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The Utah Jazz are great. And so are Utah Jazz fans. So here's a second Downbeat today. We go a little deeper into the Summer League performance of our players, check out who is who on the TV broadcasts, identify which of our players are single and ready to mingle, and more! Oh, also there's a hired gun out there for a team that's trying to make noise in the playoffs. Could the Jazz be that team?
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Here are some awesome pics from last night's broadcast. Yes, this is Jerry Sloan and crew. And yes, it's awesome.
David Fredman + Jerry Sloan + Kevin O'Connor + Phil Johnson = 105 years of #JazzBasketball experience. pic.twitter.com/uLfhoK1L4U
— JazzBasketball (@Jazzbasketball1) July 6, 2016
As great as that shot is, I'm partial to this one of former SLC Dunker Alec Lam!
.@AlecLam14 with the legends pic.twitter.com/7SzBSgOw5I
— moni (@monilogue) July 6, 2016
I really do like this one of two Jazz employees from two very different spectra (age, education, upbringing, analytics vs. eye-ball test, etc) working together to make the team I root for the best it can be. It's a special moment in time for this franchise.
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We forgot to mention this earlier, but Utah Jazz point guard George Hill is getting married! And he looks SO excited about it!
First, congrats to George and Sam! Seems like Utah, the place for families, could be an NBA destination after all! Also, this is hilarious and true.
Lol, George Hill's gf/fiancee's latest IG pic is engagement announcement & Hill's is a "Save the Date!"...for an appearance at San Juan Audi
— moni (@monilogue) July 5, 2016
Social media is tough sometimes. Anyway, someone needs to make a spreadsheet about all of this. So I did. Because I'm just that great of a fan.
Player | Age | Spouse | Children | |
1 | George Hill | 30 | Engaged | Yes |
2 | Joe Johnson | 35 | Engaged | Yes |
3 | Gordon Hayward | 26 | Married | One + One on the way |
4 | Derrick Favors | 24 | Live-In | Twins |
5 | Rudy Gobert | 24 | No | No |
6 | Dante Exum | 20 | No | No |
7 | Alec Burks | 24 | No | No |
8 | Rodney Hood | 23 | TBD | Yes |
9 | Boris Diaw | 34 | Dates | ??? |
10 | Jeff Withey | 26 | On the market | No |
11 | Shelvin Mack | 26 | ??? | ??? |
12 | Chris Johnson | 26 | ??? | ??? |
13 | Joe Ingles | 28 | Married | Twins on the way |
14 | Trey Lyles | 20 | Girlfriend | No |
15 | Tibor Pleiss | 26 | Girlfriend | No |
16 | Raul Neto | 24 | No | HE IS A CHILD, DIANA! |
We're not a gossip site, so I am 100% certain a lot of this is wrong. Also, for the single ladies out there, a lot of these guys are off the market.
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So, did you hear the "big, if true" news? Two time NBA Champion shooting guard Ray Allen may be ready to come back to the league after sitting out the last two seasons. You may remember him from his Seattle Supersonics days, or his dominant play as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks early on in his career; however, his marksmanship was really exhibited for the whole world to see with the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat:
According to ESPN (and others) his camp is looking at possibly suiting up for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, or San Antonio Spurs. Clearly he's looking at another possible championship -- and that's his prerogative.
Ray Allen is considering making a comeback. His representatives have reached out to Warriors. (via @Chris_Broussard) pic.twitter.com/vjeuyhjgFw
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 6, 2016
He's always been one of my most favorite players, except when setting our Jazz defenders on fire, and the team still does have $10 million dollars in cap space, but that would just be silly to imagine him picking our squad to join. The bigger barrier to him joining the team, beyond the fact that I don't think our guys are going to the NBA Finals this year, would be that he may be too good to wear the #34 for the Jazz. No disrespect to John Block, Otto Moore, Ira Terrell, Bryon Russell, Chris Morris, Scott Padgett, or C.J. Miles, but I don't think Ray wants to wear that uniform after you guys have had your way with it.
Bad jokes aside, I do like B-Russ, Morris, and MasFresco. But I like Ray Allen more. And if he does come back, I really hope it's not with the Spurs, Clippers, or Warriors. We don't need stronger contenders out West. Thank you.
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There will be no Utah Summer League games today, as it's an off-day for the four teams participating (Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers, and hosts Utah Jazz). It is an ideal time, then, to continue looking at what we've seen so far from our crew. In the previous downbeat we looked at Olivier Hanlan, Aaron Craft, Marcus Paige, and Tyrone Wallace. Today? The rest.
