The Downbeat: Back to School Edition

[MHSL82]

The Downbeat #1101: The Back to School Edition

By Yucca Man  @YuccaManHoops on Jul 25 2013, 5:00a 128

Karl Malone Day, Ian Clark and the Jazz bench, USA Men's Select Team, and Back to School goals. It's all here in today's Downbeat. It's today's Downbeat (and for some reason seems important to note the number of the DB is also binary for 11)

Utah celebrated Pioneer Day yesterday. Jazzdom celebrated Karl Malone Day in honor of the Mailman's 50th Birthday. The two, of course, are tied together forever (from a Deseret News article about Karl Malone's retirement in 2003)*:

The Karl Malone era for the Utah Jazz began in 1985 when the "city of Utah" threw a birthday parade for him, disguised as a Days of '47 celebration.
​

Our own Basketball John (@5kl) was at Karl's car dealership, tweeting to the world the inside scoop:

And the one and only Mizuho Nishio did what he does best: let Jazzmen new and old know exactly how much we fans enjoy them:

Karl Malone wasn't the only Jazzman making news yesterday. Our newest member of the team was signed: Las Vegas Summer League Finals MVP, Ian Clark.

As Clark (our SLC Dunk writer) said about Clark (the 22-year-old SG): we now have a Finals MVP on the team!

Exactly one week ago, I asked you all to list any remaining Free Agents that you would like the Jazz to find for the 13th spot on the roster. I don't think anyone thought of Ian Clark ... and today, I expect most of us are a bit excited about this move. It's about as close to a "Slam Dunk 13th Man on the Team" signing as you can get.

He certainly shot the lights out in college last year (54% FG, 46% from three — as a SG!). Who knows if it will translate to his NBA career, but I think we're all excited to see what he can do. Considering Brandon Rush is returning from a ruptured ACL injury, I think Clark will have at least a few opportunities to prove whether he can make it as an NBA player.

A great opportunity for him.

Ian Clark joining the team has got me looking a lot at the likely bench this year. At first glance, it has seemed really weak. But the more I look, the more I find myself feeling optimistic that there are at least a couple high-quality guys there.

I mentioned Clark's terrific shooting in college. He was also his conference defensive player of the year. Brandon Rush was a strong defender and rebounder, and his scoring became crazy-efficient his last full season. Jeremy Evans, of course, exists primarily to screw up all stats. He's shot over 60% every season. With the requisite "sample size alert", in his limited time he has rebounded well, blocked shots, and gotten steals. Rudy Gobert may be a year or two away from having an offensive game that doesn't scare coaches ... but he will have a noticeable defensive impact every minute he plays.

The odds are long that everybody works out and proves to be an effective player ... but the more I look, the more I think at least one or two of these guys prove to be keepers.

But we all know I'm bleeding optimism about this season.

Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward play in a televised USA Men's Select Team Showcase today (NBA TV — 9:00 p.m. EDT, 7:00 p.m. MDT). Both our guys are on the same team (the Blue Team).
Of course, there's been a lot of talk about our guys and how they're impressing—particularly Hayward.

From Sekou Smith's Hang Time Blog:

Hayward’s looked more like the college star he was at Butler during his time here this week than he has the role player he was asked to be in his first three seasons in the league. His ballhandling, slashing and athleticism have been on full display. He’s more than held his own on defense, too, sticking out in this talented crowd on both ends regularly.
"That’s what you love about things like this," said Favors, who will team up with Hayward on the Blue team in Thursday night’s intrasquad showcase at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center. "I know how good he is. I’ve seen him do this stuff in practice every day. But it’s been funny to talk to some of these other guys and see how impressed they are with Gordon this week."
​

In the spirit of this, I present you some "that's so Derrick Favors" quotes about being a leader this upcoming season (from Jody Genessey's Twitter):

If you think "he's multi-talented, man." is going to be my new Game Thread meme whenever Favors does something freaking awesome, you are 100% correct. But there will also be plenty of "There's lots of stuff he can do." and "two other people can be leading scorers." in the threads. I'm so ready to pull out that last one when the team scores 125 points in a blowout win.

