Let's see how "something new" goes for now...perhaps we'll see Fes back for special guest appearances every now and again?

"You want me to replace Fes? Are you serious doe?"

Submit your captions in the comment section, and as always remember to rec your favorites!

The Jazz's 3-point woes (both making and defending) have been documented and highlighted in recent losses. Ty Corbin has said that he's not a real big fan of the 3-point shot, but I think many of us were probably surprised to hear of the Jazz's new signing--DeMarre Carroll--and find out that he's not a shooter.

Earl Watson on KALL:

[Denver] emphasize taking a lot of 3s, they emphasize shooting the ball, they emphasize and encourage from long range. That's not our style of play, nor should it be. But I think we have to find a balance, because we have so many talented bigs and we have guys on the team now that's capable of being really, really good 3-pointer shooters. ...

I was reading where we are Top 5 field goal percentage offense, but we shoot the ball so poorly from the 3-pointer. But that's not really what we emphasize. We attack the paint; we go through our bigs.

When you think of all the guys the Jazz have let go of over the past few years--Kyle Korver, Wesley Matthews, Deron Williams, Mehmet Okur--your head starts to hurt. It seems like our most pressing roster need for years has been a reliable shooter.

I realize that you can't do something just because everyone else is, but when you consider the current state and direction of the NBA, should the Jazz give the three-point shot more emphasis in their offense (assuming, of course, that we have guys that can make them)?

Ty Corbin on Eric Brooks (Alec Burks)' lack of playing time (KALL):

He understand that I want to get him quality minutes on the floor, and because of where we are now and the way things are going, it's my fault. I just haven't had a chance to find minutes for him. I talked to him about staying ready, and he'll continue to work as much as he can in the time off and the time we have on the practice floor to continue to get better.

Burks' development is something I've been thinking about lately. One of the areas where he can improve is shot selection/frequency. If he's only getting garbage minutes on the rare occasion that he does gets minutes, those tendencies could get worse because what is there to do during garbage time but shoot? In other words, is playing garbage time more detrimental to his development than no playing time at all?

Some of my favorite Jazz moments are when you get to see players' personalities, and they shine through in this Jazzland post by the Deseret News' Jody Genessy:

Watson to Evans: "You want me to talk for you?"

Watson to me: "I'm his dunk agent."

Watson then talked about the viral campaign of Evans' video that showed him dunking over the 6-1 guard. "Bang. And we're pushing it—Twitter, Facebook."

Evans interrupting: "Everything, you name it."

Watson talking over Evans: "Website."

Evans interjecting again: "Photo Bucket."

Watson: "We sending out text message pictures."

Evans: "I've been on Photo Bucket."

Watson: "We’ve got G-Time putting it up on Butler highlights on the JumboTron at Butler."

Evans: "Even D-Fav's Georgia Tech. We've got all that."

There's a lot more, so be sure to click on the link above and put Jazzland in your RSS reader if you haven't already.

You know what amazes me when I think of how hard it's been for Jazz players to get All-Star recognition in recent years? How many years Karl Malone and John Stockton made the All-Star Game and started in the All-Star Game "despite" playing in Utah. Did they dominate their positions that much, or was it just a different era? Thanks to @prodigyJF, here's a Karl and John All-Star 1988-1997 All-Star mix:

Poll

Unintentional Dirty Quote Machine (UDQM) of the Week

• David James: You can just one night go with one guy, the next night go with another, rather than taking multiple guys in and out. Or you decide early on, I’m gonna go with Kanter down the stretch, so maybe I need to give him a blow at the 7-minute mark.
• Harpring on CJ: He just thinks he has to do something with the ball every time he touches it.
• Boler: There is a little Houdini inside Jeremy Lin.
• Harpring: Raja is angry with himself he didn't finish that.

  117 votes | Results

Thought we'd go with a little something different today while we solicit your opinions below.

