The Utah Jazz Blog has moved

As you may have noticed on this blog, I've also been keeping a Utah Jazz Blog, and re-posting some of the entries here. About a week ago, I was invited and accepted, to move the Jazz Blog to the Most Valuable Network. I'm excited to be apart of the growing and committed team at MVN. Please come check it out:

ALL THAT JAZZ

Andrew Bogut is ESPN's player of the year

It has been a great year for the University of Utah Athletic Department, and it just became even better. Andrew Bogut was just named ESPN.com's National Player of the year today. ESPN also announced it's Men's College Basketball All American team, which included Bogut, Chris Paul (Wake Forest), JJ Redick (Duke), Wayne Simien (Kansas), and Sean May (North Carolina).

As Bogut is definately leaving Utah after this season to go to the NBA, the Utes will have a player in the top 5 of the NFL (Alex Smith) and NBA drafts in the same season, with rumors of each going as high as number one overall.


(photo from ESPN.com; taken by Levine)

Arroyo is gone, but the talk continues

They say the month of March comes "in like a Lion"......instead I think I'll come in with "I hate to whine about the whiners who are whining about old news, but I can't resist, and must get it off my chest so I'll beat it to death with a big stick".

Therefore, my Whiney Sports Mumbling Rant...

I keep reading articles in the Salt Lake Papers about Carlos Arroyo and how the Jazz miss him and how great he is doing for Detroit (reference, Jo-Ann Barnas article for Detroit Free Press picked up and ran in Salt Lake this week). I've even read opinions sent in to the newspapers and other online sites by fans who hate the trade of Arroyo and are mad at the Jazz and mad at Coach Sloan in particular. The point they are missing, and missing, and missing (they could stop shooting and missing at that point, but since Carlos hasn't stopped, why should they), and missing....is Detroit is asking him to be a part-time helper. In Detroit he is a back-up and averaging only 18 minutes per game. In Utah, the Jazz thought he was the man who could embrace the team's philosophy, lead the team, play heavy minutes (35 per game), and basically make those around him better. Truth is, he did not play well this year, despite the contract and faith the Jazz put in him. Truth is, he got on the wrong side of Coach Sloan, and while some of that may have been Jerry's fault and this league at times may be run by the players, the Jazz never have been. He was woefully immature and continues to complain that no one talked to him, as if, Carlos had no idea where Coach Sloan's office was. I for one am tired of reading his quotes and tired of all the fans who continue to push this side of things. Its a team game, but Carlos chose to make it about him and didn't like the result. I've said a million times...I'd rather lose with the right guys than win with the wrong ones. If it took giving in to a player who demanded kid gloves and special treatment to win, I'd rather lose. Is Carlos a bad guy? Whoa, that's not the point. I liked Carlos and enjoyed the good times while he was here, but unlike great players in this league he didn't fight through adversity. He isn't as valuable as people make it seem, and to hint that he means more to the Jazz than Sloan (as many have done) is idiotic.

To Carlos I say,

"take care Carlos, may you end up better than the other guys who left thinking they could do better outside the Jazz system (see: Shandon Anderson, Howard Eisley, DeShawn Stevenson, etc) . I'd like to send some of your Utah fan supporters with you, but you know how they are...fickle, as soon as they see that the grass isn't greener, they'll be bagging on you in no time."

My guess is with the recent improvement of the Jazz and Keith McLeod, and Arroyo's failure to really change the fact that only 5-6 guys on the Pistons really carry the load, that this issue will die down. Come next summer when the Jazz have the money from the Arroyo contract to spend elsewhere and an extra first round draft pick, people will be glad the Jazz held to their principles and really evaluated the situation for what it was.

In the spirit of statistical overkill, and to convince those that still wish to argue the over value of Carlos Arroyo, I offer the numbers below (thanks to the www.82games.com for the +/-). The result is that both teams, Utah and Detroit, have been better while Carlos is on the bench.

+/- points
Carlos in Utah (this year): -7.3
Carlos in Detroit: -6.4
Keith McLeod (Utah Starter): +2.5
Chauncey Billups (Detroit Starter): +4.9

Shooting %
Carlos in Utah (last year): 44.1%
Carlos in Utah (this year): 40.1%
Carlos in Detroit: 39.0%

Minutes Played - per game
Carlos in Utah (last year): 28.3 mins
Carlos in Utah (this year): 24.7 mins
Carlos in Detroit: 18.7 mins


To assert that Arroyo and his 39% shooting and 18 minutes per game is the reason, or even a critical influence, for Detroit's hot streak (winning 8 of 10) makes only slightly more sense to me than heaping extra praise on the hot dog vendors at Auburn Hills. I mean yes technically they are there, and yes in some remote way they are making an impact on the things inside the building, but its really only a coincidence that they are associated with the Pistons at a time when they are rolling.

