AK Please Bring This Attitude To The Jazz

AK needs to remember how this feels and bring this attitude back for the next season.

Milsap Should Play More

Although the Utah Jazz have not made that many off-season moves, I still think the team will improve and be better than last year. The improvement of Milsap and D-Will should help the Jazz move on up the Western Conference ladder. Play Milsap more and the Jazz will win more.

You Can't Have Peanut Butter Without Jelly

You knew it was coming.

For The Dog Days Of Summer

I was missing the old Karl Malone and found this video on YouTube. Check it out.

Jazzbots.com Entry

Many of you have be asking me to post what I submitted as my entry for Jazzbots.com. I said I wanted to wait until everything was final and now that it is here is the entry I submitted.

"Blog Position – Season ticket holder from the upper bowl, young
working professional, or Jazz fan.

Now the toughest part, convincing you, the Utah Jazz, to choose
me. Throughout my life, the Utah Jazz has played a large role in everything
I do. When I was 9 or 10 years old I wanted to be the next Karl
Malone. I quickly realized I would never be 6'9" and my goal changed
to buying the Jazz from Larry Miller. (A goal still under
consideration, so look out Larry.) A few years down the road, the
first date with my wife was a Jazz game on February 25, 1997 versus
the New York Knicks. My wife and I were on the JumboTron, the Jazz
won despite Larry Johnson's great game, and life was great. Family,
friends and coworkers have always been interested in my perspective
as a passionate Jazz fan and encouraged me to pursue this passion. I
started a blog (jazzwagon.blogspot.com) earlier this year and have
enjoyed watching my readers increase over time. I feel I have a great
perspective and passion to add this project and know I would enjoy
working hard to make it a success. I relate well with all different
kinds of Jazz fans and have the ability to make them laugh. I have
always dreamed of being associated with the Utah Jazz and feel this is
a great opportunity to make this dream a reality. I hope to hear from
you soon. Go Jazz!"

Honestly, nothing to incredibly compelling, but I think I was sincere enough to get their attention. Thanks again for your support.

It Is Official.......Sort Of.......

"Dear Jazz Fan,

Let me be the first to welcome you to the JazzBots Team! You have been selected as a featured blogger - we are excited to have you on board.

Let's meet the team, in no particular order:

Season Ticket Holder (Lower Bowl): J.R. Stewart
Season Ticket Holder (Upper Bowl): Alan Hinckley
College Student: Cameron Hansen
Jazz Wife: Laurie Nylund
Young Working Professional: Annie Whitaker
Jazz Family: Megan Mueller
Elementary School Class: Jackie Corbridge & Karen Chatterton (Weekly Rotation)
Jazz Fan: Stanton Huntington
Jazz Fan: Johnathan Kendrick

The alternates are an important part of the team. Beyond contributing when others cannot, they will be asked to blog on special assignments.

Alternate: Keith Haney
Alternate: Tamara Lynn Rasmussen
Alternate: Aaron Heaton
Alternate: Tim Ormond
Alternate: Josh Leavitt "

So the good news is, I made the cut. The bad news is, I am a floater/alternate. Either way I am excited and looking forward to the challenge.

Jazz Bots Update

Ok......so here is the news. Last week I received an email telling me I was a finalist and scheduled an interview for earlier this morning. I just got back from the interview and here is what I can tell you. First of all, I was freaking nervous and may have blown the whole thing. I was fine until I was informed that over 800 entries were received before the deadline with hundreds more after the deadline and that mine made the final 35. At that point I started freaking out. Not even my lucky Stockton and Malone card could help at that point. I hope I didn't sound like too much of an idiot. So here is a break down of what happened.

I was downstairs in the bowels of the ESA. Met a very nice security guard and waited to be seen. Then Derek who was conducting the interview took me to a conference room where another man was waiting. Derek made some comment like, "We are interviewing for bloggers and looking for a new power forward." To which I replied, "I've got some great low post moves but may be a little bit short for the NBA." We then proceeded to the interview portion. Basically the interview consisted of two questions on their part. They wanted to learn more about me and find out why Jazz fans would be interested in my perspective. I answered to the best of my ability in my nervous state. I then asked them some questions about Jazzbots.com and what they hoped in would become. The interview then ended and that was it. On the ride home I kept thinking about everything I should have said. I'll get to that in a minute but first I want to tell you a little more about their vision for Jazzbots.com.

From my understanding, Jazzbots.com is going to be a very interactive fan site. It will consist of about 7 pages and launched in September. They have two professional sports writers to cover the basketball side of things and the co-authors (the position I interviewed for) will provide the human interest side to the site. This was a little different than I had understood from the emails they sent to me but now it makes a lot of sense. Co-authors will post twice a week. They can write about their own topics and/or will have topics provided to them from the Jazzbots' staff. All in all it should be really cool and I hope to be a part of it.

If I am chosen, here is a list of things I think I could write about:

Creative heckling
Upper-bowl fans vs. Lower-bowl fans
Game day superstions/rituals
Rocky Mountain Revue Flu (a sickness that effects me every July)
Is it ok to pray for the Jazz to win?
Top 10 Jazz fan favorites (Players, arena food, Jazz memories, ect.)

Also, if any of you readers have ideas, I would love to hear them. I want to be a true representation of Jazz fans on the Jazzbots site and with your help I think I can do that.

