Rudy!
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Rudy!
[QUOTE] Jody Genessy: [URL="http://*********.com/social/"]Grant Jerrett had surgery to repair a labrum tear in his shoulder on July 21. The Jazz hadn
[QUOTE] Jody Genessy: [URL="http://*********.com/social/"]Gordon Hayward on the Favors-Gobert-Hayward trio:
[QUOTE] Jody Genessy: [URL="http://*********.com/social/"]Derrick Favors said he gained between 10-20 pounds of muscle this offseason.[/URL] #musclewatch
[QUOTE] Aaron Falk: [URL="http://*********.com/social/"]Alec Burks tore labrum & had to relearn how to shoot. Changed form, results have
Jody Genessy: [URL="http://*********.com/social/"]GM Dennis Lindsey said Coach K (the Mike Krzyzewski one) recently visited Jazz and shared this thought:
[url]http://saltcityhoops.com/the-boys-are-back-in-town-notes-from-jazz-media-day/[/url]
[QUOTE]Rigby mentioned the team
[url]http://saltcityhoops.com/the-return-of-alec-burks/[/url]
[QUOTE]It is almost time, ladies and gentlemen. Basketball season is upon us, with the Jazz traveling to Hawaii to begin their preseason schedule and end the long wait for hoops. With the season nigh, ESPN
[url]http://weareutahjazz.com/lockedonjazz/2015/09/29/emptying-the-noggin-training-camp-day-1/[/url]
[QUOTE]Last year the Jazz opened camp with an hour of transition defensive work. Today the focus fell more on the offense trying to play with thrust and pace in order to get some early action.[/QUOTE]
That was supposed to be part of last year's team. Certainly the offense should be the focus. They were so dominant on D that they could give up a few more a game and still be number 1. Need to get better at the the other end and with Exum out and Burks back they should.
[QUOTE]
[url]https://jazzfanatical.wordpress.com/2015/09/29/utah-jazz-media-day-2015-derrick-favors-rudy-gobert-and-gordon-hayward/[/url]
[B][U][QUOTE][B][U]What did you work on this summer?
[/U][/B][/U][/B] I just kept adding, you know, range to my jump shot. Just different offensive moves in the post, mid-range area, free throw line area. You know, just trying to expand my game. You know, I know Rudy
[url]https://jazzfanatical.wordpress.com/2015/09/29/utah-jazz-media-day-2015-joe-ingles-trey-lyles-raul-neto-and-tibor-pleiss/[/url]
[QUOTE]Well, I had the first year off the national team for eight years or something
[url]https://jazzfanatical.wordpress.com/2015/09/29/utah-jazz-media-day-2015-jack-cooley-bryce-cotton-christapher-johnson-and-elijah-millsap/[/url]
[QUOTE][B][U]Do you think you can earn the starting point guard spot through a training camp battle?
[/U][/B] I don
[url]https://jazzfanatical.wordpress.com/2015/09/29/utah-jazz-media-day-2015-treveon-graham-grant-jerrett-j-j-obrien-and-jeff-withey/[/url]
[QUOTE]* [I]Jerrett was the only player that was not interviewed by Ron Boone and David Locke.[/I][/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][B][U]How was the injury recovery process from your torn labrum? When will you return to the court?
[/U][/B]
It was boring, but that
[url]http://www.sltrib.com/sports/3006355-155/utah-jazz-notes-injury-makes-grant[/url]
[QUOTE]Now Jerrett will miss crucial training camp time, when competition for Utah's final three roster spots is expected to be fierce, especially for a job in the team's crowded frontcourt.
[/QUOTE]
3 spots? Counting his guarantted contract I guess? Burke's spot should be up for grabs too.
[QUOTE]Jerrett's $1.6-million contract this season is guaranteed, but there's no guarantee of a roster spot and the Jazz front office has shown in each of the last two seasons (with guards Carrick Felix and Ian Clark, respectively) a willingness to waive players with small guaranteed deals.
[/QUOTE]
Those were both last year weren't they? Trey's deals not that big either.
[QUOTE]Meanwhile, Jerrett's timetable to return remains unclear even to him.
