Memo

Memo announced today that he plans on coming to camp this year in the "best shape of my career." Not that that's a particularly high bar to get over. It's also a bit amusing that he made the announcement on the front page of his website, which features. . . wait for it. . . a picture of a big birthday cake and lots of shots of Memo in street clothes. Given our options though, that cake-loving, suit wearing, occasionally injured/out of shape Turk is still our best bet. Here's to hoping we can re-sign him.

Third Time's the Charm

Guess who is contemplating an NBA comeback? Here's a hint: Yabba-dabba-do!

I think we found our replacement for Jarron Collins.

Psycho-T Coming To Town

The Jazz will be bringing in a host of players to workout on Monday. It will be the first pre-draft workout of the season... and a big workout indeed! Twelve players will be in attendance - divided into two sessions of six. Of the players perhaps most notable will be the one many call... "Psycho-T from UNC."

Monday Morning:
Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina)
Dante Cunningham (Villanova)
LeVance Fields (Pittsburgh)
Taj Gibson (USC)
Jeff Pendergraph (Arizona State)
Tyrese Rice (Boston College)

Monday Afternoon:
Gary Wilkinson (Utah State)
Marcus Landry (Wisconsin)
Gani Lawal (Georgia Tech)
Taylor Rochestie (Washington State)
Kevin Rogers (Baylor)
Ben Woodside (North Dakota State)

This particular workout should be very intriguing. The morning session provides a host of story-lines. Hansbrough, Pendergraph, Gibson and Cunningham will all most-certainly be drafted. Three of which (Psycho-T, Pendergraph & Gibson) could be vying for the 1st Round. Gani Lawal from the afternoon session will also have some "looks" for the 1st Round. Each of these players could be considered for the pick at #20 for the Jazz.


The Headliner: Psycho-T
Has been moving up draft boards, to the point where he may not be available at #20. If he's there at 20, consider him selected. Jerry Sloan will love him.

The Contenders: Pendergraph, Gibson, Lawal
Lawal is the youngest, most unproven, and yet has the most potential. Gibson is a fantastic shotblocker (2.9 bpg) with great size (6'10") and length... he's a borderline first rounder but could definitely be utilized on the Jazz frontline (short of defenders). Pendergraph is a better version of Jarron Collins... more athletic and very fundamental, shooting 66% from the field at ASU. All of these guys will go somewhere between #20 and #50... where the Jazz select. Perhaps we should obtain another pick or move back/forward in order to secure one of them.

The 2nd Rounders: Rice, Cunningham, Woodside

Tyrese Rice could be a solid 2nd Round selection. A little undersized and primarily a score-first PG, he very easily could be available @ #50. Cunningham was the star of his Final Four team... he's a combo-forward, willing to scrap and score around the rim. And Woodside is the 2nd Round sleeper. He's quick as a cat and plays the game with incredible savy. Check out what he did against Kansas in the tourney... scored 37 points! He reminds me of Barea from the Mavs.

The Underrated Match-up: Ben Woodside vs Taylor Rochestie
If ever there was a match-up of competitive, hardnosed, Stockton-esque point guards... it's this one. I hope to see one of these guys in summer camp.

My Two-Weeks Out Prediction: Chase Budinger or Terrence Williams
We may need to replace Kyle Korver (immediately) and Matt Harpring (eventually). Budinger is a lights-out shooter, and TWill is an AK47-like stat-stuffer with defensive-stopper ability. We could use either guy.

Crotty Kid's Offseason Guide: Part 6

OK, kids. Draft Guru has us updated on the draft, but let's take a look at a front office decision that happens on Monday.

Boozer, Okur, and Korver still have 18 days to mull over their futures, and all indications are that at least the two important ones will take all of that time to decide. However, not everything this offseason is in the hands of fate, or Boozer's agent. The Jazz hold all the cards with one goofy, former-soviet, seven-footer. The Jazz can opt to bring back Kyrylo Fesenko for the bargain price of $870,000. But they have to do it by Monday.

