Weekend report
Four items from the Jazz's final weekend of workouts before the NBA Draft:
1. Jazz fans will be happy to know that Deron Williams was seen at the practice facility Saturday. Williams had the tan of somebody who's been playing a lot of golf, but he also got down to business on the court. Williams was working out with not one but two trainers and was going through dribbling drills as we left. A set of cones was laid out on the court and Williams was dribbling with balls in both hands, changing direction as he went.
Most of the Jazz players cleared out of Utah in a matter of days (hours?) after the season ended. Williams, however, has been in town for most - - if not all - - of the summer so far. He played golf in a Thanksgiving Point tournament last week and raced cars at Miller Motorsports Park on Saturday night. He'll take part in a news conference Monday after the U.S. Olympic basketball team is announced.
I'm looking forward to asking Williams why he stuck around after the season. Kyle Korver also was in town for a while (often playing golf with Williams) and Ronnie Price lives here year-round. Morris Almond stopped in last week to attend a series of Jr. Jazz clinics around the state; he's been working out in Houston this summer.
2. The Jazz will hold their last workout before the draft on Tuesday. One player who isn't expected to attend is JaVale McGee. The Nevada center's situation is unique to say the least. He signed with an agent who works for Eugene Parker, better known as one of the NFL's top agents. But McGee's mother is the one who's supposedly calling all the shots.
Pamela McGee played on the U.S. Olympic team in 1984 as well as two years in the WNBA but apparently won't let her son work out for teams drafting outside the lottery. This even though McGee is now projected to fall to the Jazz at No. 23 by ESPN.com. Her bigger concern is said to be getting her son ready to play as a rookie than where he goes in the draft. The NBA: Where mom happens.
3. Kevin O'Connor had a great line Sunday in talking about Serge Ibaka, the power forward from Congo who played last season in Spain and is a projected first-rounder. According to his bio, Ibaka is one of 17 children. "He's got a pretty good body on him, so you know he's quick, because he got to the food," O'Connor said. "Seventeen? Did they feed you in shifts? I don't know."
4. O'Connor's also watched Roy Hibbert enough to start referencing specific games played by the Georgetown center. "We've got 120 tapes on him," O'Connor said. "We saw him play a lot of times. Did we see him get no points against a Villanova team [in the Big East tournament] and did we see him get 25 the next night against West Virginia? We've seen all that."
The Jazz said Hibbert's first workout June 4 was largely introductory. They were able to squeeze in a stop on Hibbert's schedule as he traveled to Sacramento and Seattle. Hibbert took a personality test and went out to dinner with O'Connor, but he worked out individually and without Jerry Sloan in attendance. The Jazz were able to see him in a more competitive setting Sunday.
--Ross Siler
1. Jazz fans will be happy to know that Deron Williams was seen at the practice facility Saturday. Williams had the tan of somebody who's been playing a lot of golf, but he also got down to business on the court. Williams was working out with not one but two trainers and was going through dribbling drills as we left. A set of cones was laid out on the court and Williams was dribbling with balls in both hands, changing direction as he went.
Most of the Jazz players cleared out of Utah in a matter of days (hours?) after the season ended. Williams, however, has been in town for most - - if not all - - of the summer so far. He played golf in a Thanksgiving Point tournament last week and raced cars at Miller Motorsports Park on Saturday night. He'll take part in a news conference Monday after the U.S. Olympic basketball team is announced.
I'm looking forward to asking Williams why he stuck around after the season. Kyle Korver also was in town for a while (often playing golf with Williams) and Ronnie Price lives here year-round. Morris Almond stopped in last week to attend a series of Jr. Jazz clinics around the state; he's been working out in Houston this summer.
2. The Jazz will hold their last workout before the draft on Tuesday. One player who isn't expected to attend is JaVale McGee. The Nevada center's situation is unique to say the least. He signed with an agent who works for Eugene Parker, better known as one of the NFL's top agents. But McGee's mother is the one who's supposedly calling all the shots.
Pamela McGee played on the U.S. Olympic team in 1984 as well as two years in the WNBA but apparently won't let her son work out for teams drafting outside the lottery. This even though McGee is now projected to fall to the Jazz at No. 23 by ESPN.com. Her bigger concern is said to be getting her son ready to play as a rookie than where he goes in the draft. The NBA: Where mom happens.
3. Kevin O'Connor had a great line Sunday in talking about Serge Ibaka, the power forward from Congo who played last season in Spain and is a projected first-rounder. According to his bio, Ibaka is one of 17 children. "He's got a pretty good body on him, so you know he's quick, because he got to the food," O'Connor said. "Seventeen? Did they feed you in shifts? I don't know."
4. O'Connor's also watched Roy Hibbert enough to start referencing specific games played by the Georgetown center. "We've got 120 tapes on him," O'Connor said. "We saw him play a lot of times. Did we see him get no points against a Villanova team [in the Big East tournament] and did we see him get 25 the next night against West Virginia? We've seen all that."
The Jazz said Hibbert's first workout June 4 was largely introductory. They were able to squeeze in a stop on Hibbert's schedule as he traveled to Sacramento and Seattle. Hibbert took a personality test and went out to dinner with O'Connor, but he worked out individually and without Jerry Sloan in attendance. The Jazz were able to see him in a more competitive setting Sunday.
--Ross Siler
4:41 PM
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