Asked if he might be cleared in time to participate in training camp, Jerrett said, "I have no clue. It feels fine, but that's not really my call right now."
Off and running
They may have been the top defense in the NBA last year after the All-Star break, but Jazz coach Quin Snyder wondered how rusty his players might be as the returned to the court this week.
The coach noted his team's hard play, but even the players had to admit it wasn't always pretty.
"I think going through the drills we were really on point," forward Gordon Hayward said. "We were really talking and focused. When you start to throw in scrimmaging and going live, that's when guys go back to their old instincts and old habits. That's where it will take a little bit of time to get people to trust everybody and get back to our principles on defense. First scrimmage today was pretty sloppy and that's going to happen."
One area that apparently didn't need extra drilling was the team's transition defense.
Last year, Snyder spent the entire first hour of the first training camp practice on the subject, mixing in sprints as punishments for mistakes.
Lesson learned.
"We've been through this once already, so I think Quin has a little bit more trust in us this time around," Hayward said. "In scrimmage, if we don't get back [on defense], we'll get right back to those lines."
One-upping the Haywards
New dads Hayward and Derrick Favors spent part of Monday's media day extolling the joys and follies of fatherhood.
"It's pretty fun," said Hayward, whose wife Robyn gave birth to a girl, Bernadette, in June. "There are times when it's not so fun with her, when she's crying in the middle of the night. But she's been awesome for me. It changed my outlook on life."
"Same thing, but I think Gordon had it easy. He had one. I got two," added Favors, who became the father of twin girls in late August.
Against the odds
The line makers at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook on Tuesday released their win totals and championship odds for the upcoming season. The Jazz's win total was set at 40.5, with 100-to-1 odds on winning the NBA title in June.
[EMAIL="afalk@sltrib.com"]afalk@sltrib.com[/EMAIL]
[EMAIL="afalk@sltrib.com"]
[/EMAIL]
Twitter: [URL="http://twitter.com/tribjazz"]@tribjazz[/URL]
[/QUOTE]
[url]http://www.sltrib.com/sports/3003193-155/utah-jazz-alec-burks-or-rodney[/url]
[QUOTE]Burks said point-blank that he wants to be the starter, he wants to play a lot. Professional basketball is high-level competition, and any player worth his salt wants to be on the floor.[/QUOTE]
He'll be playing plenty.
So he gave his honest assessment, even if the two have forged a close relationship off the court.
[QUOTE]"At the end of the day, we all want to be the
starter," Burks said. "But it's coach Q's (Quin Snyder) decision. We're going to compete and push with each other on the floor. But we all have each other's backs."
That competition between Burks and Hood will be intriguing to watch through training camp, if for no other reason than the two both have the talent to start in the NBA. Burks proved as much at the beginning of last season, as he was Utah's second-best perimeter player behind Gordon Hayward, before a torn labrum ended his year.
Hood came on at the end of his rookie campaign, shooting and slashing his way into the hearts of many fans. By all accounts, he may be the most improved player on the roster, having appeared that way in Summer League in July.
Hayward's spot in the lineup is secure. He's one of the top small forwards in the league, trending towards possible All-Star status, a playmaker and all-around force on both ends. That means one of Burks and Hood will start. The other will come off the bench.
[/QUOTE]
Have the coaches said this? I think Ingles or Millsap could start. I think Alec could start at the one. Other than the frontcourt it's wide open and if Booker is hitting enough 3's Favors spot might be in not be secure either.
[QUOTE]On paper
[url]http://www.sltrib.com/sports/3002457-155/utah-jazzs-rising-stars-eye-postseason?fullpage=1[/url]
[QUOTE]Those three are clearly now its faces. [/QUOTE]
as clearly as Trey being he 3rd face a year ago? I think he has been since they took new pictures yesterday. During summer league they were still trying to sell tix with Trey's face. :roll:
[URL="http://launch.newsinc.com/?type=VideoPlayer/16x9&videoId=29751228&trackingGroup=90262&widgetId=27728&playlistId=18158&siteSection=sltrib2300_spt_non_sec&embedOriginUrl=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.sltrib.com%252Fsports%252F3002457-155%252Futah-jazzs-rising-stars-eye-postseason%253Ffullpage%253D1"][/URL]
"I don't know if we necessarily have a 'Big
[QUOTE]Three,'" Hayward said after the phrase had been thrown out by a reporter, "but we're definitely three keys for us."
