The Utah Jazz’s wing position they’ve been thinning out is being filled back up. Othyus Jeffers of the Iowa Energy has been called up from the NBA Development League and will sign a 10-day contract with the Jazz. Jeffers is a 6-foot-5, 200-pounder, who played college ball for Robert Morris University in Chicago. He will bring the Jazz up to the required roster minimum of 13 players. Utah had until Thursday to sign a replacement for Ronnie Brewer, who was traded to Memphis for a future first-round draft pick two weeks ago. Jeffers will be the fifth D-League player signed by the Jazz, following Sundiata Gaines, Rusty LaRue, Mikki Moore and Louis Amundson. Coincidentally, Jeffers began this basketball season playing in Italy with the same team NGC Cantu squad that Gaines played for last year. Jeffers will not meet up with the Jazz in Phoenix, where Utah faces the Suns on Thursday night. He is expected to sign his contract in Salt Lake City on Thursday and will join the Jazz when they return Friday. He will wear jersey No. 6. The 24-year-old Jeffers is averaging 14.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists with Iowa this season. Jeffers is shooting 51 percent from the field and 30 percent from 3-point territory. He averaged 21.0 points and 9.0 rebounds and was a D-League All-Star last season.
Boozer is named Western Conference Player of the Month
Author: Jessa Larsen // Category: Sports BlogThe NBA has announced that Jazz forward Carlos Boozer was named the Western Conference Player of the Month for the games he played during February. Boozer topped the Western Conference in rebounds (13.0 rpg) and added 21.2 points on .604 shooting from the field, leading Utah to a 10-3 record. Boozer, who ranks fourth in the league in double-doubles (38), recorded nine in 11 games (all starts) played in February. On February 21, Boozer scored 22 points and added a season-high 23 rebounds in a 93-89 win at Portland. He also hit a game-tying buzzer-beater in that game to force overtime and complete the Jazz’s 25-point second-half comeback. Boozer is one of five NBA players averaging at least 19 points and 10 rebounds. This is the second time Boozer has been named the NBA’s Player of the Month in his career and the 10th time overall a Jazz player has been selected. In 52 games (all starts), Boozer is averaging 19.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game. The Alaskan native is one of only four players in the league averaging at least 10 points, 10 rebounds and 3.3 assists (a career-high) per game.
Some stats for Boozer this month:
Feb. 9 @ L.A. Clippers: Recorded 34 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and four steals in a 109-99 win over the Clippers.
Feb. 16 @ Houston: Posted 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists in a 104-95 win over the Rockets.
Feb. 17 @ New Orleans: Scored 16 points to go along with 15 rebounds, three assists and two steals in a 98-90 win over the Hornets.
Feb. 19 @ Golden State: Totaled 30 points, 16 rebounds, three assists and two steals in a 100-89 win over the Warriors.
Feb. 21 @ Portland: Recorded 22 points, 23 rebounds and five assists in a 93-89 overtime win over the Trail Blazers.
Feb. 24 vs. Charlotte: Posted 33 points, 16 rebounds, two assists and two steals in a 102-93 win over the Bobcats.
Fesenko seems to have gotten himself in a bit of a pickle lately. Despite the fact that he proves himself to be a decent player both on the offensive (getting the basket and making some nice hook shots) and the defensive (weighing in at 300 lbs, he proves to be a match for Yao and Shaq), his behavior off the court is what’s got him demoted once again. Last night against the Clippers, he got deactivated by Sloan due to missing the bus to the arena. Sloan says that he needs to learn a lesson about being accountable for his behavior. He can’t just be running around willy nilly only showing up when he feels like it. Sloan says Fesenko knows what he’s supposed to do but just doesn’t choose to implement them at some of the practices, workouts, and games. (Side note: I’ve actually seen a few of the players enjoying the night life in SLC and had a run-in with Fesenko at a club which made me not like him as far as personality goes. I think a lot of the players would do better if they’d lay off the night life just a hair.) Hopefully Sloan’s latest action towards Fesenko motivates him a bit as he IS a good player when he makes up his mind to participate. The talent is there, but maybe he just doesn’t have the heart for it, which in that case I personally think he needs to find something else to do in life. I want to see players that give it their all and earn that huge paycheck.
The focus of the Jazz-Kings game last Friday wasn’t really on the game. At least not for the Utah players and fans. During half time, announcer of 35 years, Hot Rod Hunley was honored for his years as an amazing and forever to be remembered announcer. This Hundley celebration began at 4 p.m. with him cutting the ribbon during the official dedication of the refurbished media center, which now bears his name and features a 60-foot-long memorial that easily could be called the Great Wall of Hot Rod. Shortly after that, Hundley tugged at a mini-basketball at the end of a long rope and unveiled his big white banner hanging in the rafters. Instead of a number, the jersey features a big old-fashioned microphone, the old-school Utah Jazz logo and the phrase “3,051 games called.” Hot Rod did a happy dance while pretending to take a 3-point hook shot. He was congratulated by ex-Jazz players such as Matt Harpring, Mark Eaton, and Jeff Hornacek, as well as by the current team members. Hundley displayed a wide range of emotions during his day. He acted giddy, appreciative and even got a little bit teary-eyed. As Hot Rod would say “You gotta love it baby.”
