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Okay, what a crazy, eerie, Deja vu-y type of night, huh? If you don't know what I am talking about I am talking about the early February close loss, followed by flame-out, followed by online Utah Jazz family twitter freak-out. Last night the Utah Jazz lost to the Dallas Mavericks, a close game. But a game without consequence. Enes Kanter, who would finish with only 6 points and 10 rebounds in 14 minutes, last check out of the game in the 3rd quarter (29:41 mark), and never returned. No immediate reason for this was discussed, save for the fact that in reality, it's hard to find someone for Kanter to guard out there against this mobile and unique Mavericks team. A suggestion was made that it was precautionary to hold Kanter back (microcosm/macrocosm of the problem?) because of a potential eye injury.
Enes stated clearly after the loss that his eye issue was not the root reason for keeping him glued to the bench. Furthermore, that he could have played, and his fitness was not in question for the fourth quarter.
And well, even further furthermore, it trickled out to the internet that Kanter, and his camp, had requested a trade before the 19th of this month (the trade deadline) and it appears as though Kanter, and his camp, had been angling for a trade for a while now.
Losing is bad (recap of the game here), the announcement of an, albeit, informal trade request was a shock (initial reaction thread here). The waiting around, "everyone is on twitter, and none of us have all of the information" speculation that happened after the game was reminiscent of that long February night years ago when it appears as though Deron Williams, with the support of the Utah Jazz GM Kevin O'Connor, was greater than the indomitable Jerry Sloan.
Our trusty beat writers for the Salt Lake Tribune (Aaron Falk) and Deseret News (Jody Genessy) had the news up, and communicated freely about it on twitter with us, fellow, sleepless, crazy people.
Frustrated by his role during his three-plus years in Utah, center Enes Kanter told The Salt Lake Tribune he hopes to be traded before this year's deadline.
Kanter expressed his frustration after Wednesday's 87-82 loss to the Mavericks, a game in which Kanter left with an eye injury and did not play in the fourth quarter despite his claim that he was healthy enough to play.
"It was not my eye at all. I don't know what it was, but it was not my eye at all. So we'll see what's going to happen," Kanter said after the game, declining to elaborate further.
The 22-year-old big man was hit in the face by Dallas' Al-Farouq Aminu late in the second quarter. Kanter held his face as he checked out at the 1:25 mark and did not play in the fourth quarter. He played just over 18 minutes Wednesday, recording six points and 10 rebounds.
But for the third-overall pick in the 2011 draft, the frustrations are about more than one night. Kanter grew tired of empty promises of playing time during his time under Tyrone Corbin and remains frustrated by the inconsistency of his role.
The Jazz and coach Quin Snyder have tried to balance time among their four primary big men - Kanter, Derrick Favors, Rudy Gobert and Trevor Booker. Snyder has admitted in the past that it has been hard to find time in some games for all four, and said matchups and performance would dictate who got minutes most nights.
In a text message late Wednesday, Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey declined to comment on the situation.
Moments after the Utah Jazz lost to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night, Enes Kanter gave Jeremy Evans a big hug and told Derrick Favors he'd see him again.
If Kanter gets his wish, it just won't be as teammates.
The 22-year-old forward/center relayed a message to Utah media in the locker room - first to The Salt Lake Tribune and then to the Deseret News - that he hopes to be traded before the Feb. 19 deadline.
Kanter, who only played 18 minutes in the Jazz's 87-82 loss, was too frustrated to go into details about his decision to come public with this news.
It's not new news to the Jazz, by the way.
Kanter's agent, fellow Turk Max Ergul, has been trying to get the 6-foot-11 big man traded from Utah for years, according to a source with knowledge on the subject.
Kanter's camp has "really turned up the heat" on Jazz management for a trade in recent weeks, the source added.
Not surprisingly, Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey responded with a "No comment."
Also, Ergul denied to the Deseret News that he's been trying to get the Jazz to trade Kanter for years.
Either way, Kanter's camp has never been pleased with the way the third pick of the 2011 draft has been used by the Jazz, and frustrations have only increased despite a welcomed coaching change.
