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.

The King is dead. Love live the King!

Recent events have forced my hand, and I can no longer remain silent. We are all hurting right now. A season filled with injury (no need to elaborate) and insult (lack of recognition from the NBA family, especially during all-star weekend) just got worse. Larry H. Miller died yesterday. Typing the words makes my heart ache and fingers feel ashamed for even punching in the string of offending letters that spells such a statement. Earlier this year Larry was in bad shape, and back when I blogged about it (back when I was a frequent blogger) I even suggested that he was not out of the woods yet. ("after all, 'you know this guy' could have very well become 'you knew this guy' . . . ") It really does pain me that he is gone.

Not just on a Jazz fan level, but on a personal level. While I've never been a Utahn, never been a part of his church, or driven a car from a dealership he owned . . . I am at quite a loss right now. He was on my list of people that I wanted to meet once in my life, and now that will never happen. (For the record, I could easily live without having ever met Stockton, Malone or Sloan in my life)

Larry was different. He was a team owner, and a self-made business man (he used to sell auto parts door to door apparently, and last season generated $3 billion in revenues from his various businesses), but he was a fan first. He had walked the lonely road, and followed his conscience in his endeavors. He wasn't a rich old man chasing girls younger than his grand daughters. He wasn't an over night Internet billionaire who did not work a day in his life. He was the type of man who against logic and sound business sense would be loyal to his initial investments and make them worth the time and blood and effort he put into them.

Some casual people look at the Jazz and see an old school franchise. Their coach, Jerry Sloan, is old school. John Stockton's shorts are old school. They work the ball for layups, that's old school. Well, they were old school from top to down because Larry was old school. He did not cut an run when things went bad. He didn't need any stimulus package because he knew the value of hard work. More than just a hard working, self-made business man he was an even better human being. Sure, his values were conservative (why is this almost automatically a negative adjective today?) but he was more than just a rich old man. I couldn't even begin to list all of good things he did for the community, and the state of Utah, in his life time. Nor am I the right person to do that. What I can do is relate some of my favorite Larry H. Miller stories:

• I remember an incident that occurred early in Karl Malone's rookie season. When Malone arrived in Utah he did not know anyone. One night (which probably led to many nights over the years) he was visiting with the team owner. [How often does this happen? How amazing is it that Miller was even accessible to his most wet behind the ears employee?] Somehow, perhaps after dinner, Miller was driving Malone back to his apartment. Instead they were having such a deep conversation on the way back that Larry pulled into a Wendy's parking lot and they just stayed there, talking for over three hours. Both emotional men talked about their demons, what motivated them, and about life. That night a rotund Mormon business man and a large African American athlete from the south bared their souls to each other and forged a relationship that has lasted the rest of Miller's life. They both laughed, cried (anyone familiar with either individual knows that this is the truth) and a team owner was able to connect with one of his players on a level seldom achieved in professional sports. Karl and Larry have been family ever since, Malone even mentioned on TNT when he was on that he was going to go see Larry shortly. I hope for Malone's sake that he did -- otherwise it would be something Malone would beat himself up over for the rest of his life. [For the record, Malone did see Miller at least as recently as last August]
• Larry did not play favorites though, back in the 1993-1994 season the Jazz were playing the Denver Nuggets in the 2nd round of the playoffs. Malone was having a particularly poor game and killing his own team. Miller -- a Jazz fan first and owner second -- moved out of the stands to personally instruct Sloan to bench Malone. Not to belabor the point, but I'm pretty sure the Lakers owner (Dr. Jerry Buss) isn't even clinically aware of when his team is playing, let alone if it's a home or road game. Larry was a much more hands on coach, but not obnoxiously so.
• Larry took the time to understand and befriend all of his players -- though some more than others. While Deron Williams has only been in the league for 4 seasons, they have known each other well enough to call each other "friends," (ESPN.com, 2009). Miller even admitted that he does not relish playing against Deron in anything, but it's a challenge he does not shy away from. Why? Because they are both super competitive people -- but while Larry can be a gracious winner, Deron is not satisfied being named victor unless someone loses. What other team owner knows these personality quirks of his players?
• He also befriended the SLC media where he even had a frequent (monthly? weekly? I don't even remember anymore as I don't get to listen to the radio over the Internet that frequently anymore) radio address on a local sport talk radio station, 1320 KFan. From those radio address I was able to learn much more about Larry, and where I became a huge fan of his.

