Intrigue For The Unknown

As the draft guru, I'm always intrigued with the unknown hoops player. While I follow basketball religously, there are still players in the basketball world that I just don't know anything about.

Last year, I came away pleased with our draft-day choice of Kosta Koufos. I thought he was a solid draft choice. However, when I went to the Rocky Mountain Review to witness our Jazz rookie league team versus San Antonio, I was dumbfounded to see that the Spurs had pulled a draft-day steal (of sorts) which had left moose prints on the face of our summer-league Jazzmen. George Hill from the Spurs, a late-first round draft choice (after the Jazz had selected), had absolutely dominated the Jazz in the rookie league game. His performance was so impressive that it made me sick-to-my-stomach, thinking that... "the hated Spurs had once again one-upped" the lowly Jazz, and made our drafting department look silly. Hill was a little-known ball player from IUPUI and no one had really heard of him. I had certainly never seen him play before either. Yet, here he was... killing our Jazz! Hill, by the way, went on to have a decent, to non-descript rookie season for the Spurs. However, who really knows how good he'll become in the future?

Just today, David Thorpe from ESPN.com handed out a true nugget of Summer League information. He divulged the next unknown quantity that may have slipped past the Jazz in the draft. No, it wasn't DeJuan Blair... (even though he seems to be playing fairly well) and it wasn't his teammate from Pitt, Sam Young... it was Rodrigue Beaubois from France, scorching the nets and dropping jaws, to the point where Thorpe wrote after seeing both Beaubois and Hill play... " Beaubois has been the best pure pg I've seen this summer. Until George Hill." Ouch!... A couple of point guards we passed on.

Beaubois, a little known PG from France ripped off a line of 34 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds while hitting 7 three-pointers. George Hill followed that game with a solid 25-point performance of his own. I know that it's summer league... and we shouldn't get too overhyped by the performances that take place here... But... 34 points... 7-three balls. Wow. That's pretty impressive!

On the Jazz summer league front, we probably had the worst constructed team ever (with Kosta breaking his finger and Fes not showing up), and yet, we still managed to win 3 games. Eric Maynor had a semi-forgettable rocky summer, with several 2-9 shooting performances. And Goran Suton was pretty much an after-thought. He went "0-fer"... from 3-point land during the competition in Orlando. His best game was an 8-point, 10 rebound outing.

The guy who'll be taking this franchise to the top... to the promised land, is non-other than summer surprise Josh Duncan. He somehow developed an uncanny knack for hitting shots and making plays within the structure of the offense. That's hard to do for most rookies (and young free agents). It may have been enough to earn himself an invite to fall camp. After which... he'll be taking this franchise to the brink of a championship. Right? Josh Duncan!

Jazz Summer League: a mere 31 point loss

Here are the highlights from last night's whooping at the hands of the Bill Walker-led Celtics. For your viewing pleasure they are narrated by Rod Zundel.

Summer league highlights always look like pickup highlights at the local YMCA, and the Jazz were without their "star," Kosta Koufos. But Maynor looked good, collecting nine points, 4 assists, and zero turnovers. David Thorpe (who loves just about everyone) calls Maynor "slight, but heady" and "a terrific backup for DWill."

The Jazz' second round pick, Goran Suton had four points, missing BOTH of his three-pointers. Does anyone else think that Suton (a 6"10',245 pound European who loves the perimeter) has all the makings of Sloan's new whipping boy?

Jazz Summer League

Eric Maynor has signed his rookie contract with the Jazz, paying him $1.3 million for his first NBA season. He’ll join several others on the Utah Jazz Summer League team which starts next week in Orlando, Florida. Of those who’ll join Maynor from the Jazz in Summer League are Kosta Koufos and Goran Suton. Kyrylo Fesenko won’t make the trip to Florida because he’ll be choosing to participate instead with the Ukrainian national team in Europe. Morris Almond, former Jazzman, will play for the New York Knicks in Summer League.

Those players who’ll be playing for the Jazz this summer are:

James Augustine, Cedric Bozeman, Justin Reed, Gary Wilkinson, Kevin Kruger, Andre Ingram, Kevin Lyde, Jim Baron, Josh Duncan, Wes Matthews, Reyshawn Terry, Larry Turner and Derrick Brown (from the Bobcats).

