Open practice
If nothing else, it was worth coming to the Jazz's open practice Thursday night at Boise State just to watch C.J. Miles and Ronnie Brewer play point guard against one another.
With Brevin Knight sidelined by a back strain and Gerry McNamara recovering from a hard fall Wednesday, the Jazz were down to only two points guards in Deron Williams and Ronnie Price.
When those two needed a breather during the two-quarter scrimmage, Miles and Brewer had to take over. We joked with Miles afterward that when the Jazz matched his offer sheet this summer, he must not have heard they wanted him to switch positions.
"If that can get me more minutes," said Miles, who mainly pushed the ball on the break while Brewer tried to run plays, "it'll get me more minutes, so I'm not complaining."
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan was asked if he had a point guard controversy: "I'm not going to talk about that. When am I going to start using them at that position? One good thing about it, though, it's good for them to be able to handle the basketball and be put in that situation."
The Jazz went for about an hour and a half before signing autographs. Sloan was happy with his players' effort in what was their sixth practice in three days and thought they executed pretty well.
Practice started with layup lines, followed up some pull-up jumpers on the run. The Jazz went end to end through some plays and automatics. Miles served as the official third-string point guard, which he only learned he was going to do Thursday morning.
The Jazz divided into teams for the scrimmage. Mehmet Okur, Kyle Korver, Brewer, Paul Millsap, Kevin Lyde, Kosta Koufos, Deron Williams and Gabe Muoneke were on the blue team while Miles, Andrei Kirilenko, Jarron Collins, Price, Carlos Boozer, Kyrylo Fesenko and Morris Almond were on the white team.
Millsap was all over the floor during the scrimmage. From the notes I took, he got to the foul line off a screen-and-roll, made a couple of strong cuts to get open and stripped Boozer twice. The second of those came as he helped out Koufos, who was isolated in the post.
"He's played pretty well," Sloan said of Millsap.
The Jazz played zone more than I expected. Maybe that's going to be a bigger part of their new-look defense this season. Sloan did say that he wanted to see his players do a little less standing and move their feet a little more in the zone.
Williams knocked down one three-pointer in transition and drove the lane for another layup in the first quarter. Williams has talked about wanting to do two things better this season - - cutting down on turnovers and being aggressive from start to finish on offense.
On those two possessions, at least, Williams definitely looked as if he'd adopted that aggressiveness.
Brewer looked good knocking down a jumper in transition from the left wing during the first quarter. He clapped to get back the ball looking for another shot the next possession but ended up giving it up to Okur for a three-pointer that missed.
Koufos looked a little awkward on a hook shot and Boozer spun past him at the other end for a layup. Both were probably expected from a rookie. Morris Almond put his head down as he tried to drive off a curl, and Williams nearly popped the ball free from him.
The intensity increased coming out of a timeout with two minutes left and the blue team winning 35-33. Okur knocked down a three-pointer and Kirilenko answered at the other end. Okur and Williams then got to the line to make it a seven-point game in blue's favor.
Ronnie Price did a nice job of extending the game, canning a three-pointer, getting to the foul line and driving for a layup that was goaltended by Koufos. Price also went coast-to-coast for a layup to open the game.
Sloan said afterward of Okur: "I've never seen him in this good shape."
After the scrimmage ended, the Jazz ran a series of sprints and then signed autographs. A good number of the players tossed their sneakers into the crowd of about 1,000. Fesenko did a little bit of extra work with Jeff Hornacek at the far end of the court.
* * *
Don't know how many of you combed through the Pedowitz report today - - it's actually highly readable - - but Kurt Kragthorpe and I read it separately and both came to the same conclusion. For a report hoping to enhance the credibility of NBA referees, it achieved the opposite by practically indicting Dick Bavetta.
Bavetta is arguably the NBA's highest-profile (and definitely most genial) referee, someone who has worked 2,200 games in 33 seasons. Although the report said Bavetta was praised by coaches and team officials for being a good communicator, he was painted as a controversial figure among his fellow referees.
"A number of referees told us that they believe Bavetta is highly conscious of how he is viewed and wants to be liked by everyone, including team personnel," the report said. "Some referees are clearly put off by what they describe as antics and his hugging and kissing of team personnel."
"A few ex-referees," the report added, "including those who have held or hold supervisory positions with the NBA, used harsher words to describe Bavetta's style, suggesting that his play calling at times reflects an effort to keep games close or to ingratiate himself with a team."
Bavetta was interviewed several times by Pedowitz's team (which is more than can be said for Tim Donaghy) and countered that "his style is part of his ebullient personality and has often helped lessen tensions on the court."
The report also criticized Bavetta for blowing several calls in Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference finals between the L.A. Lakers and Sacramento, though none of those calls came in the controversial fourth quarter.
--Ross Siler
With Brevin Knight sidelined by a back strain and Gerry McNamara recovering from a hard fall Wednesday, the Jazz were down to only two points guards in Deron Williams and Ronnie Price.