Miller, though, was much more than just a Utah Jazz guy, or a Utah guy. He was an NBA guy. Miller was one of the instrumental players who was able to negotiate an end to the NBA Player's Association lockout back in the 1998-1999 season. If you are a fan of the NBA product you have Miller partly to thank for that -- regardless if you love or hate the Utah Jazz franchise. If you do love the Jazz, then you have so much to thank for, for this is the guy who was instrumental in making NBA basketball a possibility all these years in such a small market.

So today is the first day in my life as a Jazz fan where Miller isn't a part of the team. And it still hurts. It hurts his family. It hurts the players. It hurts the Jazz community. It hurts the Utah community at large. It hurts all around. Miller is survived with the new face of the franchise, his wife Gail; the Jazz brass (see sidebar at right) -- particularly his eldest son Greg; and a legion of loyal Jazz fans hungry to cheer on the Jazz to bring Larry his first NBA title.

The King is dead. Long live the King!

Please be sure to visit the other great Jazz blogs for their awesome posts on this subject. Together we can heal and console each other. Right now is the time for the Jazz Family to circle the wagons and take solace in the fact that it is always darkest before the dawn returns. SLC Dunk | True Blue Jazz | The Cowhide Globe

Memo's dad is in the ICU; Deron may make a go of it tonight

We've all heard by now that Mehmet Okur has been excused by the Jazz brass, and has flown to Turkey to take care of a family crisis. It doesn't take much interneting skill to figure out what happened. One only has to go to Memo's official website to get the straight dope:

"Utah Jazz center Mehmet Okur's father Abdullah Okur has been sick for a long time now. His condition got worse about two weeks ago as he was taken into intensive care.  However a few days ago he showed strong enough signs of recovering and that the doctors moved him to a normal hospital room. Yesterday his condition all of a sudden deteriorated and he was immediately taken back into intensive care once again. Memo was informed of his condition and today spoke with both coach Jerry Sloan and general manager Kevin O'Connor both of whom said that he should immediately go to be with his family. Memo is going to be on the first flight to Istanbul. " (via MEMO13.com, 2008)

This is saddening news, and I hope that the Okur family is able to have the peace and time needed to properly resolve this situation -- family IS bigger than work. And I wish that Mehmet comes back to the USA soon, but only after he knows it's the right time to do so. (e.g. Don't leave your dad in the ICU to go and rush back to play against the Charlotte Bobcats or Sacramento Kings or anything silly like that.)

It's easy to be selfish as a Jazz fan and be upset that another one of your starters can't play every game, the prospect of being down two is bad enough. Compounding things, Kyrylo Fesenko has VISA issues that needed to be resolved (somehow, in Toronto), so he's not going to be there to bang against Dalembert and Brand either. Collins is still hurt as well. [Better hope that Kosta is a big fan of Disney movies, because he has his perfect Disney movie chance now to shine!]

As a result of this new development, or by some magical hotel rest, 1320 KFan has reported (and it was confirmed by the Deseret News here; and the Salt Lake Tribune here) that Deron Williams is expected to play tonight.

Now I just check SLC Dunk and see that I had no reason to blog any of this has Basketball John already explained everything! (Early bird gets the worm I guess)

Game 2 Recap: Utah 101, LA Clippers 79; Game 3 Preview: Utah @ LA Clippers

Game at a Glance:

Things did not go so well for Jason Hart and the LA Clippers last game . . . they were really tired, having played in an overtime game the night before, and while they held it together for one solid half of basketball (tied at halftime 48 all), they got rolled in the 2nd half by a Jazz team that ended up setting a franchise record for fewest turn overs -- ever.

