Utah Jazz open scrimmage impressions

  Open scrimmage time, Jazz Fans!  I took the opportunity to attend and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Here are a few things that I noticed.

  First, the new video screens are incredible!  The size, clarity, and positioning of those boards are perfect. Not to mention the two large screens in the corners of the arena!  The upper bowl season tickets just became totally worth the cost.  Well done Miller Family!  Second, the fans were great!  The majority of the lower bowl was full.  I have been to a couple of these before and I haven't seen so many people for a scrimmage.  Also in the house was Jerry Sloan, Phil Johnson, and the "Mailman".

The players-

  David Locke started off with a quick Q&A with each player. When David got to Kanter and Favors, he asked both of them how it was to work with Malone. Kanter looked up to where Karl was sitting and kind of laughed, then said that Karl needs to suit up. Derrick said it was an honor to work with Karl, then David asked if it was difficult, he answered, "not that bad."  David started laughing very hard and looked at Malone then told Favors to sit down before he gets himself in any more trouble. Of course, Gobert, Burke, Kanter, Favors, Burks, and Hayward received the biggest response from the crowd. Gordon, Derrick and Alec all looked bigger. Jeremy Evans looked bigger as well, but that is not saying much. Rudy made the 7' Biedrins look small!  He is a monster of a man!  Trey Burke is small, but he does have length. That will help him some with his lack of height.  

The Game-

  It was hard to take away too much from the play. They played two twenty-minute periods. The clock ran the entire time. The white team starters were Gordon, Alec, Trey, Jeremy and Andris. The blue team started Derrick, Enes, Richard Jefferson, John Lucas, and Justin Holiday.  Jeremy matched up with Favs and did a pretty good job fighting him on the block. He is just so much smaller, and Derrick was able to get the shots he wanted. Jeremy did do a good job of contesting those shots. Kanter is a BEAST!  He absolutely abused whoever went against him in the post. He is going to have a good year. I was impressed with Jeremy's confidence. He did a good job setting screens and working on the boards. He also contested shots well. The last play of the first half was amazing. Derrick caught the ball on the right baseline, took one dribble and powered up to throw it down with two hands. Problem was, Rudy was waiting! He came across and ended up fouling Favors. This was a great play from both players.  Favors, for wanting to smash on anyone in his way, and Gobert for not being afraid of a vet and a guy that he is going to battle with all season in practice.   There was a nice play in the second half where Scott Machado came off of a high pick to the left of the key, Jeremy came crashing in from the right wing, Machado threw a perfect alley-oop that Jeremy finished with a nice left hand dunk.  It was hard for the guys to get in to a flow with the set up of the game.  They did run a lot more pick and rolls, which is good news.  They ran it high and they ran it from the wing quite a bit.  There were a number of players involved in the pick and roll also. Gordon, Alec and Trey all ran it fairly well.  The low post game consisted mostly of Kanter on the blocks.  They did try to get Gordon in the post a few times but had a difficult time with the entry pass.  Defensively, they were solid.  No one got beat off the dribble terribly, the rotation was okay, but they did give up a couple of corner 3's.  

The new guys-

  Trey has learned already from his struggles during summer league.  He played with pace and pushed the ball ahead.  He made some plays to push it ahead to Alec and Gordon.  He was a little tenative on his shot.  I have noticed that his release point is alright, but the ball is coming out a little flat.  He also made plays where he got to the basket, took the contact, and had a chance to finish.  Trey is going to be just fine.

