Jazz get their man in Rice's Almond

[RonnieBrewer (Reverse Layup)]

Jazz get their man in Rice's Almond

Friday, June 29, 2007 1:28 PM CDT
Chuck Nunn/Jazz Session

Like a lot of people, I hate being wrong. But with the Utah Jazz selecting
Rice's Morris Almond at No. 25, it's one of the few occasions where I'm
ecstatic to be wrong.

In my mock draft, I had Almond going to Philadelphia at No. 21. Instead, the
Sixers picked Ohio State's Daequan Cook and swapped him with the Heat for
Jason Smith, who was just one pick higher. Not sure why they did that, unless
Miami wanted to save a little money on Cook.

But however it worked out that Almond fell into Utah's lap, nobody among the
team's brass was complaining.

"He's a guy who looks like he can really shoot the basketball," Jazz coach
Jerry Sloan said. "We feel like that's something our team needs. He has one
great skill."

Almond, the 6-6, 215-pound shooting guard out of Rice, is the kind of shooter
that Utah hasn't had at the off-guard spot since Jeff Hornacek. His 26.4 points
per game average was third nationally among NCAA Division I teams. And I'm
sure there are plenty of people in Salt Lake City who remember Almond torching
the Utah Runnin' Utes for 42 points on Nov. 25 in a losing effort for the Owls.

In Utah's offensive system of cuts and screens, Almond will be a perfect fit,
as he moves very well without the ball and is perhaps most effective shooting
off screens.

"If you shoot the basketball and make open shots, we think we can get open
shots for him," Sloan said. "We've got guys who can help him get open shots."

His strength should be an asset as other guards won't be able to post him up
on defense, and he can still add more muscle without sacrificing any mobility.

"His size can be a factor," Sloan said. "I think he can post up some inside
as a two guard."

That muscle is accompanied by good offensive body control. Although he's not
a superior athlete, Almond finishes well with contact and is able to draw in
opponents with his pump fakes, which helps him get to the free throw line,
where he shot nearly 85 percent as a senior for the Owls.

Almond is also a great rebounder for a guard, having led Rice in that category
as a senior with 6.6 boards per game, and he has a good head for the game, 
both facts that did not go unnoticed by Jazz vice president of basketball
operations Kevin O'Connor.

"He passes the ball pretty well and he averaged over six rebounds a game,"
O'Connor reiterated. "Those were the things that attracted us when we watched
him play in person and when we also watched him play on tape. Some of those
things were impressive to us."

Almond's biggest weakness may be on defense, where his lack of great athletic
ability may be a liability at first. But if he can improve on keeping his man
in front of him and work on better defensive rotations, he should be fine.

"You can probably criticize all of them from start to finish as far as
defense is concerned," Sloan said. "Hopefully, he's a guy that can work at
it. That's like anybody we pick ─ it doesn't make a difference. We have
hopes for them, but they have to come in and be able to do the work."

I was also similarly pleased to be wrong about Utah's pick at No. 55, as the
Jazz landed Providence big man Herbert Hill, who I expected to go much higher
in the second round.

Hill, at 6-10 and 240 pounds, had a breakout season for the Friars as a
senior, averaging 18.1 points per game, 8.8 rebounds per game and 2.9 blocks
per game. While he's considered to be somewhat lacking in strength, he's very
athletic and is a good finesse scorer, possessing very good hands and a
variety of post moves.

While he is a bit of a project at this point, Utah will likely see any
investment in him pay off down the line.

Barring any unexpected maneuvers, both players should be on hand for Utah's
Reebok Rocky Mountain Revue in July.

Of course, now that the focus of the offseason moves toward free agency and
trade possibilities, O'Connor, Sloan and the rest of Jazz management will be
very active throughout the summer.

""We're trying to get a couple free agents right now, making some phone
calls," O'Connor said.

But as Draft Night drew to a close, O'Connor felt confident that Utah got
its man in the first round.

"We were fortunate that some of the guys taken ahead of us were people that
we weren't positive would go ahead or not go ahead of us," he said. "I felt
like we got somebody that we felt pretty good about. I think we got a little
lucky as far as we're concerned. Time will tell."

Contact South Idaho Press sports editor Chuck Nunn at
[e-mail] or blog this column at www.southidahopress.com. 


http://www.southidahopress.com/articles/2007/06/29/sports/local/1jazzsess.txt 

--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) 
◆ From: 219.135.156.220
→ kreen:
→ RonnieBrewer:後半段可省略不看.....
推 gratitude:我連前半段也省略了