Here are 20 minutes of highlights, interviews, and jokes from Fes' four fun-filled years with the Jazz:

Now, poll time.

Poll

Preferred Future Direction for Caption Contests

• Fesenko Friday
• Different Jazz player ever week
• A specific individual (post in comment section)

  119 votes | Results

ICYMI: @ZacLambert came across Pioneer Woman Jerry Sloan in the hallway of his church:

For some of us, while the lockout dragged on we were either removed enough from that sickening feeling resulting from losses or so desperate for the lockout to end that it was easy to get on baoard with on the "screw winning, develop the young players" movement. Now that we're a third of the way through the season (and ridiculously voting for All-Stars six weeks into the season, but I digress) and experiencing the joys of winning and the AAAARRRGGHHH! of losing on an almost nightly basis, has your stance in the Win Now vs. Develop Players debate changed? Is there a happy medium to be found here, or would committing to neither result in neither getting accomplished?

You probably remember when Twitter was starting to go mainstream (which was way, way after our own TazzJazzFan signed up), the media asked Jerry Sloan about it and he said that he didn't even know how to turn on a computer.

At the time, they also asked Jazz players about Twitter. As both have since become Twitter users, Jarron Collins and Matt Harpring's attempts to explain what Twitter was and their opinions of people that use Twitter are now pretty funny.

Jamaal Tinsley's play last night was one of my favorite performances by a Jazzman this season so far. You really just can't help but root for the guy the way he's been rooting for his teammates all year. It didn't amount to anything, but check out this move when he dribbled between the legs of David Lee:

Poll

Best Unintentional Dirty Quote Machine (UDQM) of the Week:

• Booner on Hayward: At least you're getting there, even though you're not finishing. Boler: I just walk in the shower, Booner. That's what I do.
• Brian T. Smith: Miles doesn't even hesitate when he sees an opening now. Puts head down and goes.
• Al Jefferson on his ankle: All the pounding and stuff I'm doing, of course it's gonna hurt, but that's why I gotta continue to stay on top of 'em.
• Ty Corbin: Al didn't want to come out too soon.
• Harpring: You have to eliminate leak-outs.

  153 votes | Results

It's time for your weekly caption contest of your favorite Jazz free agent big man. Let's read your best and remember to rec your favorites.

Jeff Hornacek, when asked who's the leader of the Jazz:

I don't think [Ty]'s named a captain yet. We're trying to figure that out...Maybe a guy like Paul Millsap and Al, but they're not big talkers. They're not the type of guys that are gonna get in somebody's face and say, "Hey, we need to get this done" or we need to do this and that. They're more quiet guys...I think Josh Howard is a guy who, his intensity when he gets out there, he never takes a play off. Since he's been here I don't think I've seen him take a play off on the defensive end of the floor. So maybe a guy like that might turn into our guy on the defensive end. Raja does it. I don't think we have one true leader...

If there is one [leader on the bench], it probably is Earl, that he can say things and guys will really listen. But again, the leader has to be probably on the court for the majority of the time...So it makes it a little difficult for Earl to do that if he's not out there at the end of the game. When he is out there at the end of the game, I think he really does do that. So again, it's tough. I don't think you necessarily need one guy to be your leader. When I was here with John and Karl, I would say that Karl was probably the leader. He's the one guy that we could go to and say "We need this guy to get going" or to do this or do that, and Karl might get on the guy. John was the quiet kind of example leader. Karl's like, "Give me the ball. I'll score." That's always helpful to be a leader like that and I'd say 90% of the time he delivered. It's hard. There's not probably that many guys in the league like that. (KFAN)

Is this a point of concern (not naming a captain, but leadership in general)? It's definitely less of an issue if the players have been with each other for a long time or it's a more veteran team. You naturally think of your point guard when you think of on-court leadership, but Devin Harris IMO < Earl Watson in this respect. Our longest-tenured Jazzman, meanwhile, is CJ Miles. Would having "that guy" on this team make a real difference when we're at that point in games when the Jazz just look lost and discombobulated out there, or is that guy an unnecessary luxury?

