Training Camp News and Discussion

Mutangclan wrote:

The biggest story for me going into this season is this whole starting lineup thing. Who shows they're ready, what combination the coaches feel works best, and who is going to be our 6/7th men off the bench that are expected to dominate.

If you believe what the DesNews is saying then the lineup I feel would work best to start out AND gives us a cohesive dominant bench as well, is whats going to happen. In the article notice :

* Projected starters

# Projected second unit

in this article: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865563482/Utah-Jazz-Player-by-player-look-at-current-team.html?pg=2


That has Mo/GH/Marv/Fav/Al starting with Burks/Paul/Foye/DC/Kanter as a second unit.

Completely agree that this is the most interesting story line of camp. I'm also interested to hear who creates the "buzz" that always comes out of camp and what kind it is.

Yea, good call. Someone always does that......Im going to guess it's going to be Burks. Some others are probably looked at as expected to do that.


Another good link to get pumped for the season:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWduieqxglg

Anybody know anythinig about Gal Mekel?

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/50101/jazz-impressed-by-israels-mekel

Looks like the Jazz invited him to camp, but he couldn't get in the country, so they sent him back to Israel with an invite for camp next year.

Quinn, Mekel... it seems some dudes at Jazz brass actually saw the offense stalled to death in Watson's hands... for a second I thought I just dreamed about it...

Interview with Mo Williams...links to several others there too.

http://1280thezone.com/index.php/audio/listen/utah_jazz_media_day_mo_williams

The Voice of Reason wrote:

Interview with Mo Williams...links to several others there too.

http://1280thezone.com/index.php/audio/listen/utah_jazz_media_day_mo_williams

Nice interview. It seems like Mo is really excited about the situation here and is really embracing this opportunity to be a key guy again. I hope he can deliver. Also, he had some very favorable comments about Burks during the interview.

The Voice of Reason wrote:

Interview with Mo Williams...links to several others there too.

http://1280thezone.com/index.php/audio/listen/utah_jazz_media_day_mo_williams

Here's the videos, of I believe the same interviews, fron the Jazz website at NBA.com...

http://www.nba.com/jazz/video/playlist/2012-13-media-day.html



For those keeping track at home, the first "buzz" item of this season is definitely Enes Kanters 51 pound summer weight loss and associated adonis-like physique.

TheMagnus wrote:

The Voice of Reason wrote:

Interview with Mo Williams...links to several others there too.

http://1280thezone.com/index.php/audio/listen/utah_jazz_media_day_mo_williams

Here's the videos, of I believe the same interviews, fron the Jazz website at NBA.com...

http://www.nba.com/jazz/video/playlist/2012-13-media-day.html



For those keeping track at home, the first "buzz" item of this season is definitely Enes Kanters 51 pound summer weight loss and associated adonis-like physique.

The other buzz is that everyone came into camp in fantastic shape and as predicted, Corbin is psyched about that. Just think what last year's model did without a training camp, Burks and Kanter starting the season as deer in the headlight rookies. I also liked DC's interview, he's talking like he belongs and expects to play, being the human hustle factor plus he's been working on his jumper. I tell ya, this season is going to have a whole different look in Jazzland and I fully expect that the Jazz coming out of camp are going to be the early "surprise story" in the league.

MTJazz wrote:

TheMagnus wrote:

The Voice of Reason wrote:

Interview with Mo Williams...links to several others there too.

http://1280thezone.com/index.php/audio/listen/utah_jazz_media_day_mo_williams

Here's the videos, of I believe the same interviews, fron the Jazz website at NBA.com...

http://www.nba.com/jazz/video/playlist/2012-13-media-day.html



For those keeping track at home, the first "buzz" item of this season is definitely Enes Kanters 51 pound summer weight loss and associated adonis-like physique.

The other buzz is that everyone came into camp in fantastic shape and as predicted, Corbin is psyched about that. Just think what last year's model did without a training camp, Burks and Kanter starting the season as deer in the headlight rookies. I also liked DC's interview, he's talking like he belongs and expects to play, being the human hustle factor plus he's been working on his jumper. I tell ya, this season is going to have a whole different look in Jazzland and I fully expect that the Jazz coming out of camp are going to be the early "surprise story" in the league.