I was really surprise by Rudy Gobert.  I have a feeling by the end of the year, he is going to be in the rotation.  He is not intimidated by anyone on the court.  He moves his feet really well, and contests everything.  Ian Clark can handle the ball a lot better than I expected.  He came off a few screens and had opportunities to create but seemed to pull back a bit.  He will need to be a little more assertive if he wants to get minutes on the court.  Richard Jefferson is a consummate pro.  He is going to be valuable off the bench.  He can spread the floor and hit the corner 3.  Beidrins didn't get a lot of run.  He was most effective on the boards.  Brandon Rush did not play.  I think it will be a while before we see him or Marvin on the court.  That leads me to the most interesting part of the scrimmage, the guys that have a shot to make this team.  I think there are three guys that have a legit shot.  Dominic Mcquire, Scott Machado, and Justin Holiday.  Mcquire reminds me of Demarre Carrol, but with a lot better handle.  He has clearly been working on his jumper and knocked down a couple of 18 footers.  He was defending the 2-3 and switched a couple of times to the 4.  Machado's court vision is great.  He sees plays develop and makes the correct pass.  He did a pretty good job staying in front of his man as well.  Justin Holiday is a player that has really been working on his game as well.  He has incredible length.  He was matched up against Gordon a few times.  Gordon tried to take him to the post, but Holiday could play behind him with his length and contested every entry pass. He made it very hard for Gordon to get the ball where he wanted it.  Holiday also has a couple of corner 3's.  The Jazz have 13 players currently under contract so its likely that two of these guys will stick.  With the likes of Marvin and Brandon being out for a while, the Jazz may take three of them.  

  It was a great opportunity to see a small piece of the future of the Utah Jazz and some of the things these kids have to offer.  I feel like the organization is right where is needs to be and will continue to improve.  As a Jazz fan I am stoked, and can't wait for Tuesday night vs. The Warriors.  Go Jazz!

Keys to the season....

  With the preseason kicking off next week I thought I would go over some things that I believe will be key for the Jazz to be successful this season.  In doing so, the first thing we need to do is define "successful".  In my opinion we can throw wins and losses right out the window.  This season is not going to be defined on wins and losses.  But if your were asking me, I am going to say somewhere between 28-34 wins.  That may be a stretch, but I think guys are better than people think.  I think early on they will sneak up on a few teams and steal some wins.  But back to "success", I think its all about development.  Not just on the players level but on the coaching staffs level as well.  We need to see the staff handle game management and situationals better this year.  The staff really missed on a few opportunities last year.  Lets take a look at some of those keys....

Defense-
  The Jazz need to develop an defensive identity.  Are they going to concede buckets and not foul players?  The philosophy of the San Antonio Spurs?  Are they going to be the Jazz of old and contest and foul at every easy bucket?  I personally don't like giving up easy buckets, but at the same time I don't want to see a bunch of useless fouls.  We need to see individual defensive improvement from the likes, of Burks, Evans, Burke.  Can Alec stay with his man as he is running off baseline screens?  Is Trey getting picked off on the high pick and roll?  Are the bigs showing on the high pick and roll?  Can Jeremy play similar post defense to that of Andre Kirilenko, use his length and athletic ability to substitute for a lack of strength?  We also need to see a vast improvement in the team defense.  Are guys running out at the spot up shooters?  We gave up 42% and 43% respectively to the corner 3's!  That is a killer!  We need to make sure we have solid rotation also as guys run out.

Tempo-
  This team is full of tremendous athletes!  They need to play to that strength.  Get up and down the floor, run after made buckets.  I can remember watching Favors and Kanter last year beat the other teams big down the floor constantly.  If that happens this year  Trey, Alec and Gordon have to push it,take advantage of the situation.  They will be the recipients of a number of and 1's.  This is where the "Mailman" made his money, constantly beating the opposing team down the floor.  There is also the talk that Trey is small and an average athlete.  I think people are forgetting the chase down block he had in the Championship game against Peyton Siva.  And before anyone says it was Peyton Siva remember, he had the second best athletic testing at the combine only behind Shane Larkin.  Trey is a good athlete and will need to use that to push and create early opportunities for himself and the team.

Leadership/Chemistry-
  I feel these two go hand in hand.  Can Gordon and Derrick lead these guys?  What type of leaders will they be? Vocal by example?  How are their teammates going to react when they have to get after someone?  I get the sense that these guys all like each other.   They have a good time together on and off the court.  So when things don't go well, and there is frustration in the locker room hopefully they will be able to stick together.  I believe in the early days of camp we see that Gordon is far more serious than he has ever been.  He is pushing himself to the max and in turn the other guys are seeing this and seem to be pushing themselves as well.