"A lot of teams are going to be keying in on us three," Favors acknowledged before adding, "We're not like the Big Three (of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade) that was in Miami."
No, expectations aren't that high for this Jazz team and a franchise that hasn't won a playoff game since April 2010. But the Jazz have worked themselves back into the public consciousness on a level they haven't occupied since Jerry Sloan traded the locker room for the farm and Deron Williams simply got himself traded. Following a tear-down of its last playoff team, it has been a slow creep back toward respectability, mapped out by General Manager Dennis Lindsey, shaped by second-year coach Quin Snyder, and realized on the floor thanks in large part to steady maturation of Hayward and Favors and the revelatory talent of Gobert.
[/QUOTE]
mostly Rudy though
[QUOTE]The Jazz flirted with a .500 record last year with a late-season surge that saw them transform into the league's top defense after the All-Star break. They closed out the year winning 19 of their final 29 games and, over the course of the offseason, they've gone from a sleeper pick to make the playoffs to a trendy one.
"We understand the hype that everybody got on us," Favors said.
Jazz officials on Monday tried to temper expectations. The NBA reality that exists outside the pomp and circumstance of media day, when every coach is optimistic, every player is in the best shape of his life and every team is absolutely, positively, 100-percent committed to defense, is harsh
[url]http://www.sltrib.com/sports/3005481-155/monson-for-trey-burke-play-time[/url]
[QUOTE]"I'm approaching this much more serious now," he says. "I'm starting to feel more like a professional.[/QUOTE]
wow thanks for the commitment man. Can't believe he's even on the team and they're writing articles about him?
[QUOTE]When I came in, I felt like I could just play basketball, always play basketball. But now, I've learned the ins and outs, eating right, sleeping. It's funny because I'm getting to bed around 11, 11:30. I've never ever done that. I feel so much better in the morning. Like right now, I have so much energy. It's incredible. So I think those little things go a long way, especially in an 82-game season. They play a big part in how you play and how your body holds up."
Yes, yes. Go on.
"It was me, the things that I was doing off the court holding me back.
[/QUOTE]
Had nothing to do with the way you approached the game on the court? Really? :wtf:
[QUOTE]I just had to sit back and realize, sit back and make decisions on what type of player I wanted to be, and ask myself what sacrifices I wanted to make. A lot of those things had to be like food and had to be certain activities, certain
[url]http://www.sltrib.com/blogs/jazznotes/3002459-155/hayward-seeks-to-be-a-closer[/url]
[QUOTE]At the high end, he could even be at number five, depending on how you feel about Carmelo Anthony and Paul George.[/QUOTE]
Would anyone seriously take Carmelo over Maxi G?
[QUOTE]Indeed, last year was a career one for Utah's 6-foot-8 leader. Not many guys in the league are good for 20 points, five rebounds and five assists a night. And yet Hayward was awfully close, at 19-4-4.
So this season for Hayward individually is all about taking that breakout year and expanding upon it. How does he do that? By becoming a better closer at the end of games.
[URL="http://jobs.sltrib.com/topjobs/"]s[/URL]
The elite teams are able to do that. It's
common knowledge in the NBA that general offense only takes you so far. The teams that win titles - or at least compete for them - are the ones who have guys who can go and get buckets down the stretch. Golden State has Steph Curry. Obviously, Cleveland has LeBron. Even San Antonio - probably the best ball-movement oriented team in the league - has Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli.
[/QUOTE]
Aldridge?
[QUOTE]It's a skill that not many have, and one that can launch Hayward even further up the ladder if he can acquire it.
"Learning how to close is huge in the NBA," Hayward said. "As Favs (Derrick Favors) and I get more experience, it will become easier and easier. Last year it was good to gain those experiences. So this is another good test for us this year to learn how to do that."
