Leaving Boise/Thinking about Orem
Just wanted to check in before leaving Boise. Covering the Jazz is a great job under any circumstances, but the week we get to spend here is a highlight of the season. It's a great city with a great downtown, and the people at Boise State treat the Jazz fantastically.
They even arranged for all the writers at training camp to have seats in the press box for the Boise State/Louisiana Tech game Wednesday. I'm sure the players wish they went someplace with a little more cachet, but I'm happy coming here as long as I'm on the beat.
The Jazz wrapped up training camp Friday and will return to Salt Lake City today before hosting a public scrimmage at EnergySolutions Arena on Saturday at 3:45. After that, they play their first preseason game Tuesday in Anaheim, Calif., against the Lakers.
One interesting thing to consider is how much use the Jazz will make out of the Utah Flash, their NBA Development League affiliate, this season. The Flash had tons of personnel at training camp, including coach Brad Jones and owner Brandt Andersen.
The Jazz have three players who are eligible: Morris Almond, Kyrylo Fesenko and Kosta Koufos. Each of them could be sent to the Flash up to three times this season.
I think it's a given Fesenko will start the season in the D-League, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Fesenko needs some serious work - - the Rocky Mountain Revue was his wake-up call - - and Jones describes himself as being the Ukrainian center's "biggest fan."
Fesenko told me earlier this week that he hoped to stick with the Jazz this season. He mentioned that he was a D-League All-Star last season and felt like he had learned the American game. That might be wishful thinking, though, on his part right now.
Almond is an interesting case. The Jazz still are waiting to decide about exercising the third-year option in his rookie contract, though Jerry Sloan has praised Almond for being in better shape and looking more comfortable in this training camp.
(Personally, I think it's only slightly less of a no-brainer to exercise Almond's option than Ronnie Brewer's. Almond is due to make $1.156 million in 2009-10, which is less than a 7 percent raise from what he'll make this season. That's not a lot of money by NBA standards and Almond is definitely an NBA-caliber scorer. The tougher decision comes next year, when the Jazz have to decide about a fourth-year option that would pay Almond $2.083 million. That's an 80 percent raise by comparison.)
If Matt Harpring recovers from his ankle infection in time for the season opener, Almond could find himself ticketed for the Flash yet again. I'm not sure how much he would benefit from that, but Sloan made clear Friday that he didn't think there was anything damaging about sending Almond to the D-League.
"If you're a basketball player and want to play," Sloan said, "you benefit from playing, wherever you play."
At first, Koufos would seem like the perfect candidate to head to the Flash. He's only 19, spent just one year at Ohio State and was a late first-round pick. I joked with one Jazz staffer Friday that Koufos is basically 17 months removed from having to remember the combination to his locker in high school.
Yet it's clear that Sloan thinks Koufos is ahead of the curve for any rookie, 19 years old or otherwise. It wouldn't surprise me if he spent a lot of this season with the Jazz. The Jazz, as I was reminded Friday, are going to need a big man just to help relieve veterans Mehmet Okur and Jarron Collins in practice.
There also are questions about whether Fesenko and Koufos both would benefit playing on the Flash at the same time. Each of their minutes at center would be reduced by the mere presence of the other. It's possible that Koufos' time with the Flash will come when the Jazz leave on long road trips or are otherwise challenged to find practice time.
--Ross Siler
They even arranged for all the writers at training camp to have seats in the press box for the Boise State/Louisiana Tech game Wednesday. I'm sure the players wish they went someplace with a little more cachet, but I'm happy coming here as long as I'm on the beat.
The Jazz wrapped up training camp Friday and will return to Salt Lake City today before hosting a public scrimmage at EnergySolutions Arena on Saturday at 3:45. After that, they play their first preseason game Tuesday in Anaheim, Calif., against the Lakers.
One interesting thing to consider is how much use the Jazz will make out of the Utah Flash, their NBA Development League affiliate, this season. The Flash had tons of personnel at training camp, including coach Brad Jones and owner Brandt Andersen.
The Jazz have three players who are eligible: Morris Almond, Kyrylo Fesenko and Kosta Koufos. Each of them could be sent to the Flash up to three times this season.
I think it's a given Fesenko will start the season in the D-League, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Fesenko needs some serious work - - the Rocky Mountain Revue was his wake-up call - - and Jones describes himself as being the Ukrainian center's "biggest fan."
Fesenko told me earlier this week that he hoped to stick with the Jazz this season. He mentioned that he was a D-League All-Star last season and felt like he had learned the American game. That might be wishful thinking, though, on his part right now.
Almond is an interesting case. The Jazz still are waiting to decide about exercising the third-year option in his rookie contract, though Jerry Sloan has praised Almond for being in better shape and looking more comfortable in this training camp.
(Personally, I think it's only slightly less of a no-brainer to exercise Almond's option than Ronnie Brewer's. Almond is due to make $1.156 million in 2009-10, which is less than a 7 percent raise from what he'll make this season. That's not a lot of money by NBA standards and Almond is definitely an NBA-caliber scorer. The tougher decision comes next year, when the Jazz have to decide about a fourth-year option that would pay Almond $2.083 million. That's an 80 percent raise by comparison.)
If Matt Harpring recovers from his ankle infection in time for the season opener, Almond could find himself ticketed for the Flash yet again. I'm not sure how much he would benefit from that, but Sloan made clear Friday that he didn't think there was anything damaging about sending Almond to the D-League.
"If you're a basketball player and want to play," Sloan said, "you benefit from playing, wherever you play."
At first, Koufos would seem like the perfect candidate to head to the Flash. He's only 19, spent just one year at Ohio State and was a late first-round pick. I joked with one Jazz staffer Friday that Koufos is basically 17 months removed from having to remember the combination to his locker in high school.
Yet it's clear that Sloan thinks Koufos is ahead of the curve for any rookie, 19 years old or otherwise. It wouldn't surprise me if he spent a lot of this season with the Jazz. The Jazz, as I was reminded Friday, are going to need a big man just to help relieve veterans Mehmet Okur and Jarron Collins in practice.
There also are questions about whether Fesenko and Koufos both would benefit playing on the Flash at the same time. Each of their minutes at center would be reduced by the mere presence of the other. It's possible that Koufos' time with the Flash will come when the Jazz leave on long road trips or are otherwise challenged to find practice time.
--Ross Siler
1:30 PM
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3 Comments:
Are you being straight about Boise? You've made subtle comments in the past which have given the impression you were not fond about going to Boise for training camp.
I very much enjoy Boise, so much so that I wish I could come back for the NCAA Tournament sometime.
--Ross
hey Ross i enjoy hearing you on the radio and enjoy your insight and was just curious who do you think looks like the biggest surprises both positively and negatively? and in your perspective did Booz or Memo show any signs of increased defensive intensity? I know it is obviously too early to notice huge changes but, you seem to always get it right. Thanks Ross.
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