Player | Flag | Pos | Ht. | Wt. | Age | G | MPG | PPG | FG% | 3PT% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PRASB | ||||||
1 | Olivier Hanlan | CAN | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 186 | 23.4 | 1 | 24.0 | 11.0 | 66.7% | 33.3% | 50.0% | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 17.0 | |||
2 | Aaron Craft | USA | 1 | 6 | 2 | 195 | 25.4 | 2 | 20.0 | 6.0 | 54.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2.0 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 10.5 | ||||
3 | Marcus Paige | USA | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 175 | 22.8 | 2 | 19.5 | 7.0 | 35.7% | 40.0% | 100.0% | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 9.0 | |||
4 | Tyrone Wallace | USA | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 205 | 22.1 | 2 | 18.0 | 5.0 | 35.7% | 0.0% | -- | 4.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 11.0 | |||
5 | Dionte Christmas | USA | 2 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 205 | 29.8 | 2 | 21.0 | 11.5 | 52.6% | 33.3% | -- | 1.5 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 15.0 | |||
6 | Spencer Butterfield | USA | 2 | 6 | 3 | 205 | 23.7 | 1 | 23.0 | 8.0 | 42.9% | 66.7% | -- | 6.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 15.0 | ||||
7 | Shonn Miller | USA | 2 | 6 | 7 | 210 | 22.9 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |||||
8 | J.J. O'Brien (SL) | USA | 3 | 6 | 7 | 228 | 24.2 | 2 | 17.5 | 1.5 | 11.1% | 25.0% | -- | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 5.5 | ||||
9 | Quincy Ford | USA | 3 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 225 | 23.5 | 2 | 14.0 | 5.0 | 60.0% | 33.3% | 100.0% | 2.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 9.0 | |||
10 | Shaquille McKissic | USA | 3 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 200 | 25.9 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||||
11 | Trey Lyles | CAN | 4 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 234 | 20.7 | 2 | 31.0 | 19.5 | 34.3% | 36.4% | 78.6% | 11.5 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 33.0 | |||
12 | Joel Bolomboy | URK | 4 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 224 | 22.4 | 2 | 14.5 | 3.5 | 25.0% | 0.0% | 37.5% | 3.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 7.0 | |||
13 | Terry Allen | USA | 4 | 6 | 8 | 240 | 22.5 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |||||
14 | Tibor Pleiss | GER | 5 | 7 | 3 | 256 | 26.7 | 2 | 19.0 | 7.0 | 62.5% | 66.7% | 100.0% | 4.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 13.5 | ||||
15 | Bangaly Fofana | FRA | 5 | 7 | 0 | 230 | 27.1 | 1 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
From watching both games, two not very competitive losses, there hasn't been much to cheer for.
- Lyles has been decisive and is playing that LeBron James / Kobe Bryant role, but Kobe back when they were getting kicked to the curb by the Suns, and LeBron back when the Cavs were just a complete mess. He's shooting the ball frequently, but not making shots consistently. Part of that is honestly the fact that you don't have to guard anyone else. Sometimes he puts his head down and fails to see passing opportunities, but again, that could be his #Mamba role. Getting a double double is nice, and he's making a bunch of threes. But since Hanlan is no longer on the team, he doesn't seem to have much chemistry with anyone else on the floor. (Both Canadians had played with one another in FIBA events growing up -- both also coming from "Not-Toronto" also helped them bond more as well. Toronto ballers have their own clique.)
He should make the All-Summer League team for Utah. I don't even know if he needs to play in Las Vegas.
- Joel has look bad on offense. And he hasn't recorded any blocked shots either. He's missing threes, free throws, and layups. Of course, he's getting screwed by the refs so much I hope he brought enough condoms to last the entire Summer League.
- J.J. has a much more diminished role from what he did with the Idaho Stampede because Lyles is controlling the ball. And as a potential "3 and D" guy he has not show much of either. He was more impressive a year ago, which is what we could call a regression. It's only two games, but we'll have him for only one more as he's not playing for the Jazz in Las Vegas.
- Dionte is a hard worker, but he's also almost 30 years old and still playing in minor summer leagues. On teams that are 0-2. Spencer had a good single game on the simple boxscore, but his three turn overs (one where he just flat out couldn't handle half-hearted pressure by his single coverage defender) has earned him the honorific title of "butterfingers". (His last name is Butterfield.) Still, he as one of the two total blocks this Jaz team has.
- And really, that brings me to Tibor. Tibor is who we thought he was. He's big, but not strong. He has a nice touch, but only with space. He can't score in traffic or keep anyone out of it. At 7'3 he has no blocks despite playing a good amount of minutes. He has made some jumpers and got a tip-in or two. But he's not quick enough on either side of the ball. He is a professional basketball player. He just may not be an NBA player.
But this is all just my opinion, what did ESPN's Kevin Pelton (In$ider) have to say?
On Trey Lyles:
After he played a small role for the Jazz as a rookie, this summer is an opportunity for Lyles to serve as a featured scorer. The results have been mixed.
Lyles has shown the ability to make plays with the ball in his hands, knocking down a pair of pull-up 3-pointers. Overall, he has struggled with his efficiency, needing 35 shots and 14 free throw attempts to score 39 points in two games.
On Tibor Pleiss:
A non-entity during his rookie season, Pleiss has shown some solid skill, draining a couple of 3-pointers. That's certainly impressive for a player listed at 7-foot-3. Overall, Pleiss doesn't seem to be able to bang in the paint well enough to play regular minutes in the NBA.
I feel like that's a fair assessment from what I've seen.
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I detest the Chicago Bulls and hate Michael Jordan. As a result, given any opportunity to slightly tarnish their legacy and I take it. (Hence my appreciation for the crying MJ Meme) So there's this pick-up baller who showed up on the courts wearing full-on MJ Bulls gear.
This nigga got the full Jordan everything on lmao pic.twitter.com/gdcr4tnp3r
— WENT VIRAL WHO DIS?! (@J_Hardiman23) July 5, 2016
And the internet had their way with him.
— Trav NEVER Chills (@SKTV_) July 5, 2016
the GOAT pic.twitter.com/OOgWEcIZTX
— made by tim (@MadeByTim) July 5, 2016
NSFW language in this next one:
No team is fucking with the og bulls lineup pic.twitter.com/AAeH5WHYMY
— Kenshin☹ (@trilly_jayy) July 6, 2016
How bad did it get? NBC Sports had to troll him as well.
We gave the guy who played pickup basketball in a full Jordan uniform the NBA on NBC treatment. (via @J_Hardiman23) pic.twitter.com/giWFmxWIVf
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) July 5, 2016
Savage.
Also Michael Jordan sucks.