As a group, the Jazz probably have more potential "closers" than one would think. Obviously, Hayward is the big potential answer. Favors is the one guy who can draw a double-team in the post with his back to the basket.
[/QUOTE]
You'd be crazy to double him in the post!
[QUOTE]But Alec Burks and Rodney Hood are probably two guys who could one day get to that level. Why? Well, Burks is one of the better players in the NBA at getting to the free-throw line. Hood's all-around offensive package is immense. He can score from 3-point range, from mid-range and at the basket. He just has to stay healthy.
But most of this responsibility undeniably lies with Hayward. If he can take his game to one more level, he will certainly be worthy of all-star consideration. And in a league full of wing talent, Hayward is close to being elite. And at 25, he's still got a ceiling for improvement.
Tony Jones
[/QUOTE]
Better improve because he's got some young talent coming behind him.
[url]http://www.sltrib.com/sports/3002361-155/utah-jazz-joe-ingles-once-again[/url]
[QUOTE]He's a valued member of Quin Snyder's rotation[/QUOTE]
He was. We'll see.
[QUOTE], a newly crowned husband and, with Dante Exum's injury absence, now the only active Australian on the team.
Ingles vowed to represent his country in Exum's stead on media day. And then
[url]http://www.sltrib.com/sports/3002312-155/kragthorpe-jazzs-quin-snyder-sticking-to[/url]
[QUOTE]Basically ignoring his team's record proved to be sound strategy in Jazz coach Quin Snyder's first season, especially when he absorbed a nine-game losing streak early in the year.
The approach worked, beyond serving as the coach's defense mechanism. The Jazz kept improving, producing a 21-11 finish that gave them a 38-44 record
[url]http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765680528/Deseret-News-Sports-podcast-Jazz-bring-unity-hope-family-and-humor-into-new-season.html[/url]
[QUOTE]Bryce Cotton had a strong Summer League[/QUOTE]
nothing special other than one game
[QUOTE], Raul Neto signed his deal after playing overseas, and then theres Trey Burke, who very well could return to form after a stressful sophomore slump. [/QUOTE]
Form? That was it! :facepalm
[QUOTE]Utah also brought in German center Tibor Pleiss over the offseason, and retained a pair of veteran leaders in Trevor Booker and Joe Ingles.
How did Utah succeed at the end of last year? Through defense and theres optimism that wont change. Theres plenty of hope with a clean slate across the league.
In this week's episode, hear what Utah Jazz front office members, coaches and players have to say about the new season, the return of a healthy Alec Burks and more, including the state of chemistry on the team.
"I think our team is really special. Its a great group of guys to be around and one of the only teams Ive been around that everyone is so close, everyone gets along really well and happy to hang out with each other even though we spend so much time together. Even going out to catch up to eat in Salt Lake and the time we dont have to be around, we still spend a lot of time together. Its a really exciting environment to be in," Ingles says.
Jazz forward Gordon Hayward and center Derrick Favors also talk about becoming parents.
"Having a baby girl changes your perspective on life," Hayward says. "(Its) definitely a game-changer. (Its) pretty fun, there are times where its not so fun
[url]http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865637827/Utah-Jazz-full-of-optimism-heading-into-training-camp.html[/url]
[QUOTE]a noticeable upper-body gain by center Rudy Gobert.[/QUOTE]
great!
[QUOTE] (Gordon Hayward even complimented the Stifle Tower for putting on the most good weight, jokingly adding,
[url]http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865637824/Jazz-stars-Gordon-Hayward-and-Derrick-Favors-both-became-fathers-during-offseason.html[/url]
[QUOTE]Lindsey didn
[url]http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865637817/Brad-Rock-Its-now-or-never-for-Trey-Burke-as-starting-Jazz-guard.html[/url]
[QUOTE]SALT LAKE CITY
[url]http://www.slcdunk.com/2015/9/29/9414267/jumus-jazzmen-previews-6-trey-burke[/url]
[quote]does he deserve it? [/quote]
deserves more. He sucks!
[quote] I had high expectations despite all the reports stating how raw he was.
