To Welcome in 2008 the Utah Jazz finally disposed of Gordan Giricek by trading him to the Sixers for sharp shooter Kyle Korver. Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan was very clear that there was no place on the team for Giricek when he decided to bench him after four minutes of action on December 19th. For six games Giricek sat on the bench and it was apparent to all that he was in the mother of all doghouses, owned by ferocious coach Jerry Sloan. Ten days later, a new three point threat suited up in Salt Lake City, and he might just be the missing piece for this oh so talented Utah Jazz Orchestra. There is no question that Utah got the better deal as Kyle Korver is only in his 5th season in the league and last year averaged close to fifteen points in only thirty minutes a game and that was on a disfunctional Sixer team. Now, the Creighton star has been given new life, as he teams up with the likes of Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams, Memet Okur, and the Russian Assassin Andre Kirilenko, all unselfish professionals who know how to make the extra pass. Utah is a team with unselfish stars who were definitely playoff bound before this trade, but now they are a team that (if healthy) will thrive, not just survive this coming spring. Last night in only his second game in a Jazz uniform Kyle Korver hit five consecutive free throws in the final minutes to seal the deal against his former team. Korver was the X factor on this night, and with his precise three point shooting and over ninety percent free throw percentage, this insignificant trade may prove to be as important as Steve Kerr and John Paxson were to the Bulls of the 90’s.
January 3, 2008 at 6:39 pm |
Is it me, or has Utah been the whitest team in NBA history — and continues to be the whitest team, trading white players for other white players. And yes, SK and JP were both white and still are too. But anyhow. My point is that I hate the Utah Jazz and have since the days of Jeff Horachek nailing the Lakers three after three to take his team twice to the NBA finals vs. the Bulls. Yes, that is right, those teams would not have made to the NBA finals if it were not for the combination of Malone, Stockton and Jeff as the third man — and by the way, all of those guys are white too.
So Jerry Sloan is perhaps one of the biggest racist White people I know. And Salt Lake City might be one of the whitest places in America too. Maybe the X Factor the other night was WHITE, not Korver.
But anyway — I am just thinking out loud here. Josh, please tell me that you agree that even with this trade the Utah Jazz will not levitate higher than a #5 seed and take it anywhere past the semi-finals in the playoffs. Agree? You do!
As for the weather in Utah. It was fucking cold today and will be fucking cold tomorrow too. Good thing Sactown only smells slightly like America and LA only like smog.
Peace out.