I agree this is going to be a brave new world for us Jazz fans this season, but I think we are going to have to buckle up for the ride as well. We have a large number of new players who are immediatly important roleplayers who are going to have to be implemented into the system and who will have a major impact on playing time, a tough run to start the season, we are going to have inevitable rotation and playing time teething issues and constant trade rumors. I think we are more likely to be be pleased with out first half of the season, but it will be the second half of the season where we shine, put it all together and be the "surprise story". I think we will be the team no one wants to draw in the first round of the finals, and then a nightmare situation in the second!

Love him or hate him, David Locke is one of the best sources for info on the day to day Jazz stuff.

http://weareutahjazz.com/lockedonjazz/

Here's some clips from his update on yesterdays practice...

Locke wrote:

Last night the Jazz broke into three groups for their contact sessions and played 4 on 4 and 5 on 5. Various pieces of information came out about last night’s sessions today.

The team of Jamaal Tinsey, Gordon Hayward, DeMarre Carroll, Darnell Jackson and Derrick Favors did most of the winning. The other teams were Chris Quinn, Alec Burks, Marvin Williams, Paul Millsap and Enes Kanter on one side and the other was Mo Williams, Randy Foye, Jeremy Evans, Brian Butch and Al Jefferson.

Interesting stuff. Looking at those 3 teams, I'm not sure I would have picked that team to do "most of the winning". I'd probably have gone with the Burks/Millsap/Kanter team.

Locke wrote:

The three players that I heard were most impressive were Jamaal Tinsley, Gordon Hayward and Enes Kanter.

Tyrone Corbin was impressed by Tinsley “Oh man he had a great afternoon yesterday, he really showed once we got into contact how he sees things especially in a crowd he is a such a great passer he is a true point guard, he had a good afternoon yesterday.”

I really like hearing that, having Tinsley play at a higher level would be great for the Jazz this year, as they will probably need him due to inevitable injuries.

Locke wrote:

Corbin also commented about Kanter “He made some jump shots, he is playing well, he is moving really well due to his weight loss”....

...Numerous people talked about Kanter taking and hitting the jump shot. He was better finishing at the rim and he is moving far better. Kanter’s offense wasn’t only the up and under Kanter, he showed more jumpers and went to the middle on occasion as well.

That's good news too. A lot of people wondering if he could actualy shoot or if that was just a myth. Be interesting to see how different his play is this year compared to last year.

Locke wrote:

[Corbin also commented about] Hayward “Gordon had a good afternoon, he really attacked yesterday, his body seems to come back, he had a good afternoon.”

Hayward was the best player on the floor according to some accounts, but still played in the Hayward style of being inside the game.

I'm not sure what "his body seems to come back" or "being inside his game" really means, but I'm telling you guys, everybody is all pumped for Favors, but Gordon is poised to have a big breakout year.

So with JT playing so well, where does that leave Watson? He is probably going to be the 3rd or 4th options at point, depending on if they play Foye some at the point.

Romoholic wrote:

So with JT playing so well, where does that leave Watson? He is probably going to be the 3rd or 4th options at point, depending on if they play Foye some at the point.

Earl (the one that went public about talking to his agent because Tinsley fairly won his spot... remember?) should be the 4th PG option when he comes back from injury; MoWill, Tinsley, Foye are really ahead of him... hey even Quinn should find it not very hard to pass over him in a rotation...

I think it will be in everybody's best interest to try and find a way to trade him before season's tip-off...

outerspacefan wrote:

Romoholic wrote:

So with JT playing so well, where does that leave Watson? He is probably going to be the 3rd or 4th options at point, depending on if they play Foye some at the point.

Earl (the one that went public about talking to his agent because Tinsley fairly won his spot... remember?) should be the 4th PG option when he comes back from injury; MoWill, Tinsley, Foye are really ahead of him... hey even Quinn should find it not very hard to pass over him in a rotation...

I think it will be in everybody's best interest to try and find a way to trade him before season's tip-off...

Totally agree with you there, but I don't think he gets traded, mostly because he has negative trade value.

Besides, Earl is the only one of the 4 PG we have on the roster that has played more than 70 games in the last 5 seasons, and he's hurt right now, so in all likelihood at least one of them will be unable to play on any given night. Having a little extra backup for this crew might end up being a necessity.

TheMagnus wrote:

outerspacefan wrote:

Romoholic wrote:

So with JT playing so well, where does that leave Watson? He is probably going to be the 3rd or 4th options at point, depending on if they play Foye some at the point.