Once upon a time, every Jazzman on the roster with kids had at least one son. Every Jazzman, that is, except Karl Malone. The Mailman was therefore the subject of ribbing and teasing in the locker room. John Stockton spent his entire NBA career dishing assists to Karl, and this was no exception.

"John told Karl, 'I'll tell you how you have a boy, if you listen close,'" Kay [Malone] said. "John then goes, 'Take Kay out for a nice dinner, give her a couple glasses of wine, get her happy, take her home and call me -- I'll be over.'"

Tons of other warm fuzzies in this 1997 New York Times article, including how one of the Stockton girls would only sit in Kay Malone's lap at games, and how John usually ordered for Karl at restaurants while doing third-person Karl impersonations.

Thurl Bailey and Sidney Lowe, back in the day. (via @saltcityhoops)

Speaking of Thurl, Frank Layden was recently interviewed on KSL and compared Favors to Thurl Bailey. Although he is now primarily known for his 12-button suits, Thurl had a 15-year pro career, including 12 years in the NBA in which he averaged 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 block on 47% shooting and 81% from the free throw line. These numbers are nothing to sniff at and (but?) I think we all agree (hope) that Favors has a higher ceiling. Would you be disappointed, though, if he ends up with similar career numbers to Thurl?

Poll

Best Unintentional Dirty Quote Machine (UDQM) of the season so far:

35%

Hayward on Kanter: He can bang down there and really force his way in but he’s really got a nice touch.

81 votes

4%

Brian T. Smith: Josh Howard looking very smooth during pre-game drills. Full action and movement with a smooth stroke.

11 votes

25%

Tom Nissalke on rotations: I did that with Jerry West a few times, and he liked it.

58 votes

7%

Corbin on Favors: He has some inside-outside stuff, he gotta learn when he go in there big, he gotta be really big.

17 votes

27%

Corbin on Kanter: He’s a big young guy that can take a pounding and can deliver it too.

63 votes

230 votes | Poll has closed

When I think of the Warriors, the first thing I remember is one of the worst games in Utah Jazz history. You know, the third-to-last game of the 2008-2009 season when we got beat were humiliated by four undrafted players and three rookies. Don Nelson didn't even coach the game. He sat in his [passenger's] seat and let Keith Smart do the driving.

Of course, Keith Smart is now coaching Sacramento, and Golden State is being coached by Mark Jackass. I mean Jackson. No I don't; I mean Jackass.

[minute of booing and hissing]

What's going on with the Warriors
After winning two of their first three, the Warriors have dropped four straight and are sitting at the bottom of the Pacific Division. Monta Ellis was quoted as saying, "I feel great about this team" after that last loss. Maybe he just feels good about himself; he's been the Dubs' leading scorer in five of their last six games.

What's going on with the Jazz
After a putrid start to the season, the Jazz have started slowly putting things together. We've won three in a row, but they've all come at home. We're perfect at home and winless on the road. The Jazz have also been lucky to have played virtually every one of its matchups so far against teams missing their stars/key players (Lakers without Andrew Bynum; Hornets without Eric Gordon; Bucks without Andrew Bogut; Grizzlies without Zach Randolph). This will continue with the Warriors, who are without Stephen Curry.

Previous Meetings
None so far this season.

Opponent Blog
Golden State of Mind

Game Time: 8:30 p.m. MST
Game Thread: 8:00 p.m. MST

Poll

Could Mark Jackson carry John Stockton's jock?