Lastly, the coaching staff-
  What effect will having Jerry around have on the staff and more specifically Ty?  Will the young bigs develop more efficiently with the tutelage of Malone?  What kind of leash will they give these young players?  Have they put in the time to bettering themselves as a staff?  I think Jerry's presence for Ty will be a great strength for him.  Ty will have the opportunity to bounce ideas off one of the greatest coaches of all time on a daily basis.  Ty has so much trust and respect for Jerry, to the point where I don't think he wants let Jerry down.

  I think if the Jazz are able to develop and hold on to these "keys" that this season will be deemed a success regardless of record.  Ty will keep his job, Derrick and Gordon will get their extensions and the Jazz will draft Andrew Wiggins!.....Wishful thinking right?

Utah Jazz Season Awards....

  There has been a lot of talk about this season for the Utah Jazz being a season of discovery.  We have seen flashes from all the guys in our young core.  Now they have to show us what they can do.  I have been doing a lot of thinking and while many of our player will not win and league awards, I thought I would give them team awards based on the same awards the league gives.  So here we go....

MVP-Gordon Hayward

  I look for Gordon to have a big year.  He is going to have the opportunity to do what he does best, make plays.  When I look back at his career at Butler and the run they made in the NCAA tournament, it wasn't always him scoring the ball.  He was setting up his teammates, making plays and scoring when needed.  I believe we will see plenty of that from Gordon this year.  He will make his teammates better and give them opportunities to get easy buckets, because other teams defense will be keying on him

Rookie of the Year-Trey Burke

  This is a bit of a no brainer, but to added to it, I have a feeling he is going to with ROY for the entire league!  Trey has a chip on his shoulder, he knows that everyone is doubting him.  That's when he THRIVES!  I remember watching him as a freshman at Michigan.  He was not highly touted, but he came out and has some great games as a freshman.  Keep doubting, hating on him.  It fuels the kid!  He is a student of the game and works at his craft.  I look for this kid to surprise a lot of people.

Most Improved Player-Jeremy Evans

  Jeremy had a couple really good summer league games.  Yeah I know, its summer league.  But Jeremy has put in work and has expanded his game.  I think his strength may come from playing with Kanter or Favors where he can be a weak side defender.  He has also worked very hard on the pick and pop aspect of his game.  I feel that the one thing that has held Jeremy back is the same thing that plagues Andris....confidence.  I think Jeremy now knows that he belongs and can be a valuable role player.

6th Man of the Year- Andris Biedrins

  Shocker!  Yeah I said it!  I think that Andris will have a bit of a resurgence here with the Jazz.  I feel the key to this happening is the Jazz offense.  If they run a lot of pick and roll like we expect, this will be to his advantage.  He is mobile big that does a good job crashing to the hoop for boards and buckets.  The flex offense won't do him any favors.  So if we stay flex heavy that could really hurt him.  The other thing to remember is Andris is a good defender.  Again, playing along side another long athletic big will make the Jazz very strong down low.  Oh by the way, we have a lot of long athletic bigs now!

Defensive Player of the Year-Derrick Favors

  Ok if the last was a shocker, this is a no brainer.  I watched the USA Basketball summer camp and scrimmage.  Yeah Favs was hurt pretty early on, but he was active, vocal leader on the defensive end of the court.  The trait that I have picked up on early in camp though, is his nastiness or demeanor.  He is tired of the talk and wants to show what he can do.  He wants to lead.  He wants to win!  I look for Derrick to have a big year and be a big presence on the defensive end of the court.


  These picks are difficult with so many unknowns.  There are other guys that could come out and surprise us.  Alec Burks, Richard Jefferson, Brandon Rush could all have big years and I hope they do.  27 days to the start of the regular season and less than a week to the first preseason game!  Let's go get it Jazz!

Where does your allegiance lie?

NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, College Football, College Basketball.  Sporting events, as a fan, I enjoy all of these things.  In a calendar year, each has a time and a place in my sports viewing lifestyle.  Is there a favorite?  A league, game or event that is more enjoyable or exciting to watch?

