If I told you that Kyrylo Fesenko played fewer minutes in the Jazz's victory Thursday in the Rocky Mountain Revue than Rickey Paulding, Hiram Fuller, Earl Calloway, Kevin Lyde and Leemire Goldwire, you'd probably wonder what on earth happened.

    Well, Fesenko played only 12:48 against the Hawks, despite starting both the first and second halves, and I honestly can't explain why. For the second consecutive game, Fesenko didn't get off the bench in the fourth quarter with a tight score.

    If you saw him in that fourth quarter, Fesenko looked bored sitting on the bench. He pretty much bolted after the game, the first player out of the locker room. I chased after him and he said "Ask coach" when I asked if he knew why he wasn't playing more.

    Fesenko has played only 84 minutes in five games - - an average of 16.8 per game - - compared to 140 minutes for Morris Almond (28.0 mpg) and 97 minutes for rookie Kosta Koufos (19.4). What's harder to understand is that Fesenko was playing well Thursday.

    He tipped in a Fuller miss in the first quarter, was called for a loose-ball foul and blocked a shot. In the third quarter, Fesenko blocked two more shots, threw a nice pass to Almond for a basket inside and tossed in a shot after Calloway hit him in the post.

    Fesenko finished with four points, three blocks, two rebounds and two fouls, making the only two shots he took. Assistant coach Tyrone Corbin said there was no message being sent to Fesenko and talked about how hard it is to find playing time for 15 guys.

    While Fesenko isn't in what he called "top-notch" shape, Corbin did say that his conditioning has come along during these two weeks. So the issue shouldn't be that Fesenko can't play more than six or seven minutes at a time.

    Given the Jazz's investment in Fesenko, there's no way he should only be playing 13 minutes in a summer-league game. These are opportunities for game experience that won't be there come November and probably won't be there in October, either.

    It's also difficult for the Jazz to criticize C.J. Miles for skipping the Revue when Fesenko is playing so little. If it's so important to the development of their young players, then the Jazz's young players need to be playing 25-plus minutes right now.

    * * *

    The Jazz have never doubted Almond's ability to score, but the second-year guard again showed them what he's capable of Thursday. Almond finished with 29 points on 10-of-19 shooting in 30 minutes, scoring 15 of the Jazz's 22 points in the third quarter.

    Among his highlights, Almond twice cut for layups, ran the floor for layups, posted up and hit a jumper in the lane and knocked down a three-pointer. Once again, Almond also got to the foul line, converting 8 of 10 free throws.

    Corbin said he appreciated that Almond was looking to pass more and play tougher defense this summer. It's the little things, though, that are going to make all the difference in Almond's game, and he still has a ways to go in that respect.

    He got trapped in the first quarter, held on to the ball, and committed a turnover. He watched a rebound instead of hustling after it. After the Hawks grabbed that loose ball, Luke Jackson buried a three-pointer.

    Almond was blocked by Frank Robinson when he had tunnel vision to shoot coming off a screen. To start the second half, Almond got caught napping on defense while Mario West hit a three-pointer. You could hear Corbin yell, "Let's go, Mo," from the bench.

    That said, Almond answered the West three-pointer with a basket of his own and was on a terrific roll in the third quarter. The last two games Almond has scored 24 and 29 points, making the case that he's gotten better as the Revue has gone on.

    * * *

    After seeing the offer Atlanta's Josh Childress signed with Olympiakos, you have to wonder how the Jazz kept Koufos away from the Greek club.

    If Koufos someday develops into a star, there's no question the money he can make will be better in the NBA. The Jazz told him just to look at the deal Deron Williams was about to sign. But if he's an average player, Koufos might have a better offer to go overseas.