[/quote]
reports were right
[quote]That's okay though, he was a raw teenage rookie straight out of high school.
[/quote] not alright should have been in Idaho
[quote] I would have projected Exum to be about our 5th or 6th best player this season.
[/quote]
not in the top 8. after that debatable
[quote] he'd be the worst shooting point guard in the league.
[/quote] in a word he is
[quote]He came into the league as a bright spot on our team as a rookie much greater than any other point guard on our roster ([URL="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/21788/john-lucas-iii"]John Lucas III[/URL], [URL="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/players/172513/diante-garrett"]Diante Garrett[/URL]).[/quote]
Lucas is a 3rd pg/fringe player. Burke hasn't even proven that. Garrett is certainly a better fit for the team. He had length, could shoot and play D.
[quote]
He then bounced back for the rest of his rookie year, to have a very passable good season for a rookie point guard.
[/quote] on a tanking team in a weak rookie class maybe
[quote]by some metrics he even played worse as a sophomore than as a rookie.[/quote]
most metrics
[quote]jungle ball in the 2013-14 season. Burke was able to get pretty good stats for a rookie even though our team was not essentially getting any wins.
[/quote]
He was the main reason they weren't winning.[quote]All signs point to Trey overthinking things a bit too much last season and his performance suffered a bit because of it.
[/quote] He sure shoots a lot for a guy with no confidence[quote]I have some reasons to be cautiously optimistic about Burke's play this season.
[/quote] Can it get worse?
[quote]the stars have been aligned for Burke to thrive in a role much more similar to what he had his rookie season compared to last year.
[/quote] better not! He can bring the ball up court spot up and try to play D. That's it!
[quote]
4. We are going to be winning more games this year, there are few things that bring more confidence for players than winning
[/quote] might not win if he's playing
[quote]Some may see this as a gross overrating of Burke as our 6th best player next season.[/quote]
It's a joke. I'd have him 20th
[quote]
Not more than a player or 2 off the bench will be averaging more points than Burke.
[/quote] Almost everyone should
[quote] It's unlikely that anyone but Hayward gets more assists than him.[/quote] many guys should. he shouldn't have the ball
[quote] Burke's shooting will not get worse if he continues his role of starting floor general with us.[/quote]
there's a prediction. He won't get worse than 37%!
[quote] If I am wrong, you can be reassured that Burke will lose his role. But Burke is completely capable of being in our starting unit on our long-awaited return to the playoffs. [/quote]
:roll:
[quote] And furthermore, that Burke will be able to rise up a few notches in the very strong starting point guard pecking order in the NBA.[/quote]
He needs to be trying to impress someone just to be a 3rd pg.
[quote] it would make most sense for the Jazz to look into alternative options for starting point guards to better align our roster for when our team peaks and is ready to make some deep playoff runs.
[/quote] It made most sense last year. What are thy thinking?[quote]Since Kevin O'Connor, Corbin, and Kanter have been jettisoned from their former positions with the Jazz,
[/quote] O'Conner stepped down.
[quote]
Burke is a Jazzman through and through
[/quote]
No he's not. He's selfish
[quote]
[B]Chances of him being with the team in the 2016-2017 season:[/B]
70%
[/quote] Not much chance. We'll have a better idea in the next month
[url]http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865637906/Playing-defense-is-like-riding-a-bike-for-the-Utah-Jazz.html[/url]
[QUOTE]While it
[url]http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865637905/Utah-Jazz-Hayward-hoping-familiarity-with-staff-system-and-teammates-leads-to-a-stronger-start.html[/url]
[QUOTE]SALT LAKE CITY
[url]http://www.sltrib.com/blogs/jazznotes/3007229-155/utah-jazz-team-looking-to-increase[/url]
[QUOTE]Playing with pace. And part of that is coach Quin Snyder and his love with the phrase. [/QUOTE]
and it got old long ago
[QUOTE]But it's true. The best offensive teams in this league are the ones who figure out how to get easy shots early in the shot clock.
