The Downbeat - 7 May 2010 - #224 - The Two Year Anniversary Edition
by Basketball John on May 7, 2010 9:37 AM MDT
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So thanks to SBN of course for the great platform. A bigger thanks to you for reading and making this your place to talk about the Jazz. There used to be a code. It was more of a guideline, actually, but it was real enough for most players on the Jazz to have felt some of its effects. The code was essentially peer pressure, emanating from John Stockton and Karl Malone, an unwritten directive that unless a player was severely injured, he was expected to play. That's what a professional did. That's what Stockton and Malone did. They played hurt. Andrei Kirilenko violated the code on Tuesday night, and maybe other nights, too. He did not play hurt, preferring to wait until Saturday's Game 3 at home to test in live action the strain in his calf that has sidelined him for weeks now. He sat courtside as his team fell to the Lakers, badly in need of the physical attributes Kirilenko possesses. Is AK injury-prone? Yes. I too wish that he would have played in game 2 but he sat at the advice of doctors and coaches. If you recall, he's already tried to come back too early, twice, and got re-injured each time. The fact that game 2 was around the time when he might have come back is just poor timing. Maybe the Jazz should have extended the first round to 7 games to buy a few more days? If Andrei did come back in game 2, and was re-injured, we would have heard criticism for not listening to the doctors and ruining our chances at the rest of the series. He seemingly can't win. It's also unfair to compare him to Stockton and Malone. They are Hall of Famers not only in basketball but in dedication and conditioning and toughness. They might be two of only a handful of players in that HOF. What injury finally took down Karl Malone? A knee injury (his karmic retribution for playing with the Lakers). weird thing is is that basketball players need their legs and AK's calf strain is one of the worst for taking out your legs. Monson compares AK to Bynum who is playing through some considerable pain right now with his knee. If it was just pain, I have no doubt that AK would be playing. His injury is different though in that he can make it worse by playing. Doctors have told Bynum that he's not going to do any further damage to his knee by playing, that's why he is on the court and AK isn't. Finally, this statement is ridiculous when pertaining to AK, Word around the NBA these days is that players are worth too much money for them to put themselves easily at risk. They are corporations unto themselves, with financial responsibilities to themselves. The company mantra is, "When in doubt, sit out." 
It's been two years today since the launch of SLC Dunk. I had basketballjohn.com before this one that started in Feb 2007 but this has been home for a while now and it really where the community that I hoped to build took off.
I read a lot of stuff that I disagree with and I'm sure I write stuff that everyone else disagrees with. I rarely write about those disagreements though unless it really is an affront to Jazz fans. Monson's latest article does that by attacking AK needlessly,
First, these days? It's been like that for a while, at least the last decade or more. Second, Andrei has no financial incentive to sit out and not get hurt again. He's towards the end of a max contract and it set for life. In addition, he still has another year at $17M. What's he going to be missing out on? Not only that, he's stated that he will likely being playing for the Jazz after next season at a much lower rate than he could get in the FA market.
If AK violated the unwritten rule about playing hurt then there's likely an unwritten punishment that would be doled out by his teammates and that's where the issue should lay. Both Carlos Boozer and Deron have stated in the past that they would rather AK wait until he's fully healed to play.
There are few players on the Jazz that I have to worry about taking the night off or not playing because they're a little banged up, but AK isn't one of them.
I missed this mailbag from Greg Miller but in there he gives the date for when the new Jazz unis will be revealed,
The NBA and Adidas will be making a coordinated announcement on new uniform designs around August 15th.
If anyone wants to email me some anonymous leaked pics, you know where to reach me.
Kirk Snyder was sentenced to three years in the state pen for his break-in and assault. He had claimed temporary insanity but was found competent to stand trial.
I'm not sure that just because he played in the NBA that this is any different from any other person throwing away a promising career, regardless of the field, because of poor decisions.
CJ wants to be a Maverick? Dan Sheldon reports that from CJ's interview with ESPN Radio,
I definitely would want to do that at one point in my career. Just to have that feeling. That hometown feeling of having my friends and family behind me to see me play and see how I've grown. I definitely have that feeling sometimes.
Like Sheldon says, it's a pretty candid statement.
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Comments
1. Happy Anniversary!
2. I read this yesterday and just rolled my eyes. Monson is such a hack its not even funny. He is the equivalent of a second rate blogger. He laments his meteoric plummet into the bowels of Utah Sports figure obscurity, so he does whatever he can to draw attention to himself and is not above publicly thrashing someone to get that attention. He didn’t even acknowledge that AK has suffered 3 different strains in that calf. Facts are not what he’s all about. I can only label him as the Glen Beck of sports writers.
8. Things like this and the draft are all part of the process of separating oneself from the obsession of Jazz fandom during the season. Its a very important process in preventing post-season-postpartum-stress-disorder.
5. I really hope that this doesn’t get blown out of proportion.
Happy Birthday~!
1. Thanks for having this platform where we can come online and bask in each other’s fanhood.
2. That’s the problem with making $16 million a year. People expect you to perform at a high level all the time. I don’t agree with Monson, but I guarantee that this column isn’t written if AK made what he’s actually worth.