    --Ross Siler

At the Rocky Mountain Revue on Tuesday night, I ran into Atlanta Hawks vice president of public relations Arthur Triche.
I've known Triche for a long time, so I congratulated him on the Hawks' run to the playoffs and outstanding first-round series against the Celtics.
He thanked me and then joked about the Hawks' next task: getting some players re-signed. I knew he was talking about Josh Childress, whose agent had just announced that his client was headed overseas for contract discussions with the Greek club Olympiakos.
I told him that Childress probably just wanted an expenses-paid vacation to Greece and he would be be returning to Atlanta shortly to sign a new contract with the Hawks.
Wrong.
Childress signed a three-year deal with Olympiakos on Thursday. His agent claims the contract will be worth $20 million after taxes -- big money for the owner of one of the oddest-looking jump shots in the NBA and the fourth- or fifth-best player on a team that was the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.
About the same time Childress was announcing his deal, the agent for Houston forward Carl Landry said his client would consider going overseas if the Rockets don't increase their contract offer to him.
Landry is a nice player. He averaged 8.1 points and 4.9 rebounds during as a rookie. During the playoffs against the Jazz, he reminded me of Paul Millsap, only a little more versatile on offense. In my mind, Landry should command as much money as Childress on the open market, whether it's in the NBA or overseas.
In the wake of Childress' signing and the talk of Landry going overseas, however, something that Jazz hopeful Britton Johnsen told me this week at the Revue keeps resonating.
Johnsen, the former University of Utah star, has spent the last three seasons in Spain, France and Turkey. He told me the Istanbul-based Turkish team was the only one that paid him all of his money.
It's something Childress, Landry and other players thinking about trading an NBA career for one overseas should consider before they sign on the dotted line.
Speaking of signing with a foreign team, colleague Mike Lewis is covering the U.S. Olympic team's training camp in Las Vegas. He sent word that the Lakers' Kobe Bryant said he'd consider it.
At first, Bryant said the price would "$50 million for two years." A day later, he said, "I obviously was joking about $50 million for two years. Realistically, I'd said say about $120 million for three."
He continued: "For players, the free agency market . . . has now been expanded because you're not only looking at teams in the NBA. Now you're also looking at competition and challenge from abroad. And they don't have the same rules and stipulations on offering players money. So free agency has kind of opened up a bit."
Agreed, but only if players always get all the money they think they are going to get.
-- Steve Luhm

   No matter what you thought of him as a player, Jason Hart was a class act as a person. How many players, after all, would personally apologize to their general manager for not living up to the contract they signed on their way out of town?

    Hart did just that, telling Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor that he was sorry for "not being able to play up to my capabilities." Talking about signing Hart, O'Connor said: "Do you wish it turned out better? Obviously. And so does he."

    Hart also wished Ronnie Price well with Brevin Knight's arrival. Even though the two were competing for minutes, Hart was close friends with Price, dating to their years as teammates in Sacramento. Hart said he and Price had already talked Wednesday.

    I'm not sure what role either Hart or Knight will have with their new teams. Hart will back up Baron Davis, with the Clippers counting on him to provide a defensive presence as well as insurance in case Davis is injured.

    Hart credits Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy for jumpstarting his career once - - after Hart clashed with Eric Musselman in Sacramento and was released - - and was looking forward to playing for Dunleavy a second time.

    The Jazz see at Knight as a player who could start if Deron Williams got hurt, although Williams has missed four games in three years. The question is what happens to Price, who deserved more minutes than he got last season in Jerry Sloan's opinion.

    The most interesting thing about the trade, at least right now, are the implications for the Jazz as they decide about matching C.J. Miles' offer sheet from Oklahoma City. The Jazz save almost $900,000 between what they owed Hart and what Knight will make.

    Both players have expiring contracts, so there are no savings beyond this season. The first three years of Miles' offer are guaranteed, with a fourth-year team option. If it was a close call before about matching, Wednesday's trade might have changed things.

    Knight, meanwhile, was said to be enthusiastic about the move to Utah. He's played on playoff teams only twice in his 11-year career. His best season was probably with expansion Charlotte in 2004-05, when he averaged 12.3 points and 10.9 assists.

    Knight's teammate with the Bobcats? None other than Jason Hart. It was Hart's decision to sign with the Jazz last summer that opened the door for Knight to sign with the Clippers. "It's crazy," Hart said of all the times their fortunes have been linked.

    The biggest downside to Knight comes with his shooting. He's a career 41.5 percent shooter, which is actually worse than Hart, who is a 43.2 percent career shooter. Knight does compensate by being one of the NBA's least turnover-prone point guards.

    --Ross Siler

   A month ago, Tribune photographer Chris Detrick and I tagged along with Morris Almond as he visited small towns across Utah for a series of Jr. Jazz basketball clinics. These clinics have been a tradition for 25 years with the Jazz and are unique in the NBA.

    The Jazz will be back on the road next week, hitting towns in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. Nate Martinez, the Jazz's youth programs coordinator, passed along the itinerary today, if you're interested at when the Jazz will be coming to town.

    Monday, July 28

    Brigham City, Utah; Tremonton, Utah; Pocatello, Idaho

    Tuesday, July 29

    Fort Hall, Idaho; Soda Springs, Idaho; Malad, Idaho

    Wednesday, July 30

    Logan, Utah; Lyman, Wyo.; Evanston, Wyo.