Jazz Quartet -- Top Four Players of the Game:

Andrei Kirilenko	Ronnie Brewer	Brevin Knight	Carlos Boozer
11 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals off the bench in 31 minutes of action.	16 points (6-10 shooting, 5 FTA), added 3 rebounds, 2 steals and a block in 26 mins.	8 points (4-6), 6 assists and 1 steal with zero turn overs and keyed the 3rd quarter run.	Another 25 and 10 game, shot 12-18 from the field and added 3 assists in 31 minutes.

Digging Deeper:

Obviously the game would have been much more different had Baron Davis and Deron Williams actually played . . . but instead we had the Cuttino Mobley (20 points, 3 rebounds) and Tim Thomas (16 points, 7 rebounds) express vs. the Ronnie Brewer (16 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals) and Carlos Boozer (25 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists) show. It was not too hard to figure out which side won based on those stats. Even the Jason Hart/Brevin Knight under card was very one-sided: Hart started the game but did not finish, and had a grand total of 2 points (1-4 fg), 2 assists, and 1 rebound. Knight came off the bench and had 8 points (4-6 fg), 6 assists and a steal.

The big surprise was Mike Taylor, a rookie PG for the Clippers who ended up playing 33 minutes and finished with 13 points and 4 assists. On TV it looked like he was a giant compared to Brevin Knight, and his long arms and quick first step were a major component of his success against the Jazz on Saturday night. A second, smaller surprise was that in garbage time Jazz fans got to see Morris Almond, Kyrylo Fesenko and Kosta Koufos all play at the same time in an NBA game -- which may be an event that may never happen again... Almond looked good with his shooting stroke; Koufos looked like a rookie who was immediately attacked on offense and defense by Kaman, who scored on him and blocked his shot; Fesenko did much more in less time than Koufos, getting a steal, a rebound and a nice dunk.

Before we pat ourselves on the back for winning another game without Deron Williams (and Jerry Sloan, Matt Harpring and Jarron Collins) let's point to the fact that this was a Clippers team that doesn't know each other, whose best players are injured and played an overtime game the night before. Also we were at home . . . where we seem to play pretty well at.

Game 3 Preview:

We get the other end of the home and home series tonight with a game in LA this time around. I do not know the status of Davis and Camby, aside from that they are listed as Day-to-Day. Having one of those two back, in addition to playing at home, may be just enough to push the Clippers over the top. The close proximity of these two games only compounds the problems the Clippers displayed on Saturday -- they may go absolutely nuts on defense trying to pressure the ball tonight. Heck, even their coach hinted at it:

"We let them be too relaxed with the basketball and they made some easy plays," (LA Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy, 2008 via ESPN.COM)

On the flipside, Brevin Knight sites the running game as the primary reason why a) it was easy for him to play well, and b) the lack of defensive pressure. (If you run, then the other team can't dig in on defense)

"If we can stay up-tempo it makes it a lot easier for me, and in the half-court the Coaches are doing a great job keeping me in plays that I know pretty well, and the guys are really working with me and hanging in with me." (Brevin Knight, 2008 via 1320 KFAN.COM)

If you combine the two you pretty much spell disaster a game that should have a lot more turn overs in it than 24 total. These are the types of road games that good teams win though . . . and with Boozer averaging 25 and 10, Memo averaging a double double, Ronnie Brewer scoring 16 ppg off of 58 fg% and Andrei coming off the bench to average 14 ppg, 8 rpg, 4 apg, 3 bpg and 2 spg the Jazz should win -- regardless of where the game is being played.

The game is tonight @ 10:30 pm EST time in LA -- for those that care. Go Jazz Go!

Larry H. Miller talks about AK off the bench

1320 KFan's David Locke talked with team owner, and Utah Icon, Larry H. Miller back on October 16th; and among the things they talked about they discussed the whole Andrei off the bench deal. Particularly interesting (to me) was the point that David Locke believes that Andrei really does need to be involved on offense in order to stay hungry on defense -- and that Sloan should probably put Andrei in a situation where that can happen. Perhaps being 'The Man' of the bench unit will afford Kirilenko more ball handling and creating opportunities. Larry H. Miller adds that Jerry Sloan is still learning, and feels like he needs to learn to put players where their talents are instead of trying to shoe horn players to fit a specific mold.

