BROOKLYN – Through three regular season games, Alec Burks led the Utah Jazz in points per game (18.0), two-point field goal percentage among players who took at least one shot per game (57.6), offensive rating (107), win shares, win shares per 48 minutes (.131) and PER (19.2). Sounds like someone who should start for a rebuilding team like the Jazz, no? Yet the 12th overall in the 2011 draft has yet to start a game in his NBA career. Why? “He’s deserved to start
Generations of fans know the Utah Jazz as a model of stability. They were raised on Hall of Famers John Stockton and Karl Malone, coach Jerry Sloan and super significant owner Larry H. Miller, the rock of the franchise. Miller kept the team together, mended issues with coaches and players and even took financial risks to purchase the team. When Miller died in 2009, the franchise slowly lost all the stability he imparted to it as the sole owner. It truly fell apart
There are less than a dozen games left in the NBA regular season, and the most dramatic race still going on is a five-team scrum in the Western Conference for three playoff spots. Those five clubs – the Warriors, Rockets, Lakers, Jazz and Mavericks – are separated by five games in the standings. [Read more…]
That was hardly the tight defensive game we expected. The Bulls had seven players score in double figures and still lost by ten. Taj Gibson (10 PTS, 11 REB, 5 BLK) made another start for Joakim Noah (plantar fasciitis) while Carlos Boozer (10 PTS, 5 REB) played just 23 minutes in his return from a sore hamstring. [Read more…]
It turns out that Brazilian report was correct about Anderson Varejao, who is having surgery for a tear in his quad muscle. He can be dropped in redraft leagues and should be traded to a rebuilding team in keepers. [Read more…]
ORLANDO — For one week in July, a small portion of the basketball universe converges upon central Florida to watch and participate in the Summer League. The Orlando event is always outshined by its Las Vegas counterpart, partly because there is no strip and partly because only eight NBA teams participate. The Orlando summer league is very intimate, and it is very common to see media, agents, and NBA executives conversing. The basketball is very opportunistic as players try to secure
You had to enjoy watching the Jazz fight off the Suns and the Rockets for the West’s final playoff spot. They have been playing playoff-atmosphere basketball for the better part of April, but they are about to go up against a machine of a team that Tim Duncan described as the deepest he has ever played on. That’s a mouthful right there. Here are five things to watch for in the first-round playoff series between the San Antonio Spurs and
The Boston Celtics have had little trouble defeating the Utah Jazz in recent years. They have won eight of the last 11 meetings at the TD Garden — including the last three games by an average of 17.3 points — and swept last season’s two-game series. Their last loss came back on March 14, 2008, when Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer were still toiling for Jerry Sloan. But with the way the Jazz have played as of late, the Celtics may be