    Thursday, July 31

    Kemmerer, Wyo.; Lander, Wyo.; Riverton, Wyo.

    Friday, August 1

    Green River, Wyo.; Rock Springs, Wyo.

    Saturday, August 2

    Driggs, Idaho; Shelley, Idaho

    --Ross Siler

   The odds of an undrafted, 6-foot point guard out of Western Kentucky making the NBA are longer than long. But Tyrone Brazelton might have made the case in the second half of Tuesday night's game that he deserves a look from the Jazz in training camp.

    After sitting the entire first half of the Jazz's victory over New Jersey, Brazelton checked into the game with Ricky Paulding in the third quarter and proceeded to score 16 points in just 16:41 of action, including 12 points in the fourth quarter.

    "Ty Brazelton came in and really did a great job of energizing us and getting us running the floor and pushing the ball and then he made some great shots," Jazz assistant Scott Layden said.

    The way Brazelton played "tells you that he's ready," Layden added. "It's hard to sit on the bench and then be ready, and then when you get in, actually have success. You've got to give him a lot of credit."

    Brazelton slashed for baskets, pushed the ball from end to end for layups and found Morris Almond for a three-pointer. He also made two plays in the last two minutes that were critical for the Jazz to win a game in which they trailed by 14 early.

    With 1:30 left, Brazelton used a screen to drive baseline and ducked under Brook Lopez for a layup that gave Utah a five-point lead. He capped his night by drilling a jumper off an inbounds play with 28.8 seconds left to make it 84-79.

    "If you noticed, he got us in our offense, too," Layden said. "It was a good floor game, and that's what you look for. It's drive the ball up, push it, score on opportunities. If you don't have it, get in the offense. He seemed to manage all of that very well."

    The Nets switched Jaycee Carroll off Brazelton and Chris Douglas-Roberts onto him late in the fourth quarter. Brazelton finished with four assists and two turnovers and described his game afterward as "attack, attack, attack."

    What made Brazelton think the Jazz were the right team to play summer league with?

    "I knew the Jazz liked me a lot after I came and worked out for them [before the draft]," Brazelton said. "I know they have a lot of point guards, but I figured I could do what I can and try to make a name."

    We'll see what happens, but I'm not betting against Brazelton being in Boise after watching Tuesday's game.

    * * *

    I was really looking forward to seeing Kyrylo Fesenko battle Brook Lopez in Tuesday's game, but the matchup never really materialized. Fesenko finished with four points and five rebounds in 18 minutes and didn't play in the fourth quarter.

    Even so, Fesenko did have his moments against Lopez. He flipped in a shot over the lottery pick in the first quarter and blocked him twice in the third quarter.

    The first time, Fesenko blocked Lopez but was called for an offensive foul for swinging his arms into Julius Hodge as he controlled the ball. The second time, Lopez tried to spin on Fesenko but was soundly rejected.

    Fesenko did blow a dunk early in the second half and went 2 of 4 at the foul line. Lopez (2 of 11, four points) and Sean Williams (two points, six fouls, 16 minutes) both had miserable nights for the Nets.

    * * *

    Morris Almond went just 4 of 11 from the field but finished with 24 points by going 14 of 18 from the foul line. Once he stopped launching jumpers and started driving the basket, Almond was able to pile up points at the line.

    "That's how you have to complete your game," said Layden, who was especially impressed considering it was Almond's fourth game in five nights. He now has gone 29 of 35 (82.9 percent) from the line in four Revue games.

    Not that Almond's night wasn't without a few hiccups. He nearly carried the one time he brought up the ball. He caught teammates off guard when he rose to shoot and fired passes instead. He gave up baskets to Julius Hodge on the defensive end.

    * * *

    After the game, Almond was spotted in the locker room wearing a pair of black Crocs. Considering the abuse he'd been getting from his teammates, Almond asked for reporters not to pile on. "My feet hurt and they're comfortable," he said.

    Almond said he got the Crocs as a giveaway at Deron Williams' charity golf tournament last tournament. It probably isn't the start of a trend around the NBA, but Almond saw some endorsement potential.

    "If the bigwigs see me with them," Almond said, "maybe they'll give me a deal, man."

    * * *

    Yaroslav Korolev might have been the Jazz's best player in the first half of Tuesday's game, knocking down one long jumper with the shot clock about to expire, hitting a three-pointer off a kickout and cutting to get open and earn a trip to the foul line.

    Korolev finished with eight points in 12 minutes. He did struggle in the fourth quarter, missing a technical free throw after a defensive three seconds call and getting beaten on defense by Julius Hodge, leading to two Ryan Anderson free throws.

