November « 2009 « Salt City Hoops

Dime Live – Jazz vs Memphis

November 30th, 2009 by Salt City Hoops

<a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&task=viewaltcast&altcast_code=2ae15450fb" >Daily Dime Live</a>

Few things put a hop in my step like seeing Jerry Sloan playing two rookies in crunch time of must-win games. Wesley Matthews wasn’t even drafted and now he’s starting for the Jazz and helping them win in San Antonio for the first time in almost 12 years. Eric Maynor made a splash in the NCAA tournament and spent four years at VCU proving the doubters wrong at every turn, but no one outside his immediate family imagined his scoring 24 points on the road against the Cavs and getting dap from a clearly impressed LeBron James after the game.

I get e-mail every day from longtime Maynor and Matthews fans who tell me I shouldn’t be surprised, but even John Stockton and Deron Williams had to watch from the bench early in their first season.

Clearly, there’s something to be said for picking up players who have a proven track record. Both Maynor and Matthews played four years of college ball and got better each year. Shouldn’t we have learned from the case of Paul Millsap? He led the NCAA in rebounding for three years at Louisiana Tech and still slipped to the second round of the draft before the Jazz picked up the future $10 million man.

Take a look at the ages: Maynor is 22, Matthews is 23, and LeBron, who seems to have always been with us, is 24. The boys at FreeDarko have been trying to warn us about the Myth of the NEXT for years. Maybe it’s time we gave Sloan some credit for not being seduced by the call of ridiculous upside and sticking with the qualities that landed him in the Hall of Fame. Read what DraftExpress had to say about Matthews back in May:

“Matthews isn’t a bad athlete by any stretch of the imagination, but he doesn’t play above the rim as consistently as most NBA wings, nor does he have the dynamite first step that will let him get to the rim at the next level with the same frequency that he has at Marquette. What he does have is great functional strength, a good basketball IQ, and a willingness to do the little things.”

Does that sound like a player Sloan might like?

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Originally posted in the Daily Dime at ESPN.com. Read the other nine drops here.

Game 12: Jazz 90 – Spurs 83

November 20th, 2009 by Salt City Hoops

ESPN Recap

Utah won in San Antonio for the first time since February 28, 1999, snapping a 20-game losing streak.

Game 11: Jazz 104 – Raptors 91

November 20th, 2009 by Salt City Hoops

ESPN Recap

SALT LAKE CITY — Rookie Eric Maynor is getting some playing time for the short-handed Utah Jazz because of injuries.

The way he’s playing, Maynor can expect to still be on the court even when the rest of the Jazz get healthy.Maynor scored 11 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and helped the Utah Jazz stop a late surge by the Toronto Raptors and hold on for a 104-91 victory Wednesday night.Maynor and Deron Williams ran Utah’s backcourt for the fourth quarter and the combination of point guards was too much for the Raptors to overcome.”He continues to impress me,” said Williams, who finished with 20 points and nine assists. “He’s playing great. He’s composed, he’s making plays. He takes a lot of pressure off a lot of people.”

Jazz vs Raptors

November 18th, 2009 by Salt City Hoops

(Photo via KSL.com)

Join the Dime Live conversation at ESPN tonight:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-091118

Game Notes:

7:00 PM Local Time, November 18, 2009
EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City, UT

Comcast – Ch. 52 (HD Ch. 693)
DIRECTV – Ch. 684 (HD Ch. 684-1)
DISH – 474 (TBD)

TV Companion

Game 10: Cavaliers 107 – Jazz 103

November 18th, 2009 by Salt City Hoops

With no Deron Williams and still without CJ Miles and Kyle Korver, I have to admit that I didn’t expect the Jazz to come up with one of their most exciting games of the year.

Little Eric Maynor had a breakout game with 24 points and even got a little post-game pep talk from LeBron, who was clearly impressed with the rookie’s effort. The Jazz actually had started two rookies, with Wesley Matthews continuing to impress. Both Maynor and Matthews were on the floor in crunch time as the Jazz very nearly pulled off the upset against the Cavs.

The game ended oddly as Andrei Kirilenko missed wildly on a long three taken off an in-bounds play more than 20 seconds left on the shot clock. I’m not much of a wins and losses kind of guy — all I ask for is that, to paraphrase ‘Sheed, both teams play hard. This game was probably the best I’ve ever felt after a Jazz loss. Other than a few strange plays down the stretch and a poor first quarter, the Jazz showed me something and it was encouraging to see. Hopefully we’ll get more of the same tonight against the Raptors.

Flash cut roster to 12

November 18th, 2009 by Salt City Hoops

D-League teams had to cut their rosters to 12 by today, so the Flash announced their moves:

Alain LaRoche, Travis Holmes, Kevin Goffney, and Joe Darger have been waived from the 2009-2010 training camp roster. James Lang was also waived for medical reasons.

The Flash training camp roster is now set at 12. The team will play a pre-season game against the Idaho Stampede on Monday, November 23 at Burley High School in Burley, ID. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm.

Current Training Camp Roster:

Name	Position	Height	Weight	College	Status
Andre Ingram	G	6-3	190	American	Returning
Bennet Davis	F	6-8	220	Northeastern	Returning
Gavin Grant	F	6-7	220	North Carolina State	Returning
Dontell Jefferson	G	6-5	190	Arkansas	Returning
Carlos Wheeler	F	6-7	220	Campbellsville, KY	Returning
Sylvester Morgan	F	6-11	220	Georgia State	Local Tryout
Jason Richards	G	6-2	190	Davidson	Draft Pick
Garret Siler	C	6-11	305	Augusta State	Draft Pick
Jordan Brady	F	6-6	230	UVU	Draft Pick
Orien Greene	G	6-5	210	Univ. Louisiana Lafayette	Draft Pick
Lee Cummard	G	6-7	190	BYU	Allocation Player
Luke Nevill	C	7-1	250	Utah	Allocation Player

At practice today it was nice to see the local flavor on the team, with Luke Nevill from the University of Utah (sporting the short hair he should have gone with a long time ago), Lee Cummard from BYU (sporting the same hair, should probably try the Kirilenko look), and Jordan Brady from Utah Valley (looking strong, and battling Joe Darger for the best hair).

Speaking of Darger, I was sorry to see him get cut. He was fun to watch at UNLV and it would have been nice to see the Flash put a team of Mountain West Conference all-stars out on the floor.

However, I’m looking forward to seeing Jason Richards backing up Andre Ingrams at the point. You may remember Richards from such hits as “Passing the Ball to Stephen Curry at Davidson for Three Years” and… well, that’s probably the only way you’ll know him.

Two more roster spots still have to be cut, as D-League teams can only carry 10, so it’ll be interesting to see who gets left out.

In other news, today’s practice was attended by a group of coaches and a referee from the Chinese Basketball Association who will be traveling with the Flash and the Idaho Stampede this season as part of an initiative by the NBA to improve coaching and officiating in the Chinese league. I’ll have more on this later.

Other notes:

I asked Brandt Andersen if he had an update on the team’s plans to play a game in Iran. After last year’s appearance by the Iranian National Team at the Rocky Mountain Revue the NBA announced a plan for the Flash to return the favor and play a game in Iran. Andersen said that the political situation is just too hot right now but hopefully the teams will be able to work something out in the future.