And please note the periods. Any Derrick Favors meme has to end in a period. The more amazing the athletic feat, the more important the period. Exclamation marks totally betray the soul behind our PF/C.
And finally, Jody explains why exactly the Jazz may not be terrible:

Whether Hayward and Derrick become superstars, stars, or simply effective players remains to be seen. But right now they believe in themselves, and so do I.

My school is changing to a year-round schedule this year, so for me the first day of school is today. By the time many of you read this, I will likely have already given out my first "stop talking and pay attention NOW" look of the year.

Anyway, it has me thinking about our guys on the team today, and what I'd love to see them learn this year. Not a skill I'd like to see them perfect or work on, but something brand new to bring to the team. Here's my list:

Derrick Favors — How to wear a sweet afro. Seriously, is there anything in the universe that could beat this look?



Gordon Hayward — Trolling and talking smack to prominent front row fans - Spike Lee, Jack Nicholson, Mark Cuban, etc. Can you imagine Hayward as the new Reggie Miller?

Enes Kanter — A Tim Duncan bank shot (preferably without holding the ball for 10 seconds first ... seriously, work on that Kanter).

Alec Burks — A Tinsley-esque nutmeg. Just imagine him pulling it off, then one of his crazy, acrobatic and-one's, all with his trademark non-chalance and "whatever, I do that all the time" attitude.

Marvin Williams — Any signature something that makes his presence known when he's in the game.

Jeremy Evans — The Lakers vs. Celtics Tom Chambers double-clutch dunk from the three-point line.

*To anyone who tries to correct me and claim that Malone didn't retire in 2003, you are simply wrong. He retired when he left the Jazz. The End.

 

[MHSL82]

Click on the link for the above article. The twitter and other parts of the article do not copy and paste so you are missing out on those if you don't go to the source.

As to all articles I post, I will try to always remember to include the link to it. I only post here in its length so that others can quote a certain part easily and respond. I don't intend on diverting traffic to the web site. In fact, I feel that people who would never go to the website will see it. Also, of course, I don't post all articles, so there are a lot on the websites I post on.

 

[MHSL82]

Karl's 50th Birthday Cake

 

[MHSL82]

Not sure if you all know the story, but Utah's biggest state holiday is when who we call the Pioneers, came to Utah on July 24th. That happens to also be Malone's birthday. Larry Miller, the Jazz owner, a bit of a jokester, told Malone, who didn't know of the holiday, that they were celebrating his birthday. Malone fell for it hard and was very touched in how this city would do such a thing, and called his mom to tell her. He also had said on draft day that he was "excited to come to the state of Salt Lake City." When he was lowballed in contract negotiations, he said that he had played his last game in a Jazz jersey - when he got the contract signed, he said that he changed his mind and did a "360" (instead of a 180).

I always say I've done a 540 whenever I change my mind.

 

[MHSL82]

Malone spoke to this 94 year old Jazz fan for 20 minutes.

 

[MHSL82]

Utah Jazz Superstar Karl Malone turns 50 Years old today! Happy Birthday Karl!

By AllThatAmar  @AllThatAmar on Jul 24 2013, 2:33p 15

It's not a big secret that I, a non-LDS guy who was born in Canada and lived in Los Angeles during the Kareem/Earvin Johnson "Showtime Era", would not be a Utah Jazz fan if it wasn't for Karl Malone. Right now I get to write about the Jazz every day on the most popular destination for Jazz fans. I'm really lucky because I grew up all over the world where Utah Jazz fans were not. It's interesting. But not as interesting as Karl Malone is.

And today is his 50th Birthday. Love him or hate love him, Karl Malone is without doubt the greatest power forward of all-time. He has the heart of a champion and has more accolades than I have blog posts. The problem is that on the court his record appears a little unfinished. He didn't get a title, despite going to the NBA Finals three times. He's not the first all-time in scoring, he's second. He didn't get to start as many All-Star games as he should have, and even once had to play through a lockout shortened season where they even got rid of the All-Star game (so he should have had at least one more). For many they look at Karl Malone's career as a product of this incompleteness. One more made free throw. One less turn over. One more playoff game. One fewer injury. It's a reductionalist point of view to see him as a consequence of incompleteness.

