Thursday report
Congratulations to Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer, who were named Thursday to the all-NBA second and third teams, respectively.
Congratulations also to Troy Weaver, the Jazz's player personnel director and former head scout, who was hired as Seattle's assistant general manager.
Boozer and Williams were the Jazz's first all-NBA selections since Karl Malone was chosen to the third team for the 2000-01 season.
Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor said Weaver received an "across the board" promotion as far as his duties and job description. He will work under Seattle general manager Sam Presti but is on track to someday become a GM himself.
Along with vice president of player personnel Walt Perrin, Weaver was one of the Jazz's lead scouts for draft prospects.
O'Connor said he would wait until the Jazz were finished with the playoffs to start the hiring process and that it wasn't necessary to replace Weaver before the draft on June 26.
Just as an aside, it's going to be an interesting draft for the Jazz. They won't have a single expiring contract on the roster if they tender C.J. Miles a qualifying offer after the season.
They already have 14 players on the roster and O'Connor doesn't like to fill the 15th spot in the event the Jazz have to take back an extra guaranteed contract in a two-for-one trade.
The Jazz could draft an international player who would stay overseas for a year or two while the Jazz retain his rights. But we're hearing that this isn't a great draft for international players.
As a small-market team, the Jazz also are opposed to selling draft picks, because you pay so little for a young player the first four years under the NBA's salary structure.
On the bright side, the Jazz did win three more games this season than last yet somehow moved up two spots in the draft order. They will draft No. 23, though it's worth remembering just how much action Morris Almond and Kyrylo Fesenko saw this year.
* * *
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan had just watched tape before he came out to talk with reporters at Thursday's practice and what he saw clearly left him bothered.
"They're defending the devil out of us," Sloan said. "With the way we walk through our stuff, the first two games to start the game, there's no way we can defend the other end of the floor the way we ran our offense because we're settling for outside shots.
"We're not getting the ball inside in the proper manner. Of course, we're not working hard to get it [inside]. You watch us run the floor - - I just got through watching it - - it's not like I think our team is capable of doing.
"No. 1, you've got to be able to run the floor both ways. If you start pointing and making it somebody else's fault, that's where you run into problems. You've got to do your job first. Everybody's got to do their job, and we'll be just fine."
A couple of minutes later, Sloan picked up where he left off.
"They kicked our butts on a lot of things they did offensively because we were trying to take shortcuts on the defensive end of the floor," Sloan said. "There again, you can't take shortcuts. You've got to bury your head and bow your neck and get in there and not let people run all over you."
--Ross Siler
Congratulations also to Troy Weaver, the Jazz's player personnel director and former head scout, who was hired as Seattle's assistant general manager.
Boozer and Williams were the Jazz's first all-NBA selections since Karl Malone was chosen to the third team for the 2000-01 season.
Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor said Weaver received an "across the board" promotion as far as his duties and job description. He will work under Seattle general manager Sam Presti but is on track to someday become a GM himself.
Along with vice president of player personnel Walt Perrin, Weaver was one of the Jazz's lead scouts for draft prospects.
O'Connor said he would wait until the Jazz were finished with the playoffs to start the hiring process and that it wasn't necessary to replace Weaver before the draft on June 26.
Just as an aside, it's going to be an interesting draft for the Jazz. They won't have a single expiring contract on the roster if they tender C.J. Miles a qualifying offer after the season.
They already have 14 players on the roster and O'Connor doesn't like to fill the 15th spot in the event the Jazz have to take back an extra guaranteed contract in a two-for-one trade.
The Jazz could draft an international player who would stay overseas for a year or two while the Jazz retain his rights. But we're hearing that this isn't a great draft for international players.
As a small-market team, the Jazz also are opposed to selling draft picks, because you pay so little for a young player the first four years under the NBA's salary structure.
On the bright side, the Jazz did win three more games this season than last yet somehow moved up two spots in the draft order. They will draft No. 23, though it's worth remembering just how much action Morris Almond and Kyrylo Fesenko saw this year.
* * *
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan had just watched tape before he came out to talk with reporters at Thursday's practice and what he saw clearly left him bothered.
"They're defending the devil out of us," Sloan said. "With the way we walk through our stuff, the first two games to start the game, there's no way we can defend the other end of the floor the way we ran our offense because we're settling for outside shots.
"We're not getting the ball inside in the proper manner. Of course, we're not working hard to get it [inside]. You watch us run the floor - - I just got through watching it - - it's not like I think our team is capable of doing.
"No. 1, you've got to be able to run the floor both ways. If you start pointing and making it somebody else's fault, that's where you run into problems. You've got to do your job first. Everybody's got to do their job, and we'll be just fine."
A couple of minutes later, Sloan picked up where he left off.
"They kicked our butts on a lot of things they did offensively because we were trying to take shortcuts on the defensive end of the floor," Sloan said. "There again, you can't take shortcuts. You've got to bury your head and bow your neck and get in there and not let people run all over you."
--Ross Siler
6:43 PM
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