When this Denver trade goes down, it will pare down the race for the Northwest division title to the Jazz and the Thunder. The Blazers are playing okay despite their injuries but right now are 5 games back. I don't think they have the horses to pull it out down the stretch.
Despite Denver getting cold feet again and again, it will happen. There's too much to lose for everyone (Nuggets, Melo, Nets) for this not to get done. Supposedly it was suppose to go down over the weekend, but Denver played Melo and Billups last night while Detroit and New Jersey were expecting them to hold them out. It makes me wonder what's holding it up and how they ever traded AI for Billups a couple of years ago so quickly into the season.
With Hollinger's predictions that would give the Thunder and Jazz identical records, every game against the Thunder is going to be huge.
Do you know how many millions of advertising income are being lost because Fesenko hasn't been given his own reality show yet? Really, the Jazz could bankroll the entire team if they let a crew come in and film him. I would actually want hidden cameras though because I think the comedy would be that much greater than if Fess knew he was being filmed. Transactions likes these between him and AK are exactly what every fan would want to see (you really need to read the entire thing):
"I like to read before the game," said Kyrylo Fesenko, the 24-year-old center for the Utah Jazz. Sitting in the locker room 75 minutes before tip-off, he held up a Russian paperback with a drawing of two futuristic sorcerers on the cover. "This is science fiction," he said. "Me and A.K. both are reading science fiction."
"Talk about yourself," said his Russian teammate, Andrei Kirilenko, standing at his locker a few feet away. "Don't talk about other people."
"I'm trying to give you some media attention," said Fesenko, a Ukrainian. "You need it."
"I'm old, I don't need attention," Kirilenko said. "I need to stay out of it."
They're like an old couple. And since Fess doesn't like reading things in English online, here's a link to today's DB in Russian.
(h/t Someone tweeted this to me and I can't find who)
Good quote from Sloan on the Jazz D (via Genessy/DesNews)
If a guy keeps coming at you all night long, he's going to win. Somewhere you have to set the stakes up and say, 'This is where I live.' You have to protect that, just like the front door of your house. If you don't, they can come in the front door, go out the backdoor and do whatever they want.
Maybe the Jazz can paste this pic on the door above their locker room and hit it on the way out:
I tried to work this image in but it didn't quite fit. Worth the click though.
Thanks to Kurt for this tip. Hornacek will be up in Logan tomorrow at USU to talk about his basketball career as part of the Aggies' Art and Lecture Series. Afterwards, he'll participate in a three-point shooting contests with Brian Green from the men's team. Green has shot 47% from three in his two years at USU. I wonder if they'll use the college or NBA three. I'm guessing Hornacek smokes him either way.
Monday open poll... How many of the 400 DBs have you read?