Augustine, Reed and Bozeman are interesting players because they’ve had small stints playing in the NBA. Augustine played for a couple years with Orlando, and now plays overseas for Gran Canaria in Spain. Reed played for Boston and Minnesota for a few years after falling to the D-League. Lastly, Bozeman played briefly for Atlanta, and now plays as a D-League Superstar, posting Magic-like stats. Go D-League Star!

Wilkinson is local (Bingham Miner & Utah State Aggie), and everybody knows about Kevin Kruger (former UNLV point guard, played for Utah Flash). Josh Duncan and Reyshawn Terry are pretty talented players, while Kevin Lyde is the perennial Jazz Summer League stat-stuffer. Of the rookies who might actually have an shot at making the team… Watch for 6-5 guard, Wes Matthews from Marquette. He could have a chance to impress, after a solid senior year (18 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 47% FG). His Pops once played as a back-up for the Showtime Lakers.

After doing a little research, I can see why the Jazz decided to draft Goran Suton in the 2nd Round. Suton absolutely flourished (and at times, dominated) during the NCAA tournament. He was the primary reason for Michigan State’s run to the championship game… doing it against some impressive competition along the way. Against Robert Morris, Suton scored 11 pts and collected 17 rebounds. He shut down Taj Gibson from USC in game 2 (3 pts, 0 rbs), while scoring 7 pts and 10 boards. He then had his best performance of all against Cole Aldrich of Kansas (20 pts, 9 rbs, & 5 steals). Michigan State advanced, and then beat #1 seeded Louisville behind Suton’s extraordinary game of 19 pts, 10 boards and 4 assists. Against UConn in the Final Four, Suton wasn’t quite the same spectacle, but he came back to post a solid game versus UNC in the championship game… matching Psycho-T stride for stride with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks. Sparty got blasted… but Suton was very impressive. So, in this light, I can see why we drafted him. Let’s hope that he can continue his fabulous tournament play into Jazz Summer League, and eventually make the team.

Draft Day Dynamo

The Jazz hit a home-run with their Draft Day selection in the 1st Round, picking VCU's Eric Maynor at pick #20. Assuredly, the Jazz made the smart pick.

Maynor could easily become the best back-up PG we've ever had for the Jazz. Truthfully, he's very similar to one, Howard Eisley... steady, efficient, capable of running a team, very savy & smart, a good passer and a future team leader. It'll be good to know that when Deron Williams leaves the ballgame, we'll have a solid back-up to spell him for a change.

In this draft (and especially at pick 20), you gotta take the best available sure-thing. Maynor was the guy. Teague (and his intrigue) was off the board, Blair had suspect knees, Mullens was too much of a boom or bust risk, and anybody else around, just wasn't going to make a real dent in the line-up. Maynor was the best guy. He'll play right away (we'll have to see what happens to Ronnie Price). I really like the pick.

Grade: A-


In the 2nd Round, the Jazz opted to go big. However, the pick was somewhat typical of Jazz selections in the past, in a somewhat unexpected, unusual manner.

Is it a prerequisite for Jazz centers to be able to launch the long-ball? On the roster, we have Kosta Koufos and Mehmet Okur (hopefully) who are capable long range shooters. What they don't bring to the table is real shot-blocking, defense or physical toughness in the paint. Goran Suton, the Jazz' 2nd Round draft pick from Michigan State, is somewhat of a hybrid, rugged version of Okur and Koufos... yet with less talent, ability and expectation. Best case scenario might be a Brian Scalabrine/Michael Doleac mix? Suton can shoot the outside jumper (43% 3-point), but doesn't really score in the paint (only 10 ppg average). He possesses a rugged, physical, defensive toughness inside (perhaps unusual for a foreigner)... leading some to believe (myself included) that he was Michigan State's ring-leading "hacker", implementing and executing the Spartan's tough, physical approach. Suton might have a shot to make the roster, but I'm doubtful.

Personally, if I was making the pick, I would have taken Luke Nevill (or someone else) over Goran Suton. Nevill averaged 2.7 bpg (Suton only 0.5). Nevill grabbed more rebounds per game and was a bigger presence inside (where we NEED presence!). Yes, Nevill wasn't drafted, and I'm surprised... physical toughness won out over size this time. However, I don't think this pick was a big deal. It's a 2nd Rounder. Psycho-T may not have been around for us... but (Psycho) Goran Suton may bring that toughness to the team.

Grade: C-