When those two needed a breather during the two-quarter scrimmage, Miles and Brewer had to take over. We joked with Miles afterward that when the Jazz matched his offer sheet this summer, he must not have heard they wanted him to switch positions.
"If that can get me more minutes," said Miles, who mainly pushed the ball on the break while Brewer tried to run plays, "it'll get me more minutes, so I'm not complaining."
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan was asked if he had a point guard controversy: "I'm not going to talk about that. When am I going to start using them at that position? One good thing about it, though, it's good for them to be able to handle the basketball and be put in that situation."
The Jazz went for about an hour and a half before signing autographs. Sloan was happy with his players' effort in what was their sixth practice in three days and thought they executed pretty well.
Practice started with layup lines, followed up some pull-up jumpers on the run. The Jazz went end to end through some plays and automatics. Miles served as the official third-string point guard, which he only learned he was going to do Thursday morning.
The Jazz divided into teams for the scrimmage. Mehmet Okur, Kyle Korver, Brewer, Paul Millsap, Kevin Lyde, Kosta Koufos, Deron Williams and Gabe Muoneke were on the blue team while Miles, Andrei Kirilenko, Jarron Collins, Price, Carlos Boozer, Kyrylo Fesenko and Morris Almond were on the white team.
Millsap was all over the floor during the scrimmage. From the notes I took, he got to the foul line off a screen-and-roll, made a couple of strong cuts to get open and stripped Boozer twice. The second of those came as he helped out Koufos, who was isolated in the post.
"He's played pretty well," Sloan said of Millsap.
The Jazz played zone more than I expected. Maybe that's going to be a bigger part of their new-look defense this season. Sloan did say that he wanted to see his players do a little less standing and move their feet a little more in the zone.
Williams knocked down one three-pointer in transition and drove the lane for another layup in the first quarter. Williams has talked about wanting to do two things better this season - - cutting down on turnovers and being aggressive from start to finish on offense.
On those two possessions, at least, Williams definitely looked as if he'd adopted that aggressiveness.
Brewer looked good knocking down a jumper in transition from the left wing during the first quarter. He clapped to get back the ball looking for another shot the next possession but ended up giving it up to Okur for a three-pointer that missed.
Koufos looked a little awkward on a hook shot and Boozer spun past him at the other end for a layup. Both were probably expected from a rookie. Morris Almond put his head down as he tried to drive off a curl, and Williams nearly popped the ball free from him.
The intensity increased coming out of a timeout with two minutes left and the blue team winning 35-33. Okur knocked down a three-pointer and Kirilenko answered at the other end. Okur and Williams then got to the line to make it a seven-point game in blue's favor.
Ronnie Price did a nice job of extending the game, canning a three-pointer, getting to the foul line and driving for a layup that was goaltended by Koufos. Price also went coast-to-coast for a layup to open the game.
Sloan said afterward of Okur: "I've never seen him in this good shape."
After the scrimmage ended, the Jazz ran a series of sprints and then signed autographs. A good number of the players tossed their sneakers into the crowd of about 1,000. Fesenko did a little bit of extra work with Jeff Hornacek at the far end of the court.
* * *
Don't know how many of you combed through the Pedowitz report today - - it's actually highly readable - - but Kurt Kragthorpe and I read it separately and both came to the same conclusion. For a report hoping to enhance the credibility of NBA referees, it achieved the opposite by practically indicting Dick Bavetta.
Bavetta is arguably the NBA's highest-profile (and definitely most genial) referee, someone who has worked 2,200 games in 33 seasons. Although the report said Bavetta was praised by coaches and team officials for being a good communicator, he was painted as a controversial figure among his fellow referees.
"A number of referees told us that they believe Bavetta is highly conscious of how he is viewed and wants to be liked by everyone, including team personnel," the report said. "Some referees are clearly put off by what they describe as antics and his hugging and kissing of team personnel."
"A few ex-referees," the report added, "including those who have held or hold supervisory positions with the NBA, used harsher words to describe Bavetta's style, suggesting that his play calling at times reflects an effort to keep games close or to ingratiate himself with a team."
Bavetta was interviewed several times by Pedowitz's team (which is more than can be said for Tim Donaghy) and countered that "his style is part of his ebullient personality and has often helped lessen tensions on the court."
The report also criticized Bavetta for blowing several calls in Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference finals between the L.A. Lakers and Sacramento, though none of those calls came in the controversial fourth quarter.
--Ross Siler
11:12 PM
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2 Comments:
Thanks for the scrimmage report.
I've got a request...is there any way you could try and chat with Millsap in the near future? Jazz fans are dying to know how Millsap feels about being on the Jazz. I think fans would like to see him get a raise at the end of this year, but want that raise to come from the Jazz. He's a fan favorite, and we're dying to know whether he wants to be back.
Thanks, Trent
Does anybody think Deron needs a little work doing left-handed layups? I've seen him stick with his right-hand and he often gets them blocked.
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