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Very little going on in the world of basketball, and even less in the Jazz world. We did find out that Enes and Derrick were in Louisiana this past weekend to work out with The Mailman. We haven't seen much info on the sessions, but we did get this from Kay Malone (@mamail):
@Enes_Kanter so nice to meet u. Your mom should be proud u r a great young man#respectful.
— KAY MALONE (@mamail) August 4, 2013
There hasn't been anything straight from the Jazz, but Moni (as usual) has more here.
What about Derrick? The original word was that they were both going to be there, but it seems Derrick was in Long Beach for the Adidas Nations hoops tournament.
Apparently, being interviewed by Kenneth Faried
— Derrick Favors (@dfavors14) August 4, 2013
The latest point of argument in the NBA world (welcome to the doldrums) is Mark Cuban's recent post on his personal blog. First off, it is very refreshing to see an owner with the type of candor that Cuban has always had. His willingness to accept the blame for the current situation or shortfalls in their plan is the stuff that makes for a great leader. This candor has led to some heated debate in the NBA circle because Cuban is obviously referring to the way the Thunder have built there contending team and how so many teams are now attempting to copy that method. Think what you want about what is needed for that process to succeed, but it is quite presumptuous to assume that is what all of these teams are doing. From an outsiders perspective, he can make the proclamation that this is the order of the day for all of these teams, and he may be correct for some of them. However, I certainly believe the Jazz are not one of those teams. The Jazz aren't going to throw games this season. They are going to play their young guys (lottery picks acquired through trades, not tanking) and let the chips fall as they may.
I'm sure I come across as a broken record on this tanking vs. rebuilding talk, but its because I believe it is unfair to the young players on the Jazz roster. They have put in their time (2-3 years for most of them), done their apprenticeships under the tutelage of veteran players and the coaching staff, and now its their turn to be thrown in the arena. We have read quotes from Favors and Hayward now about where they stand as a team and we have no reason to doubt their competitiveness when they say that they aren't going to try to lose. They want to win and they want to show that they can do it, and should have had the chance to do it sooner.
Some will argue the decision to take on 2 "dead weight" players from the Warriors as proof of tanking, but I think that is nonsense. Especially if that comes from any team that was loaded with expiring contracts at the beginning of this offseason so that they could make a run at Paul and Howard. Its just good business to have the flexibility to be able to make moves that will improve the future of your team. Welcome to the era of the 2011 CBA.
The NBA schedule will be released tomorrow and because news is so scant, NBATV will be doing a live show about it. There are fans that roll their eyes at the pomp and circumstance around such an insignificant event, but there are those that really nerd out about it. Like Amar, for example. This is a big part of how many people determine their predictions for certain teams. Plus, the conversations about it have to hold us over until October.
Yesterday SBN hosted a meet-up of Bay Area bloggers at a pizza joint in Berkeley. It was a great time and I got to meet some great people. I had some fun chats with Tom Ziller (who is one of my favorites) and the guys from Golden State of Mind. Yes, I told them that we are collectively hexing Steph Curry's ankles and Andrew Bogut's knees.
Speaking of Meet-ups, there was a lot of interest in pickup games or a league. I'm still trying to figure out what my schedule is going to be like after the relocation to SLC, so I will keep everyone informed.