    --Ross Siler

   Before free agency started, the over/under on the amount of money the Jazz would match as an offer for C.J. Miles was about $3 million a season. At least that was the feeling among people I talked to from outside the organization.

    Now Miles has signed a four-year, $15 million deal with Oklahoma City and the Jazz have seven days to decide about matching. That's $3.75 million a season, which Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor will have to think long and hard about.

    (As one person put it Friday, Miles might have gotten the biggest contract ever for a player based almost solely on potential.)

    By all accounts, Miles wants to play for the Rustlers or the Thunder or the Outlaws or whatever the Oklahoma City team will be called. There's a chance for him to start and join Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook as young building blocks.

    Miles' camp is hopeful that the 21-year-old will finally get the chance to play after three years in the league. There's also the feeling that Miles has been unfairly maligned for his decision to skip the Rocky Mountain Revue two straight summers.

    Given that the Jazz are knocking on the luxury-tax door for the 2009-10 season and also that they have Ronnie Brewer and Morris Almond on the roster, I think the odds are that they won't match Miles' offer from OKC.

    There's definitely the chance, though, that it could come back to haunt them in a couple of seasons.

    Watching Miles score 20 points against Miami in December, when he was burying jumpers and the Heat had to double team him in the fourth quarter, I thought he looked like a future starting two-guard. Those are a bargain at $4 million in the NBA.

    We've covered it previously in this blog, but Miles' numbers are pretty comparable to those of Brewer and Kyle Korver in similar minutes. Right now, though, Miles is probably the fifth of six wings on the Jazz's roster, which isn't likely to change.

    In my opinion, the Jazz's decision about keeping Miles will come down to how they answer the question about whether he's a championship piece.

    --Ross Siler

Talking to somebody from the Jazz on Wednesday, he noted that Darko Milicic also dyed his hair blond when he played with the Pistons. Of course, that's not exactly the label Kyrylo Fesenko is looking for as the next Darko Milicic.

It's only hair, as many readers have pointed out. But Fesenko's maturity has been in question since he arrived in Utah. I will admit to being as guilty as anybody when it comes to feasting off some of the outlandish things Fesenko has said.

But the NBA is littered with guys who just didn't get it and showing up blond to summer league wasn't a great omen. Having watched him struggle to hit a 10-foot baseline jumper while working out during the playoffs, I can attest to how far he still has to go.

The Jazz also made no small investment in Fesenko. Instead of the typical minimum contract that most second-round picks get, Fesenko signed for three years and $2.4 million, with the Jazz paying a $500,000 buyout to his Ukrainian team.

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, meanwhile, raised eyebrows when he said Wednesday that first-round draft pick Kosta Koufos was in better shape than Fesenko. It should be the other way around with a rookie and a second-year player.

"He has to stay focused on what he's got to do," Sloan said. "I don't know if he's going to get it or not. The other stuff has brought more attention to him than the basketball and that could be a problem."

Sloan couldn't have put things in more plain terms when it comes to Fesenko.

"We're just trying to get his attention to make him understand this is a short-lived career if you don't grasp what has to be done," Sloan said. "And that's to work hard. . . . We want to see him succeed but he has to do the work."

Fesenko has worked out with David Thorpe at the IMG Academy in Florida. Thorpe has been one of Fesenko's biggest boosters but didn't sound too encouraged in an ESPN.com chat Wednesday.

"He barely practiced when I was there," Thorpe said. "Sick, injured, etc. He could be a max player, or he could end up back in Ukraine."

* * *

Still hearing that the delay in getting a Deron Williams' extension done is the debate over length between the Jazz and Williams' camp.

--Ross Siler

   What makes you hold your breath with today's FoxNews.com report about the possible connection between NBA referee Scott Foster and disgraced former referee Tim Donaghy is the fact that Foster worked not one but two games of the Lakers/Celtics NBA Finals.

    According to the Fox report, Donaghy called Foster 134 times during the 2006-07 season (as often as five times a day), before and after 54 of the 57 games Donaghy worked, and on the primary cell phone he used for his gambling activities.

    The NBA issued a statement Monday saying that the government had analyzed Donaghy's phone records and interviewed Foster. "Once again, the only criminal conduct is that of Mr. Donaghy," the statement concluded.

    From a Jazz perspective, Foster worked four games in the 2006-07 season. The first was the Dec. 18 game at Madison Square Garden won by the Knicks 97-96 as Stephon Marbury ran back at the Jazz for a layup at the buzzer.

