The AP reports: It was only a matter of time, and now Michael Jordan is in the Hall of Fame. Jordan was elected to the class of 2009 Monday with David Robinson, John Stockton, Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan and Rutgers women’s coach C. Vivian Stringer. The announcement was made in Detroit, site of the men’s Final Four. Induction is Sept. 10-12 in Springfield, Mass., home of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Jordan’s Hall of Fame selection was a slam dunk after he retired as perhaps the greatest player in history.
Category: Utah Jazz Blog
Jazz basketball blog – Utah Jazz blog
D-Will hits 8-of-10, Jazz beat Hornets 108-94
The AP reports: Ronnie Brewer scored 23 points, and Utah earned a spot in the postseason while completing a convincing season sweep of the New Orleans Hornets with a 108-94 victory on Sunday night. “It’s a great way to start this road trip, give us a lot of confidence and realize that if we play like that every night, we can beat anybody,” said Jazz guard Deron Williams, who had 21 points and 11 assists… David West had 23 points and 12 rebounds for New Orleans, which could have clinched a playoff spot with a victory, but instead lost its second straight game. Chris Paul had 19 points and 12 assists, but also had four turnovers and was limited by foul trouble… Andrei Kirilenko, starting for Utah because C.J. Miles was out with a dislocated left index finger, scored 16 points.
Timberwolves end 9-game road losing streak, beat Jazz 103-102
The AP reports: Minnesota ended a nine-game road losing streak and dealt a crushing setback to Utah’s diminishing homes for home-court advantage in the playoffs. Although the Timberwolves are lottery-bound once again this summer, they showed how they can still rattle the postseason seedings by beating the Jazz 103-102 on Friday night, ending Utah’s 15-game home winning streak. “I think we put a little shock in their plans,” said Rodney Carney, who scored 10 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter. Ryan Gomes also scored 25 points, and Mike Miller had 14 points and nine rebounds for Minnesota, which outrebounded Utah 42-28… Deron Williams finished with 34 points and 11 assists, but missed a shot at the buzzer that would have won it for the Jazz… Kyle Korver scored 19 points for Utah, and Andrei Kirilenko had 13, going 6-for-7 from the floor and blocking three shots, but Mehmet Okur was the only Utah starter other than Williams to reach double figures, finishing with 11.
Smith leads Nuggets past Jazz for 50th win
The AP reports: The Denver Nuggets reached 50 wins faster than any time in their NBA history Thursday night, when J.R. Smith sank eight 3-pointers and scored 28 points in a 114-104 victory against the Utah Jazz. Smith had 21 points in 15 minutes in the first half, helping turn an 11-point deficit into a 54-43 halftime lead that Denver never surrendered against a team that’s lost six of its last seven road games. Smith’s eight 3-pointers tied a career high, and was one shy of the franchise mark set by Michael Adams in 1991 and tied four years later by Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. Carmelo Anthony added 23 points for the Nuggets, who are seeking home-court advantage in a playoff series for the first time since 1988. They won for the 10th time in 11 games and improved to 50-26… C.J. Miles led six Jazz in double figures with 19 points.
Blazers rout Jazz in key Northwest matchup
The AP reports: Portland routed Utah 125-104 on Tuesday, winning its third consecutive game by at least 20 points. The Blazers (47-27) blitzed the Jazz with torrid shooting, hitting a season-high 61.6 percent (47-of-76) from the field… LaMarcus Aldridge hit 10 of 16 shots, while Brandon Roy made 10 of 14 shots and had 25 points and handed out a season-high 11 assists. Six Portland players scored in double figures… Carlos Boozer, who led the Jazz with 20 points, and Portland’s Joel Przybilla were ejected after receiving consecutive offsetting technical fouls in the third quarter. Two minutes later, Utah coach Jerry Sloan, outraged over a foul call, joined Boozer in the locker room after he was hit with a pair of technicals.
Williams, Boozer shine, Jazz beat Knicks 112-104
The AP reports: Utah led by 24 early in the fourth quarter, but for the second game in a row watched a big lead slowly erode into a deficit… Deron Williams had 24 points and 13 assists and Carlos Boozer added 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Jazz, who are becoming consistent in some very bad ways… Al Harrington scored 24 to lead the Knicks before getting ejected with two technicals for arguing a foul call with 22 seconds left… David Lee had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Nate Robinson and Jared Jeffries scored 11 each for the Knicks. Paul Millsap had 12 points and seven rebounds and Ronnie Brewer scored 17 for the Jazz, who survived another defensive collapse.