Whew, all better now. Until the next article...

(Originally Blogged on the Utah Jazz Blog)

Sports Mumbling, March 3rd

Sports Mumbling on March 3rd...

• New Ute Hoop Rankings- Now 15th (coaches) and 16th (media) ranked in the country. Based on what I've seen this year, those rankings feel about right. Sports Illustrated has them at #17 in their power rankings, by Luke Winn.
  
• I give credit to "Ancient Ute" who posted a 'Historical trend for Utah Basketball' on the utefans.net website. His report (click here), shows that the Utes have only had 6 losing seasons in the last 50 years.
  
• Ute center Andrew Bogut has his own blog, "Awesome Aussie". Its not too bad, although he is certainly much better on the court than he is online. Some good stuff in there, but don't buy into the bit about him having a pet crocodile and kangaroo as he stated on Jan 23rd!
  
• Looking to move to Utah this spring? I think Karl Malone's house is still for sale. Better hurry and jump on it though, it looks like the price has dropped to a mere $5.75 M.
• The Jazz have won 3 in a row, and go for 4 against the Hornets in New Orleans. The Jazz would win by 15-20 right now in Utah, but momentum and the road atmosphere probably makes this a game. I'm not a big Byron Scott fan (coach of the Hornets), so I can't say their struggles bother me.
• One part about the Hornets I like, is the point guard Dan Dickau. He has taken over for the oft injured and finally traded Baron Davis. Dickau is a point guard who shares the ball, and is thinking about others when on the floor. He is probably going to earn himself some cash as he is a free agent this summer and only going to get better. If you are a rumor monger, remember that the Jazz will have cash to spend, have an unsettled point guard position, and Dickau went to Gonzaga, which coincidently was the same school as John Stockon. A little more you ask...remember that Stockton used to go home to Gonzaga for pickup games and played many times with Dickau.
  

Jazz Find rhythm in Houston

Thanks to a big fourth quarter from Raja Bell, Mehmet Okur, and Matt Harpring, the Utah Jazz surged past the Houston Rockets for a 99-92 victory in Houston Sunday afternoon.

The Jazz have had trouble in the 4th quarter of games. Coming into the Houston game, Utah was 6-21 on the road. Starting the 4th quarter with a tie score seemed to be pointing the direction of many games this year. Good effort, but not good enough to win. Instead of wilting, Memo scored 9 points in the 4th Quarter, Bell 7, and Harpring 8 as the Jazz seemed to either make every shot or get an offensive rebound on each miss in the fourth quarter. There were a couple of 'you had to see it' type shots in the fourth quarter as well. One was a reverse by Kirilenko, when he got caught under the backboard he reached his long arm out and quickly flipped it back into the basket. He made it look almost effortless, but the truth is there aren't many guys in the league who could have done it. Moments later, Mehmet Okur drove the baseline and was fouled hard, but with a showing of great strength, flipped it over his head with his left hand and into the basket. The Jazz took advantage of a couple of bounces and combined that with beating the Rockets in the effort and energy departments of rebounding and defense.

For the Rockets, McGrady was terrific in the first quarter, but didn't have as much pep over the final three quarters. The new guy Mike James played hard till then end and scored 19 points, making just enough 3-pointers in the 4th quarter to keep the Rockets within shouting distance. Perhaps I miss something, but I just don't understand why a 7'6" player like Yao Ming only gets 10 shot attempts against the Jazz who don't have a player over 6'11". Is Yao not aggressive enough in demanding the ball or getting position? Or is it, what appears to be a team that overall has questionable shot selection and doesn't appear to be running an offense most of the time? I know that normal point guard Bob Sura was out with an injury, so perhaps that was the problem in lack of offensive sets and touches for Yao. Lets hope so.

On this Day in the NBA- Houston Style: Feb 28, 1981 Calvin Murphy set the record for most consecutive made free throws with 78 (against San Diego). This record was later broken by Michael Williams of Minnesota and pushed all the way to 97 (in 1993). Murph still holds the record for highest FT percentage for a season at .958 (1980-81 season).

There is also a great write-up of this game in the Houston Chronicle (click the link), that includes sharp comments by McGrady, Jon Barry, and Van Gundy. Also, in keeping with the trend of looking for the best blogs for the opponent, I point you to the Houston Rockets Fan Blog.

(Originally blogged at the Utah Jazz Blog)