SB Nation - Ronnie Price

Preview - Utah Jazz @ Los Angeles Lakers

Basketball John — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:10:18 -0000

More photos » by Andrew D. Bernstein - NBAE/Getty Images

The Lakers undefeated with Gasol back.

I've been looking for most of the day on ways that the Jazz can beat the Lakers. When I finally thought I had found a couple of recurring themes in their losses, I remembered that their three losses were all sans Pau Gasol.

Since he's been back, nobody has been able to figure them out. Miami came close but lost on the three-pointer at the buzzer from Kobe.

When they win, they're beating opponents on average by 13 points a game, 108.6-95.6. Jeez. But when they have lost, they've lost in spectacular fashion with an average score of 83.3 to 100. Their offense seems to be feast or famine point-wise with mostly feasting.

The Lakers have had a huge advantage to start the season with 15 games at home with only 4 on the road. The closest I could find to that was a couple of teams with 12 home games. They'll have two more home games including tonight before coming to the SLC on Saturday. That's 17 home games with only 4 on the road to start the season. Of course it will even out in the coming months but it was good luck on their part as Gasol had been out with a strained hammy to start the season.

So what hope do the Jazz have tonight against LA? It will be tough first of all since Bynum and Gasol eat up the rest of the league. Given our defensive presence on the inside, if you can call it that, they could have career-type nights. I have a bit of hope for Boozer as we've seen him be physical in some occasions this season and look like he's giving an effort. With Fess and AK not available to back them up, we'll see a lot of Millsap and maybe the KOOF if there's foul trouble. Really though, we shouldn't give them too much trouble on defense.

On offense though they could do some damage. If Memo continues his hot shooting from the arc, that will bring Bynum or Gasol out of the paint and allow Boozer to work one on one.

Of course, that means that the wings will have to be knocking down shots to keep Kobe from hanging out in the paint. It will be interesting to see who he defends this game. If Kobe is sagging like that though, the Jazz have to run something with Boozer on the opposite side. They can't let Kobe hang out like that.

The matchup I'm interested in seeing will be Matthews and Brewer on Kobe. Matthews has that no fear attitude and backs it up instead of just talking about it. We'll see if he can throw Kobe off a bit.

The Jazz will have to play flawlessly to have a chance to win tonight. They can't get behind early like have in almost every game the past two years in the playoffs against the Lakers.

I don't know how you develop the swagger, but you have teams like Boston and LA that will go into any arena and do not get intimidated. I think a lot of the players on the Jazz still get a little overwhelmed by their surroundings. I don't sense that "We don't give a damn" attitude. That's why I miss Ronnie Price because I would love to see him go up against the Lakers tonight because you know he has that right mindset.

LA has shot just 37% in their 3 losses. The Jazz will have to hold them close to that if they want to win.

This will be another measuring stick for the Jazz as they play the best team in the league on the road. Let's hope it doesn't get out of hand.

Game thread coming shortly.

Game Thread and Preview - Utah Jazz @ Philadelphia 76ers

Basketball John — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:16:27 -0000

As you're well aware by now, the Jazz will be without Deron Williams tonight (personal reasons) as well as Ronnie Price (big toe).

Sloan has chosen to bring AK off the bench for tonight's action so as to have a second ball handler on the court for the second team.

That means that rookie Wes Matthews will start alongside fellow rookie Eric Maynor. Yes, those two that must carry around pink backpacks at all times this season.

Maynor will get to show what he can do with significant minutes and while leading the first unit on the floor.

So we'll have Maynor and Brewer in the back-court with Matthews, Boozer, & Memo up front. 82games.com doesn't have any data on the 5-man unit, so that will be interesting to see how they do.

That's when things get funky. With those starters, we have AK, Millsap, Fess, and the KOOF on the bench. That's it. AK will likely come off the bench first. I don't know who will be the true point guard at that point but we could see any one of AK, Matthews, or Ronnie B bring the ball up the floor. Look out if Maynor gets into foul trouble early.

It's all part of the new element of surprise the Jazz will be employing to switch things up. The 76ers won't know what hit them. Little do they know that Fess will be breaking out his crossover tonight and taking it to the rack all night long.

Honestly though, it's a bit exciting to see just how things will go tonight with so many people out right now. Kind of feels like a new team albeit one without Deron.