8. AUGUST 15TH?!?! We have to wait til then? I was hoping they would make the announcement before the draft.
4. Just another one of those 1st round gems courtesy of Kevin O’Connor. Can’t wait til he uses the Knicks pick on a 17 year-old project from Slovakia.
5. Candid statement, but is anybody surprised? It seems that no one on this team actually wants to play here. Unless your Koufos who lies awake at night wondering how in the hell he is in the NBA.
Whitewater In The Morning
1. I didn’t realize all last year that it was a relatively new site. Thanks for putting up with me.
2. Kobe plays hurt. That doesn’t make me like him, but I admire that about him. Then again, it’s one thing to tape up a finger, another to have muscles in your legs that don’t work. Over the course of AK’s contract, he’s made a lot of money to watch games.
8. Green Note!
4. Sad sad sad.
5. CJPR=BoozerPR (DOE=DOH!)
I'll make it coach.
1. Happy Anniversary! I don’t know what I would do without this blog, so thanks for everything you do to keep it going.
2. I agree, that attack was unfair. I don’t believe AK is sitting out just because it would hurt a little to play. I honestly believe he’s sitting out because (a) he could do more damage to it by playing, and (b) he wouldn’t be as effective out there as we need him to be. I think he said recently that when he feels like he can stay in front of his man on defense, that’s when he’ll be back, so it’s pretty clear to me that he has the best interests of the team in mind. Of course, if being able to stay in front of your man on defense is a prerequisite for playing, Carlos Boozer would never play again.
8. I’d say that’s good timing. August is usually the slowest summer month NBA-wise, since June has the Finals and the Draft, July has free agency madness, and September has pre-training camp stuff.
5. This irks me a little less than Boozer’s comments did. First, he’s not really saying that he wants to go there now, or wants out of Utah now, just that it would be great to play there eventually. Second, it’s not like he’s on the trading block and thus destroying his trade value by making it seem like he and the Jazz are absolutely done. I mean, obviously, we’d all like every Jazz man to say there’s nowhere they’d rather play, that they love it here and want to stay for the rest of their careers, but not everyone can be like that. I guess Memo and AK are the closest guys we have to that ideal.
2
i don’t know why people need a scapegoat for our struggles against the lakers. as a whole, the jazz are not as talented as the lakers, and we also match up poorly… creating predictable results. that said, AK should sign a 4 year contract for the veteran’s minimum after his contract expires.
aside from siler, i think just about every other sports writer at the trib and deseret news is a hack.
1. That’s awesome! I joined the SLC Dunk team this season, and don’t know how I ever lived without my daily Jazz fix!
2. I’m ok with the media debating/interpreting the facts. I’m not ok with the media making claims without any facts to support it. I wouldn’t have a problem questioning AK’s motives if he hadn’t already tried to come back from this same injury earlier.
8. As long as we steer clear of any of the 1996-2004 selection
5. MTN hit this one right on the head…at some point, some PR training may do the Jazz some good?
Basketball doesn't build character. It reveals it.
-Unknown
FYI - 1996-2004 selection
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/JetsLuvver/NBA%20jerseys/uta96fix.png
Basketball doesn't build character. It reveals it.
-Unknown
2
I’ve heard so much criticism on AK for not playing in Game 1 or 2 and I’m glad to see that someone else feels the way I do. Just the notion that someone is obligated somehow to play hurt is frightening. If any one of us felt “unwritten pressure” to go to work while injured, what would our response be? The criticism is coming only because a lot of Utah fans were counting on winning either Game 1 or 2 to have any chance of winning this series. Well guess what, we can pick up Game 5 on the road or even Game 7, and now AK is much more likely to be there for the entire run.
Not to mention AK’s already attempted to play hurt Twice and has reaggravated the injury both times. How can you fault the guy for wanting to let it heal?
Blame where you must, be candid where you can, And be each critic the Good-natured Man. - Oliver Goldsmith (Excellent advice)
Go Jazz! Go Hogs! GO BILLS!
everything we like about ak puts him at risk
chasing down fast breaks to pin the ball on the glass at the last second
reaching out to block from the weak side
hammer dunks in traffic
pocket-picking steals followed by break-neck fast break
What do you do with a contract at any price that says, “I can be marginal for 82 games each year, or exciting for 60 games….and you can’t pick which 60.”
I'll make it coach.
AK plays high risk style
Yes, I wondered how long AK could play in this league from his first days in the Stockton-Malone era. He would wildly flail his way through a game, finishing dunks and fast breaks like a gazelle. He would always get up and run back downcourt . . . then.
Totally uncalled for cheap shot from Monson. I think the last guy the Jazz had play with an injury didn’t do so hot, eh (Memo). Pissed me off so much I had to sign up with SB Nation so I could post this first comment. Long time listener, first time caller for Mr. Obvious.
The Print Media
It’s pathetic really, the way some of them are so scared of dying off that they have to spout out idiocy just to get noticed.
Congrats on your ann’y, John! You do a great job, dude.