It's just not how I see him.

I see him as the baddest mofo out there, who took the league by storm, put the pretenders in their place, and powered a great number of crappy rosters to multiple 50 win seasons, and 5 Western Conference Finals in 7 years. He was great because of his internal motivation, and he was great because the Utah Jazz franchise took a chance on him, and believed in him that they played him over 30 mpg from the get go -- and then the very next season got rid of their former franchise corner stone to make sure he had enough room to flourish. (How many 30 ppg seasons did big Al Jefferson have? Was it zero? How many did Adrian Dantley have? Was it 5 out of 6 years in a row before Karl Malone arrived? Yes.)

Numerically Karl Malone is without peer.

• 4th All-time in games played
• 2nd All-time in minutes played
• 2nd All-time in Field goals made
• 2nd All-time in Field goals attempted
• 1st All-time in Free throws made
• 1st All-time in Free throws attempted
• 14th All-time in Offensive Rebounds
• 2nd All-time in Defensive Rebounds
• 7th All-time in Total Rebounds
• 48th All-time in Assists
• 11th All-time in Steals
• 61st All-time in Blocks
• and, yes, 2nd All-time in total points scored

His career (54,852 regular season minutes) averages of 25.0 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 3.6 APG, 1.4 SPG, and 0.8 BPG puts him not only at the head of the class for all power forwards ever, but he's in that God-tier All-Time for all NBA players. His advanced stats (like being #14 All-Time in cumulative PER or #3 All-Time in Win Shares) . (NSFW)


His trophy chest is pretty full even without a championship ring already, with being an All-Star 14 times, All-NBA 14 times, All-NBA Defense 4 times, 2 All-Star Game MVPs, 2 NBA MVPs, and 2 Gold Medals (would have been 3 Gold Medals, so being Top 12 in the USA for over 12+ years, but he declined in 2000 because his mother just passed away).

The Hall of Famer didn't win Rookie of the Year (Ewing did), but we all know who had a better career -- even if all Karl did was make the All-Rookie team back then. (He still played 8,530 mins in his first three seasons though - if only he came off the bench for three years behind a crappy player he could have really been something instead, right David Locke?)

Malone's charity work deserves a whole website to document, not just a part of one post on a basketball themed blog. He was known for scoring on the court (and honestly, with 7 kids off of it too), but made some huge assists as a civilian. The biggest had to be more than just writing a check after Hurricane Katrina came by, and he defied the US Government itself to go into unsecured areas and do manual labor for weeks on his own dime.

I love Karl Malone. It was Magic and Kareem who helped me fall in love with the NBA. But it was Karl who made me fall in love with the Jazz. Thank you Karl for so much, more than half of my life has been influenced by the ups and downs of the team you raised to prominence.

You taught me that there is no substitute for hard work, and that if you develop consistency, in time your talents will shine brightest among your peers.

 

[MHSL82]

Not sure if you all know the story, but Utah's biggest state holiday is when who we call the Pioneers, came to Utah on July 24th. That happens to also be Malone's birthday. Larry Miller, the Jazz owner, a bit of a jokester, told Malone, who didn't know of the holiday, that they were celebrating his birthday. Malone fell for it hard and was very touched in how this city would do such a thing, and called his mom to tell her. He also had said on draft day that he was "excited to come to the state of Salt Lake City." When he was lowballed in contract negotiations, he said that he had played his last game in a Jazz jersey - when he got the contract signed, he said that he changed his mind and did a "360" (instead of a 180).

I always say I've done a 540 whenever I change my mind.

The Downbeat #1100: The Pioneer Day Edition

By Shums  @theshums on Jul 24 2013, 7:00a 10

Karl Malone's 50th birthday, Jazz players at USA camp, SLC Dunk Community posts, wrasslin' tweets, and more.

