The preseason is now underway. The Jazz started their preseason on Wednesday, falling 90-81 to the Milwaukee Bucks. Go here for the box score. Here are my observations:
1. The shooting guard picture is far from settled, but Ronnie Brewer is the front-runner in my opinion.
2. Morris Almond will be a very valuable asset to the Jazz. He won't make a huge impact this year unless injuries become an issue, but he's got a bright future. If he focuses on his defense in particular, he'll be in the league a long time.
3. Kyrylo Fesenko is the type of player the NBDL was created for. Fess has potential for sure, but the D-League will be great for him.
4. The game was sloppy, which is to be expected as the first preseason game. Hopefully things will look better over the next few games.
5. AK-47 is still capable of putting up great numbers with the Jazz. He looked good last night doing a little bit of everything. He needs to keep it up all year.
Tonight the Jazz will be squaring off against the Pistons at 5:30 P.M. Mountain time. The game isn't televised or on radio, but if you go to utahjazz.com and look at the calendar section, there's a link that allows you to listen to it online. I'll probably just read about it tomorrow, but if my wife isn't home by the time the game starts I'll try to catch some of it live.
I'll try to post twice next week. I look forward to any comments. Until later.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Friday, October 5, 2007
Fantasy Basketball and Training Camp
Let's talk fantasy basketball. More specifically, let's talk about the Utah Jazz and fantasy basketball. For anyone not familiar with fantasy basketball, here are the basics. Things can vary from league to league. First, you sign up, and a draft is held. That can be done live online or just done by the system when the league is full. You have a chance to pre-rank players to help determine who's on your team. Once you have your team (the exact number of players varies) and the season starts, the teams in your fantasy league are ranked according to the statistics compiled by the players on their respective teams. For me, one fantasy basketball question that must be answered each year is: What Jazz player(s) will I have on my team? I always like to have at least one Jazz player on each of my fantasy teams each year.
This year I have two teams in two separate leagues run by Yahoo. On the Egomaniacs, my Jazz representative is Carlos Boozer. I know he'll do well for me. On WJ Wamboozle, I was in a live draft and I was able to snag Deron Williams and Paul Millsap. I expect good production from them. Here is a page listing Jazz player fantasy rankings according to nba.com. Yahoo and other sites have varying rankings. My last comment is that in both the Yahoo and NBA.com rankings, Chris Paul is ranked ahead of Deron Williams. Every analyst in the world is making excuses for Chris Paul's season last year. He was playing hurt, sure, but it's ridiculous to me that he's ranked as far ahead of Deron as he is. But they'll definitely be compared to each other their whole careers.
Now on to training camp. Things have a little unusual in that Carlos Boozer hasn't been there since he's still in Miami awaiting his son's discharge from the hospital. Also, until last night, Deron Williams hadn't participated in any practices after having his wisdom teeth removed on Friday. Other than that, everybody's just been working out and getting ready for the season. Kyrylo Fesenko is trying to adjust to differences in NBA and international rules. The Jazz have again enlisted the help of Jeff Hornacek to work with Andrei Kirilenko. However, in this case, he won't only be working with AK. Hornacek has signed on as a part-time coach to work with different players on their shooting. He's starting with AK but will work with others as well. He'll meet up with the team a couple of times a week. The key factor in his being able to take this position is that all of his kids are out of elementary school and he's more flexible. I'm grateful he's with the Jazz on a part-time basis, expecially considering he could easily have ended up doing something with the Suns, living in Phoenix and all.
Finally, Saturday's 10:30 A.M. practice at the Taco Bell Arena is open to the public. So if you live near Boise or have the chance to make the trip, it could be fun. That's all for now. I'll be back next week with the latest combination of my opinions and Jazz news.
CAN YOU FEEL THE ANTICIPATION??!!
This year I have two teams in two separate leagues run by Yahoo. On the Egomaniacs, my Jazz representative is Carlos Boozer. I know he'll do well for me. On WJ Wamboozle, I was in a live draft and I was able to snag Deron Williams and Paul Millsap. I expect good production from them. Here is a page listing Jazz player fantasy rankings according to nba.com. Yahoo and other sites have varying rankings. My last comment is that in both the Yahoo and NBA.com rankings, Chris Paul is ranked ahead of Deron Williams. Every analyst in the world is making excuses for Chris Paul's season last year. He was playing hurt, sure, but it's ridiculous to me that he's ranked as far ahead of Deron as he is. But they'll definitely be compared to each other their whole careers.
Now on to training camp. Things have a little unusual in that Carlos Boozer hasn't been there since he's still in Miami awaiting his son's discharge from the hospital. Also, until last night, Deron Williams hadn't participated in any practices after having his wisdom teeth removed on Friday. Other than that, everybody's just been working out and getting ready for the season. Kyrylo Fesenko is trying to adjust to differences in NBA and international rules. The Jazz have again enlisted the help of Jeff Hornacek to work with Andrei Kirilenko. However, in this case, he won't only be working with AK. Hornacek has signed on as a part-time coach to work with different players on their shooting. He's starting with AK but will work with others as well. He'll meet up with the team a couple of times a week. The key factor in his being able to take this position is that all of his kids are out of elementary school and he's more flexible. I'm grateful he's with the Jazz on a part-time basis, expecially considering he could easily have ended up doing something with the Suns, living in Phoenix and all.
Finally, Saturday's 10:30 A.M. practice at the Taco Bell Arena is open to the public. So if you live near Boise or have the chance to make the trip, it could be fun. That's all for now. I'll be back next week with the latest combination of my opinions and Jazz news.
CAN YOU FEEL THE ANTICIPATION??!!
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Coming Soon....
Well, I haven't posted in a while. I've been a little busy, but that's not much of an excuse. I am currently preparing for my fantasy basketball draft that starts in about ninety minutes. Once it's over, I'll post about that, where Jazz players are ranked on several fantasy basketball sites, and the latest from the Jazz training camp in Boise. Stay tuned.
Edit: Well, hours have gone by and I haven't updated. I sincerely apologize. It's been a very stressful day with many unforseen events going on. I'll do my best to post again tomorrow, October 5. Sorry again.
Edit: Well, hours have gone by and I haven't updated. I sincerely apologize. It's been a very stressful day with many unforseen events going on. I'll do my best to post again tomorrow, October 5. Sorry again.
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