[butidonthavemoney]

Moreover, O’Connor said that Kirilenko will be a member of the Jazz when the 82-game regular season tips off.

“I had a conversation with him and I can repeat this very, very accurately and very honestly: We’ve never initiated a trade call this whole summer about AK,” O’ Connor said. “We think he’s going to have a good year for us.

“Have we listened, and have we listened to trade calls about a lot of people? Yeah. This was just one that somewhere got ahead of itself. If you’re going to make that trade, it would have been done [last] Friday.”

Source

YES!!! Utah Jazz, I still love you!!!

And I don’t expect people who didn’t watch the Jazz all season to even begin to comprehend the impact that Kirilenko had on the team after he was inserted into the starting lineup (we won 16 of our next 18 games before he got injured, no big deal).

[butidonthavemoney]

O’Connor said Kyrylo Fesenko, Earl Watson, Bell and Kirilenko were in excellent shape.

Kirilenko surprised Bell with a huge bear hug and big smile. Both seemed happy to be back together.

Ahhhh, feels good to be a Jazz fan.

[MagikKnickParticipant]

Even better than hearing that Kermit The Frog easily can and will overpower HypnoToad?!?!?!

But seriously, Do Jazz fans still like Kirileno, hes a bit on the washed up side..

[butidonthavemoney]

@MagikKnick I believe I already addressed you and the rest of the people who believe that Kirilenko is washed up riiiight here…

"And I don’t expect people who didn’t watch the Jazz all season to even begin to comprehend the impact that Kirilenko had on the team after he was inserted into the starting lineup (we won 16 of our next 18 games before he got injured, no big deal)."

[bigblackNbeautifulParticipant]

 thanks for making my night. yessss. who do you think makes the final roster and what do our depth charts look like.

[The Scare Crow ReturnsParticipant]

He’s way better than Diaw and that move is not smart and may remind D Will about NO’s cap problem and salary dump trades

[butidonthavemoney]

Did anybody notice that "Utah Jazz" is currently a trending topic on Yahoo? It was at #6 a few hours ago and now it’s at #2. Not bad!

middleton – I’m pulling for Yada "Bloody" Gaines and Othyus Jeffers, but neither are likely to make our roster. Hopefully we sign them to our D-League team and are able to sign them if we get hit with injuries. Nichols is another long shot. I don’t see him making the roster. Jeremy Evans will probably make our regular season roster due to Memo’s injury. He probably won’t get a gaurenteed contract, but he’ll have a chance to earn one. I really want him to make the roster. He reminds me of a skinnier Tyrus Thomas. He is a smart defender, a smart passer and a solid outside shooter. He doesn’t look to score much, and stronger players overpower him, but he still has a lot of potential. I want to see us develop him like we did CJ Miles.

I say…

PG: Deron Williams, Earl Watson, Ronnie Price

SG: Raja Bell, CJ Miles, Ryan Thompson

SF: Andrei Kirilenko, Gordon Hayward

PF: Paul Millsap, Jeremy Evans

C: Al Jefferson, Kyrylo Fesenko, Fransisco Elson

Then we’ll have to see what happens to our rotation when Memo comes back in January.

Scarecrow – I absolutely agree. Kirilenko wants to stay in Utah, and depending on what kind of season he has, I fully expext him to re-sign next year to the tune of 6-8 million. We made all these moves in the first place because Deron Williams said that Utah needs to shake up the roster. Size was our arch enemy, and while people can make the argument that Al Jefferson, Raja Bell and Gordon Hayward are not improvements, they cannot make the argument that we haven’t gotten bigger. We’ll see if the moves we made actually make us more competitive against the only team that has been able to stop us the last three years; the Lakers.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 The Best nickname in all of sports!

I really think that Diaw would of been a perfect fit for Utah and would of really thrived in Jerry Sloans system.

Having said  that AK-47 is the type of player that box scores won’t tell you the whole story.  Besides the fact the guy can fill a box score up.  I love that guys game and would love to have him on my team any day, but with a new contract.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 Actually you guys switched a 6’9 power forward for a 6’8 power forward, and are going to start a 6’10 power forward at center so I dont know how much bigger you got.