100%

No

174 votes

174 votes | Poll has closed

Game stream: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700195611/Live-stream-Pro-Players-Charity-Classic.html

Asked what went down during his workout with the Jazz, Brandon Knight said he worked out against the Jazz coaching staff on "pick and rolls, spot spots, finishing with my left hand, left hand speed dribbles, left hand jump shots, pretty much everything." Now, we know we're not going to get any substantial comments on the workout or Knight from the front office, but KOC did throw out this tidbit: "I tell you what. Jeff's slipped a little bit. His defense is, you know [shakes head] and Scott couldn't keep anybody in front of him."

Knight, for his part, dispelled rumors that he didn't want to be in Utah: "It seems like a great place ... it'd be a place that I would love to be there." (DesNews). He also told KFAN, "Utah seems like a great place to be, and I would love to be in this city." I don't know if he was referring to Utah or Salt Lake City as "this city," but referring to Utah as a city is a good omen in Jazzland (see Malone, Karl).

@shandonfan recently implored Netflix to make "West Wing" available online since her DVDs were getting scratched up. This sent me on a search for the most-scratched (and irreplaceble) DVD in my collection so that I could back it up. Those of you that don't also own the John Stockton Retirement DVD might have never seen this, so here is John Stockton's retirement speech:

There are now rumors that the Jazz are looking to deal Devin Harris and Paul Millsap, or at least are open to the possibility. Any statements like "The Jazz are interested in..." or "The Jazz are looking to..." are most likely either made up or someone repeating something someone else made up. No one in the Jazz organization--the tightest lips in the league--would leak stuff. Believe a Jazz rumor once, shame on you. Believe a Jazz rumor twice or again, shame on you some more... :)

For those that have their sights set further ahead to late summer, the European Basketball Championships (8/31 - 9/18) might be the only basketball we get for a while if the lockout happens. Andrei Kirilenko is planning to play for Russia; Francisco Elson is planning to play for (and captain) the Netherlands; Kyrylo Fesenko is planning to play the Ukraine, and we'll probably get a chance to see the mysterious and maybe/maybe not future Jazzman Ante Tomic play for Croatia.

Beyond that, half-Mexican Earl Watson has said that he wants to play for Mexico in the Pan-American Games, which is from 10/21 - 10/30. I'm assuming that he'll play in the Pan-American Games only if there is a lockout, as the tournament will conflict with NBA training camp/pre-season.

This bit was overheard at the beauty parlor comes to us from @dianaallen, who attended Jimmer's workout (and wrote about it here). Jimmermania continues to flex its muscles, as a number of fans showed up at the Jazz's practice facility with sleeping bags the night before Jimmer's workout, intending to camp out there. They were chased away by Utes fans security.

Final note: Thanks to everyone that recommended Psych in the Downbeat a couple of weeks (?) ago. Midway through the first season, and really liking the show.

**Update** Just came across this, so I'm going to throw it in as #5a/#6/ P.S./whatever. The Jazz's 2011 Draft Cap, which can be yours for just $25.99:

After the draft, the #2 hot topic on SLC Dunk lately is whether the Jazz should jettison the team and rebuild with youth, with Big Al being at the "center" of the discussions.

Defense- and offensive efficiency-wise, Al has room to grow. I'd like to take the discussion in a different direction, so let's leave this aside for the moment and instead ask these questions:

1) Is it within the realm of possibility that he can improve? If so;

2) If the Jazz, cognizant of which areas his game needs improvement, leave him at locker room cleanout with "work hard," "watch film," and "we'll check in on you when we can" and send him back to the same people/coaches that he's always worked with throughout his career that shaped him into the player he is today, should the Jazz bear some responsibility for his development or lack of if they don't get a guy who knows the system and what a big should be doing in that system (Karl or whoever the case may be) to work with Al and show him and teach him how to improve and be successful in the system?

It's like, some people are naturally great dancers. Some take classes and become great dancers. Regardless of which you are, I guarantee that the person that goes and takes classes with a real live instructor will reach higher heights than the person that tries to learn steps at home by himself from instructional DVDs.