Yep, it's time for that weird Utah holiday again. (For Jazz fans who live outside of Utah, July 24 is a statewide holiday commemorating the entry of the Mormon pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley. Google it or something.)

I get the day off myself as an employee at a state institution, so I'm keeping this short and writing it ahead of time. (I fervently hope to be sleeping in while you're reading this.)

This Pioneer Day is special, though, because it's Karl Malone's 50th birthday. (And it's extremely serendipitous -- or a sign of a higher power, take your pick -- that the Mailman was drafted by a team in a state where his birthday was already a holiday.)

Karl was and is a pioneer for the Utah Jazz in a lot of ways. He led the team to places it had never been. He established a legacy of hard work and determination that still defines the franchise. And now he's helping to show Derrick Favors and others the way.

This profile from Steve Luhm is an amazing reminder of the man Karl was, is, and always will be. A sampling:

"I always had a suspicion, at some point, I'd be back involved with some organization," Malone said. "When I stepped back on the floor, I wanted to look like a coach. I wanted to look like I belonged. I thought it might help the young guys listen to me."
Yes, Malone is the same guy who has always used the fear of failure as a motivational tool.
"I don't want to disappoint my family, my real fans or myself," he said. "... I've always wanted to prove something to Karl Malone and I still do."
​

If ever there were an NBA basketball player who could be called a pioneer, it's Karl Malone. Happy 50th, Mailman.

As the summer wears on, I keep fearing that there won't be enough news to fill these Downbeats. But we've been blessed -- just as Summer League ends, USA Basketball camp begins. And that means we get to see Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors compete with other young NBA stars in a different sort of setting.

I haven't gotten to watch any of the camp scrimmages yet, but fortunately, that's what Twitter is for:

Warms my heart, it does. I'm really looking forward to seeing the bond between our young players manifest itself on the court. Check out this story from Jody for more on that.

As usual on Wednesdays, the third item in the Downbeat is devoted to the SLC Dunk community. Here are a few FanPosts from the past week that are worth your time:
-- Mykroberts gives his take on the ever-popular issue of tanking:

I think it is clear that the Jazz FO is actively trying to be bad (how I define tanking) by looking at some of the available deals this offseason. There were lots of 2 year deals, which have no real impact on extending Jazz draft picks (even a couple 3 year days would probably be manageable). I really believe that if the Jazz had acquired Sap/DMC/Ridnour for similar deals (or even at a 20% premium) the young guys could be BETTER developed with some moderately functional lineups. Throwing a high quantity of garbage minutes at players does not guarantee development - lots of talent languishes on bad organizations (Sac).
​

-- mitchdowd24 crunches some numbers to see who might be taking the shots for the Jazz next season:

If we consider that Mo and Tinsley are gone, then in total from all players we are losing 4089 shots out of 6710 shots taken (League average of 6720 fga) . Remaining members shot a collective of 2621 fg attempts last year ( not including new players). 61 % of our shot taken last year is gone. On average teams take about 82 fg a game. That means we have 50 more shots a game that will be going to our new lineup. I REPEAT 50 SHOTS A GAME. Question is not who is going to score but who is going to shoot.
​

-- jazz_FM looks at the shot-creation issue from a different angle:

In conclusion, the Jazz really don't have any player that I see as being a great shot creator. So while I don't think Utah will have the league's worst offense, I am more than a little skeptical that they'll manage a league average offense with the personnel they have right now. In fact, the only positive I really see is that Utah still runs something of the flex offense, which is designed to create shots specifically without a top-of-the-line off-the-dribble player. But, hey, I've always been a pessimist, so hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised at the end of next year (unless, of course, tanking).
​

-- KateJourdan mourns the absence (for this year, anyway) of Raul Neto and tries to make peace:

I want to rant and rave at those who told me on twitter. I want to scream back at the excellent newspaper reporters we have covering the Jazz, that the right questions weren't asked, and nobody's final answer is really on the line here. I wanted to walk up to Dennis Lindsey and empty a spray bottle of cheese in his face, but none of that would get me to the acceptance I would have to swallow. (Yea I know, Pop Rocks) So, I decided to try to hide the ranting and raving I did at home and the smashed pillows, and try to rationalize it from a business perspective.
​

Go check 'em all out. And if you see a post worth spotlighting, hit me up on Twitter or email.