So what of Philadelphia? Well, they've beaten the bad teams they've played (barely, though they do have a win against a decent-good Bucks team) and have lost to the good teams. That sounds eerily familiar.

They're not a good three-point shooting team, thank goodness. They're only hitting about 30% right now. But they have the potential to kill us inside with AI and Speights. Thaddeus Young could be out tonight.

But what do I know about the 76ers? Check these guys out

And the Jazz guys

The Downbeat - 26 October 2009 - #86 - The KOOF Is No Longer a Rookie Edition

Basketball John — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:36:12 -0000

If you're keeping score at home, the Jazz won 3 road games during the pre-season or roughly three times the number they won all of last year on the road.

They're still a young team, but most of them have been in the league several years now. So as far as having maturity and experience on the road, there are really no more excuses.

We'll see right off if the pre-season success carries over into the regular season when the Jazz open the season at Denver. The Jazz have had relative success there splitting the last 8 games.

With two of our shooters out in Korver and Miles, Deron Williams and Memo are really our only three-point threats. Wes Matthews could be there as well should he stay with the team. He shot 44% from the arc.

Jerry probably won't miss threes being put up as often as he would prefer to get all of the points in the paint. Of course teams can just pack the inside now so somebody is going to have to hit those.

Speaking of Matthews, this station in Madison, WI is reporting that he has officially made the roster,

Former Madison Memorial and Marquette basketball star Wesley Matthews tells WKOW-TV he is officially on the Utah Jazz regular season roster. Matthews wasn't even drafted out of college, but he beat out forward Ronald Dupree and guard Paul Harris to make the roster.

From the interview, they were just talking about surviving the cuts. I don't think anything is official yet and I didn't hear Matthews say anything about officially making the roster.

So how did everyone do during the pre-season? I'll group them into great, good, meh, and bad. II didn't include those that aren't with the team any more or are out with injuries. Let's get the bad out of the way.

BAD: The KOOF and Fess. They're still young, I get that. They both still looked young though. Both had a chance to step it up this pre-season and were disappointing. The KOOF couldn't hit a shot and Fess couldn't stop hacking. Maybe this is more disappointment because I was expecting more out of these two. Still early though.

Also bad, the Jazz getting balls rejected like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli.

MEH: Couldn't really find anyone to put in this category. Ronnie Price could have been here, but 3 games doesn't really give us a good sample size. With his injury, I couldn't really make a fair assessment.

GOOD: Paul Millsap, Ronnie Brewer, AK, Eric Maynor, road victories, and the Jazz D.

Millsap could have moved up to great, but he had a couple of games where he didn't play well.

Ronnie B was on the verge of great. He made some mid-range jumpers but didn't shoot the three well. GIven that's what we're going to need shortly, it knocks him down a bit. I'd like to see him knock some shots down consistently. I could be persuaded to move him up, but right now he was at expectations.

Maynor didn't shoot well but was 50% from downtown. He gets a good because he came in and performed above what most were expecting. Handled the ball and the games well.

GREAT: Deron Williams, Mehmet Okur, and Carlos Boozer.

First up, DWill. Averaged 19 & 6 in 28 minutes. He's also shooting 94% from the FT line. Would like to see the three-point percentage up a bit and the turnovers come down though. He's ready to go.

Memo has been on fire. He's shooting 50% and nailing 2/3rds of his 3PA. Can't wait for Money to start the season.

As has been said many times here, no one has ever doubted Boozer's basketball skills (well, maybe come playoff time). He's been a monster this pre-season and has kept his mouth shut. Have to give credit where credit is due. Let's hope this is what we see for the next 8 months.

The fact that this wasn't caught on video sorely disappoints me. With Deron being a Twitter/Iphone expert, I expect more.

2009-2010 Season Preview - Utah Jazz

Basketball John — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:16:18 -0000

More photos » by Daniel Ochoa de Olza - AP

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First, thanks to Jeff at CelticsBlog for coordinating all this and setting it up.

