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All-Star Break To-Do List
Posted by: Joey Parker on February 18th, 2011
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.Jerry retired. Game vs. Suns the next day. Another game vs. Suns 4 days later. Game vs. Warriors the next night.
The past 9 days have been packed with news, drama, innuendo, “the blame-game”, 3 full games, and a boat-load of injuries for the Utah Jazz. Now that we have hit the All-Star Break, fans and the Jazz organization can finally have a chance to breathe and think and plan. The following is a To-Do list for all parties involved with the Jazz. Let’s take this 6-day break to try and check some items off of this list:
All-Star Break To-Do List
Jazz Fans
- Go to Smith’s, find the pharmaceuticals section, then look for a product called “Chill Pills.” Take one pill each day, preferably with a meal.
Kevin O’Connor
- Work the phones. Our team is going nowhere as currently constituted. We need a different balance of talent. Find a team that would like a nice expiring contract, and who has the number 47 available. If you could get us OJ Mayo or Andre Iguodala, that would fantastic!
- Talk to some D-League scouts. We have played the last 3 games with NINE PLAYERS!!! Even if our roster WAS full, RONNIE PRICE IS OUR BACKUP SG!!! WE need bodies! Shooting Guards are very easy to find. So find one!
Memo Okur, Raja Bell, Ronnie Price, Andrei Kirilenko
- Get better! Like I said before, the Jazz need bodies. If we had more than 9 players available, Ty Corbin would have his first coaching win by now!
Deron Williams
- Take it easy in the All-Star Game. Don’t even THINK about trying one of your monster dunks in the game! Go out there, play a few minutes, and then rest that wrist.
- Get your head right! I have faith that Deron will shake off his injury and his rust. Here is what he said on Facebook yesterday:
“The 2011 All-Star Break is here. For those of you wondering what my plans are…here is a quick breakdown. Arrive in LA tomorrow. We have meetings, NBA Cares Day of Service, Media Session, NBA Reception, Nike Appearance. Saturday is practice, Nike Appearance again and All-Star Saturday Night. Sunday is the game. Not sure when I will rest, but I assure you Utah, I will be ready for the 2nd half of the year.“
Tyrone Corbin, Scott Layden, Jeff Hornacek
- Watch tape, draw up plays, and then hit the showers….or whatever coaches do. This break will give you all time to think about possible lineup changes, strategy changes, and minutes distribution.
- Hire a 3rd assistant coach. May I suggest a big guy. Our two ex-player coaches are both swing-men. I think we need a big man coach to help out Al, Paul, and Fes. Antoine Carr? Adam Keefe? Mark Eaton?
The rest of the Jazz players
- Have fun on the beach! Don’t think about basketball. Just relax and come back ready to make a playoff push.
Replies: 4
Views: 1692
4 Responses
Great story. the chill pill thing is great. I also think that oj, or andrea would do great here I sure hope they are looking at a move like that.
‘Find a team that would like a nice expiring contract, and who has the number 47 available. If you could get us OJ Mayo or Andre Iguodala, that would fantastic!’
I totally agree. Iguodala is also a great defender, I would love it if the Jazz could nab him.
i love your posts Joey. I wish you would post every week!
I think the all-star break couldn’t have come at a better time for the Jazz. I think the whole organization needs a break from eachother and I think fans need a break from the Jazz too.
I don’t know who we would trade for the players you suggested. I do think we have good talent when healthy. Listening to Frank Layden KFAN today gave me hope. Remember we are playing without our starting center, most teams would be doing about the same or worse as the Jazz if they were w/o a starter ALL YEAR.
Frank mentioned how Al is a developing player, he is young and never has had to learn plays and play as a team player. I think Al has improved a ton this year already. Really hope there is not a lockout next year so that we can continue to see him grow.
Frank seemed confident we’d make the playoffs. I agree. I think when healthy and when the players heads are in the right place we are a very good team.
Great post Joey! We both share the same train of thought that KOC really needs to use AK’s expiring contract to explore all options–whether it’s Iguodala, Prince, Hamilton, Martin, Granger, Wallace, Mayo, or Przybilla. There are players out there. While it would be wonderful for an impact player, I would also go for a deal that brings two or three quality role players. Our depth is painfully woeful.
Another to-do for the coaching staff: ensure that Gordon and Jeremy continue to get playing time. Gordon is starting to show why we drafted him and I think the more PT he gets the next 25 games, the better we’ll be going forward. And Jeremy Evans is just a player who makes things happen.