Photographed by Jason Olson for Deseret News	Photographed by Unknown for NBAE/Getty Images	Photographed by Tim DeFrisco for unknown

Both appear to be cautiously optimistic about this possibility, as are most of the Utah Jazz fans out there on message boards, and on blogs all over the Internet. Miller gets a chance to show off some of his knowledge of NBA History and suggests that it would greatly help the Jazz if they had a guy who can produce right off the bench like The Microwave (Vinnie Johnson). AK isn't going to be that type of guy who'll just start jacking shots, but he can bring energy right off the bench and make plays. Miller says that AK just really wants to win, and as a result, he'll do what is needed to win. (You know, as long as he's playing 30 minutes a game)

Click here for the podcast, and the Jazz talk really starts from 3:41 and goes onwards till around 8:54.

Things to look for this season: Ronnie Price

There are many ways to start this off, and I will receive some level of criticism for what I'm about to say, but here it is: Ronnie Price looks like a goat to me. Maybe a baby goat. I don't know, maybe a cartoon goat. Or perhaps a ram, but without the horns. Tell me you don't see it, too!
	Ronnie Price	A happy smiling goat

Maybe it's just the facial hair . . .

Okay, before the nice men in the white coats come to take my Internet privileges away from me let me get to the serious stuff. First off, congratulations to Ronnie for getting married this off-season, I don't know who you got married to, so I can't 'tag' her. (Like I have with other Jazz player's wives so far: CeCe Boozer, Masha Kirilenko nee Lopatov, Yeliz Okur, etc) The first big thing to consider for this season (in terms of Ronnie Price) is that he's in a contract year. Much has already been made about the number of expiring contracts (or potentially expiring ones) this season (6, at my last count). The big names are Boozer and Okur, I don't know if both will opt out or not, but odds are that Boozer will. Millsap's rookie deal expires this year as well -- and what happens with Booz will really determine what happens with Millsap to some extent. Jarron Collins' contract expires as well, and depending on how well Kosta and Kyrylo develop this season Jarron could hopefully be gone. The last two guys are, because the universe likes co-incidences, Brevin Knight and Ronnie Price.

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.

If he doesn't win, I'm sure he'll stick around next year as well, providing he doesn't ask for the bank to be broken for him. So we'll see his smiling goat face for seasons to come! Ronnie: "That's right Kyle, you know what I'm thinking . . . time to double team the ball handler . . . "

YouTube Tuesdays! Mehmet Okur Interview Drinking Game

Let's get this out in the open to begin with. I love Mehmet Okur. He's a big, tall, slightly goofy European bigman who averaged 17 and 10 after the All-Star break last season (2007-2008) and hits clutch three pointers. He seems like a fun loving family man who jokes around with his team mates. He just sounds really shy in interviews (in English, not his mother tongue) . . . I've gone out of my way to listen to how he speaks, and he seems to have a few "go-to-moves" when giving an interview. Thus, it is only necessary to make a drinking game out of it.

Photographed by Melissa Majchrzak for NBAE/Getty Images

Each time Memo says one of these words or phrases take the required number of sips. Please remember to drink responsibly, around people who care about you, and in a safe place. Do not drink and drive, or drink and draft (if you play fantasy basketball).

working	defense	my shot(s)	my teammates	I mean	hard
like	myself	try	feel good	y'know	run
hopefully	probably	so far so good	good "anything"	confidence	(at) home
like I said	open shots	look for me	uuhhhhh	play	hungry

There was a post game interview on TNT with Memo where he basically said all of those 'go to' interview phrases. I can no longer find it on YouTube, so that sucks. But in the mean time, here are a few videos and mp3s to test out this game with:

	Memo and Booz interviewed during the All-Star weekend back in 2006-2007.
Memo Interview (Oct 17, 2007)	Talking after a game vs. Philly in the preseason
	Playing hard, being 'hot', and making shots.
Memo Interview (Oct 14th, 2008)	Talks about defense and other stuff.
	Memo talks about shutting down Dwight Howard
Memo Interview (Oct 2nd, 2008)	Talking about training camp, and his body fat.
	Talking about going on the road and taking people off the dribble.