Some guys naturally understand where they need to be and how to get there, and can make themselves great. Some guys need step-by-step instruction. It doesn't make them less of a player if they need instruction, or mean that they can't be as good as the first guy. Assuming that Ty won't be completely changing the system, the Jazz have the option of getting Karl--a guy who knows how to work and propelled the system to new heights--to work with Al. And we know Al would be up for it. When Karl attended a practice this past February, the one guy he singled out for being coachable and taking his advice was Al.

We all have our opinions on which direction the Jazz should go in, but I just don't see the Front Office blowing things up now for a better future down the road. Which means Al is staying with us. Which means his development is, at this point in time, more crucial than Derrick Favors' (future though Favors may be). In conclusion, the Front Office should be quoting TMac and saying, "It's on me."

To continue with this line of thought: We don't have the best history developing bigs. The Jazz annals are littered with bigs that never lived up to their potential or broke down before they got anywhere. While part of this is that the Jazz have rarely had high picks, I just don't have much confidence in the Jazz's ability to develop bigs.

A better game plan, IMO, would be acquiring established and/or role-filling bigs whose abilities and limitations are already clear, meaning you already know what you're going to get from them and are not working on the basis of potential, through trades and free agency than trying to draft and develop them. We've gotten nowhere with the latter route, and if we have to go back to Mark Eaton to find a success story, then I'm sticking with "we've gotten nowhere with the latter route.") Thoughts?

Working out for the Jazz today: Paul Carter, Jimmer Fredette, Josh Harrellson, Senario Hillman, Malcolm Lee and Kemba Walker.

Speaking of Jimmer (smooth segue, right?): According to Chris Mannix (mp3), Jimmer sees himself as a Deron Williams-Steve Nash hybrid.

Mannix also said that Jimmer has been strategically planning his workouts--Sacramento, Phoenix, Indiana, New York--with teams that he either wants to play for or whose system (up-tempo, PNR-heavy) fits his game. For this reason, Mannix believes that Jimmer will be available at #12, as teams that he refused to work out for won't be drafting him without having seen him.

Also, "[Jimmer] told me Utah is his number one choice. He wants to play for the Jazz. He wants to move 45 minutes down the road on the I-15. He wants that pressure and that responsibility of being a star in Utah."

What do you get when you combine a slow news day with crazed fanaddicts? This.

Help me out: favorite iPad/tablet apps? [Effort to make this relevant to this post and site] Best Jazz/NBA apps?

Do Kevin O'Connor and Ty Corbin have different expectations for the draft?

From the Trib a couple of weeks ago:

Picking up where previous Jazz coach Jerry Sloan left off, Corbin wants to mold a team that is defined by toughness, sacrifice and character. Basketball intelligence and team commitment are more important than individual statistics.

Corbin also wants confidence and experience instead of a project. Drafting at No. 3 during a good year can net a talented difference-maker.

KOC at the draft combine several days after that talking about the third pick:

Whoever we're going to get is probably going to be somebody that's not ready to play in the league, but is going to get some opportunities to play because of their skillset level...it becomes a situation where you do have to have some patience.

Dwight Howard is currently touring Europe for adidas Basketball. In Moscow, he was joined by Andrei Kirilenko and the New Jersey Nets dancers for the 5 United Slam Dunk Contest.

(via sportbox.ru)

You just gotta love Google Translate:

It's good to see that AK has returned to 2009-2010 hair length. In with the (preferable) bowl cut, out with the Russian mullet. (This is probably the point where you realize BBJ isn't the one writing this.) There were also reports out of Russia that AK's first pro basketball team, Spartak St. Petersburg, has offered him a 2-year, $12.5 million contract, which AK has denied.

Video of Dwight dancing with the Nets dancers here.

Let's check in on our other Jazzmen.

Mehmet Okur is hanging with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and being, like, all GQ (via Memo's Facebook):

Devin Harris is making celebrity appearances at clubs, while Raja Bell is/was attending Finals games and sharing his thoughts on them.