John Lucas III: The Lucasening (I'm going to keep making that joke until it becomes funny or Amar makes me stop) was officially introduced this week, and...well, despite myself and all statistical indications...I kinda liked his interviews. Moni, as usual, has the transcripts:

But nah, I don't feel like we're rebuilding. All the guys that's here now been in the league for a couple years. They know what it takes to win. We got a couple guys coming in that been in the league for years that knows how to get there, that played in big games or big situations. So I don't look at it as a rebuilding year. I just look at it as a new beginning.
​

Lucas also talked a lot about mentoring Trey Burke and passing on his knowledge to the rookie. I'm not exactly sure how much knowledge Lucas has or how that will translate on the court, but he IS the son of an NBA coach and really sounded like a smart dude in his interviews. So I'm a bit less skeptical of his presence on the team than I was.

I probably don't seem the type, but I'm something of a closet WWE fan. I was entertaining myself yesterday by trying to come up with names for wrestling moves that local athletes might use, and my Twitter timeline got in on the act. Given Karl Malone's connection with "wrasslin'," I feel like this is an appropriate venue:

 

[MHSL82]

Again, the post above is missing the twitter inserts. Too much work to embed them all. Click on the link, the website's authors deserve it.

 

[nuraman00]

Reading post # 1 now.

 

[nuraman00]

The Downbeat #1101: The Back to School Edition



It's today's Downbeat (and for some reason seems important to note the number of the DB is also binary for 11)

No it's not. 1101 in binary is 13 in a decimal counting system.

1011 in binary is 11 in a decimal counting system.

 

[nuraman00]

The writing style wasn't appealing to me.

Will read posts # 5 and 6 now.

 

[nuraman00]

I can't read post # 5 right now.

 

[nuraman00]

Malone's charity work deserves a whole website to document, not just a part of one post on a basketball themed blog.

I'm interested to learn more about this.

 

[nuraman00]

The Downbeat #1100: The Pioneer Day Edition

By Shums  @theshums on Jul 24 2013, 7:00a 10

Karl Malone's 50th birthday, Jazz players at USA camp, SLC Dunk Community posts, wrasslin' tweets, and more.

Yep, it's time for that weird Utah holiday again. (For Jazz fans who live outside of Utah, July 24 is a statewide holiday commemorating the entry of the Mormon pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley. Google it or something.)

I get the day off myself as an employee at a state institution, so I'm keeping this short and writing it ahead of time. (I fervently hope to be sleeping in while you're reading this.)

This Pioneer Day is special, though, because it's Karl Malone's 50th birthday. (And it's extremely serendipitous -- or a sign of a higher power, take your pick -- that the Mailman was drafted by a team in a state where his birthday was already a holiday.)

Karl was and is a pioneer for the Utah Jazz in a lot of ways. He led the team to places it had never been. He established a legacy of hard work and determination that still defines the franchise. And now he's helping to show Derrick Favors and others the way.

This profile from Steve Luhm is an amazing reminder of the man Karl was, is, and always will be. A sampling:

"I always had a suspicion, at some point, I'd be back involved with some organization," Malone said. "When I stepped back on the floor, I wanted to look like a coach. I wanted to look like I belonged. I thought it might help the young guys listen to me."
Yes, Malone is the same guy who has always used the fear of failure as a motivational tool.
"I don't want to disappoint my family, my real fans or myself," he said. "... I've always wanted to prove something to Karl Malone and I still do."
​

If ever there were an NBA basketball player who could be called a pioneer, it's Karl Malone. Happy 50th, Mailman.

