Losing Wally, but adding Jellybean . . . the return of the Rocky Mountain Review . . . our next All-Star is not going to be who you think . . . winning in front of family . . . and a user poll!
Maybe this is because of my blatant non-Abrahamic upbringing, but I see everything in a series of cycles. We recently lost Wally Price (and the loads of love he received from former players young and old was nice to see), but we gained someone new to our Utah Jazz family as well.
We are saddened by the passing of longtime Jazz usher Wally Price at the age of 99. He will be missed by many. pic.twitter.com/A2swbluymv
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 20, 2015
Congrats to Jazz asst. coach Johnnie Bryant & wife, Vanessa on the birth of daughter Janessa Jordyn Bryant last night. Congrats @jbryant3!!
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 22, 2015Welcome to our strange, but fun and loving family JJB (whom I will call "Jellybean").
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We haven't talked about it yet, but the Rocky Mountain Review (the NBA Summer League that took place everywhere from Westminister College, East High, the Delta Center, and Salt Lake Community College) looks to be back. It started in 1009 with just four teams, The Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, and the hosts the Jazz . . . and eventually to be a 16 team even back in the late 90s. The RMR existed from '90 to 2008, and many Jazz fans have fond memories of it.
Yes, I saw David Benoit light it up and Greg Ostertag outplay Tim Duncan at the RMR. Good times.
— David J. Smith (@davidjsmith1232) January 21, 2015
Yes, and it is coming back! Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today writes:
The Utah Jazz are hopeful the once-popular Rocky Mountain Revue NBA summer league returns to Salt Lake City as soon as the summer of 2015, three league officials familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports.
The people requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly until details are finalized.
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The Jazz, who also plan to play in the Las Vegas summer league, could be joined in Salt Lake City by an international team, a team of D-League players and possibly one or two other Western Conference teams who want to play in two summer leagues but don't want to send a team across the country to Orlando's summer league.
Basketball is big business in Utah. The Jazz have longed to bring back the popular fan experience, and a packed community college gym was the norm at the Rocky Mountain Revue.
Super beat writer Jody confirms:
I've been told the Rocky Mountain Revue will indeed be back in Utah this summer, adding to reports from @JeffZillgitt and @ZachLowe_NBA.
— Jody Genessy (@DJJazzyJody) January 21, 2015As does NBA writer / deity Scott Howard-Cooper:
@DJJazzyJody Dates have already been set.
— Scott Howard-Cooper (@SHowardCooper) January 21, 2015I would like to see the Jazz have the RMR *and* also go to Vegas. But that's just me.
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It's late January, and in a few weeks we'll all be talking about the All-Star Weekend. We've had players play in the skills contest (Deron Williams and Trey Burke), had a guy win a dunk contest (Jeremy Evans is 1/2). But in recent history (post-D-Will) the Jazz have not had an All-Star. They brought in a few former All-Stars (Mo Williams, Josh Howard) who didn't play like it here. They had a few players who would later go on to success (Paul Millsap was an All-Star with the Hawks, and Al Jefferson an All-NBA 3rd team member with the then Bobcats). But this Jazz team doesn't have a star . . . just yet.
My man D'Joumbarey A. Moreau writes that we will soon . . . and it will be Derrick Favors.
Favors was destined to become a bust when he was selected as the third pick in the 2011 draft. A draft that had John Wall (No. 1), and Evan Turner (No. 2) selected before him, and Wesley Johnson (No. 4) and DeMarcus Cousins (No. 5) picked after him.
However, Favors had a different narrative in his mind, and it was the only story that mattered.
Favors has come a long way from when he was playing for his hometown team, Georgia Tech, with Iman Shumpert and unjustly getting the explosive athlete label slapped on him.
Now the 23-year-old from Atlanta is having a career year as he's averaging 16.0 points on 54 percent shooting, 8.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.6 blocks per game, all of which, besides blocks, are career highs. In addition, Favors is also one of eight players, comprised on a list made up a list of all-stars, that average at least 16 points, eight rebounds, and one block per game.
With that being said, if Favors has numbers like the competition within the league then why isn't he already recognized with his peers? Favors this season should be getting his bags packed for New York City because this year he's shown that he is an all-star worthy talent.
It's a very good read that goes into high lights, stats, and absolute facts about how the NBA is run, who gets to be an All-Star, and it's a very compelling case for our bigman. The normal thing would be to talk about how Gordon Hayward is going to be our star, but I think most of us realize that while the offense stalls without G-Time, it's very hard for this Jazz team to win without Favors. (As of right now the Jazz are winless without Favors this season, and were a tire fire without him last season as well.)
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It seems like all of our players lose their "homecoming" games. Jazz rarely win in Atlanta (Derrick Favors), have trouble in Denver (Alec Burks went to college there), look lost in Indy (Gordon Hayward), and so forth. The Jazz can't get it done in Cleveland either, meaning another lose for Trey Burke in front of his state crowd.
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(If that doesn't work here is the picture alone.)
At least he gets to see his family more, though! And I know our announcing crew would have trouble saying Burke so many times in a row without calling someone Burks in there.
Is there more pressure to win in front of your family? (Probably not if you grew up with your family calling you a loser, I guess. So I have no trouble getting the job done in Canada.)
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What do you get from other NBA / Jazz websites that you want to see here?