Hope you guys aren't too wasted yet, and thanks to Basketballjohn.com (YouTube user utahbasketballjohn) and, as always, 1320 KFan radio. And yes, this YouTube Tuesday is a day late ... again. Whatever man, some of us don't blog for our living . . . (or have the talent to do so).

Deron Williams hates foreigners, well, maybe just Gordan Giricek . . .

I apologize ahead of time for my Charlie Rosen / Peter Vescey style reporting lately, but whatever . . . it's all about headlines. To be even more honest, Deron Williams gushes about Kyle Korver (currently shooting 55 fg% so far this season) and explains that getting rid of Giricek (at least on paper) was a good move. He does like Giricek as a person . . . but admits that all of the other stuff became "a distraction" (Deron Williams, 2008). Click that link for the full audio [4:43] that talks about defense, back-up PG spots (Ronnie Price and Brevin Knight), C.J.'s current struggles and other stuff as well. Thanks to 1320 KFan for uploading the file!

Just for the record, Deron doesn't hate anyone, especially not people who weren't born in the USA. He doesn't hate Gordan Giricek any more than the rest of us do . . .

Fi-nal-ee . . . It's haa-ped . . . to me!

CeCe Peniston (not to be confused with Carlos' boss, CeCe Boozer) is overjoyed by the news of Jerry Sloan calling out Kosta Koufos for shooting the damn ball so much. I must admit that I'm happy about it too. Kosta shoots the ball so damn much -- and the media never criticizes him for this (instead they heap insane amounts of love upon him, everything from him being an NBA ready talent to being the #2 center or power forward on the roster) -- that it has forced me into siding with the underdog Fesenko out of the two prospects.

Hopefully Kosta's last game of offensive quantity (5 FGA) over quality (0 FGM) will FI-NAL-EE open up the floodgates of criticism. DJ and PK (morning sports talk radio personalities on 1320 KFAN) even started to hint that (through quoting Sloan), perhaps, Kosta wasn't going to be an All-Star this season. Quoted in the Deseret News today, Sloan had this to say:

"Now Koufos is a little different story. I don't know what that was. He shot it every time he touched [the ball] . . . [When asked if Kosta had a green light to shoot he replied that] He's got a green light to go rebound. He's got a green light to pick up loose balls, and those things that young guys should do when they step out on the floor . . . he can shoot the ball, and that's one of his strengths. When he's been open, he's probably been told to shoot it (previously). But we'd like for him to fake to the other guys once in a while, just to let them known they're in the same game." (Jerry Sloan, 2008, via Desert News)

Photographed by Sam Forencich for NBAE/Getty Images	CeCe Peniston "Finally" [3:58], (thanks SuperNudel!)not officially a song about the media (and Jazz Coaches) recognizing that Kosta Koufos isn't the best thing since sliced bread, and that he shoots the ball way too much for a rookie.

Kosta's cumulative shooting stats have been unimpressive. I know, I have it all on a spreadsheet. All of his professional experience exists as a pretty small sample size . . . 8 games . . . but I can only work with what I have, right? Koufos was purported to be some sort of offensive stud -- or at the very least, NBA ready on offense. (not entirely unlike Mehmet Okur) He shoots a bad percentage, and shoots the ball a lot. Which is only compounded by the fact that he shoots a bad percentage. Which looks even worse because he shoots the ball a lot. Sound like I'm repeating myself? I think I am, but so far no one has been listening.

Mr.Koufos has shot the ball 42 times in the Rocky Mountain Review. So far he has shot the ball 6 times in 2008-2009 Preseason games. That's a total of 48 times. Out of those 48 times, how many has he actually made? 17. What's that as a percentage? 35.4 fg -- which is pretty shabby if he was drafted partly because he was a good offensive player.