Team Name: Utah Jazz

Last Year’s Record: 48-34

Key Losses: Golden State at home (4/11), Minnesota at home (4/3), Morris Almond, Jarron Collins (key?), and soon to be Matt Harpring

Key Additions: Eric Maynor (drafted), Wes Matthews(?), Deron Max + AK Max + Opt Ins + Portland Hosing = Luxury Tax

1. What Significant Moves were made during the off-season?

The Jazz were in wait-and-see mode all off-season. They had three players, Kyle Korver, Mehmet Okur, and Carlos Boozer that could have opted-out. In the end, all of them ended up opting in for various reasons.

Korver decided that the This is The Place Heritage Park reminded him of his home state of Iowa too much to leave.

Okur decided that launching threes in the thin mountain air while making $10M per wasn't such a bad proposition.

And of course Boozer, he who was opting out and getting a raise, regardless. Then, as young people who try to move out of their parents' house find out, things are not as easy financially as they seem. Having no suitors willing to give him a raise with a long-term deal, Boozer opted back in and then went on his nationwide tour of radio stations to drum up interest for a trade.

When that didn't pan out, Boozer headed back to Jazz camp and has so far kept quiet.

The Jazz also didn't make an offer up front for Paul Millsap, though he was their number one priority to re-sign over the summer. They were content to let the market set the price. Due to market conditions, the Jazz were poised to re-sign Millsap for much less than the $8-9M he was looking for. After OKC, one of the last teams with cap space, apparently dropped out of the bidding, it looked like the Jazz were home free. And they would have got a big break too if it hadn't been for those darn kids up north. Portland made a large front-loaded offer for Millsap that looks like it was designed more to adversely impact the Jazz than it was to sign Paul.

The Jazz made two draft picks with Eric Maynor in the first round from VCU and Goran Suton from Michigan State in the second.

Maynor projects to be a third-string backup to Deron Williams and Ronnie Price.

Suton probably would have been signed in any other year, but with the Jazz already over the luxury tax and having enough big men, he will probably not be offered a contract.

Should the Jazz sign anyone else, it would be either Wes Matthews or Ronald Dupree. With CJ Miles out the first 6 weeks or so and Matt Hapring already in the studio, the Jazz are in need of another wing player. Right now, Matthews is the favorite to get the job.

2. What are the team’s biggest strengths?

The Jazz still have one of the best offenses in the league. Three seasons ago when they went to the WCF, they had the third-best offensive rating. The year after that they were first in that same category. And last season, with injuries littering the Salt Lake valley, they were still a respectable 8th.

While it comes at a very, very high cost (almost $50 M), the Jazz have one of the best front-courts in the league in Okur, Boozer, Millsap, and Andrei Kirilenko. That gives you three former All-stars and at least half of them play respectable D.

As for the logjam at PF, if and when Boozer gets traded, it looks like Sloan will find a way to play both him and Millsap 30+ minutes. There has been some experimentation with Paul at the SF in the pre-season. He won't play significant minutes in that spot, but in some matchups, he could be there. Also, Kirilenko can play SF, PF, and even some C. Millsap and Boozer playing together, mass hysteria.

What I think will be the biggest strength for the Jazz this year is the team chemistry. Most of these guys came into the league around the same time. They've all played with each other for around 3-4 years. They know each other. Whether it's only words, the team has said they've moved on from the Boozer distraction. While I don't have anything to back it up, I believe locker room conflicts was a big cause of the team's stumble down the stretch last season. What I'm hoping to see is the the familiarity and cohesiveness helps eliminate in part some of the team's weaknesses.

And Energy Solutions Arena will be a perennial stronghold for the Jazz

3. What are the team’s biggest weaknesses?

I'm not sure that they're any different from last year's preview.

Let's start with the defense again. The Jazz were actually a bit above average last year in defensive rating. Where the Jazz are bothered on defense is length on the inside. They'll clean the glass with the best of them, but most big men can get whatever shot they would like off down low. This comes as being a bit undersized against a lot of opponents This is where the development of Kosta Koufos and Kyrylo Fesenko, the two seven-footers, would be beneficial. The Jazz also have the propensity of not getting back on D quickly and giving up easy points after a made bucket or drive by one of the guards.

For what it's worth, every other word out of all the players' mouths so far this season has been "defense". It may not be lip service this year.

Second on the list is the inability to win on the road. This has been a problem the last three seasons. Just breaking even on the road the past couple of years would have earned them a two seed two years ago and 53 wins last season.