Fesenko has been a complete disappointment to me. I was excited when we drafted him two years ago because I have a soft spot for active, clumsy big men. I hoped that Fesenko would develop into a bigger version of Anderson Varajao - not a threat on offense, but a defensive presence and a good garbage man. But I didn't take into account that Fesenko appears to have zero basketball IQ. And what's worse? Sloan absolutely hates his guts. For lots of reasons (but, mostly Fesenko's facebook status).
The strategic decision of whether to pick up Fesenko's option is easy: we need post players, he comes as cheap as we're going to find, and the Jazz need to save money. It's a no-brainer. The Jazz should exercise the option. But, when people piss off Sloan, they don't usually last too long in Salt Lake.

Who's The Best Franchise?

John Hollinger of ESPN.com has put together a ranking system to evaluate the best franchises in the NBA. In his rankings, he has listed the Utah Jazz as the 7th most successful franchise in the NBA.

The franchises listed ahead of the Jazz were the LA Lakers, Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Phoenix Suns, and Philadelphia 76ers.

Considering the fact that the Jazz have never won an NBA Championship and rank as high as they do, it's a remarkable honor, and evidence of a winning franchise that sets apart the Utah Jazz from other organizations in the league. I hope that our string of continual success will persist into the future... hopefully garnering us a championship (one-0f-these-days).

My favorite line from John Hollinger's summary analysis regarding the Utah Jazz went something like this... capturing Draft Guru's "Ultimate Jazz Fantasy":

"In the early 1980s, Utah had arguably the greatest draft run in league history. The Jazz took Dominique Wilkins third in 1982 before trading him to Atlanta (oops; how's that for a "what-if" scenario?)..." Can you imagine Dominique playing alongside Stockton and Malone? Spectacular!

Hot For Millsap

The Newark Star-Ledger weighs in on the Boozer / Millsap fiasco from another team's perspective (New Jersey and Detroit). Speaking of Rob Pelinka, Boozer's agent, the Star Ledger suggests:

"His client will make $12.6M next year if he doesn't opt out. Where else will he get that $12.6?
We assume Pelinka floated this idea in case he needs a Plan B if the Detroit connection doesn't happen for them. And he undoubtedly has heard what we're hearing: The Pistons are now giving as much (if not more) consideration to Paul Millsap, to the tune of $8-9M per year, which is an ample jump from the $797K he was paid last season.
And if Detroit has cooled on Boozer, he's going to have to scramble to find anything like the 5/60M he's looking for - or thinks he deserves.
Can't see it. Not in Jersey, perhaps not anywhere."

It looks as though Paul Millsap will be the first dominoe to fall. Since Detroit is virtually the only team willing to spend significant salary dollars this summer, they'll be the team to watch and follow. Most likely, they'll offer an outlandish deal to Paul Millsap (8-10M per season), waiting to see if the Jazz flinch. Once the Jazz match (which I believe they will... up to a certain point), Detroit will then go after Boozer... expecting that the Jazz WILL NOT follow-up on Boozer's bidding. How high do the Jazz go to match Millsap's contract? That's the key question! Also, does Millsap's "preferred status" among other teams (as well as the Jazz) effect Boozer's opt-out decision?

My Prediction: I still believe Boozer and Memo will opt-out, and the Jazz will prefer to match for Millsap. With whatever is left-over, the Jazz will re-sign Memo. Boozer will go to Detroit, or will be tough-out-of-luck. No sign-and-trade will be negotiated for Boozer because the Jazz will be side-stepping away from the luxury tax line.

The Measurements: Risers & Fallers

We’re 3-weeks out. The measurements are “in” for this year’s draft crop. And to the surprise of many, Psycho-T measured up. He was 6’9.5” in shoes with a 6’11” wingspan, jumped a 34 inch vertical and bench pressed 185 lbs 18 times. His numbers actually matched up quite favorably with Blake Griffin. Because of it, Psycho-T could see a boost in his draft stock.

Like every year, there’s always someone (or a “few” players) who rises and falls on the draft board come draft night. Last year, the Jazz saw a number of solid prospects fall to them when it was their turn to pick. Darrell Arthur, Donte Green, DeAndre Jordan, Mario Chalmers and of course, our very own Kosta Koufos were available for the picking back then. This year could see some risers and fallers also. It’s a relatively open draft and very difficult to predict.