This is one of the places where the Jazz largely failed last season. Consistently, they were a team that faced late clock scenarios. They were a team that consistently saw people like Gordon Hayward and Trey Burke and Derrick Favors forcing looks against set defenses with their possessions at stake.
Tuesday's training camp practice focused on
that issue to a degree. The players know it's a problem and so does the coaching staff.
"It's tough to play against set defenses all the time," Hayward said.
So how can the Jazz combat that this year?
1. Health - It seems simple, but this may be the most important thing. Alec Burks loves to get to the rim and quickly. So having him back is big. And having health means having depth. And having depth means having fresh bodies. And having fresh bodies means having fresh legs at the end of games. All of that equates to pace of play.
2. Pushing the ball - The point guards need to push the ball off makes and misses. Getting the ball up the floor means having more time to run offense.
[/QUOTE]
and anyone but Trey will help there
[QUOTE]3. Hayward/Favors/Burks/Hood - Those four are the best playmakers for the Utah Jazz, the guys who should decide the bulk of the possessions this year. Getting them the ball early and often and letting them do their thing is a big key for the Jazz in 2015. They can all break down defenses and all can do so in their own unique way. They should rightfully be the decision makers this season.
The Jazz were one of the slowest teams in the league when it came to pace last season. That's not how Snyder wants to play, ideally. So the Jazz would love to speed themselves up offensively, while playing the same great defense that they exhibited in the second half of last year.
Tony Jones
[/QUOTE]
How does Trey fit in to that? :confusedshrug:
[url]https://jazzfanatical.wordpress.com/2015/09/30/utah-jazz-media-day-2015-dennis-lindsey/[/url]
[QUOTE]He
[url]https://jazzfanatical.wordpress.com/2015/09/30/utah-jazz-media-day-2015-quin-snyder/[/url]
[B][U][QUOTE][B][U]On his snazzy suit
[/U][/B][/U][/B] A little Euro look.
[B][U]What one aspect of the game did you think the most about this off-season?[/U][/B]
Switching defenses. It
[url]http://www.sltrib.com/sports/3008408-155/kragthorpe-utah-jazz-guard-bryce-cotton[/url]
[QUOTE]That explains how Cotton went from being unlikely to make the Jazz's roster to practically being guaranteed a spot[/QUOTE]
With a non guaranteed deal I don't think he is guaranteed but I think he would he made it regardelss of the injury. Trey is the one who's job might have been saved.
[QUOTE], all because of Exum's injury in August. No matter how it turns out, Cotton's 2015-16 season will come with a disclaimer: Somebody got hurt in the making of this story.
Cotton could not have sounded any more sincere this week in wishing the circumstances were different and that his big break to stick in the NBA somewhat permanently would not have required a teammate's hardship. Yet after playing for the Austin Spurs of the NBA Development League as an undrafted player from Providence College, he knows how this stuff works.
"I always believed somehow, some way, I
would get to this level," Cotton said. "I couldn't tell you necessarily how I was going to do it, but I always believed."
His initial call came after the Jazz traded Enes Kanter and Steve Novak to Oklahoma City in February, creating roster vacancies that the team used to audition players via 10-day contracts. Cotton eventually signed with the Jazz for the rest of the season
[QUOTE] Jody Genessy: [URL="http://*********.com/social/"]Tibor Pleiss worked with Jazz coach Alex Jensen this summer in Germany.
Interesting switch. Hugh Greenwood, who played college ball at New Mexico and had a try out with the Jazz earlier in the year has quit basketball to play Aussie Rules Football and signed with Adelaide (where Joe Ingles and I are from).
[url]http://afl.com.au/news/2015-09-04/from-the-nbl-to-afl-crows-sign-hugh-greenwood[/url]
Yeah I saw that. He's played the sport before though. Guys I knew from Aussie has a team in Bei Jing.
[url]http://weareutahjazz.com/lockedonjazz/2015/09/30/emptying-the-noggin-training-camp-day-2/[/url]
[QUOTE]The Jazz defense looks strong
[url]http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865637945/Burks-back-from-shoulder-surgery-ready-for-upcoming-Jazz-season.html[/url]
[QUOTE]As far as Jazz management is concerned they have added a player who averaged 14.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in his last full NBA season.[/QUOTE]
But unless he plays the one which sounds like a possibiity than they didn't full the spots they needed to.
