Okur Makes His Case

[RonnieBrewer (急凍人布魯爾)]

Okur Makes His Case
By  Travis Heath
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Feb 5, 2007, 00:30 

Mehmet Okur has made his case and you can consider this writer convinced.
Yes, your friendly neighborhood columnist has made a case for Denver's
Marcus Camby in recent days, but after Okur's heroics Saturday night, how can
comissoner David Stern -- or anyone else for that matter -- overlook the man
they call Memo?

While such a notion might sound silly to fans who don't follow the Jazz, is
there another player in the Association who has been more clutch this season
than Okur?  Maybe Gilbert Arenas -- who of course beat the Jazz on Martin
Luther King Day with his late game heorics -- but that is the only name which
comes to mind.

Not only that, but you have to consider the context of Okur's effort Saturday.

First, as he told media before the game, Okur believes someone from the Jazz
should get the All Star nod because of the team's outstanding record.  What
this means is whether or not he will get named an All Star is something that
was in his consciousness, meaning Saturday night was essentially a chance for
Okur to state his case to Stern and anyone else who would listen.  Such
pressure causes some players to press and ultimately struggle (see Anthony,
Carmelo).  For Okur, though, all it did was give him another reason to once
again rise to the occassion.

As if a 29 point and 12 rebound effort wasn't convincing enough, once you
consider Saturday night's competition, the magnitude of what Okur was able to
do really becomes magnified.

The Jazz beat the Phoenix Suns 108-105 last night.  Yes, the same Phoenix
Suns team that won like a gazillion games in a row before having their streak
stopped last week in Minnesota.  Not only that, but the game was in Phoenix.
Point being, Okur made his case against the NBA's best.

As if that wasn't already enough, Okur was able to knock down the game
clinching shot under duress in the closing seconds of the game, something he
has done numerous times this season already.

Oh yeah, Okur and the Jazz also did this with Carlos Boozer on the shelf.

Take it from me -- someone who has tried to make a case for other players --
Okur has proven to be more than a worthy candidate for this year's All Star
squad.  Let's just hope Stern and company have been paying attention.

Melo Has Much Love For Boozer

As of Sunday night, David Stern hadn't yet announced who will replace Yao
Ming and Carlos Boozer on the Western Conference squad amid rumblings that
Boozer still believes he might be healthy in time to play in the game.
If indeed Boozer is healthy enough to run in Vegas, count Denver's Carmelo
Anthony among those who believe Boozer has earned the right.

"Well, Boozer deserves to be (an All Star).  Starting off at the beginning
of the season Utah had the best record in the NBA.  So I really think he
deserves to be in it.  He was a big factor for all of those wins they were
getting."

If Boozer does play in the game, though, it could very well mean that Melo
will once again be at home during All Star weekend.  Of course when you look
at Utah's record of 31-17 and compare it to Denver's mark of 23-22 heading
into play Monday night, it's hard to make an argument against the equity of
such a scenario.


Newslines

Basketball News Services: "The Phoenix Suns trio of two-time Most Valuable
Player Steve Nash, Shawn Marion and Amare' Stoudemire lead the list of 14
players that have been selected by the coaches as reserves for the 2007 NBA
All-Star Game which will be played on Sunday, Feb. 18 at Thomas & Mack Center
in Las Vegas. Joining the three Suns as Western Conference reserves are
first-time All-Star forward Carlos Boozer of the Utah Jazz, Allen Iverson of
the Denver Nuggets, Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks and Tony Parker of
the San Antonio Spurs."
http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_20656.shtml 

Denver Post: "NBA commissioner David Stern, however, has two roster spots to
fill because of injuries to Houston center Yao Ming and Utah forward Carlos
Boozer ... Anthony and Dallas forward Josh Howard seem to be front-runners
for the two openings. NBA spokesman Tim Frank said there is "no timetable"
for an announcement. Candidates also include Camby, Clippers forward Elton
Brand and Utah guard Deron Williams and center Mehmet Okur. "
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_5140590 


                       原文連結 http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_20699.shtml 

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