As the summer wears on, I keep fearing that there won't be enough news to fill these Downbeats. But we've been blessed -- just as Summer League ends, USA Basketball camp begins. And that means we get to see Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors compete with other young NBA stars in a different sort of setting.

I haven't gotten to watch any of the camp scrimmages yet, but fortunately, that's what Twitter is for:

Warms my heart, it does. I'm really looking forward to seeing the bond between our young players manifest itself on the court. Check out this story from Jody for more on that.

As usual on Wednesdays, the third item in the Downbeat is devoted to the SLC Dunk community. Here are a few FanPosts from the past week that are worth your time:
-- Mykroberts gives his take on the ever-popular issue of tanking:

I think it is clear that the Jazz FO is actively trying to be bad (how I define tanking) by looking at some of the available deals this offseason. There were lots of 2 year deals, which have no real impact on extending Jazz draft picks (even a couple 3 year days would probably be manageable). I really believe that if the Jazz had acquired Sap/DMC/Ridnour for similar deals (or even at a 20% premium) the young guys could be BETTER developed with some moderately functional lineups. Throwing a high quantity of garbage minutes at players does not guarantee development - lots of talent languishes on bad organizations (Sac).
​

-- mitchdowd24 crunches some numbers to see who might be taking the shots for the Jazz next season:

If we consider that Mo and Tinsley are gone, then in total from all players we are losing 4089 shots out of 6710 shots taken (League average of 6720 fga) . Remaining members shot a collective of 2621 fg attempts last year ( not including new players). 61 % of our shot taken last year is gone. On average teams take about 82 fg a game. That means we have 50 more shots a game that will be going to our new lineup. I REPEAT 50 SHOTS A GAME. Question is not who is going to score but who is going to shoot.
​

-- jazz_FM looks at the shot-creation issue from a different angle:

In conclusion, the Jazz really don't have any player that I see as being a great shot creator. So while I don't think Utah will have the league's worst offense, I am more than a little skeptical that they'll manage a league average offense with the personnel they have right now. In fact, the only positive I really see is that Utah still runs something of the flex offense, which is designed to create shots specifically without a top-of-the-line off-the-dribble player. But, hey, I've always been a pessimist, so hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised at the end of next year (unless, of course, tanking).
​

-- KateJourdan mourns the absence (for this year, anyway) of Raul Neto and tries to make peace:

I want to rant and rave at those who told me on twitter. I want to scream back at the excellent newspaper reporters we have covering the Jazz, that the right questions weren't asked, and nobody's final answer is really on the line here. I wanted to walk up to Dennis Lindsey and empty a spray bottle of cheese in his face, but none of that would get me to the acceptance I would have to swallow. (Yea I know, Pop Rocks) So, I decided to try to hide the ranting and raving I did at home and the smashed pillows, and try to rationalize it from a business perspective.
​

Go check 'em all out. And if you see a post worth spotlighting, hit me up on Twitter or email.

John Lucas III: The Lucasening (I'm going to keep making that joke until it becomes funny or Amar makes me stop) was officially introduced this week, and...well, despite myself and all statistical indications...I kinda liked his interviews. Moni, as usual, has the transcripts:

But nah, I don't feel like we're rebuilding. All the guys that's here now been in the league for a couple years. They know what it takes to win. We got a couple guys coming in that been in the league for years that knows how to get there, that played in big games or big situations. So I don't look at it as a rebuilding year. I just look at it as a new beginning.
​

Lucas also talked a lot about mentoring Trey Burke and passing on his knowledge to the rookie. I'm not exactly sure how much knowledge Lucas has or how that will translate on the court, but he IS the son of an NBA coach and really sounded like a smart dude in his interviews. So I'm a bit less skeptical of his presence on the team than I was.

I probably don't seem the type, but I'm something of a closet WWE fan. I was entertaining myself yesterday by trying to come up with names for wrestling moves that local athletes might use, and my Twitter timeline got in on the act. Given Karl Malone's connection with "wrasslin'," I feel like this is an appropriate venue:

This article started out good, but I wasn't too into the fan posts.