[QUOTE]His name?
Alec Burks.
"Our best free agent is Alec Burks," general manager Dennis Lindsey said during the summer. "It's like he's a new addition . . . it's almost like he needs to be reintroduced to Quin (Snyder) and the coaches' system."
Burks, of course, has been with the team for four years after coming out of the University of Colorado after his sophomore season in 2011.
But last year, Burks played in just 27 games, a third of the team
[url]http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865637981/Jazz-coach-Quin-Snyder-more-relaxed-in-second-season.html[/url]
[QUOTE]Favors added that he didn
[url]http://www.sltrib.com/sports/3009943-155/utah-jazz-big-camp-goal-for[/url]
[QUOTE]Jazz point guard Trey Burke said if there's anything he wishes to improve on from last season, it's shooting the ball with more consistency. He also wants to be more efficient, and take better shots. Doing so, he believes, will make him a better player, as he heads into his third season.[/QUOTE]
taking better shots, playing D and not being selfish. You got to go because I don't think it's in your mentality.
[QUOTE]"Just consistency more than anything," Burke said. "I felt like there were games when I had efficient numbers. I feel like the more consistent I have those type of games, the better I'll be."
New nickname
In addressing the media, Hayward said the team has taken to calling rookie point guard Raul Neto "Wolf". It's a play on the pronunciation of Neto's first name (HOW-ell). Through the first part of camp, Neto's drawn good reviews for his ability to pass.
[/QUOTE]
I'm sure he has. No doubt he is better than Trey.
Scrimmage time remains up in air
[QUOTE]The Jazz are still trying to pinpoint a date for their annual preseason scrimmage, which is free for fans. They usually hold it within the first week of the start of camp, but this time they will be in Hawaii facing the Los Angeles Lakers starting on Sunday.
[EMAIL="tjones@sltrib.com"]tjones@sltrib.com[/EMAIL]
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[url]http://www.sltrib.com/sports/3010135-155/utah-jazz-center-tibor-pleiss-settling[/url]
[QUOTE]Pleiss will be a rookie this season, subject to the all the hazing and some of the struggles that come with that. But the 25-year-old already has a solid foundation of professional experience upon which to build. He started playing in Germany at age 17, before moving to Spain's top league. In 2010, he was second round pick (31st overall), but remained in Europe to further develop his game.
After the Jazz acquired his rights from Oklahoma City as part of the Enes Kanter trade, Pleiss decided now was the time to make the next step in his career, signing a three-year deal to come to Utah.
"It was always my dream to come to the United States and play in the NBA," he said. "That's one dream that came true."
Pleiss has a chance to stake his spot as the Jazz's backup center, providing a more offensive-minded big man off the bench to spell the defensive dynamo Rudy Gobert. He filled a similar reserve role last season with Barcelona, where he averaged 5.3 points and 3.8 rebounds a game in while backing up one-time Jazz draft pick Ante Tomic.
Pleiss has good size, though he must add strength to battle the centers of the NBA both offensively in the post and for rebounds, areas of his game that must improve. These are among the challenges he said he plans to embrace.
"That's why I'm here," Pleiss said. "I want to improve. I want to play with the best players and against the best players."
Pleiss' adjustment to the NBA should be made easier thanks to his relationship with Jazz assistant coach Alex Jensen, who helped coach the German national team this summer. Along the way, Jensen stopped to give Pleiss pointers about how to best tailor his game to the NBA and installed some plays that the Jazz run.
The new Jazzman reciprocated by teaching Jensen some German.
"I teached him some bad words," Pleiss
[url]https://jazzfanatical.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/bits-from-randy-rigby-interview-930/[/url]
[QUOTE][B][U]Both Quin Snyder and Dennis Lindsey have compared the Jazz to a running team in football, with a defensive front line that makes it somewhat of an anomaly in the NBA. Would you agree with that assessment?
[/U][/B] Yeah, I would. I, you know, I really feel that the team is, and, what I