Locker clean-out, Part 1
It took 87 games for Ronnie Price to prove his worth to Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, nearly leading the team back from a 22-point second half deficit to stun the Lakers in Monday's Game 5 of their first-round playoff series.
With that comeback falling short, however, Price heads into the off-season as a free agent, along with as many as eight of his teammates. As hard as playing time has been to come by behind Deron Williams, Price expressed a desire to stay with the Jazz.
"I want to be here. I like the guys, I like the coaches," Price said. "If this was a losing organization, then we would be talking about something else, but it's not.
"We win here. We've got a great group of guys here. We've got a great coaching staff here. We've got great management here. We've got a great organization here.
"Any player in the NBA would want to be a part of this organization, so I would be silly sitting here acting like I didn't want to be here. Of course, I want to be here. Of course, I want to come back. That's easy."
* * *
The Jazz have until June 15 to decide about exercising an option to bring back Kyrylo Fesenko at $870,000 for the 2009-10 season. By his own admission, it will be a make-or-break season for his career, whether in Utah or elsewhere.
"I hope I will follow the trail of C.J. Miles and prove that I deserve to be here," Fesenko said, "and I think that whatever decision Jazz take, it's going to be really important year, next season for me, and I will just do my best."
Fesenko wasn't quite sure how the scheduling would work out, but he is planning to play for the Ukrainian national team in qualifying for this summer's European championships. That could create a conflict if Fesenko is asked to play in an NBA summer league.
"I will definitely play for them because I cannot skip the third year in a row," Fesenko said, "because as I said before, my like Ukrainian fans who like me before, everybody hate me.
"No really, because they think that I get cocky, that I don't care about my team, I don't care about my country, and that's not true."
Fesenko said he wanted to work on his jump shot and free-throw shooting this summer, having made progress in his post game this season.
* * *
There's so much stuff from locker clean-out and the Jazz's exit interviews that I'm going to break it up into three parts on the blog today. We also have four stories in the paper between myself and Steve. Check back later Wednesday for more updates.
--Ross Siler
With that comeback falling short, however, Price heads into the off-season as a free agent, along with as many as eight of his teammates. As hard as playing time has been to come by behind Deron Williams, Price expressed a desire to stay with the Jazz.
"I want to be here. I like the guys, I like the coaches," Price said. "If this was a losing organization, then we would be talking about something else, but it's not.
"We win here. We've got a great group of guys here. We've got a great coaching staff here. We've got great management here. We've got a great organization here.
"Any player in the NBA would want to be a part of this organization, so I would be silly sitting here acting like I didn't want to be here. Of course, I want to be here. Of course, I want to come back. That's easy."
* * *
The Jazz have until June 15 to decide about exercising an option to bring back Kyrylo Fesenko at $870,000 for the 2009-10 season. By his own admission, it will be a make-or-break season for his career, whether in Utah or elsewhere.
"I hope I will follow the trail of C.J. Miles and prove that I deserve to be here," Fesenko said, "and I think that whatever decision Jazz take, it's going to be really important year, next season for me, and I will just do my best."
Fesenko wasn't quite sure how the scheduling would work out, but he is planning to play for the Ukrainian national team in qualifying for this summer's European championships. That could create a conflict if Fesenko is asked to play in an NBA summer league.
"I will definitely play for them because I cannot skip the third year in a row," Fesenko said, "because as I said before, my like Ukrainian fans who like me before, everybody hate me.
"No really, because they think that I get cocky, that I don't care about my team, I don't care about my country, and that's not true."
Fesenko said he wanted to work on his jump shot and free-throw shooting this summer, having made progress in his post game this season.
* * *
There's so much stuff from locker clean-out and the Jazz's exit interviews that I'm going to break it up into three parts on the blog today. We also have four stories in the paper between myself and Steve. Check back later Wednesday for more updates.
--Ross Siler
7:15 PM
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2 Comments:
Now is the time for Greg Miller to set his purpose for the team for the next 10 years. Do the Jazz take a new Direction? They have some of the pieces in place, but many questions to be answered.
Greg stated, "Luckily, we've got a lot of really good people in the Jazz organization that are very creative and hard working that can dream it up and then go make it happen."
That statement does not tell me where he wants to take the Jazz.
Greg also stated, "We want to be as competitive as we can, but we can't sacrifice the well-being of the entire organization and put all of our resources toward the Jazz to the point where we're making poor business decisions."
Still nothing. I would say the owner needs to state the purpose of the team and then go after it. If that purpose is to win the championship then start putting the more of the pieces together.
Good luck Greg I hope you make the right decisions.
Now is the time for Greg Miller to set his purpose for the team for the next 10 years. Do the Jazz take a new Direction? They have some of the peaces in place, but many questions to be answered.
Greg stated, "Luckily, we've got a lot of really good people in the Jazz organization that are very creative and hard working that can dream it up and then go make it happen."
That statement does not tell me where he wants to take the Jazz.
Greg also stated, "We want to be as competitive as we can, but we can't sacrifice the well-being of the entire organization and put all of our resources toward the Jazz to the point where we're making poor business decisions."
Still nothing. I would say the owner needs to state the purpose of the team and then go after it. If that purpose is to win the championship then start putting more of the peaces together.
Good luck Greg I hope you make the right decisions.
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