Shooting the ball 48 times in 8 games doesn't look that bad though -- that's only shooting the ball 6 times per game. The problem is how often he plays. He played 96:40 minutes in the RMR, and so far has played around 11 minutes in the Preseason. That's around 107:40 total minutes. Right now I'm going to show you his ratio of shots taken and minutes played. This is simply 48 shots : 107:40 mins = 1 shot : x How often does he shoot the ball, then? Once every 2.23 minutes. That is a very high rate for someone who shoots poorly. Carlos Boozer, who last season (2007-2008) scored over 21 ppg (at 55 fg%) shot the ball once every 2.18 minutes (1297 shots in 2827 minutes). What's the difference between 0.05 minutes? That's 3 seconds. Does Kosta Koufos, a 19 year old rookie who shoots the ball 35 fg%, NEED to be shooting the ball 3 seconds less frequently than a two time All-Star and two time Olympian who is the primary scoring option of the team -- a guy who shoots 20% better?

Kosta shoots it over Greg Oden -- obviously a necessary shot to take! Photographed by Sam Forencich for NBAE/Getty Images

Absolutely not.

Obviously the main criticism of my point of view will be that RMR stats shouldn't count, and that his playing in some games shouldn't either -- because of how little he has been playing. Okay, well, let's get rid of the game against the Lakers where he only played 2 minutes. That means that he shot the ball 47 times in 105:40 total minutes, instead of 48 in 107:40. That he made 16 shots, instead of 17. And that he played in 7 games, and not 8. This results, ultimately, in shooting the ball once every 2.24 (as opposed to 2.23) at the whopping proficiency of 34.0 fg%. [And shooting the ball 6.7 times a game, and not 6]

Don't get me wrong, I like the kid. I think he'll be a pro in this league and play (barring injuries) at least as long as a guy like Pat Garrity or Michael Doleac. (Hopefully with a better looking career, though) Let's just slow down the hype and media love for a while, okay guys? He's not already better than Jarron Collins and Kyrylo Fesenko ('cept maybe in ft% and shooting range, where he kills those guys). He's not the back-up center, and he's definitely NOT the back-up power forward. He's going to need seasoning in the NBA-DL this next season. He'll end up shooting better, having a better shot selection, and be well on his way towards having a solid rookie season as a teen in the NBA playing on a contender. (That's to say, watching older guys play while he runs around in the NBA D-League)

I'm just happy that people are finally recognizing his fault. Sorry, CeCe and I are BOTH happy that people see these faults, and FI-NAL-EE it's happening to us . . . that we're not the only ones repeating ourselves about the empirically obvious problem of a 19 year old rookie who shoots 35 fg% shooting the ball as much as our All-Star and scoring meal ticket Carlos Boozer.

Jerry Sloan charged with murder . . .

. . . or at least he should have been after how he flat out killed Morris Almond in this post game interview. (from the 2:22 point onwards) Sure, he's surly in general, especially during post game interviews -- especially pre-season losses . . . but man, it's pretty harsh. For the record, though, he did kill the entire team for the most part . . . but he saved the worst for Mobe: "Well he scored points but I'm disappointed in the way [that Almond] runs the floor. It looks like he's not concerned with running the floor and helping defensively. We can't afford to have that, especially out of the mid-sized people. I mean, everybody likes to score but if that's all you're going to do then it's hard to play. To win: numbers are one thing, but I believe you can win with less numbers [and] more effort on [defense]. He's got to rebound the ball, pass the basketball, learn to do some other things rather than just be a one-dimensional player. If they put a guy on you, and he's determined to stop you, and he makes you take tough shots every time you get it -- which they did tonight -- [Morris] took the tough shots  . . .when you try to take tough shots when they are guarding you, you gotta go somewhere else: pass the ball, and play within what we are trying to do. If you try to do it on your own then I've got four guys watching. He's got to learn to compete. I don't think he's competed hard enough." (Jerry Sloan, 2008, via 1320 KFan Radio)

Ouch. I did not see the game, but his boxscore did not look too bad. Almond played 19 minutes and shot 5-10 and finished the game with those 10 points, 1 turn over and 2 fouls. It's amazing that he didn't really do anything else, so I guess Sloan has a point though.