Gordon Hayward is streaming video games and embarrassing his girlfriend, while Jeremy Evans is racking up the frequent flyer gas miles for Junior Jazz camps.

Sensei Francisco Elson is training with the Dutch national team, while Earl Watson (Sr.) is getting young basketball players to college.

I couldn't find any news on Fes. What's up with that?

Since Jerry Sloan and Phil Johnson retired and/or since the regular season ended, the NBA coaching carousel has spat out five more head coaches. The four of five that left their posts involuntarily all had personal ties to Jerry and Phil. Rick Adelman was Jerry's former Bulls teammate. Keith Smart played at Indiana with Jerry's son. Jay Triano was once cut from the Jazz in favor of a kid named John Stockton. John Kuester's first NBA coach was Phil Johnson.

Along with the departure of Phil Jackassson, you could say that the older/old-school generation of coaches is dying out...in favor of guys like Mark Jackassson, who recently talked about what he learned from the coaches he played for during his career. On what he learned from Jerry:

"I didn't have a great time in Utah but I learned how to get a team organized and how to get prepared where you play hard every, single night."

He learned how to get a team organized? As CJ would say, *smh*. Mark Jackson's brand of organization was so cancerous Jerry wanted to resign midway through the season rather than deal with his crap. (Yes, I will continue linking to this article until the end of my days.)

Seems like nothing gets the comment juices flowing around here like the draft. Sadly, y'all are stuck with me and my utter lack of draft knowledge today, but Clark will fortunately be here tomorrow to meet your draft discussion needs.

I'll leave you with an open poll question for now: Let's say you won a lunch with KOC and Ty and they just adore the sound of your voice. This is an unprecedented opportunity for you to tell them how you'd tweak or overhaul the system. What would be your recommendation?

Bare bones game thread. Have fun!

click to enlarge :)

Ty comes running down the floor.

He sees Deron, and stops in his tracks. They size each other up.

Deron: So, it is down to you, and it is down to me.

Ty walks towards Deron.

Deron, holding a proverbial knife to the proverbial throat of the franchise: If you wish the team dead, by all means, keep moving forward.

Ty, hands up as he slowly approaches: Let me explain...

Deron: There's nothing to explain. You're trying to kidnap what I've rightfully stolen.

Ty: Perhaps...an arrangement can be reached?

Deron, narrowing eyes: There will be no arrangement...and you're. Killing. The. Team!

Ty, stopping his approach: But if there can be no arrangement, then we are at an impasse.

Poll

What will you be doing with your Deron jerseys/t-shirts?

19%

I'll still be wearing them at games in 2020

52 votes

13%

Tossing them

35 votes

19%

Donating them to people that need clothes

50 votes

37%

Hugging them as I cry myself to sleep

98 votes

9%

Other (please specify in comments below)

26 votes

261 votes | Poll has closed

Continue reading this post »

This season's been depressing and (at least for me) got much more depressing in the past 10 days. So here's a little video reel I threw together of the good/funny/light moments and game highlights of the season so far, starting with the drafting of Gordon Hayward in June and ending with the return of Kyle Korver earlier this month, in case anyone needs cheering up.

Video Sources: nba.com, TNT, utahjazz.com, The Utah Jazz Blog, KSL, ABC, Jazz Center Court

First Millsap falls down, and then a flying Ronnie P somehow collides with AK. On the other end of the floor, the Warriors get an easy layup. *smh*

So comicawful it needs a second look:

(Sorry if it's slow-loading. I'm having computer issues and not in the best of moods.)

BBJ--If you want to just tack this on to the recap, feel free to do so.

Ante Tomic vs. Brose Baskets

Today's offering includes a candid camera moment.

Ante Tomic vs. Virtus Roma

Note: This is the game ut2006 wrote a fanpost about a couple of days ago.