This is where the next weakness comes in. There was a lack of mental toughness or focus last year, particularly on the road. A good example of this was the Orlando game after a crushing 3 OT loss to Miami the night before. It wouldn't have mattered if the Orlando game was two days later, the blow from that loss, being on the road, and being the second game of a B2B, there was no way the Jazz were going to even compete in that game, let alone win.

They may not have won against a very good Orlando team anyway, but even if Vegas gave them 30 points, I still would have wagered against the Jazz. The late season collapse had more to do with a mental breakdown than anything else. Inexcusable losses at home to the Warriors NBDL team and to the Wolves sealed the team's fate as the 8th seed in the West.

With each of players a little older and hopefully more mature, perhaps we can expect a more focused team this season.

Finally, for the Jazz to be taken seriously, they need to acquire a two-guard that can hit a three and create his own shot. I think Ronnie Brewer is fantastic, but I don't know if his jumper will ever come around. He' would be a great three, but when Kobe can sag 10-15 feet from you, there are problems. The Jazz as a team don't shoot the three well. The top teams shot nearly 40% while the Jazz had just one player (Okur, 44.6%) shoot at least that. That should go up this season.

4. What are the goals for this team?

I'm glad that most previews have the Jazz finishing at the bottom of West this season. Last year they were supposedly the dark house and that didn't turn out so well. According to Hollinger in prior playoffs, they should have gone to the finals. Whenever the team has been counted out is when they've surprised people. So that bodes well.

This is a team that has won 51, 54, and 48 games the last three seasons. For the most part, it's been the same team each year. Last year I had projected that they would win 56 games prior to Deron Williams' injury. Who knew that his pre-season ankle sprain was merely a precursor to the injur-plagued season the Jazz would suffer. There's no doubt that all of the injuries contributed to at least 2-4 losses.

This is the same team that's been here the last three seasons. For good or bad, that's what it is. So when everyone is healthy, there's no reason that this team shouldn't win 50-55 games. Heaven help us (and the league) if they figure out how to win on the road.

Should the Jazz be able to trade Boozer for a true shooting guard and get some expiring deals as well, Kevin O'Connor could be Executive of the Year.

We should see the Jazz challenge the Nuggets and Trail Blazers for the Northwest Division title.

5. Does Andrei Kirilenko need a hair intervention?

I mean, how can he be Ivan Drago with the flat hair?

Projected Finish: 52-30

Check out TBJ's preview as well.

The Downbeat - 16 October 2009 - #80 - The You Had Me At 'I Hate The Lakers' Edition

Basketball John — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:35:39 -0000

Funny how one word can change the meaning of a quote. In this case, both things are true, but you can see how quotes might get messed up from time to time.

In their respective "Collins coming back to Utah" articles, Siler and Genessy had basically the same quote until the end from Deron Williams on Collins. Here's Jody's,

He's great teammate. He always worked hard, didn't say much. I know coach liked him.

And here's Ross',

He was a great teammate, always worked hard, didn't say much, and I know coach liked that.

We all know Sloan loves Collins as well as probably liking that he didn't say much.

At this point, I'll be sorely disappointed if Ronnie Price doesn't retire a Jazz man. How can you not like this guy? The latest from Siler has him taking Wes Matthews under his wing,

Talking to him after shootaround Thursday, Price revealed that he’d had undrafted rookie Wesley Matthews over to his house the night before, trying to give Matthews a little bit of a 25th birthday celebration.

And who can forget his comments over the summer after he signed his contract. Here's the audio from KFAN, and the transcript from Moni,

KFAN: How much of that final 17 minutes [of the Jazz's last Playoff game] was "Hey, you forgot about me and I'm proving to you what I could have brought?"
Ronnie Price: It was more ‘I hate the Lakers‘ and I wanted to...it was more about that. It had nothing to do with trying to prove a point to Coach or anything like that. I just like getting my name called and like being on the court and having a chance to compete, especially against a team I can't stand.

Seriously, how can you not want this guy on your team. Oh, and his basketball skills aren't bad either

via Yahoo! Images

Short clip from the Jazz in London and Madrid

Just three more pre-season games from the Jazz. The Clips tomorrow night in LA, @Portland on Tuesday, and next Friday @ Sacramento. I hate prefacing everything with "it's just the pre-season" but I would like to see the Jazz win at least 2 of those games on the road. I imagine that we'll start seeing regular rotations and playing time increase starting with the Portland game as they ramp up to the first regular season @ Denver.