Then again . . . his role in the offense is to be the guy who gets other people assists, not necessarily be a facilitator on offense. As a finisher if you shoot 50% on jumpers then that's not too bad, right? How many assists does Harpring get in a game? Probably the best (in a very loose meaning of 'best') is Morris Almond's self appraisal of his play in the very same game where Sloan killed him. Basically Almond feels like he's putting himself in a situation "to maximize his time on the floor". If he's maximizing his time by getting ZERO rebounds in 20 minutes of action then that sucks . . .

Almond has to do more with the time he has in the next few games otherwise he's going to be playing in Orem next season, and not in Salt Lake City. The score so far is:

Jerry Sloan 1

Morris Almond 0

Murder or not, Sloan seems right on this one. I've held the idea that if Almond played with better players that he'll actually pass more. Apparently this is not the case, but then again, I haven't seen a minute of pre-season action, so I could be wrong here too. I remember in the Rocky Mountain Review that he WAS passing the ball to open guys, but they were missing open shots. (I watched every game) He's not a big assists guy, but if he plays the right way in the right system I think he can be a solid pro. If he lives that long being coached by Jerry Sloan is entirely a different problem altogether.

Mehmet Okur Evolution . . .

This is for collethegoalie . . . enjoy

Well . . . he's really gotten better over the years, David Locke suggests that he looks really good and in shape so far this pre-season, and as such, he IS in a contract year . . . I kind of wish he kept the full beard, instead of 'styling' it.

Larry H. Miller on Locked on Sports [9.26.08]

Larry H. Miller comes back to 1320 KFan and talks with David Locke -- the 35 minute talk is over here, and they talk about everything from the whole Government Bailout; how it may impact the sports world (specifically the capsize in future years); some Jazz rumors; the exodus of NBA players going to Europe (like Josh Childress); and they make time to trash the New York Knicks a bit.

Basically he did not know about the whole FAKE RUMOR of CSKA wanting Andrei deal, thinks that Kevin O'Connor is doing a good job, expects that all the players in contract seasons can be better placated by winning, and that his son is probably going to do a good job as the C.E.O.

God bless Larry H. Miller

Larry H. Miller is a great owner, for all of his faults. He is open and honest, and more than anything else, he is a fan who loves his team. Sure, the former Auto Parts salesman has more going for him than just the Jazz franchise (valued at: $342 million at the end of 2007 according to Forbes Magazine).

He "employs more than 7,000 workers in six states and generates $3 billion in revenues . . . [including] more than 40 dealerships; prestige financial services; [tv and radio stations]; the Miller Motorsports Park; the Energy Solutions Arena and Zions Bank Basketball Center training facility; various restaurants; office buildings and megaplex movie theatres." (House, 2008, The Salt Lake Tribune, citing the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies)

If you didn't know, he has recently recovered from a very significant series of near-fatal health issues (mostly complications of his Type II Diabetes, a heart attack, renal system failure and current diagnostic tool dynamics) which needed a number of surgeries to correct. After 59 days in the hospital he has been released and is using a wheelchair and/or walker to move around. Physiotherapy is needed, and he will have a full recovery in a number of months. I was worried, and not just because he's basically handed over to keys to his kingdom to his eldest son, Greg Miller.

Photographed by Tom Smart, for The Deseret News	Photographed by Rick Egan, for The Salt Lake Tribune	No Photo credit

His passing would have been devastating for the team, but also the greater community at large. After all, 'you know this guy' could have very well become 'You knew this guy.' Miller himself reveals that he "almost died four times," (Miller, via Siler, 2008, The Salt Lake Tribune).

I'm glad that he did not.