Who could rise?

Psycho-T, North Carolina: He’s a winner, and a tough dude. He could have a similar career to that of David Lee in New York. Since his measurements came out impressively, he could certainly rise the board (kind of like Roy Hibbert did last year). Look out for Chicago at #16.
Omri Casspi, Israel: The first Israeli to try and make the NBA. He’s a little known small-forward that plays like Nocioni. With his experience playing in Europe, he could become a solid presence on an NBA squad.
Sam Young, Pitt: A physical specimen and very athletic. Had an awesome college career which could easily translate to NBA success.
DaJuan Summers, Georgetown: Apparently, has been showing well in workouts and the combine. Has the skill set to play either forward position at 6-8, 240 lbs.
Derrick Brown, Xavier: Early-entry player who measured out... off the charts – 35.5 vertical, 20 times lifted 185, 3.13 quarter-court sprint. He could easily find himself in the 1st Round.
Rodrigue Beaubois, France: The ultimate draft sleeper who could fly up the board very soon. He's extremely athletic (38' vertical) and has long arms (6'10" wingspan). Plays in the mold of Leandro Barbosa & our very own Ronnie Price.

Who could fall?

One of the Point Guards: Either Eric Maynor, Jeff Teague or Ty Lawson will be available when the Jazz pick. I believe one of those guys will drop due to the over-abundance of PGs in the draft. Lawson & Maynor, in particular, would be awesome!
Gerald Henderson, Duke: Not many teams have a need for a shooting guard. There could be other prospects of note that could be picked ahead of him. Same goes for Terrence Williams of Louisville.
James Johnson, Wake Forest & Earl Clark, Louisville: When will some team take a flyer on a project like Daye or Mullens, forcing JJ or Clark to fall down the board?


My 3-Weeks Out Pick: Choose a Tar Heel. They’re a bunch of champions! Psycho-T or Ty Lawson

Jazz v. Raul

It's official. The Jazz will be playing in Spain in October. And what's more? They'll be taking on Real Madrid and former Jazzman/CowhideGlobe lover, Raul Lopez. This will be a battle royal featuring the Jazz' future and the Jazz' past. I'm sure we'll have much more coverage of this game as it approaches, but for now, a photo-journalistic walk down memory lane.

Snyder Saga

The Saga of Kirk Snyder continues. After being charged with aggravated burglary and felonious assault from a break-in at a neighbor's home in March, he's now been found not-competent to stand trial. The ruling was made last Thursday by Judge Neal Bronson.

Apparently, Snyder refuses to eat and take medications while being hospitalized twice. He'll be sent to a mental institution for further treatment and be re-evaluated in a year. Based on this evidence, he's been labeled as not-guilty by reason of insanity.

Whatever is going on with Kirk Snyder... you can only hope that he gets better. It seems like there's more to his circumstances than meets the eye. As a Jazz fan, I want to wish Kirk Snyder well and hope for a speedy intervention & recovery. It's truly sad to hear a story like this one.

Euro Trash

Two items of Jazz note from across the pond:

First, to basketball news. The Jazz are scheduled to play the Bulls on October 6 in London and now there are Spanish rumors that the Jazz will play in Madrid two days later. If that is the case, the Jazz could play against a Spanish club, rather than an NBA franchise. That would not be a good thing for our team psyche, as the previous two NBA teams to take on Spanish teams on their home turf have both come home with a loss. On the bright side, it will be nice to have Raul drop by and say hi to the guys.

Second, and much more important to most of this blog's readers, Masha Kirilenko is back! The Tribune is reporting that Masha is reviving her defunct musical career and will be releasing a single later this month. And it will be in English. I can already hear this one pulsating on the floors of the Vortex, or whatever it's called now. Masha also has some inspiring words for those that feel that life has let them down:

I really believe in karma. There's no way to escape it. I am so blessed. [My family] is happy, and good-looking, and rich.

Indeed.