By Spencer Campbell Twitter @UtahJazzPodcast You guys are getting spoiled this week! Seriously!
Speaking before a gathering of 300 friends and family members before the dedication, Sloan made it clear he never campaigned, never asked for the honor.
On the other hand, it was clear he was deeply appreciative.
This Quote describes 40 years of Basketball for Jerry Sloan. How is it possible that Jerry Sloan can get a high school gym named after him, but nothing here in Utah. This should have been an instant/automatic event. I understand that Jerry may get back into coaching, but it won't be in Utah. Retire his number, start naming streets or portions of the ESA after him. This needs to happen now. Period! Classy move by the High School.
Q&A with Ty Corbin from Zach Lowe via Grantland.
There is a ton of good stuff in this article. I wonder how this came about. Was it the Zach reaching out, the Jazz reaching out. They talk: Big Linuep, DMC, Favors and Jefferson, Jefferson on the PNR, They also talk about the fact that Favors still has a ton to learn. I think the way that he learns "said lessons" is by playing against the guys that he can learn them from...Z-Bo ect.
Jazz Tank: Breaking the Fan code of Ethics and Other Reflections.
I will say that I do, occasionally, find myself hoping the Jazz will lose. This, of course, violates the Code of Ethics of Fandom, which I metaphorically signed the moment I told someone I rooted for the Jazz. By rooting against my own team, my very sports morality is called into question, and if in the moment you read that I wanted the Jazz to lose, you felt some sort of ethical revulsion toward me and my hedonistic sports ideologies, you are entirely justified.
I can totally understand both sides of this argument. The "lose now to get better approach" reminds me of Cuban's thoughts. I also believe that there is a set of standards for Fan Codes or whatever you want to call it. . We have talked about this many times on the podcast. One of the initial rules is: how you became a fan of your particular team. The team needs to be a) The team that represents your home town/state. b) Your first little league team i.e. Braves, Jazz (for people that live in Idaho and play(ed) Junior Jazz) c) The favorite team of a family member like your father, grandfather or uncle. Another common rule in Fan Code, is the idea or perceptions surrounding switching teams and bandwagon fans. I won't get into that here.
Kanter's Rebounding Drop...Is he Boxing Out Badly?
This is a fabulous breakdown of Kanter and the change in numbers for Kanter over the past year. I don't think Andy is making any statements other than looking at the numbers and showing some examples of what could be one of the possible answers to Kanter's decline. This is not an all or nothing piece, just an idea or possible partial answer to the decline in numbers. What a lot of us see in words, art, and images, Andy sees in numbers... He will also be representing SLCDUNK.com at the Sloan Conference in March... Cheers! Looking forward to more of this stuff. It is not just stats stuff for stats sake, but actual connections with what is happening on the floor.
Statistical Relationship Between Height and Salary: What and Why
We've all heard the saying: "You can't teach height". The NBA is evolving, and height seems to be a "skill" teams are willing to pay big bucks for. Here, I take a statistical approach to addressing the cause of this trend and how significant it really is.
This is a great breakdown that relates to the Jazz current situation. How much would/are we have/going to pay to keep some of our bigs?
LBJ and DWADE love our system?
"They've played the game the right way since the early ’80s. Ever since (Jerry) Sloan took over (in 1988), they've played the game the right way," he said. "They've just kept that same DNA and that same mindset that if you play together, you defend and you bang, you have a good chance to win."
My only question is what system is that? I don't think that we are playing anything close to what Jerry/Phil's system was/is. Their system was a true flex... We run a hybrid flex horn offense. I will talk to Coach Nick and see if we can get a breakdown sometime of the difference between the two.
Gordon Hayward Gives Back to Butler.
On Tuesday Butler announced that thanks to a sizable donation from the former forward, their new video room in the team’s remodeled basketball suite at Hinkle Fieldhouse will be renamed after him.
Kudos to Hayward... one of the good guys.
Nets' Williams continues to be haunted by the Team that traded him.. NEW YORK TIMES
A day after praising the Utah Jazz’s offense, Deron Williams lost to it, his Nets falling, 92-90, at Barclays Center, continuing a maddening string of early-season trends.
I am glad we won, and grateful for his time in Utah, but Deron is not on my top list of former Jazz players.This is mostly due to his surly/moody ways.
Kanter Highlights from the Lakers Game