Miller is going to continue to talk with David Locke (hopefully), on 1320 KFan (how many team owners have weekly time on talk radio?); and during his post-press conference interview he revealed many interesting things. John Stockton and Karl Malone were both in town to see him (Karl spent the middle part of Miller's hospital stay with him in the hospital -- Miller and Malone's relationship for those just checking in goes between brother/brother and father/brother during the course of any given year, they are close). If Dr. Buss gets sick, do you think Shaq or Kobe would visit him in the hospital if they were retired and living in other parts of the country? (No, Buss would be too busy with his 23 year old Asian girls)

Probably the biggest point that he made was that he strongly suggested that the Jazz were not going to go over the luxury tax, and that he felt like CJ Miles got paid a bit too much money. But, it wasn't his decision to make anymore. I find this interesting because he has stated on air (I could dig it up if I had to) that he was open to paying the tax for a season or two if keeping the core together was worth the reward of winning the title. What has changed since then? I don't know.

What it does is it makes the next off-season really crazy when Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur, Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap and others come looking for new deals (and potential raises). The performance of the team in this 2008-2009 season will go a long way towards loosening Miller's purse strings. Right now, though, the Jazz team, and the Jazz fans should be happy to have Miller's heart strings properly tied back together.

"Those aren't pillows!"

For those who don't know, that's a quote from the great movie "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" which stars Steve Martin and the late John Candy. What does this quote have to do with anything? Well, at the point in time when this quote happens the protagonist (Martin) is lulled into a false sense of security, only to have his entire world shook from their foundations. Shortly after there is a reference made to the Chicago Bears. That's a tangent though.

The point is (yes there is one) the Utah Jazz have been reported (via KFan 1320 when I was on hold with them for 30 mins trying to talk) to have traded Jason Hart to the LA Clippers for Brevin Knight. Yes, I know what you are thinking.
	"Wait . . . what? Hart for Knight? Those aren't pillows!!!!"

Does this deal matter? You better bet your black ass it does. It matters plenty, maybe just not in the way you'd think. Deron Williams, aka: he who makes Utah so Jazzy, plays a lot of mpg. Last season he played 37.3 mpg, and the season before, 36.9 mpg. At the least, he's going to play around 35 mpg (But in reality, more like 37 mpg again). The NBA game is 48 minutes total. 48 - 35 = ???

Yup, 13 minutes to fight for between Brevin Knight and Ronnie Price. (At the most, not including games where there is foul trouble or, knock on wood, injuries) Last season Hart averaged 10.6 mpg, and Price 9.6 mpg. Brevin clocks in at 23 mpg. He's not going to play that much, if he plays at all. He is slightly injury prone, but that may not even be an issue. Hart played in 57 games last season and his play on the court hurt the jazz more than his availability to play. I think that this move (which gives the clippers a $2.5 million dollar contract for 1 season, and the jazz that a $2 million dollar contract for 1 season) does nothing useful for us but saves us $500,000.00.

This means that this trade alone makes little sense, but there is something else happening in the big picture. We're saving half a million for something. KOC let loose that there was some numerical contract hiccup in C.J.'s new deal. I would think that these two issues -- the trade for Brevin and C.J.'s contract -- to be slightly related on some level. The Jazz could be making space to sign C.J., while fitting him under the cap a bit more in the future.

Photo by NBAE / Getty Images	Photo by some card company	Photo by NBAE / Getty Images	Photo by NBAE / Getty Images

Maybe I'm all wrong about this, but what needs to be clearly stated is that, on its' own, this trade makes no sense in the big picture as both contracts expire this 2008-2009 season. Brevin is an upgrade for sure, but he may not even have to play a single game to make an impact for us this season. Money is a big deal, and every team has to maneuver around to maximize it. This could be a deal that makes more sense in the big picture -- once the big picture occurs.

At the very least, this is a slight upgrade at face value . . . as long as this is talking about the 3rd PG spot, and not upsetting the depth chart to make space for a 5'10 guard who is horrible at shooting, doesn't have three point range (the Jazz sets rely on a PG who can hit the three), and never is healthy.

The Associated Press and ESPN.com are also carrying this story.