Earl (the one that went public about talking to his agent because Tinsley fairly won his spot... remember?) should be the 4th PG option when he comes back from injury; MoWill, Tinsley, Foye are really ahead of him... hey even Quinn should find it not very hard to pass over him in a rotation...

I think it will be in everybody's best interest to try and find a way to trade him before season's tip-off...

Totally agree with you there, but I don't think he gets traded, mostly because he has negative trade value.

Besides, Earl is the only one of the 4 PG we have on the roster that has played more than 70 games in the last 5 seasons, and he's hurt right now, so in all likelihood at least one of them will be unable to play on any given night. Having a little extra backup for this crew might end up being a necessity.

Not to mention that Earl adds toughness that I still think this team needs. (See Dirk vs Favors last year.) As long as Earl plays nice as more of a veteran presence than an on the court leader (since he probably won't be on the court much) then I still like what he can add to the team.

zero24gravity wrote:

Not to mention that Earl adds toughness that I still think this team needs. (See Dirk vs Favors last year.) As long as Earl plays nice as more of a veteran presence than an on the court leader (since he probably won't be on the court much) then I still like what he can add to the team.

Ya, I think we will get much more toughness and leadership out of our starting PG this year, but agree that if he accepts that role even when he's not playing he has some value. Funny thing is that Tinsley was reportedly great in that way last year as well....so, apparently all of our veteran leadership and toughness will be coming form our PG's?

TheMagnus wrote:

zero24gravity wrote:

Not to mention that Earl adds toughness that I still think this team needs. (See Dirk vs Favors last year.) As long as Earl plays nice as more of a veteran presence than an on the court leader (since he probably won't be on the court much) then I still like what he can add to the team.

Ya, I think we will get much more toughness and leadership out of our starting PG this year, but agree that if he accepts that role even when he's not playing he has some value. Funny thing is that Tinsley was reportedly great in that way last year as well....so, apparently all of our veteran leadership and toughness will be coming form our PG's?

Ya Watson add's toughness and leadership to the Jazz but he also has shown that if he don't get his way he can be a crybaby, that's what happened last season when Tinsley was playing ahead of him and that's something the Jazz can do without IMO. His trade value might be low right now because of him coming back from injure but after he is back the Jazz should not have any trouble finding a team to trade him to because of the way he has played in the last 2 season with the Jazz coming off of the bench. The Jazz are overloaded at the PG position and if they have to get rid of a player to make room for anothre need they have it would be Watson that i would let go or trade.

I would like to see the Jazz trade both Bell and Watson for a guy that could fill the need the Jazz has for a big in case of injure to one of the 4 guys they have playing the C/PF positions. They both where unhappy with thngs last season and they both talked about it to the media and the Jazz don't need guys like that and are better off without them I think anyway.

dongibby wrote:

TheMagnus wrote:

zero24gravity wrote:

Not to mention that Earl adds toughness that I still think this team needs. (See Dirk vs Favors last year.) As long as Earl plays nice as more of a veteran presence than an on the court leader (since he probably won't be on the court much) then I still like what he can add to the team.

Ya, I think we will get much more toughness and leadership out of our starting PG this year, but agree that if he accepts that role even when he's not playing he has some value. Funny thing is that Tinsley was reportedly great in that way last year as well....so, apparently all of our veteran leadership and toughness will be coming form our PG's?

Ya Watson add's toughness and leadership to the Jazz but he also has shown that if he don't get his way he can be a crybaby, that's what happened last season when Tinsley was playing ahead of him and that's something the Jazz can do without IMO. His trade value might be low right now because of him coming back from injure but after he is back the Jazz should not have any trouble finding a team to trade him to because of the way he has played in the last 2 season with the Jazz coming off of the bench. The Jazz are overloaded at the PG position and if they have to get rid of a player to make room for anothre need they have it would be Watson that i would let go or trade.

I would like to see the Jazz trade both Bell and Watson for a guy that could fill the need the Jazz has for a big in case of injure to one of the 4 guys they have playing the C/PF positions. They both where unhappy with thngs last season and they both talked about it to the media and the Jazz don't need guys like that and are better off without them I think anyway.

I think any discussion that anything of value could be obtained for Bell and/or Watson is dreaming.
I'm pretty sure the reason Bell hasn't come to an agreement on a buyout is because nobody wants him at the vet minimum, so a buyout would be just like giving away over a million dollars, and that aint gonna happen. Watson is a career jouneyman, over 30, and coming off major knee surgery, it's unlikely he would even be able to find a roster spot for the league minimum, much less the over $2 million he's getting paid this year. They quite litterally have negative trade value, so the only thing they could possibly be good for is as a throw in to a deal for other players to make the salaries work out. They are like walking talking trade exceptions, only less valuable because whoever you trade them to still has to pay them.