If my profession were in jeopardy, I'd pull out all the stops too.
I'll make it coach.
by MTN on May 7, 2010 8:36 PM MDT up reply actions
1. happy anniversary. i don't know what i would do without slc dunk
2. articles like that are the reason why monson has the reputation that he does. if monson were an nba player that suffered through the three strains ak did, he probably would have retired. perhaps ak cut him off in traffic or something; that article felt personal.
5. why is this comment being compared to boozer’s at all? cj’s not campaigning to get traded to the mavs. he’s not talking about how he’s best friends with jason kidd. he didn’t say the jazz agreed to trade him. he was probably asked where he’d like to play one day or if he’d ever consider playing in his hometown, and answered the question. this is no different than AK being asked if he wants to play in russia one day down the line.
1. You could be a diehard Saints fan...
I'll make it coach.
by MTN on May 7, 2010 8:37 PM MDT up reply actions
So it looks like my post wasn't complete
About the CJ comment, I didn’t think it was like Boozer’s statement at all. Like moni said, he wasn’t campaigning to get traded, it was just an honest, “Do you see yourself playing for the Mavs one day?” Completely benign. Still, it’s kind of weird to hear any Jazz member talking about playing for another team.
Like when your wife dreams she is kissing one of your neighbors...
…especially when your neighbor is a 6’11" german with bad hair.
I'll make it coach.
by MTN on May 7, 2010 8:38 PM MDT up reply actions
1. Great blog. Great contributers. Thanks all for the effort.
2. Monson is an fool. I can’t stand any of the writing from sltrib or deseretnews. AK is injury prone true, but he plays injured all the time. And he plays tough.
3. Whatever. Just lace ’em up boys.
4. Worst Jazz draft year to my memory. Made very un-Jazz-like mistake and drafted purely on “ceiling” when both Snyder and Humphries had questions about their charactor and work ethic.
5. Good god! A player (in a league where most players eventually play for three or more teams) says he wouldn’t mind playing for his hometown-team someday. What a jerk.
Des News
I really like Jody Genessey’s stuff, personally. He especially killed it in his series on Bear.
60% of the Trib’s stuff is negative pessimism masquerading as arrogant realism. Makes me ill.
by Clintonite33 on May 7, 2010 11:12 PM MDT via mobile up reply actions
Monson is an idiot
I agree with about 1% of what he writes, but he makes 1 really good point when he says “Think about the reaction if Carlos Boozer had done that”
Boozer takes so much heat whenever he misses games due to injury, but it always seems to be a different story with Andrei. If Boozer wasn’t playing up to this point all we would hear about is how we need Boozer gone next season.
It sounds as if his current injury is one that he shouldn’t be trying to play through, but it is frustrating that our highest paid player misses so many games.
PS the move to SB nation was a great one. I really liked the old site, but it didnt have the community that this one does.
Monson's article was ill placed and ill timed
Unlike most people it seems, I actually like Monson. I think he is usually pretty honest and genuine in his writing. Maybe its cuz I like listening to his show so I am a bit biased. But I too think that this article was way off the mark. Especially after seeing Memo go down playing with an injury and then after AK had already come back and reinjured it. Not sure what Monson was thinking writing this.
1. Thank you BBJ
i just wanted to say thanks for starting this blog. I really think it is the best Jazz blog out there, but I am biased since it is really the only jazz blog I follow closely. But really I think this blog has been great because it seems to really include a lot of fans, with a ton of different opinions, who like to contribute their opinions. SLCdunk has been a great place to follow our Jazz. Just can’t wait to celebrate over a live thread as the Jazz get Sloan an NBA title. Here’s to a bright future.
Double standard
The only astute observation from the Monson article was that if Boozer were sitting out with a calf as a precaution the fans would be killing him for it. Definitely a double standard with AK and Boozer.
Personally I’ve never understood the Boozer haters, he’s one of a handful of dominant post players in the game and an important part of team. If we had a defensive center behind him our defense would be fine, look how much better we were defensively when we got 5, 5, and 2 from Fes, what if we had a guy who could get 10, 10 and 3 like Tyson Chandler or Sam Dalembert?
What if we had a guy like that behind Millsap?
The big question is going to be do you keep Boozer and have to deal two or three other players (due to financial reasons), or let Boozer walk and keep the rest of the team intact?
The antagonism towards Boozer is people casting their votes.
Except
Chandler is awful. he only put up 6 and 6 this year. Obviously Chris Paul made the man look far better than actually was.
Dalembert, on the other hand, was afirly effective in only 25 minutes a game, putting up 8 points and pulliung down nearly 10 boards, while blocking almost 2 shots a game. He’s not a bad alternative as a fall-back plan.
Whats up Jazz Fan bro's
Looks like we might have to root for Phoenix or LA although your team is looking better than mines
Who will you Bro’s be rooting for ?
Suns Fans check their closets for Manu Ginobili Bro.
Damn Bro
Its depressing
Will AK47 be back for game 3 ?
Suns Fans check their closets for Manu Ginobili Bro.
by SpursNumberUno on May 8, 2010 4:57 PM MDT up reply actions
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