It looks like the Jazz CAN pull themselves together and win even when half the team is missing due to injuries. Last Friday’s games was against the team and with Williams, Boozer, Fesenko, and a few others missing, most people didn’t think it looked very promising. Millsap started for Boozer and tied his career-high with 32 points. He got 14 rebounds and 7 assists.Millsap finished the game just 3 assists shy of a triple-double. Sundiata Gaines got more time due to William’s absence and definitely showed that he’s a player worth keeping around. He scored 12 points and 7 assists. Andrei Kirilenko is definitely making his own come back. I haven’t seen him play this well in quite a while, but he seems to have found whatever spark had gone missing. He added 18 points, getting 7 rebounds and 5 blocked shots. Millsap, Gaines, and Kirilenko definitely picked up the pace and did what was need to get them their 5th win in a row 101-94. Next game is on Monday against the Mavericks. Playoff standings the way they are, they really need to win this one. I would like to see Jazz in the top 3 spots for the Western Conference.
Tomorrow is the Jazz vs Kings game and I’m loving how many people are out for the game. Deron Williams will be out as he has to fly out to West Virginia for his uncle’s funeral. Fesenko is still out with his sprained ankle. Boozer is more than likely out for a pulled hamstring. I wouldn’t be surprised if Korver cries wolf and decides not to play due to a previous knee injury. At this point Koufous is being pulled back up from the D-league to play this game. Will we need to count on Ronnie Price’s hustle and hope for another miracle from Gaines to win this game? On a beard note, since Williams is missing this game, what will happen with his beard. If they win, it’s the 5th game in a row, but since Williams won’t even be there, can he count it and shave it off anyways? If they lose though it resets the timer whether he’s there or not. Try not to die of anticipation while we wait to see what’s going to happen to his beard.
So the voting for the all-star team this year had already come and gone and it didn’t look like anyone on the Utah Jazz had made the cut despite all the efforts. There was even a website dedicated to getting votes for Deron Williams along with the usual advertising on various official sites. It seems like all the effort wasn’t a complete waste though as it was announced today that Deron Williams has been picked to be one of seven reserve all-star team members. Williams was voted onto the 12-man squad by the 15 Western Conference coaches. This will be William’s first time on the all-star team. He is currently tied for the league lead with 11 games of 20-plus points and 10-plus assists, while also leading the Jazz in both assists (fourth in the league) and minutes played. He is currently averaging 19.0 points, 9.5 assists and a career-high 3.9 rebounds in 37.1 minutes per game. Other notable Jazz players to make the all-star list are Boozer, Okhur, Kirilenko, Malone, and Stockton. The NBA all star game will be played at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010. A random fun fact is that the game is expected to have an audience of 80,0000 which is the largest amount of people to watch a live basketball game. Shall we jot that down in the Guinness Book of Records??
(Not sure if this will stay up or not. I submitted my stuff and to my understanding am okay to post it. If I am, it’ll stay, if not, I’ll simply link you directly to their site to read what I’m blogging about. If it stays here though, you’ll definitely wanna click the link at the bottom of this review and check out all their other awesome bloggers and the various takes on all things sports. Thanks.)
Will Ronnie Brewer be traded to the Memphis Grizzlies or not? If you ask Brewer, he had no idea this rumor was even circulating and in an interview told the press that he woke up one day to 50 or so messages on his phone from family or friends excitedly asking if the news was true. As far as we’re being told, it isn’t true and Brewer has talked to his agent and was told there is not talk of trading him. Apparently Memphis made their interest public without first speaking with Brewer or anybody else for that matter. The Jazz aren’t particularly happy with the fact that Memphis leaked their interest to the press without talking to them first. According to the leaked info, Memphis actually offered the Jazz a future first-pick in exchange for their player. As for Brewer, he says that he will simply keep his head in the game and play his hardest and try to ignore any chaos this rumor has caused. Sloan and the other players seem to be satisfied with Brewer’s performance and I don’t think we’ll see him traded off quite this quickly despite the fact that he becomes a free agent this summer. He plays a good game consistently and improves each year. Meanwhile, while the jazz fans are running around the internet wondering if it’s true or not, I’ll keep my fingers crossed that they win 5 games in a row and Williams shaves that beard off.
I recently got to join the blogging team for THBlogNetwork. I’ll be covering events and topics for the Utah Jazz. I hope you enjoy the addition to my page. My blogs about the Jazz will be primarily found on their website. Hope to see you here and there. Click the link below to get to their page.
THBlogNetwork: Complete Sports Coverage
This particular link leads you to my blog section on their page. I should have some up asap.