"You Gotta Love It Baby" Official Jazz thread

[UteStar]

I seriously doubt it. But did Burks play some PG as a freshman?

Yeah, he did. He was probably just as well known as a point guard as a shooting guard thru his freshman year. Even last year, he filled in at Point Guard when needed. I think his game translates better to being a shooting guard and the Buffs needed him scoring and I don't know how 'good' he was at being a point. But he does have experience there.

Also of note and take it fwiw - Rivals ranked him the 31st best Point Guard coming out of high school in 2009.

[MarkGrace]

All of the comments from Jazz brass seem to echo the fact that they believe Kanter is in the mold of a physical, around-the-basket type guy. Not sure what their basis is for this (footage, workouts, etc.), but they seem fairly convinced of it.

"Kanter is not as deep a perimeter shooter as Memo," the Jazz coach said. "He can step out at 15-17 feet and shoot it.

"But he's a big big-man. He plays inside; he's a physical guy that demands you to stop him inside close. And he's gonna run the floor hard and try to get a good low-post position. He's going to try and make contact with you every time you get close to him in the lane.

"He's a physical guy and Memo is more of a graceful, outside, good footwork, face-the-basket shooter," Corbin said. "And this kid is a lot better with his back to the basket."

"Some guys shy away from contact a little bit and some guys accept contact and some guys initiate contact," the Jazz GM said. "We had a guy, No. 32 (Karl Malone), that was kinda like that. He liked to initiate contact. This kid likes to initiate contact. That's one of the things I thought that set him apart."

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7...l?s_cid=rss-43

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

All of the comments from Jazz brass seem to echo the fact that they believe Kanter is in the mold of a physical, around-the-basket type guy. Not sure what their basis is for this (footage, workouts, etc.), but they seem fairly convinced of it.


http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7...l?s_cid=rss-43

Sounds like KOC saw him in at least three Kentucky practices. I wonder if some scouts were let in to the Hoops Summit practices as well.

[smokymountainrain]

I've decided Steve Nash would be perfect for this Jazz team. He's the perfect PG to play with the Jazz young talent, to teach them how to work, how to win, etc. The Jazz will need to get a PG in 2012 or '13 and there isn't a better PG in the league to mentor that guy and then Nash will be done and can get out of the way.

Two major questions...What would it take to get him? Would it be too much?

Nash is 37 with one year remaining on his contract. Due to the contract situation, perhaps my initial questions should be broken into two parts.

If you could guarantee that he signs an extension for an additional 2 years (I figure Nash has 3 more good years in him) what could/should the Jazz give up to get him?

If you can't guarantee that - and there is a chance he's only here one year, what are you willing to give to get him?

And I guess the third question...Am I wrong about how good Nash would be with this Jazz team?

[MartyFunkhouser]

If this is true, good job by the Jazz for not letting the money associated with Fredette overcome solid basketball related decision making. The 12 pick and Milsap was certainly too much for Fredette. Burks fills a need on this team as much as Fredette does, he just doesn't have the same financial upside. Milsap needs to be traded, but the Jazz can get more out of him in a trade. I'm not sure if that trade is now or at the deadline.

http://www.cougarboard.com/board/mes...tml?id=7020327

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

If this is true, good job by the Jazz for not letting the money associated with Fredette overcome solid basketball related decision making. The 12 pick and Milsap was certainly too much for Fredette. Burks fills a need on this team as much as Fredette does, he just doesn't have the same financial upside. Milsap needs to be traded, but the Jazz can get more out of him in a trade. I'm not sure if that trade is now or at the deadline.

http://www.cougarboard.com/board/mes...tml?id=7020327

Are you back to being a Jazz fan?

[MartyFunkhouser]

Are you back to being a Jazz fan?

I'm not 100% decided yet, so right now I'm giving a try. Rich Cho, the Andre Miller trade, and drafting Nolan Smith may have pushed me over the edge.

[MarkGrace]

Round 1: Enes Kanter (3, obtained from New Jersey), Alec Burks (12)

Round 2: None.

Analysis: I really like the Utah draft. Kanter has the ability to be a productive starting center in the league. And Burks is a very talented guard who, if he develops a jump shot, could become a star.

With the addition of Kanter and Burks plus Derrick Favors and last year's lottery pick, Gordon Hayward, the Jazz have quickly rebuilt a strong young talent base while keeping a nice core of veterans around as mentors. The future looks very bright in Utah.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft...tGrades-110624

[MartyFunkhouser]

Even if Deron Williams was going to re-sign with Utah, they made the right choice in making the trade.

[MarkGrace]

A postive look at the Jazz rebuilding efforts.

The Jazz knew better than to appeal to Williams’ sense of loyalty; great players are playing for their legacy, which depends in large part on their ability to win championships. So instead of sacrificing future assets to bring in role players in a desperate attempt to convince their franchise player to re-sign (Shaquille O'Neal and Antawn Jamison in Cleveland, Jarrett Jack in New Orleans, Hedo Turkoglu and Gilbert Arenas in Orlando), they took the opposite tack: dealing him with 1.5 years remaining on his contract, while they still had leverage in trade negotiations.

The resulting bounty was huge: they acquired a 28-year old point guard (Devin Harris) who had already made an All-Star team as well as two lottery selections -- the Nets’ picks in 2010 (Derrick Favors) and 2011. Almost as importantly, by dealing Williams and tanking the rest of the season, they acquired one more lottery pick -- their own. In contrast, Cleveland had already dealt their first round 2010 pick in the Jamison deal, creating a lost transition season where the team was neither competing for the playoffs nor developing good young players.

Now, after acquiring two lottery picks in two straight drafts, Utah is one of the NBA’s most promising young teams. They have four long-term starters on rookie deals who “fit” well together: Favors, a 6’10 250 athlete who can protect the rim and defend 4’s and 5’s, will handle the interior defense; Kanter, a 6’11 260 low-post scorer who can also step out and knock down 18-foot jumpers, will handle the front-court scoring. On the perimeter, Gordon Hayward, a 6’9 shooter, will create driving lanes for Alec Burks, a 6’6 slasher.

And with a strong core in place, they have the luxury of trading their three remaining veterans -- Harris, Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap -- to find complementary pieces.

http://basketball.realgm.com/article...erated_Rebuild

[smokymountainrain]

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft...tGrades-110624

Burks has a jump shot, he just may not have a long distance jump shot at this point.

[MartyFunkhouser]

A postive look at the Jazz rebuilding efforts.


http://basketball.realgm.com/article...erated_Rebuild

Kevin O'Connor is an underrated GM. He has absolutely done a good job in his time at Utah. Sure there are missteps, but no GM is perfect.

[Maximus]

Kevin O'Connor is an underrated GM. He has absolutely done a good job in his time at Utah. Sure there are missteps, but no GM is perfect.

well except for the vast majority of his 1st round picks being busts, and AK and Okurs contracts, I agree

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Kevin O'Connor is an underrated GM. He has absolutely done a good job in his time at Utah. Sure there are missteps, but no GM is perfect.

He did a fantastic job considering how long he had to be the GM while Jerry Sloan was the coach. Nothing ties a GMs hands like having Sloan as the coach of your team that also happens to be located in Utah.

[MarkGrace]

well except for the vast majority of his 1st round picks being busts, and AK and Okurs contracts, I agree

I know I'm probably in the minority here, but I think he's done a fine job with 1st round picks. Certainly not the best in the league, but somehwere around average or better. And his draft record overall has to be better than average.