Coach Nissalke mentioned last night on 1320 that we could start seeing some cuts coming soon, as early as today. I suppose Johnson and Nelson could be the first ones to go. Paul Harris has been out all pre-season with that injury, so he could be let go as well. That would leave Suton, Dupree, and Matthews. They'll all probably stay around until the end.

It's a gorgeous Friday, what are you doing reading SLCDunk? Leave work, get outside, and enjoy the weekend. But be back here tomorrow night for the LA game thread.

Ronnie Price re-signs with the Utah Jazz

Basketball John — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:29:13 -0000

More photos » by Matt Sayles - AP

These two will be back at it next season.

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From the release:

"Keeping Ronnie on our roster was important to us," said Utah Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor. "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."

Good signing. Great energy. Great locker room guy. He can play the 1 or the 2. Likes to devour Luke Walton layup attempts. Not afraid to back down to the Mamba. This makes up for not re-signing Dee Brown two years ago.

Poll

Is Price a good signing?

Yes

361 votes

No

37 votes

398 votes | Poll has closed

Bargain Shopping Free Agents

Jeff Clark — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:53:43 -0000

ProBasketball News has an interesting list of some lower tier free agents that could be had for cheap. Old friends Gerald Green and Wally Szczerbiak make the list and I don't think they are very good fits here (Wally can still shoot, but that's about it). However, there are some interesting names of guys that I wouldn't mind seeing here for the right price (ie. very cheap).

Ike Diogu and Jason Collins would both be cheap big men and at the very least they'd work harder than Patrick O'Bryant did. Desmond Mason might cost a bit more than the other guys on this list, but he'd probably fit the role of backup small forward pretty well (if healthy). Then there's a collection of point guards on this list that I'm not terribly familiar with, including CJ Watson, Royal Ivey, and Ronnie Price.

I don't see anything linking any of these guys to the Celtics, but after the market has shaken out with the big names, they might be good options to look into.

2005 NBA Draft Second Round Re-draft: Part 2

Jon L — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:00:13 -0000

Dwayne Jones went undrafted in 2005. You can bet that we're not letting that happen again.

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We're back for another day of re-drafting the 2005 second round. As part 1 showed, there were some quality players available who were either drafted lower than they should have been (Monta Ellis, arguably Andray Blatche) or not at all. If there's a theme I picked up on, it's that it's definitely possible to find quality players all throughout the second round. All you need is a little luck and a good scouting department (hindsight doesn't hurt, either, nor does an honest assessment of roster needs even with the 55th pick).

The takeaway from this should be that while the 2005 draft is currently regarded as fairly weak, and I don't necessarily disagree with that assessment, "weak" can still equal NBA players. Here in part 2 we're working the back half of the second round, and while it may not be as star-studded as part 1, there are still some quality players to be found. See you after the jump.

46. Indiana Pacers (original pick - Erazem Lorbek)

As you've seen, there were a lot of European players taken this year that either didn't come over to the NBA at all or only stayed for a short time. Lorbek has some skills, but if the Pacers were looking for a center who needed to develop for a few years, might I suggest Martynas Andriuskevicius? It may seem like an odd pick, but if Andrius. (yes, I abbreviated it; you write that name twice in a row) hadn't been punched in the head by Awvee Storey, it's possible the Pacers could've drafted the next Rik Smits.

47. Minnesota Timberwolves (original pick - Bracey Wright)

Wright was a three-point shooter coming out of Indiana University, but the Timberwolves were lousy with guards that year, including current D-Leaguer Richie Frahm (and also Marcus Banks. I told you they were lousy). The only centers they had on their roster were Michael Olowokandi and Mark Blount. We're also running out of quality centers. Fortunately Dwayne Jones is still available.

