推 CarlosBoozer:Short Shorts .. (意味不明?) 12/26 16:22
→ kreen:XD 12/26 16:54
推 xjazz:因為那個人所以被冠上anti-NBA 12/26 18:02
→ xjazz:NBA=那個人 12/26 18:02
Utah is all Jazzed up again
By Joe Stevens, Columnist
Article Last Updated: 12/24/2006 12:25:29 AM PST
The Utah Jazz plays team basketball. The Jazz doesn't necessarily have one
go-to guy to turn to at the end of games, and Utah plays hard, regardless of
the score.
Knowing that, the big question about the Jazz is: Should it really be in the
NBA?
The Jazz eschews the type of self-centered, "I'm rich and you're not"
attitude that some players adopt. So far, Utah is playing as well as anyone
and again looks like a force just their four seasons removed from the John
Stockton-Karl Malone days.
Nevertheless, Utah's veteran coach, Jerry Sloan ─ described recently in the
Salt Lake Tribune as "the old grouch," ─ is far from jumping for joy.
"I need to see who we are," Sloan said. "I don't know how we're going to be
when we play out on the road when it's back-to-back games on the road. I think
it's unfair to say we're up here, or we're down here. I think time will tell."
My theory is that Sloan helps perpetuate the "anti-NBA" attitude because he's
been with the Jazz so long and throughout all of his 19 seasons, his teams
have always been exceptionally unselfish and successful, despite lacking flash.
One common saying is that teams often take on the personality of their coaches,
so an important question is if the Jazz have one big roster of grouches.
Those close to Sloan, however, say he is not an old grouch at all, and he
just presents that personality because he hates attention.
Earlier this month, he collected his 1,000th career victory, and when asked
about it, he refused to take any credit. When I suggested to him that it
would be OK to be proud of his achievement, he practically shrugged.
"This is a players' game," he said. "It's always been a players' game, as long
as I've been around. What I've done has nothing to do with it, other than the
fact that every team has to have a coach, and I happen to be that guy."
When I reiterated that he had to have something to do with the Jazz's success,
he answered, "Not really. We've always had good players. I've been blessed
with great players for 18 years."
He then explained that something else that made Stockton and Malone so
impressive was that they were hardly ever injured, and that is true.
And that same reason, health, has helped put Utah where it is this season.
To many outside of Salt Lake City, it might seem that the Jazz ─ all of a
sudden ─ is a contender. But Utah has slowly been putting together a strong
roster since Short Shorts (Stockton) and the Mailman (Malone) retired.
That all-of-a-sudden feeling comes from Carlos Boozer being healthy and Deron
Williams emerging. Williams and Boozer, by the way, happen to play point
guard and power forward, respectively, as did Stockton and Malone.
Boozer missed the first 49 games last season with a strained left hamstring
but has been healthy this season.
With former All-Star Andrei Kirilenko at small forward, Mehmet Okur as a
solid center, Matt Harpring as a perpetually underrated contributor and
depth, the Jazz should, at the bare minimum, be a playoff team.
Utah also could do some damage in the postseason, but the Jazz won't attract
much attention because of its style of play ─ and the fact that it plays in
Salt Lake City.
"Yeah, I think we fly under the radar ─ but not in the eyes of NBA players
and NBA people that know basketball," Harpring said. "People that know
basketball know about our team, but fans and the average American, maybe not."
Another interesting fact about the Jazz is that it has the most second-round
picks of any NBA team ─ seven. Boozer is one of them, and he was asked if
second-round picks all have chips on their shoulders.
"I do," he said. "You got to talk the rest of them, but I definitely do.
I got something to prove every night."
The Jazz concluded its first long trip of the season, a five-gamer, and still
has an impressive record.
Expect Utah to remain a "forgotten" team throughout the season, but expect
the Jazz to continue to rack up the victories.
"The good thing is I don't think we really worry about the outside right now,"
Harpring said. "I've been on teams where you can get caught up in that type
of hype, reading your headlines and what you're doing right and wrong. I don't
think we have a team like that."
All-Star second-rounders: Second-round picks have non-guaranteed contracts,
so any player that makes it in the NBA these day as a second-rounder or an
undrafted player has to be considered a steal. Boozer certainly is, even
though he had a well-publicized college career at Duke.
An All-Star team of second-round picks and undrafted players thriving in
the NBA could be: Gilbert Arenas, Michael Redd, Manu Ginobili, Boozer and
Ben Wallace (undrafted).
...
... 文章後段在談丹佛, 故略。
http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_4894307
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