Having said that I think the Jazz did get better.  I think Millsap and Jefferson will play well together.

I’m really disapointed you guys didn’t draft Henry tho instead of Hayward.  I think they are both great fits, but Henry is a better shooter, equaling more assists for D-Will.  

And can somebody explain to me why you guys just gave away Ronnie Brewer last year?

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

AK47 was playing out of position at small forward…having to chase quicker wings wore him down on the offensive end…

[Counting StarsParticipant]

Giving Brewer away aside, I didn’t think trading AK-47, like Nomoney said, has a huge positive impact on this team and an expiring contract for Boris Diaw who hasn’t done much since getting his big contract to earn it, sounded like the type of move the Jazz would typically make.

[butidonthavemoney]

RUDEBOY – While that statement would make sense, I assure you that it is inaccurate. Kirilenko is very mobile, quick and is always very well conditioned. Saying he doesn’t have energy on offense is wrong. He is always running around, setting screens and making cuts.

When he plays small forward, what that does is pulls him away from the hoop, making him a less effective shot-blocker. When he was playing power forward a few years ago, he was averaging over three blocks a game. That’s why some people believe he is better suited to play the 4 instead of the 3.

Mr. 19134 – Well you could look at it that way (Boozer was only 6’8" FYI). Or you could look at it like Jefferson is taller than Boozer and Hayward is taller than Korver. Then look at our bench. Boozer played the backup center and Millsap played the backup power forward. Now Kirilenko will be playing the back up power forward and Fesenko/Elson will be playing the backup center.

Landshark – AK looks like he is in better shape than ever. Diaw is a fatty.

~~~~~

Couple of notes from David Locke:

*  Jeremy Evans was the talk of the vets and his insane jumping ability.  Jerry Sloan threw out that Evans was a hard worker.  I would pen this kid onto the roster for opening day barring something shocking.

* Sloan said the pick up games he was been watching were the best he has ever seen.  They were intense, the guys played correctly, he was very impressed.

* We found out Jeremy Evans is a great artist and drew a picture of Coach Sloan and had him sign it. Sloan thought his nose was too big.

Source

I’ve seen some of Evans’ work. He really is a good artist.

[bigblackNbeautifulParticipant]

 One thing though. I to love Evans as a player. and think he could be another 2nd gem for the jazz. But Ryan Thompson making the final roster???? Explain!

[butidonthavemoney]

That one I don’t understand. He hasn’t made the roster yet, he only has a non-guaranteed contract.

The Jazz want him to be the next Wesley Matthews, and they have a lot of similar abilities, but Thompson doesn’t have the quickness or athleticism that Matthews had. And it’s not like Matthews was a great athlete anyway.

As of now, the Jazz seem very high on Thompson. I’d rather have Jeffers, but we’ll see what happens.

Throughout training camp, Thompson, Jeffers and Nichols will all have a chance to earn that final roster spot.

[The Scare Crow ReturnsParticipant]

And whats up with all these teams building their teams like the Jazz…The Bulls Bucks and Sixers seem to be following that formula…The Bulls straight signed half your lineup…Boozer,Brewer and Korver…Rose is a jumper away from looking like D.Will in Utah …All they need is Deng to clone what AK does at the SF/PF spot and for a 3 pt shooting C to come around to be that Okur like big…

 

[butidonthavemoney]

A lot of owners want what the Jazz have.

You hear fans talking about championships, and that is the ultimate goal. But look at what the Jazz have…

• Loyalty (Jerry Sloan, Kevin O’Connor, Tyrone Corbin, Phil Johnson, The Miller family)
• History (Stockton, Malone, Pistol Pete)
• Wins (Only one losing season in the past 28 years)
• Consistancy (Run the same offense)
• Development (CJ Miles, Paul Millsap, Wesley Matthews, Howard Eisley, Bryon Russell, Shandon Anderson)
• Fans (Arguably the most loyal fans in the NBA)
• Profits (Always manage to stay under luxury tax)

Sam Presti (GM of the Thunder) when explaining why he wasn’t going to sign a big free agent, said that he would rather develop his current team and keep costs down. He said that a profitable team that would always be competitive is his goal, like the Spurs or the Jazz. Can’t blame him.

[Author]

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