48. Seattle Supersonics (original pick - Mikael Gelabale)

Gelabale had his career sidetracked by an ACL injury and by playing behind Rashard Lewis and Kevin Durant, but he was an interesting prospect when he was drafted. Seattle's backup point guard that year were was Mateen Cleaves, so maybe they should have looked in that direction. My pick is Roko Ukic

49. Washington Wizards (original pick - Andray Blatche)

This was the Wizards' only pick in the 2005 draft, and they did pretty well with it. After a few off-court incidents his first few seasons, Blatche has developed into a solid, if occasionally bone-headed, front-court player. Coach Eddie Jordan had/has a strange affinity for weak veterans, so Michael Ruffin and Etan Thomas both got more playing time that year than they should have. The Wizards were a little thin at shooting guard, though (sorry Billy Thomas), so Ronnie Price is right. (I'm so, so sorry)

50. Boston Celtics (original pick - Ryan Gomes)

Gomes was another decent player who got put in a situation where he had a lot of guys ahead of him on the depth chart. Boston's guards that year? Tony Allen, Delonte West, Ricky Davis, Orien Greene, Marcus Banks (yes, again. Again. Again.) and Dan Dickau. The Celtics would eventually trade for Ray Allen and draft Rajon Rondo, but for now I think we can safely call that an "area of need." The Celtics take Devin Green, who saw time at both guard spots for the LA D-Fenders before heading to Europe. He's not always efficient, but he's solid enough and has some rebounding ability as well.

51. Utah Jazz (original pick - Robert Whaley)

Another repeat drafter. Utah continued its love affair with ineffective centers, though in Whaley's case his struggles came off the court. I don't think Ryan Gomes would've fallen far, though, and he posted some decent rebound rates his first few years in the league. His work ethic would've appealed to Jerry Sloan as well.

52. Denver Nuggets (original pick - Axel Hervelle)

If this was a Sports Guy column I'd make a Beverly Hills Cop joke, but it's not, so let's just all sit here quietly. In all seriousness, Hervelle was the first Belgian player drafted by an NBA team. Unfortunately, there still has not been a Belgian player who's actually played in the NBA. Since Denver was looking at forwards, we'll give them Josh Powell, who has turned into a solid bench contributor in Los Angeles after a stint where? That's right, the D-League. You could flip the Gomes and Powell picks and I'd probably be okay with it.

53. Boston Celtics (original pick - Orien Greene)

We've established that Boston needed guards, even after drafting Green and even if we include Greene (that's not confusing at all). We're at the bottom of the second round now, though, where it's slim pickings. Travis Diener had a good college career playing next to Dwyane Wade (and even on his own after Wade graduated), and Diener would fit in well in Boston. You know why.

54. New York Knicks (original pick - Dijon Thompson)

If this was a Sports Guy column I'd make a mustard joke, but it's not, so let's just all sit here quietly. Again. Thompson ended up being traded to Phoenix and then assigned to the D-League, where he averaged 20 points a game before needing microfracture surgery on his right knee. He was mentioned as a solid option earlier, so I'll draft Mikael Gelabale while the Knicks hopes his ACL holds up better this time.

55. Seattle Supersonics (original pick - Lawrence Roberts)

If the Knicks hadn't snagged Gelabale I would've taken him here. It might be a bit of a reach, but I think Roger Powell would have been worth a look. Powell bounced around for a year before ending up in the D-League in 2006, where he lead the league averaging about 22 points a game. He's also not a bad rebounder.

56. Detroit Pistons (original pick - Amir Johnson)

There's not really anyone of Johnson's caliber left, and again, Detroit's frontcourt was pretty full. One guy I like is Turkish guard Cenk Akyol. He never left Europe, and he's not very quick, but he's a pretty creative scorer. Why his highlight reel includes footage of him missing free throws is a question I can't answer.

57. Phoenix Suns (original pick - Marcin Gortat)

Erazem Lorbek has some solid offensive skills, including a nice mid-range shot. That sounds exactly like Mike D'Antoni's Suns, doesn't it? Lorbek is pretty slow, though, and pretty poor defensively, even for Mike D'Antoni. But it's pick number 57, what do you expect? The added benefit is that the Suns could've kept him in Europe for a year or two and not have to pay him for awhile (I believe this was the start of Phoenix's refusal to keep any draft picks out of money concerns).

58. Toronto Raptors (original pick - Uros Slokar)

Toronto went point guard earlier with Will Bynum, but I don't think Orien Greene is out of the question here. He and Bynum could have formed a nice offense-defense backup tandem and again, Toronto didn't need forwards.

