Thanks to Ross Siler, now we know why you earn PT from practice in Sloan's system:
His high school team started practice at 7 a.m. and Sloan hitchhiked 16 miles to school those mornings. The bus stopped a quarter-mile from his home, but Sloan wouldn't have been on time for practice had he waited to catch it.
"I feel very good about the fact that I played basketball in high school and I never missed a practice," Sloan said, adding, "If you like to play, you figure out a way to try to do it, and I think I like to play."
He must have left out the part about "uphill two ways in the snow" for his regular column.
ESPN.com's Western Conference standings predictions come out today, not that anyone can really predict the west outside of maybe the top 2 teams. I am really flummoxed though when it comes to the Jazz. We've seen that when they're clicking, they can hang with anybody.
We have the same team pretty much that we've had the past couple of years. We've seen them go on runs, but both good an bad. We've seen them beat the top teams in the league and then get blown out by teams in the cellar with barely enough players to put five men on the court.
And of course there are those pesky road games that somehow the league thinks we should have to play.
Last year, everyone was predicting that this team should contend for the top spot in the west. Then of course everyone down to the usher in section K got injured.
So where do we end up if everyone stays healthy? I don't think you could say with much authority where they end up in the west.
Should Boozer still be here come training camp, what are the first words out of his mouth when he gets interviewed?
How many games is everyone planning on attending this year?