I'm going to preface this by saying that I'm one of the fans that don't think Ante Tomic will ever cross the ocean, but I know plenty of Jazz fans are excited about him (paging ForTheLove).

This isn't a highlight film--everything from FTs to defense to complaining to the refs to misses to alley-(lay)ups to falling on the floor is included. Those that like to skip ahead to the end of books can fast forward to 3:45, which is where the best move of the video can be found.

Poll

How interested in Tomic are we? Do you want to see more of these?

74%

Yes

140 votes

25%

Nah

47 votes

187 votes | Poll has closed

Not all of us are lucky enough to have had the opportunity to attend a Jazz game in Utah. I've been to two Jazz games in my life, but both of them were away games. But I digress. From this video, it seems that we are really missing out, and the player intros are something to behold indeed. More than that, watching this video was somehow like getting injected with a shot of optimism. I'm so excited about the season again. So for those of you that need a little pick-me-up:

(Keep your eye on the Jumbotron for the first minute)

(via bcolindres)

Consider this a companion piece to Amar's BMI post if you will.

I came across Draft Express' pre-draft measurements the other day, and was bored enough that I thought I'd take a look at some past and present Jazz players (past players for comparison purposes).

First up: Height.

Discovery #1: Boozer wore Aldrichian shoes to the pre-draft camp. Or should that be Cole Aldrich wore Boozerian shoes, since Boozer came first?

Discover #2: Millsap's true height is 6'6.25". He and Korver are actually the same height.

Discover #3: Gordon Hayward's true height is 6'6.75", but he is listed at 6'9". He is the clear winner of the Height Exaggeration Award with a difference of 2.25" (Note: I am unclear as to who the award should actually be sent to--Hayward, his agent, the Jazz, the NBA, or other).

Next, we have wingspan. Prior to this year's draft, Hardwood Paroxysm "used a regression to predict wingspan from player height (WITHOUT shoes on) with a sample of 916 NBA prospects." The formula for average wingspan based on the regression ended up being .985(height in inches) + 5.5.

Poll

Completely unrelated poll: Who will you miss the most in '10-'11?

64%

Oh My Sweet Wesley

195 votes

4%

Carlos Boozer

14 votes

6%

Ronnie Brewer

20 votes

15%

Kyle Korver

48 votes

1%

Kosta Koufos

5 votes

6%

THE KOOF references

21 votes

303 votes | Poll has closed

Continue reading this post »

 

Gleb Dok (or any other Russian speaker hanging out here), your assistance would be hugely appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

I think I heard AK say the words Boozer, Brewer, and Korver (said with Russian pronunciation which sounds kind of cool), Al Jefferson, Raja Bell, Kobe stopper and maybe Sasha (AK's daughter).

 

P.S. Please tell me that at the end, AK says that he has to end the interview and/or run because he has an appointment to get a haircut.

...though when I say '09-'10, I really mean a 25-game span between January and March. My original cut just from this span was 13 minutes. The final is 8+ minutes, and I know that there are some that aren't going to sit through the entire thing, but what could I do? The process ended up taking days longer than it might otherwise have because half the time, I got caught up watching the highlights instead of editing them.

AK started the last 21 of the 25 games and the Jazz went 21-4.

The media always wanted to say that Deron and Boozer had great chemistry. I suppose this is natural, because everyone is always waiting to crown some player "the next [fill in the blank]," and since Deron and Boozer were playing in Utah, it was natural to declare them the next Stockton-to-Malone. Going through games, however, it was Deron and AK-47 that had the best on-court chemistry.

If I asked you to picture Deron in your head, nine out of ten times he probably looks sullen and/or pissed off. During this stretch of the season, when the Jazz offense was purring like it hasn't in a decade, Deron was happy, smiley, loose, and relaxed. It was almost...weird. It might be the happiest he's been on the court, except for, you know, that time when he was playing in the All-Star Game in Dallas and wishing he played for the hometown team. @_@

AKWSUA. That is all.