If there's one thing that I didn't like about Deron's game last season it was when he would complain all the time about calls or non-calls really. He probably had a case on most of them but there was still too much complaining.
It looks like that's about to be curbed though because the NBA has released new guidelines that allow the refs to call technicals for running after refs to complain about a call, making air punches, or raises his hands in protest.
I know I can't have it both ways but this seems to be a bit over the top. I'm all about getting rid of the complaining, but you can't show frustration now for perceived bad calls? Those visible signs of frustration aren't just limited to basketball, they're used everywhere, in everyday situations.
Matt Moore from CBSSports.com previews the Jazz,
Losing your second best player to free agency should be the kind of thing that sets your franchise back coniderably (don't tell the Suns). But the Utah Jazz, the model of consistency in the NBA since Jerry Sloan took over back in the Paleozoic Era, they just keep plugging right along. Making smart, well-reasoned decisions have led them to replacing Carlos Boozer with Al Jefferson. The question is if they can pick up where they left off.
Maybe an appropriate nickname for the Jazz would be Plug 'n' Play? Sloan definitely needs certain types of players to run the offense that he does but he always gets the most out of them, whoever that is. I agree with Moore that Al if going to be the key to this season. He may take a bit to get into the flow of things but I suspect come the latter-half of the season he'll be comfortable.
The Jazz aren't the only team to get a new jersey this off-season. It looks like aall teams will be sporting new looks with a new type of jersey from adidas. We've seen some of the pics with the mesh-type surface for the Jazz unis.
They've been four years in the making and are designed now to spread out the perspiration to as to dry faster. That's good news for Al Jefferson. Maybe they can make a headband out of the same material?
SLAM is also a big fan of the new Jazz design but the basketball as part of the note is "cutesy?" I'm a big fan of the new Warriors jerseys.
I tweeted about this last night, but it looks like Don Nelson is on his way out as the Warriors coach. Not that it matters much to Sloan, but he's 145 wins behind Nelson for first on the all-time wins list. That would equate to about 3 more seasons for Sloan. Will he be around that long though? If there's a lockout for 2011-12, that would add on another year.
He'll be 70 in early 2012 and would be either 71 or 72 if he broke the record.
Also, there's been rumblings that Golden State had been one of the teams interested in Fesenko. I didn't see how he played much into their system, but if Nellie ball is gone, then maybe there's some renewed interest?
I can't believe Fesenko just might not be at media day. We're getting robbed!
Friday poll