    The Jazz were favored by 7.5 and won by a point (lost against the spread). The over/under was 197, so the game finished under.

    The second game was April 6, a 107-103 Jazz loss to Sacramento at Arco Arena. The Jazz were favored by 3.5 points and lost by 4 (lost against the spread). The over/under was 201.5, so the game finished over.

    The third game was April 13, a 104-89 Jazz victory at Dallas. The Mavericks were favored by 4.5 and the Jazz won by 15 (won against the spread). The over/under was 191, so the game finished over.

    The final game was Game 4 of the Jazz's first-round playoff series against Houston. The Jazz were favored by 2.5 and won by 13 (won against the spread). The over/under was 184, so the game finished under.

    I will be interested to see whether Foster is implicated further in the Donaghy scandal in the coming days. The Fox report said the most Donaghy called any other referee during the season was 13 times.

    --Ross Siler

   The NBA schedule isn't due out until the end of July, but the league would be wise to stop right now and double-check to make sure the Jazz will be playing at home on Dec. 9.

    That will be the 20th anniversary of Jerry Sloan's first game as Jazz coach, an anniversary that should not be marked in Houston or Phoenix or Minneapolis.

    It's a Tuesday night, and the Jazz should be at home playing Dallas, the team they faced in Sloan's first game after taking over for Frank Layden two decades ago.

    There's no doubt that Sloan, given his preference, would downplay the anniversary, but the NBA ought to even consider a special national television broadcast of the game.

    It would be even better if at every stoppage they had an interview with one of the coaches who have been part of the 200-plus firings around the league during Sloan's tenure.

    * * *

    Talking to Kyle Korver last week for the story that ran in Wednesday's paper, the Jazz guard reported that he was probably a month away from being fully cleared to play after undergoing surgery June 5 to remove a bone spur from the top of his left foot.

    "It'll be nice not to have to worry about that this year," said Korver, who added that he expected to be back well before the start of training camp.

    In other news, Korver's younger brother Klayton, who played on the Drake team that lost a memorable game to Western Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament, will not be in summer league with an NBA team and is heading to Europe to audition for teams there.

    * * *

    Before heading over to the Jazz's first Rocky Mountain Revue practice this morning, I'm asking the readers to please repeat after me: I promise not to take summer-league basketball seriously.

    As interesting as summer-league ball is for the diehards, I don't believe it has any correlation to what happens during the regular season. Case in point: Ronnie Brewer was injured for pretty much the entire Revue last summer and had a breakthrough year.

    What I enjoy most is some of the box score lines you get from summer-league games. My favorite so far has come from New Orleans' Julian Wright, who finished with 12 points on 4-of-17 shooting with 11 turnovers in 32 minutes in Las Vegas.

    Philadelphia's Josh Smith had an 11-foul game in 29 minutes. Not to be outdone, Memphis rookie Darrell Arthur has totaled 26 fouls in three games so far. Sacramento center Spencer Hawes had seven turnovers in a game.

    Detroit's Chiekh Samb went 3-for-12 despite standing 7-foot-1. Milwaukee's Ramon Sessions, who had 24 assists in an NBA game last season, had nine assists and seven turnovers in Vegas.

    Golden State rookie Anthony Randolph has the high game - - 30 points - - so far in Vegas He's the leading candidate to win the Nate Robinson MVP award, given to the best player in summer league. It's sort of like being the valedictorian of summer school.

    --Ross Siler

After a series of lackluster pre-draft workouts, Utah State's Jaycee Carroll continues to turn heads in summer league games.

He was outstanding for New Jersey during the Orlando Summer League and, according to Doug Smith of the Toronto Star, Carroll scored 14 points in "about four minutes" in the Raptors' game in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

Dave D'Alessandro of the Newark Star-Ledger talked to Nets' boss Rod Thorn about Carroll at the end of the Orlando Summer League.

"If he can play some combo guard, at the end of the day -- if he can be a 'one' for a few minutes a night -- I think he is" an NBA player, Thorn said. "He's giving up size at the two-guard. But he's a very competitive kid, and he has a real quick release. He'll make some shots. But whether he can guard those guys will be the key. If he improves his ball-handling . . . we played him a lot at the point, and he did a nice job. He got pressed a lot, but did a nice job. So that's the key. But with his makeup, the way he's put together, he looks like a player."

I'm wondering if Carroll is one of those players who isn't impressive in one-on-one and two-on-two situations -- like he encountered in pre-draft camps -- but is at his best when blending with a team.

It certainly appears his chance of sticking in the NBA have improved since the draft, doesn't it?

-- Steve Luhm