59. Atlanta Hawks (original pick - Cenk Akyol)

The Hawks' guards that year were Joe Johnson, and, well, Tony Delk, Tyronn Lue, Royal Ivey, should I keep going? Because I could keep going. Anthony Grundy. It's a good thing the Hawks drafted a point guard...in...the...first...oh well. We're just about fresh out of guards, though, unless you think Daniel Ewing is worth Atlanta's time. Either Akyol or Devin Green would've been decent picks here, but they're both off the board. I'll pick Alex Acker, somewhat grudgingly, because while he was/is pretty talented, he's bounced around a little bit in part because of a tendency to coast, a tendency that was known before the draft. Still, talent is talent, and this is the second-to-last pick in the draft. Acker was considered somewhat of a triple-double threat, which along with Johnson would've given Atlanta a formidable backcourt.

60. Detroit Pistons (original pick - Alex Acker)

We've finally come to the end. Two parts and 30 picks. Well, 29 picks, this is the 30th. Uros Slokar is available, and even though he only lasted about 20 games with the Raptors, he has some skills. He's a good passer, and while he wasn't considered a great shooter in 2005, his mechanics are solid, the kind that can easily lead to improvement. Detroit had enough big men at that time that they could draft Slokar and let him develop a little more and add some muscle, and maybe turn into the player they thought Darko Milicic would be.

We've come to the end now. Let me know in the comments if you'd like to see more of these second round re-drafts.

Poll

Which second round should we re-draft next?

2000 (Michael Redd draft)

2 votes

2001 (Gilbert Arenas draft)

6 votes

2002 (the, uh, Carlos Boozer draft)

12 votes

2003 (Maciej Lampe draft)

11 votes

31 votes | Poll has closed

Good Knight

Basketball John — Thu, 14 May 2009 20:56:51 -0000

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The post you've been waiting for all off-season, Brevin Knight.

Outside of Deron Williams re-signing with the the Jazz last summer, there wasn't much going on with the team. A little tweak came last July though when the Jazz swapped PGs with the Clippers.

The much maligned Jason Hart was sent back to LA from whence he came in exchange for the much traveled Brevin Knight.

For whatever reason, Hart never worked well in the Jazz system. That's weird because normally backup PGs have pretty decent seasons under Sloan. But his terrible shot clock management at the end of quarters, not to mention his terrible shot, drew the ire of many Jazz fans.

In comes Brev Brev. The Jazz would be his 9th team having lasted no more than three years with any one team in his 12-year career. It was a welcome trade because he was a solid vet that would compete with Ronnie Price for the backup position to Williams.

Shums was prophetic in his statement:

Seems like a wash

(unrelated, but from the same post comes clarkpojo's foresight )

When Deron went down in the pre-season, Sloan went with Price as the starter and Knight came off the bench. It was more of a platoon though as both averaged right around 20 minutes a game.

Once Deron came back, playing time slowly went to Knight over Price. By the end of the season, it was pretty much all Knight. Even in the months from Dec-Feb when Knight couldn't make a shot, at all, really. He went 0-18 at one point. And these were just normal, mid-range jumpers. Over those three months he put up a barely Mendoza-like .230 going 18/78.

So did we gain anything by trading Hart for Knight? Barely. Personality-wise, good guy-wise, and chemistry-wise we won hands down. As far as the stats go, well, it was pretty much sixes:

Brevin had a slight edge in PPG and he beat Hart pretty handily in assists and FG%. Okay, so we got the better of the deal, but at times during the season it seemed like Hart incarnate out there.

You can see that Price might have been the better option overall especially when the second team seemed to struggle on offense. We saw in the last game of the year against the Lakers what kind of spark Price could give us. Given Price's age, it seems like a no-brainer.

The Brevin Knight era in Utah has likely ended. I could see the Jazz re-signing Price and drafting a PG this summer as well as bringing in some other FA.

So good night, Mr. Knight. Someday you'll be a Jazz trivia question on a desktop calendar. Good luck on your next team:

View Brevin Knight in a larger map

Recap - Utah Jazz @ Los Angeles Lakers - Game 5

Basketball John — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:20:43 -0000

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Sorry you couldn't go out on better terms Hot Rod.

