Luhm: On Fazekas watch
I will interested to see Clipper rookie Nick Fazekas play tonight against the Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena.
Fazekas is a former a three-time Western Athletic Conference player of the year from Nevada who I thought the Jazz might take with the No. 25 pick in last summer's draft.
Fazekas had a good workout in Utah -- so good that one member of the Jazz staff told me he was the best shooter they saw before the draft. Not just the best-shooting big man. But the best shooter, period.
Of course, the Jazz used their first-round pick on another shooter, Rice guard Morris Almond. Fazekas ended up slipping into the second round. He went to Dallas at No. 34.
Fazekas played in only four games for the Mavs before being sent to the D-League. In Tulsa, he averaged 19.1 points and 9.9 rebounds. He was named to the D-League All-Star team but, when Dallas pulled the trigger on the Jason Kidd deal, it needed a roster spot to sign-and-trade retired Keith Van Horn. So the Mavs cut Fazekas.
He was not unemployed long.
The Clippers signed Fazekas to a 10-day contract one week after he was waived by the Mavericks. L.A. re-signed him for the rest of the season on March 18.
"He's been pretty solid for us," said coach Mike Dunleavy. "Unfortunately, our schedule has been such that we've had virtually no practice time. Our last 40 games have been played over [78] days, so it's been hard [to practice], especially because weíve been so shorthanded. At times, we've had seven, eight, nine guys healthy and that makes you incapable of practicing."
In 24 games with the Clippers, Fazekas averages 2.5 points and 2.1 rebounds. He had his best game at Washington on March 15, when he scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 24 minutes.
"He's done O.K. in the time we've had him," Dunleavy said. "He's picked things up. He kind of grows on you."
-- Steve Luhm
12:51 PM
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1 Comments:
First, nobody cares about Nick Fazekas.
Second, here's an example of why Steve Luhm is an awful writer:
On Sunday he wrote a column in which he opened his first sentence by comparing Kobe Bryant to Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmero and other steroid users. He said in terms of disrespect towards fans and the game, you could add Kobe Bryant to that list of guys.
The reason. After the Lakers beat us recently, and a fan who was later arrested and charged chucked a beer on the court, Kobe popped the front of his jersey towards the crowd. In an interview later he said that over the years he had lost respect for our fan base and now considered us classless. This was also motivated by our senseless booing of Fisher.
Make no mistake, because of this incident Steve Luhm outright compared Kobe Bryant to guys who injected illegal, performance-enhancing drugs into their bodies, lied about it to the public, congress and federal prosecutors, broke hallowed records, extended their careers and made millions of dollars in the process.
Kobe calling out Utah fans and the worst of the steroids era is one and the same insult in the eyes of Steve Luhm. His opening statement was a direct plea to the public; that they should treat a minute Kobe dustup like it were comparable to the worst offence of public trust in the history of sports. Yeah, great writing Luhm. Great editing Trib.
He then called Kobe a rapist, threw him under the bus in relation to Shaq and LA while relying on very little actual fact and pretty much trashed Kobe for anything he could think of for the rest of the column.
Particularly mention of the rape charge was disturbing. Even if Kobe was found guilty, I don't see what it had to do with Jazz vs. Lakers, the crowd or a popping of the jersey afterwards. To bring it up smacks of tabloid ferocity and shallow straw grabbing on the part of the author. Great writing Luhm! Great editing trib!
What I find most disturbing is that this issue probably could have catalyzed a much better column had it been crafted by the hands and head of a much better writer.
This could have been an insightful piece touching on Kobe's behavior and comments in relation to the incident, while managing not to low blow the guy as much as possible for anything the writer could remember. It could have been interesting to read an unbiased take on fan behavior featuring coach or player comments on the issue.
Instead we got the usual from Luhm, an unfair, mean, ugly and ultimately worthless column that did little more than make laughable and paranoid comparisons to steroid users while reminding us that Kobe was once charged with a rape. Yeah, great writing Luhm... Great editing Trib…
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