid broke his arm trying to, ahem, Dunk it like Benoit;
• and lastly, two potential blog names that suggest a slightly off-center perception of the world: "What time is it? Ostertime!" and "Finding Ostertag". I'm a big fan of Basketbawful, and share similar views about the legendary Greg Ostertag.

Okay, that's fine and dandy, but what about that crappy place holder art at the top page? Well, Mr.Super Logical Robot, that *IS* crappy place holder art. It basically shows a 'rough draft' of what the title bar thingy will look like (you know, when I have more time to crop and stuff). I did 'yoink' the title font thingy from the "All That Jazz" movie posters, and I assembled this crude image with LViewPro. (No, no PhotoShop for Amar . . . not with the economy like it is)

Stockton and Malone are up there, as they should be. Deron Williams, with his contract that will be signed shortly, also deserves a spot. (Who knows if guys like AK, or C-Booz will be on the Jazz in 2 years?) What about Big Mark Eaton? Many people today who recently joined NBA Fandom don't know how good he was. Even long-time fans never really got to see how good he was, with how poorly the media focused on the Jazz back then. (And also, we're really lucky that technology today has allowed for things like the internet, websites, tracking box scores on our cell phones, NBA League Pass, blogs, YouTube mixes and so forth -- we didn't have that back in the old days)

Dude was great on and off the court, being DPOY twice, once avg. over 5 BPG, was a monster on the glass, and used to speak out against child abuse. Sure, he wasn't a guy with many go-to-moves save for the 'raise my arms up and dunk'; but he deserves more respect than just being a blogging footnote for being tall, and having a movie being made about his life. Thus, Big Mark gets a starting spot in my Blog.

To the fans ... to the Bloggers

To all the bloggers out there (especially the ones who follow my favorite team -- the Jazz), do not beware, I'm not trying to force my way into an already saturated market. I wanted to be brave like all of you, and step out upon the lonely precipice of quassi-journalism and have a say. This blog is going to try to bring something different, not merely an outlet that links to other news items, or a place where opinion tangos with empiricism; but rather, a positive place that celebrates the good in ball. This optomism should continue through the highs and lows of an NBA season (especially if the Jazz decide to no longer drop games to the Nets, Knicks, Timberwolves, Heat and crew).

If you have an NBA related blog and for some reason stumble upon this one, and wish to share links, please drop me a line (via the comments or whatever).