Okur scores 26, Jazz rally past Suns in OT
The AP reports: Deron Williams scored seven of his 21 points in overtime, and the Utah Jazz rallied for a 104-99 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday, blowing a 21-point, third-quarter lead before tying it with a frenzied comeback at the end of regulation. Williams also had 13 assists and scored Utah’s last four points during a 9-2 run to close the fourth quarter and force overtime with the game tied at 90. Williams only had one field goal in OT, but was 5-for-5 from the foul line and made all nine of his free throws for the night. Mehmet Okur finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Jazz, who won their 14th straight at home. Steve Nash scored 20 points and Grant Hill added 19 points for the Suns… Shaquille O’Neal finished with 16 points, going 4-for-5 from the foul line, and 10 rebounds, and Matt Barnes had 14 points and 10 boards for the Suns.
NBA rule change on too many players on court
The NBA Board of Governors voted to approve a playing rules change in regards to “too many players on the court”, which will take effect beginning Friday, March 27.
Under the playing rules change, when a “too many players on the court” violation is called, a technical foul will be assessed against the offending team and the non-offending team will have the option of either accepting or nullifying the game action that occurred during the violation.
Option 1 — Accept Game Action
The non-offending team can opt to ACCEPT all play that occurred during the violation, including any points scored, with no adjustment of the game clock.
Option 2 — Nullify Game Action
The non-offending team can opt to NULLIFY all play that occurred during the violation, other than any acts of unsportsmanlike conduct or flagrant fouls or any points scored from free throws as a result of such actions.
Under this option, following the technical foul, the game clock would be reset to the time when the ball was put into play with too many players on the court and, depending on how the ball was originally put into play, play would resume in accordance with the following:
1) If the original play commenced with a throw-in, then the ball would be returned to the original throw-in spot and play commenced with a throw-in.
2) If the original play commenced with a missed free-throw attempt where the ball remained in play, then play would be commenced with a jump ball held at center court between any two players who were on the floor at the time play was suspended due to the violation.
3) If the original play commenced with a jump ball, then play would be commenced with a jump ball held at the original jump-ball spot between the same two players who participated in the original jump ball.
Jazz assign Kosta Koufos to D-League
Utah Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor announced today that the team has assigned rookie center Kosta Koufos to the Utah Flash of the NBA Development League (D-League) and recalled second-year center Kyrylo Fesenko. Guard Morris Almond is also currently on assignment with the Flash. Per league rules, NBA teams are only permitted to have two players on D-League assignment at any given time. Koufos is expected to be in uniform when the Flash host Anaheim on Friday, March 27 at 7 p.m.
In 48 games this season (seven starts) the 7-1, 265 pound Koufos has averages of 4.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.4 assists. Koufos has been inactive 13 times this season and DNP-CD 10 times. Koufos last appeared in a game on February 17 against Memphis, scoring two points and grabbing one rebound in a 117-99 home win. The center notched his career-high when he scored 18 points and 10 rebounds in a 97-88 win over Dallas on December 2 in Salt Lake City.
Selected by the Jazz out of Ohio State in the first round (23rd overall selection) of the 2008 NBA Draft, Koufos averaged 14.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 0.5 assists in his only season with the Buckeyes. The Canton, Ohio native was also named the postseason NIT MVP after leading Ohio State to the 2008 title. Koufos, who holds dual American and Greek citizenship helped lead Greece to a silver medal in the 2007 UMCOR U18 European Championships after averaging 26.5 points, 13 rebounds and 3.5 blocked shots.
In 18 games with the Jazz this season (one start) the 7-1, 278 pound Fesenko has averages of 2.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.2 assists. Fesenko has been inactive 30 times and DNP-CD 14 games. In 14 games with the Flash, Fesenko has averages of 12.2 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 25.6 minutes per contest.
Originally selected by Philadelphia in the second round (38th overall selection) of the 2007 NBA Draft, the Jazz acquired Fesenko’s rights in a draft night deal that sent the draft rights to Herbert Hill (55th overall pick) and trade considerations to the 76ers.
Suns win sixth in a row, beating Jazz
The AP reports: Grant Hill certainly isn’t done yet. The 36-year-old Hill, often written off because of a series of serious injuries over his 14-year NBA career, scored 26 points, including a tiebreaking jumper in the lane with 31.5 seconds remaining, to lift the Phoenix Suns to their season-high sixth straight victory, 118-114 over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night… Matt Barnes, with 18 points in the second half, and Jason Richardson each had 21 points for the Suns. Steve Nash scored 12 and had 14 assists, while Shaquille O’Neal had 12 points and 12 rebounds. Deron Williams led Utah with 25 points and 10 assists. Ronnie Brewer scored 17, Mehmet Okur and Kyle Korver each added 15 points, and Carlos Boozer 14.