  When it comes to sports, I feel like I have watched it all at one time or another.  I have watched all of the mainstream sports or events.  I have also watched others that may not be considered mainstream, such as, Indy car racing, Nascar, UFC, X-games and many others.  All these events are exciting and have their own following.  I love the excitement, pressure and adrenalin that all these events provide.

Where do you, as a sports fan invest the majority of time?

My rank looks something like this....

1.NBA
  For me this is an 11 calendar month sport.  I love the draft, free-agency, summer league, preseason, regular season and playoffs.  I watch it all.  I DVR the summer league games for pete-sake!  I can not get enough basketball.  But this is the sport I played the most growing up.  Being 6'6" tall would seem to make a little sense that this is where my heart was at.

2.College Basketball
  I enjoy college basketball a great deal.  One of my favorite times of the year is March Madness.  I am known to take a week off just to watch the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament.  There is nothing like it!  Win or go home and the kids give it everything they've got.

3.College Football
  Even with the BCS, NCAA and rampant corruption issues in college football, it is still something to behold. I lived in Austin Texas, Longhorn country!  These people start tailgating on Thursday night before a game on Saturday!  I also have the pleasure of living in Utah and there is nothing like the "Holy War" BYU vs. UTAH!  Yeah its sad to see that game go away for a couple of years.  But in the long run, I think it will make that game even more special.

4.NFL
  Right now, watching Peyton Manning do what he is with the Denver Broncos is amazing!  I have never seen a football player more intelligent!  Its like he is playing a game with the defense at times.  This league is full of monsters.  Guys like JJ Watt, Adrian Peterson, Vernon Davis.  They do things that just don't seem humanly possible.

The rest of the sports or events are all kind of equal for me.  Last year I watched more Stanley Cup playoffs then I had ever watched.  They were fantastic!  I also love October, and the MLB playoffs.  There isn't a day or night in my week that I am not looking for some sort of sport or event to watch.  So I ask the question again, Where do your allegiances lie?

#47 should go up there....

  Andrei Kirilenko.  For many Jazz fans he was an enigma,  6'9" tall with a 7'4" wingspan, great athleticism, speed, ball skills and passing ability.  All the attributes could have and should have made "AK 47" one of the greatest Jazz men of all time.  But for many, he falls short of that lofty accolade.

  I remember the summer that Andrei came to the United States and played for the Utah Jazz's summer league team in the Rocky Mountain Review.  I remember seeing and extremely skinny, blonde haired player with his shorts pulled up too high.  I remember saying to a friend of mine "someone needs to tell him to pull his shorts down."  Then the game started....wow the shorts and the visual image that Andrei presented was far from the player that he was.  I was amazed at his ball handling for such a long lanky player.  He moved with such fluidity.  But most impressive was his athletic ability.  I had not seen a European player move and jump the way he could.  This was something new, something we had not seen from the other side of the pond.

  As a player, Andrei continued to develop.  His first 2 years in the league he had the opportunity to learn from Hall of Famers, John Stockton and Karl Malone.  In 2003 Stockton retired and Malone signed with the LA Lakers.  The team was now Andrei's, and he flourished.  The team ended up with a much better record than expected and Kirilenko benefited greatly from this.

  Andrei signed a max deal with the Utah Jazz and I feel that is where his down fall came.  People expected a person getting paid that kind of money to take them to the Conference Finals every year.  They expected multiple All-Star appearance.  Things that unfortunately Andrei only delivered once.

  I don't blame AK for his contract, his injuries or his short comings.  As a fan, I knew when he stepped on the court he was going to give it all he had.  He did not take plays off.  He played with grit and toughness.  He wanted to win!  He was one of only a handful of players to ever have a 5x5 (5 points, rebounds, blocks, steals and assists)  For his career, he averaged 14 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.7 steals and 2.3 blocks.

  Those numbers and the precedence he set as a European player and the first European player for the Jazz, in my opinion, should put him in the rafters at Energy Solutions Arena.  So when the day comes that AK decides to hang them up, I hope the Jazz organization can look back at his contributions and give him that honor.