While struggling to understand why Matt Harpring was analyzing game tape on NBA TV this past weekend, it got me thinking about the Utah Jazz. Being from Denver, I don’t normally enjoy publicly praising Utah for any of their success. Still, credit due when credit earned. While Brandon Jennings and Ty “Mbenga Banga” Lawson are undoubtedly on top of the PG rookie heap right now, Jazz rook Eric Maynor is right behind them. Read More »
Last night, Deron Williams left the Jazz and returned home to Salt Lake City because of an undisclosed personal reason according to the Deseret News. Details of the matter were not released. Williams will miss tonight’s game in Philadelphia and it’s uncertain if he will play Saturday night at Cleveland. In the past week, several NBA players like Allen Iverson and Al Jefferson have been forced to leave their teams due to personal matters.
The Utah Jazz locker room is a lot more interesting than you think. Although he gives terrible interviews, Deron Williams has no problem running his mouth to C.J. Miles and Ronnie Brewer. Rookie Eric Maynor is getting teased by every media member in the Madison Square Garden locker room for his hot pink Barbie backpack (I’m guessing it’s not by choice). Meanwhile, Carlos Boozer is on his own island sitting in front of the TV watching game film while bobbing his head to his headphones (which are playing Jay-Z’s “Public Service Announcement”). In the midst of the chaos, Andrei Kirilenko is sitting quietly by himself reading a book and looking sophisticated with his new Jude Law haircut and his legs crossed. I felt bad interrupting him, but did so anyway to get this interview. Read More »
Deron Williams has never been a man of many words. I’ve know this ever since I used to write for UtahJazz.com. But on the court, his game speaks volumes. Williams is having his best year statistically (21.4 ppg, 10.7 apg, 4.9 rpg, 1 spg) but the Jazz are off to their worst start since the 2002-03 season. Coming into yesterday’s game against New York, the Jazz were 2-4. Fortunately for them, they were playing the horrible Knicks and were able to squeeze out a much needed 95-93 victory. I caught up to D-Will for a quick minute before the game. Read More »
Because the Jazz have the Knicks’ first round pick this year, they pretty much already have a good lottery pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. By the way their playing, they’ll have two lottery picks. At 1-3, the Jazz are off to their worst start in six years. In each of their three losses, they have lost by double digits. They blew a 15-point fourth quarter lead against the Mavericks on Tuesday night and were outscored 44-18 (29 of which were courtesy of Dirk Nowitzki). Read More »
In a sports world where a coach can endure a couple of bad weeks and lose his job, Jerry Sloan has job security like Steve Jobs. Sometime in the next week or two, NBA.com is reporting that the Jazz will once again extend the legendary coach’s contract for at least one more season. This annual or bi-annual tradition between Sloan and the Jazz organization has been going for the past decade. Read More »
There’s no other way to describe Melo’s juggernaut hammer to the face of an extended Paul Millsap than how our Aron Phillips’ twitter feed read 20 seconds after the fact: “Carmelo just ripped out Millsap’s heart!!!” I felt like I was watching the Temple of Doom or something. Love me some mile high skywalking.
Not every NBA squad was able to effectively handle their business during the offseason. Longtime Chicago NBA writer Sam Smith, who now blogs for Bulls.com, posted a piece about the five trades he think will happen first this season. Some of the potential moves he writes about aren’t so shocking - everyone in the world knows the Jazz would love to move Carlos Boozer (Smith even notes that the Jazz team shop is selling Boozer jerseys at a 50% discount and that he is nowhere to be found in the team’s marketing campaign this year).
Below are Smith’s predictions and some of the evidence he cites to illustrate that a deal is on the way: Read More »
Jerry Sloan is underappreciated. Unless you are in Utah, where he has juice like the Osmond’s, Sloan is absolutely taken for granted. After 21 years of roaming the sidelines for the Jazz, Jerry not only has the longest head coaching tenure in the NBA, but in all of professional sports. Eighteen of those 21 seasons have been playoff appearances, highlighted with two straight Finals appearances in ‘97 and ‘98, where they lost to MJ’s Bulls - arguable the greatest team in NBA history. Yeah Sloan doesn’t have a chip, but there is no doubt he is one of the top 10 coaches in the history of the League. Read More »