It's an end of an era in a lot of ways. This last year we've lost Larry H. Miller. This last week we've learned of Hot Rod's retirement. And who knows what the roster will look like next season. Throw in one morning while Jerry is plowing a field and decides, like Hot Rod did, what am I doing?

Here are a list of players that could leave. Most of them will probably be back I assume:

Carlos Boozer
Kyle Korver
Mehmet Okur
Jarron Collins
Brevin Knight
Ronnie Price
Morris Almond
Kyrylo Fesenko
Paul Millsap

That leaves only 6 players returning under contract:

Deron Williams
Ronnie Brewer
Andrei Kirilenko
C.J. Miles
Kosta Koufos
Matt Harpring (expiring contract)

The season ended a long ways away from where it was suppose to end. A lot of the other WC teams were supposedly going to drop off a bit and the Jazz were on the rise. They were suppose to challenge for the 1 or 2 seed - and through the end of February, they were in a position to be #2.

You can guess as to what was the cause of the swoon and you'd probably be partially right. You can't really pin the blame on any one thing/person. It was a culmination of events that never got nipped in the bud. As a result, things were allowed to nosedive and not even Ted Striker could have pulled us out of that free-fall.

But it's not really a time to dwell on that, because as of last night, the Jazz are officially in look-forward mode.

Before we get going with that though, there are few points to the game that I wanted to cover.

The Lakers were the better team in the series and should have advanced. That said, I wish nothing but the worst for them here on out.
The referees were letting anything go. Kobe travels a couple of times, Odom rode Williams "like a mule," Kobe instigated contact on AK and AK gets called for the foul (as pictured below), Odom taunted Brewer after a drive and a finger roll, this list goes on. There's Moore, but this game wasn't lost with the refs. Steve Luhm seems to think that they could have had an effect on the late-game run though.

via d.yimg.com

Let's talk about that amazing run.

2:01 left in the third. Jazz down 80-58. They call a timeout and essentially it looks like Sloan is throwing in the towel.

But Ronnie Price, Paul Millsap, and Kyle Korver come together and form the upper body of Voltron. At one point, Millsap goes on an 11-0 run by himself. The Lakers take a timeout when the Jazz cut it to 11.

The timeout does little to stop the attack though. A Ronnie Price follow up dunk and a Kyle Korver three-pointer cut the lead to 6, 95-89. After an LA missed three, Memo had the rebound and the Jazz brought it up court, but Sloan called for a timeout! I didn't hear anyone ask him why. The Jazz had the Lakers on their heels and by taking that timeout broke the momentum that we had. I can see needing to bring Deron back into the game at that point, but don't you wait for the next dead ball? It gave the Lakers time to regroup.

I don't think Jerry believe in momentum because he doesn't take timeouts to stop it when the other team is gaining and he takes a timeout when it's clearly on our side.

There was still 3:20 remaining! Plenty of time. Instead, the Lakers put it together after a couple of missed layups by the Jazz and pretty much finish it off on an Odom AND-1.

I haven't seen that much heart and hustle in a long time. Ronnie Price was inspiring with his play and chippiness. Jerry Sloan said:

I've never seen a guy play that hard in my life in that situation

Jerry Sloan has coached Malone, Stockton, Horny, and countless others. He also played in one of the toughest backcourts in the league in his day. It doesn't get any better than that from Sloan. He also stated,

He shows you probably the mistakes that I made

Here's some of that hustle:

via d.yimg.com

That dunk attempt came after Kobe and Fisher had been jawing at Price. Price got hit up with a T after taunting Fisher. This guy better be back for next year.

Jerry Sloan also finished off the season in fine form by getting two Ts and getting tossed. I love that the networks show slow-mo replays of Sloan cussing out the officials. In case you didn't hear/see it the first time, here's Jerry telling the ref to F Off in slow mo and closeup. Classic. What would have happened all of these years without Phil Johnson. Does he practice that on off days? He just has Corbin sprint for a player and Phil steps in to hold him back?

The season has come to an end and now we get to look forward to re-tooling, re-grouping, and coming out of this season stronger.

And the first person to get hurt is on my list. There better be long days of conditioning this summer.

And to Hots, you'll get your own post. But you're the only play-by-play guy that I and the rest of Jazz fans have ever known. You will be missed.