The thing about the bigs is that we really are three deep at both PF and C. People talk about the big 4, but they forget that Evans and Marvin can both play PF, so with Jefferson Kanter and Favors all being legit PF/C, and Millsap, Williams, and Evans all legit SF/PF, there really is no lack of depth there. In fact, I'd say that makes our injury prone pool of PG's look a little shallow by comparison.

So who is going to the scrimmage tomorrow? I'm taking the kiddos, So if anyone wants to meet up let me know.

Romoholic wrote:

So who is going to the scrimmage tomorrow? I'm taking the kiddos, So if anyone wants to meet up let me know.

Wish I could, but I do expect a full player by player breakdown of what you see no later than close of business Monday.

Romoholic wrote:

So who is going to the scrimmage tomorrow? I'm taking the kiddos, So if anyone wants to meet up let me know.

I'll be there with my older boy. Not sure if I'm going with anyone else yet. I've got a few indecisive answers from buddies of mine.

Hey guys this is zoonie my account didn't auto log in and I forgot my password so I had to make a new account. Anyways I can't go to the scrimmage today because I have to work so I'm countin on you guys to give us some awesome updates on how the jazz are looking. Thanks and I look forward to the update posts

[quote="zero24gravity"]

Romoholic wrote:

So who is going to the scrimmage tomorrow? I'm taking the kiddos, So if anyone wants to meet up let me know.[/quoteor

I'll be there with my older boy. Not sure if I'm going with anyone else yet. I've got a few indecisive answers from buddies of mine.

Romo, looks like it'll be just me and the boy. When are u planing on getting there? I'm thinking about taking Trax, so I don't have to deal with the masses that will parking downtown for both the scrimmage and fr the whole general conference thing.

[quote="zero24gravity"]

zero24gravity wrote:

Romoholic wrote:

So who is going to the scrimmage tomorrow? I'm taking the kiddos, So if anyone wants to meet up let me know.[/quoteor

I'll be there with my older boy. Not sure if I'm going with anyone else yet. I've got a few indecisive answers from buddies of mine.

Romo, looks like it'll be just me and the boy. When are u planing on getting there? I'm thinking about taking Trax, so I don't have to deal with the masses that will parking downtown for both the scrimmage and fr the whole general conference thing.

Wasn't able to go. Got up this morning and the wife and all the kids were puking. Sucks ass.

So, since I appear to be the only TRUE Jazz fan, who actually went to this scrimmage ......

Half the time I was there I kept thinking to myself that I should have brought a note pad & pen so I can take notes for ya'all.

Here's a quick rundown of what caught my eye:

It opened with Q&A with David Locke, who's answer to almost every question was along the lines of; "Uh, I don't know", or "that's a tough question, I don't know how to answer", or "it's too tough to tell". Honestly, it was pretty pointless and I would have much rather watched the Jazz dancers & Bear entertain for 30 minutes than listen to Locke's rambling. The only thing of value that I heard from him is that Raja is not with the team & won't be playing for the team this year. He said that Raja is "somewhere else, maybe Miami, I don't know". But also said that it doesn't look like there will be a buy-out. He also briefly spoke about Earl's injury, saying he was almost ready to get on the court. Earl was there & went through a lot of the warm-up drills, but did not play in the scrimmage.

Next thing that stuck out was that Kanter is a clown & showed WAY more outgoing personality than all the other Jazzmen combined. He messed around with Bear, did his anual "rookie dance" (since he didn't do it last year due to the lockout), along with Murphy. He also clowned with the vets quite a bit during the Q&A with each player via D.Locke.

During the Locke Q&A with each player, Millsap got the longest & loudest ovation, followed by Al, then Gordon, Favors & Mo. Watson, suprisingly, got a pretty warm welcome as well.

They then went through about 15 minutes of warm up excercises, stretching & pregame drills. <yawn>

The game was Blue vs. White

But wait .... WTF? Mo Williams, who has warmed up the entire time isn't getting off the bench for the game! No announcement, nothing. Is he hurt? Tired? What?

