Jazz Draft Pick

The news is out - the Jazz picked 6'3" point guard, Eric Maynor out of VCU for their first round choice. He's thin but very fast and Kevin
O'Connor (General Manager) seems to think he'll be a good fit for the team. We're all hoping so. Management also extended the qualifying offer to keep Paul Milsap and we hope he'll opt to stay with the Jazz. He played great for us during all the time Boozer was out with injuries last season.

Local Player Works Out With Jazz

During these slow months of summer as managers and coaches and teams work to get their roster in shape for the upcoming season there isn't a great deal of exciting news about the our favorite team. I did read, however, that a local player named Geoff Payne has been working out with the team. Payne played high school ball with Alta High in Sandy and since then he's played for Snow College, Westminster College and Southern Utah College. He jokes that at 6'7" he's too small to play anything big and that he's not good enough to play anything small. We'll see.

The Slow Season

This is that very slow time of year between the end of the playoffs and the begininning of pre season. I always find it to be a long wait in between. Tomorrow will be game 5 of the finals between L.A. and Orlando and it's looking like the Lakers are posed to finish strong. I don't have much interest in that particular match up but am waiting to find out what the Jazz intend to do to improve their chances for next year. The current news is that they plan to hang onto 22 year old Kyrlo Fesenko. Although his size could be a great benefit to the team, so far his conditioning and seeming lack of focus have compromised that attribute. Hopefully, the minimal improvement he made last year will accelerate during the upcoming seasons. We need everyone to work hard to stay in shape and be committed to do whatever is necessary to have a chance at playoffs for next year.

The Slow Season

Here we go again, Boozer

Once again Carlos Boozer is being very wishy-washy about his intentions for next season. He appeared very recently on a nationally televised program and said that he still wasn't certain whether he'd opt out of his Jazz contract or stay in. He said he needs to do what is best for him and what makes him happy. Not only that, he said if he decides to stay he expects a raise for next season. WHAT?? Did he not miss a huge number of games this last season which really hampered our teams progress? And for that he deserves a raise. I think not. When he first arrived here in Salt Lake, I loved watching him play and was delighted that he was part of our team. Those warm and fuzzy feelings began to fade fast when I saw how seemingly uncommitted he was. I was used to the kind of loyalty and complete commitment that we saw for all those years in John Stockton and Karl Malone. We're not seeing near so much of that these days.....

The Long Road To June

Basketball season lasts a long time and for that I am grateful. It starts with pre-season action in October and runs through June IF you're one of the two fortunate and talented final teams. The Jazz did not find themselves playing very late in the season. They exited abruptly after losing the first round to the Lakers. Most had high hopes for the team this year and were disappointed with the results. Carlos Boozer, our very high paid power forward was out for 45 games this season so that pretty well defeated our chances for June play. Injuries happen in the NBA and that's just part of the package but what was even more troubling than Boozers injuries was his attitude. Much speculation is going on about where he'll end up next season and many die hard Jazz fans have pretty much given up on him. Personally, I'd like to see somebody in that power forward position who has some loyalty to the team.