One big problem for Kanter, who hopes to be traded, is that there has been little to no interest from other teams, the Deseret News has been told.
Check out the entire articles from both Beat writers to get more of the story.
Overall, from what we know, it's a crappy situation. The Jazz don't like to let players dictate things, so I cannot expect this will end in the way Ergul's camp wants it to end. The money-wrench here is that trading a RFA is hard because there's no telling what he is going to do the following summer.
I will expand on this situation when I return home, I have a busy day ahead of me and will not be online much of the morning.
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This is a huge downer for Jazz fans, beyond the Deja Vu feeling. So let's talk about Karl Malone having a standing offer to fight Kobe Bryant. The Mailman talked with Marc Lamont Hill of the Huffington Post, and watch the full video here. An excerpt:
In a HuffPost Live interview Wednesday, Malone said he holds no grudges against Bryant for how their friendship soured. After that topsy-turvy 2004 season, Bryant accused Malone of making inappropriate comments toward Bryant's wife, Vanessa. Malone has steadfastly denied that fact, even telling USA Today then that he wouldn't "star in another Bryant soap opera."
While he doesn't harbor ill feelings toward Bryant today, Malone said he's still willing to sort things out between them.
"We had a little issue," Malone told host Marc Lamont Hill. "I don't hold grudges ... I love Westerns. I'm old-school Western. Back in the day, when you had a beef, you didn't go get guns and knives ... we just go back in the back with no cameras and knuckle up. Get it over with."
Hill pressed Malone if he offered Bryant that route to resolution.
"It's a standing offer," Malone said. "Look, I don't want no trouble. I don't have a problem. People say whatever they want to say and that's great. I'm 6-9, 272 [pounds] to be exact. I'm not hard to find. I don't want no trouble. But if something got to go down, I'm not playing fair."
Some outlets, with a historical pro- Chicago Bulls / Michael Jordan bias, fixated upon taking a throw-away line out of context to make it sound like Malone was a bully, or someone who needed to be demonized once again in the public eye. (Looking at you Yahoo! 's Kelly Dwyer) Kelly doesn't get the "playing fair" issue is about weight class, not about Kobe Bryant currently being injured. But hey, I didn't expect you to be rational about this. Don't expect me to be either. The Canadian outlet, The Score, rather focused upon a) recognizing the Karl is the "Greatest power forward of all time", and b) gives a little more context.
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What about that game last night, huh? The Jazz didn't win game 20, and go into the All-Star break with the same record as last year, but we're a much more competitive team. That's for sure. Once again, some of the main problems popped up. The Jazz 11-21 from the FT line in a game that had a 5 point margin. Rudy Gobert singled himself out, as he went 2-6 from the stripe.
Free throws!!!
— rudy gobert (@rudygobert15) February 12, 2015
But it's a team loss, especially when there were 18 turn overs (Monta Ellis had 6 dag steals by himself). Elijah Millsap had this to add:
Tough lost tonight... #keepfighting #KeepGettingBetter #WeAreUtahJazz #jazznation
— Elijah Millsap (@Elijah_Millsap) February 12, 2015
So the team has 19 wins. They need 11 more for to reach 30 wins on the season, and 16 more, for 35 wins. To make 30 wins they'll need to go 11-18, or win 37.9% of their games. For 35 wins it's harder, finishing up 16-13, and winning 55.2% of their games.
It's going to be fun to see how the team progresses over the next few months, and maybe they will play spoiler for some would-be Western conference playoff hopeful by beating them, closing out these close games, and being a team no one wants to face.
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Peter Young had a video hangout / interview with former Jazzmen Antoine Carr and Olden Polynice! Check it out!
I haven't seen it yet, but when I do expect a write up that dove-tails with my next center post. The original Junk Yard Dog, Jerome Williams, is in it as well!
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So, Kanterman, huh? Such a big deal. The question I have isn't about if he is good, or worth it, or can improve, or whatever. It's about where do you think he will be for the majority of his career.