Jazzbots Blog Watch Begins

To all the faithful readers of Jazz Wagon, the Jazzbots Blog watch has begun. I submitted my 250 word application today and now the waiting game can begin. Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to do this. I have wanted to be associated with the Utah Jazz for a long time and hopefully this will be an opportunity to do just that. The problem is that in 250 words it is hard to really say everything you want to say. There were many stories I would have like to share like my struggle to go on a mission because I was afraid that I would miss Stockton's and Malone's last games in a Jazz uniform but ran out of time. Lets just hope that whoever reads my submission can realize that I am genuinely interested in the opportunity and I get a chance to display my passion as a Jazz fan to more people. So tonight when you all lay down say a little prayer for me and with some divine intervention, I will realize a dream of mine. Go Jazz!

DWill Team USA Scrimmage

Thank goodness for channel 104 on my DirectTV package. The sports mix channel allows me to see NBA TV without paying for the upgraded package. Last night Jazz fans had a chance to see Williams playing in basically an All-Star game as he works out for Team USA. (I refuse to call any team besides the 1992 Olympic Team the "Dream Team.") DWill looked great, all things considered. He played about 30 minutes and ended up leading all point guards in assists with 13. He did not shoot the ball very well finishing up with 6 points on 3 for 8 shooting. He did however prove that he belongs on the court with the big names in NBA basketball. All of the interviews I have seen from this camp show that Deron has been lacking a little confidence about his status among the great players on the team. He seems to be deferring his leadership abilities to other more veteran players like Jason Kidd. Rumor has it that the team will use three point guards and the third spot is coming down to Kirk Hinrich and Deron Williams. The other two point guards appear to be Jason Kidd and Chauncey Billips. Deron has a great chance to make this team if he keeps working hard. My hope is that DWill makes the team, plays fewer minutes than the veterans on the team and comes back with the added confidence making this team would provide.

Review in Review

I thought I would take a moment to offer my observations on the Utah Jazz Rocky Mountain Review team. The main focus of this review will be players who have a chance to make the team. My apologies to all of you Nate Doornekamp and Wen Mukubu fans out there. At about the midpoint of the summer league here is what I have seen:



Paul Milsap

Milsap has been a man amongst boys. Much like Deron Williams last year Milsap has proven he does not need to be playing at the review. Offensively he has improved his range, handle, and feel for where he can get shots within a Utah Jazz system. He is in great shape and running the floor well. Offensive boards and ability to finish from tough angles around the hoop continue to be a strong point. If he can consistently knock down 15-17 foot jumpers, AK-47 might be on the next plane to the Eastern Conference before the All-Star break next year.

Defensively Milsap looks quicker and more able to handle the quicker small forwards. He still could use some improvement in this area, but even with his sometimes laking lateral quickness he makes up for that with the ability to block shots from behind. Milsap deserved to be the Utah Jazz summer league MVP.

Morris Almond

Offensively Almond is almost the complete package. He does not look like a rookie as he demonstrates much more poise than most other players in this league. On more than one occasion with the shot clock running down he has taken his time to find the right shot for that situation. His jumper is soft and looks good every-time it leaves his hands. Even after his poor performances he bounced back and showed some toughness.

Defensively Almond is more athletic than advertised. He is strong and can usually stay between his man and that basket, which is more than what you might say of any Jazz two guard last year. He could use some work guarding the pick and roll and needs to try to improve lateral movements. He has been the second best player on the Jazz team at the review.

Dee Brown

The "One Man Fast Break" has looked both good and bad so far. He is a great assist man and can run the offense, but his jumper has been all over the place. He had the most to gain from playing well with a contract on the line and a chance to win some minutes now that Fisher is gone and I can't help but wonder if this pressure got to him.

His is still the quickest player on the court and has been fairly active in the passing lanes. He can be a real pest on defense. His ability to be a ball hawk could help the Jazz next season. Expect him to be back with the Jazz unless he gets some crazy contract offer from another team.

Ronnie Brewer

Probably one of the most disappointing players as far as Jazz fans are concerned. Due to his injury, fans were not able to see if he has improved or not. I personally think he will be fine and all he needs to do from now until camp is work on extending his range and staying in shape.

Rafael Araujo

Before we get into his game, or lack thereof, let me talk about one of my pet peeves surrounding the Brazilian big man. Often times on sports radio I hear people call in and complain about his nick name Hafa, stating it has nothing to do with his name. In Brazil "R" makes and "H" sound. Hafa is short for Rafael. Back on point. He may work harder than any player out there and will probably get an invite to camp, but he still has a long way to go on both sides of the court. Before his injury he was a turnover machine on offense and played soft on defense. He would back away from contact just to preserve his own foul situation. Those facts combined with the Fess Factor (to be defined in the next section) could be the reasons Hafa's time in Utah expires.

Kyrylo Fesenko (Fess)

To me he was the most impressive play on the Jazz. I say that because I came in expecting to see Pavel Podkolzine 2.0. Meaning a slow unathletic big guy with no offensive skills and lack of stamina. What I saw was a little different. He is still very raw offensively. He needs to work on all aspects of his game. He can however run the floor very well for a big guy, block shots, provide energy, and is the funniest sucker out on the court. Those things combined with the fact that he is so young constitute the above mentioned Fess Factor. He is worth bringing on board to develop here in Utah. I would expect him to spend most of the season down in Utah County with the Flash. (I considered buying season tickets and making the commute down to watch him play, but then I remembered it was Utah County we were talking about.) If he can work hard and find away around the language/cultural barrier, he could be another 2nd round steal for the Jazz. Kudos to the KOC and the rest of the Jazz executives for taking a risk on him.

All in all the review was great again this year. Lets hope it can continue so that Jazz fans can have the opportunity to get up close and personal with our Jazz rookies. If not, I will have to budget in a trip to Vegas in July 2008.