Karl Malone Is A Shooting Star - The Downbeat - #549

   Apparently Karl Malone will be a celebrity participant in an upcoming "reality" series on the Discovery Channel called Shooting Stars.   From WFAA in Dallas-Fort Worth:

The series  is a competition that pairs celebrities with pro-shooters. "Shooting Stars" can be compared to "Dancing with the Stars," with each celebrity paired with a professional shooter in a competition for charity. Actor Gerald McRaney and basketball player Karl Malone are among the celebrity participants.    

Normally you would assume that Karl Malone being on a series title Shooting Stars would mean some sort of basketball competition.  You would have assumed wrong.  It's actually a gun shooting competition which kind of makes more sense.  A ton more sense really.

I couldn't find any details on Discovery's website.  There's a video if you click on through that compares it to Dancing with the Stars, judges included.  I'm not sure why judges are needed; I thought the scoring on this would be pretty straight forward and defined.

So make sure to put that on your lockout-induced DVR schedule when it comes out.

  I came across this article by David Aldridge because it mentions the Jazz and trading Millsap/Jefferson, etc.  There's nothing really of note there that we haven't hashed out a million times on the Dunk.

However,  the lead point of the article is what impact the lockout will have on the USA Men's Olympic team next season if the labor dispute is still ongoing,

Still, the 2012 roster will be comprised solely of NBA players. Kobe Bryant is a yes whatever happens, according to a source close to the 34-year-old; Bryant badly wants a second gold medal to go with the one he won in '08. Kevin Durant, who led Team USA to the gold medal at the 2010 World Championships in Turkey, would probably go if selected even if the lockout were still in place, a source close to him said Sunday. The source added, though, that circumstances could change in the next year. Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have yet to have discussions about what they would do in case the lockout is ongoing, according to a source; ditto for LeBron James, according to another source with knowledge of James' thinking.    

That would open the door for other players, pro or otherwise, to playing in the Olympics.  I don't think it will come to that; there should be a resolution by next June when rosters are due. 

It got me to thinking though whether any of the current Jazz players will be in the Olympics.  There likely won't be any for 2012, but could be for 2016.  Derrick Favors immediately comes to mind.  He's been a part of USA basketball in the past.  He could also get an invite for the USA basketball mini-camp that Paul Millsap, Kyle Korver, and Ronnie Brewer all participated in a couple of years ago.

They 2016 games are in Rio.  Perhaps I should start saving right now.

  It was reported over the weekend that Mehmet Okur was in negotiations to sign with Fenerbahce of Turkey.  That, however, was shot down the same day.

I'm kind of torn on Memo playing.  On one side, he no doubt needs to work after essentially missing an entire season already.  If the lockout wipes out the current season, he'll have played in just 13 games over two and half years.  

Since he's on the last year of his NBA deal though, a season-long lockout eliminates the last year of his deal, making him a free-agent.  He's another that's not hurting for money, but something is more than nothing.  Playing somewhere would make sense for him though. One, it would keep him in shape for the season if there is a season.  Two, if there's no season, it will allow him to showcase that he can still play for when he becomes a FA.

The biggest concern of course would be that he gets injured and keeps him from playing for the Jazz or getting traded this season.

  CBSSports.com and SI.com are running the top 100 players in the league right now.  So far, CBS only has Devin Harris listed at #72,

Still, Harris gets a fresh start in Utah, as he was traded to the Jazz in the deal that sent All-Star guard Deron Williamsto the Nets. Utah is clearly in a rebuilding, find-itself phase now that Williams is gone and it's no guarantee that Harris, who is theoretically entering his prime, is necessarily their point guard of the future. We will learn a lot about Harris in 2011-2012.    

SI.com has Harris listed at #60,

Harris never developed legitimate three-point range, and that's a big reason things haven't really come together for him. He's still a creative player who generally helps a team's offense, but if you can keep him out of the lane, there's not all that much he can do to hurt you.    

Harris isn't a DWill, but not many are.  However, if he's kept around to run the team, he will be more than sufficient for the team that will build around Favors, Hayward, and Kanter.  

Other Jazz players on SI's list,

85.  Andrei Kirilenko
53.  Al Jefferson
46.  Paul Millsap

Where Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward (if he gets listed) is unknown.

  We have our Dodge Barrage team set.  We've settled on a name, Jerry Sloan's Doghouse.  Each of us will feature a player such as Giricek, Ostertag, Rookie DWill, Rookie CJ Miles and more.  I'm working on the logo now for our shirts and will post it here later.

We don't have any more room on our team, however, I can get you in contact with someone if you still want to play.