Ugh, and now I notice that Big Al has some kind of heat/ice packs strapped to his lower back & it's obvious he's not playing either. So Al hurt himself while warming up & stetching? Crap! BTW, both players warmed up in Blue jersey's.

Ok, here's the teams (as best as I remember)....

Blue Team:
B.Butch
J.Evans
R.Foye
D.Jackson
A.Jefferson
P.Millsap
K.Murphy
J.Tinsley
Mo Williams
Ma.Williams

White Team:
A.Burks
D.Carroll
T.Gilder
D.Favors
G.Hayward
E.Kanter
C.Quinn

I'm assuming someone switched teams when Al & Mo were no-go's. The game was two 12 minute halfs.

First play of the game; Favors misses a jumper, grabs his own board, get's fouled by Paul & finishes "and 1", plus makes the free throw. A couple minutes later he finishes another 3 point play, and then pretty much did nothing until a nice baseline spin move late in the 2nd half. Really didn't make a difference in the game. I was hoping for more, but in his defense, the defensive intesity was low. It wasn't "All-Star game low", but it was obvious that these guys wanted to make sure they didn't hurt their buddies on the other team. The games low defensive intesity diminished Derricks effectiveness IMO.

Side note: Young, blonde, female ref. Bear chased her around all game long ... even during live play. She seemed to be out to make a point or something, cause there were far too many whistles for this kind of game.

Millsap looked good right out of the gate. He was playing hard, made a couple shots, grabbed a couple boards. But he left about 9 minutes into the game & never came back in. He was on the bench & looked available, so I'm assuming it was like in the NFL where they only play the QB for 2 series & then pull 'em out in the preseason.

Hayward was GREAT. He looked like he was in a league of his own out there. Like the 9th grader playing with 7th graders. We was getting to the rim, hit a 3, made some nice passes & really looked like he could get anywhere he wanted out there. To me, he was the obvious stand out.

Marvin showed some nice athletisism. Had a great ally-oop finish & another strong dunk. His J didn't fall though.

B.Butch didn't show any of that outside, stretch-big that he is supposed to be. He missed a couple shots & passed up on a wide open three.

Carroll had the block of the game, swatting a Foye floater into the stands. He also dove into the second row going after a loose ball. Outside of those 2 plays, I didn't even notice him, but those 2 plays are pretty standard for the way he plays..... hard.

Tinsley obviously sees the floor way better than the other PG's out there & runs the offense better (Quinn, Burks, Foye).

D.Jackson got a lot of PT since Al was out. He looked ok as a bruiser. Dude knows how to do one thing really well.... foul! He had 5 fouls in the short game.

Gilder reminds me a little of Tayshaun Prince. Just saying.

K.Murphy showed what he's all about. Shooting. Hit his first 3 three's, including one bank shot with a defender in his face as the shot clock expired. He also hit a three at the buzzer to finish 4-5 from deep.

Kanter, Kanter, Kanter. He DEFINITELY is more mobile. There is an obvious hop in his step and a much quicker bounce off the floor. He looks really good. Dunking at least 3 times, and more decisive moves with the ball. Still held it a little too long in the post a couple times though. Enes hit a jumper or two as well. He even had a Favors-like block against the backboard.

Burks, Evans, Foye & others were just "there". I was really wanting for Burks to come out and assert himself, but it didn't happen. He played a lot more PG than SG, so maybe that had something to do with it. On the other hand, Foye only played a little bit of PG. It really didn't look to me like the Jazz are using him at PG right now.

The game was tied 55-55 with about 1:20 left. Hayward found Burks in the corner for a three to put them up. After a miss by the Blue team, Hayward came down & scored, which wrapped it up. Murphy hit that last three to make it a 60-58 White team win.

To conclude; Hayward was the most impressive, Paul was great in his short stint, Kanter stood out, & Murphy also made a positive impression.

The End

Thanks for the run-down Zero, great work.

Chad Ford from ESPN was at the game, he tweeted the following...

Quote :

Chad Ford ‏@chadfordinsider
"Kanter missing lots of reads on defense, but he's running the floor and finishing. Playing hard and looks like he's in great shape."

Chad Ford ‏@chadfordinsider
"Jazz trying Alec Burks at the point. So far ... pretty shaky. Jamaal Tinsley making it hard on him."

Chad Ford ‏@chadfordinsider
"Derrick Favors ' Gordon Hayward looking sharp and aggressive in 1st half. Jazz feel time spent with US Select team this summer was huge"