FOXSports.com News for Jazz

Utah Jazz: C.J. Miles gets green light from medical staff

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 22:43:35 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY ? C.J. Miles got the thumbs-up from the team's medical staff to fully participate in Utah Jazz practice this morning. Miles was limited on Monday after spraining his wrist in Saturday's scrimmage. He sported a smaller brace on his left, shooting wrist for Tuesday's training session than the one he'd been wearing since the injury happened. "I'm fine," Miles said, displaying movement with his brace on. "I feel fine." The Jazz only have two days of practices remaining, including today, before the preseason kicks off Thursday night at home against Portland. e-mail:

Utah Jazz: Jerry Sloan leaves basketball at the arena

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 22:43:02 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY ? Jerry Sloan has a proven solution that helps him to not crack under the pressures that can accompany a basketball career. It helped during his 11 years as a player. And it's kept him loving his job for 22 years as the Utah Jazz's head coach.

ROSTER REPORT

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 11:32:56 GMT

ARRIVALS: --G Earl Watson (free agent from Pacers) PLAYER NOTES: --G Earl Watson signed with the Jazz and will compete with G Ronnie Price to back up Deron Williams. Watson has played for five teams during his nine-year NBA career and averaged 7.8 points and 5.1 assists last season with Indiana. Playing behind arguably the NBA's top point guard in Williams, Watson will have to adapt to a reduced role compared to the 29.4 minutes he averaged with the Pacers. The Jazz hope Watson can succeed in a role where veterans Jason Hart and Brevin Knight have failed in recent seasons. --C Kyrylo Fesenko spent the off-season in search of a multi-year contract from the Jazz before opting to accept the team's $1.1 million qualifying offer on the eve of training camp. Fesenko was reported to have drawn interest from the Rockets in the final days before the season. The 23-year-old started in the playoffs after C Mehmet Okur was lost to a ruptured Achilles' tendon, but will battle C Francisco Elson for minutes behind Al Jefferson this season. Fesenko reported for training camp weighing 285 pounds, approximately 15 to 25 pounds fewer than in recent years. --G Sundiata Gaines hit one of the most memorable shots in franchise history -- a last-second three-pointer to beat LeBron James and the Cavaliers last season in a TNT-televised game -- but could wind up the odd point guard out with the Jazz signing Earl Watson. Gaines has a non-guaranteed contract and is in training camp in Utah, but Deron Williams, Watson and Ronnie Price all have guaranteed deals.

Deron Williams - Andrei Kirilenko - Carlos Boozer - Mehmet Okur - Jazz

NOTES, QUOTES

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 11:32:53 GMT

--The Jazz announced that former F Matt Harpring will join their television broadcasts this season as an analyst alongside Craig Bolerjack. Harpring retired last season after an 11-year career and worked as an analyst on Jazz broadcasts as well as in studio for NBA TV in Atlanta. Longtime TV analyst Ron Boone will work with David Locke on the team's radio broadcasts. With three young children, Harpring is expected to work about 60 or so of the team's games. --How quickly did the Jazz move on after Carlos Boozer's departure? Rookie Ryan Thompson is wearing Boozer's old No. 5 in the preseason, with the team evidently not reserving it to be retired in the future. Boozer was a two-time All-Star with the Jazz during his tumultuous six-year tenure. The Jazz did retire Adrian Dantley's number after once ruling out the possibility. --C Mehmet Okur reported to training camp saying that his ruptured Achilles' tendon has healed, but that he still isn't running full speed or jumping. Okur deemed himself "70 percent" healthy after suffering the devastating injury in the playoffs. He is not expected to return for the start of the season and potentially not for several more months. QUOTE TO NOTE: "This is the best team I've been on." -- Veteran G Earl Watson, after signing with the Jazz to serve as Deron Williams' backup.

Deron Williams - Andrei Kirilenko - Carlos Boozer - Mehmet Okur - Jazz

GETTING INSIDE

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 11:32:51 GMT

Few teams pride themselves on staying out of the NBA's rumor mill more than the Jazz. General manager Kevin O'Connor's default answer, in fact, to almost every question related to potential personnel moves is a simple, "No comment." Needless to say, it came as a surprise in late September when the Jazz were widely reported to be part of a four-team blockbuster trade involving Denver's Carmelo Anthony. The Jazz were not purportedly acquiring Anthony, whom they knocked out of last season's playoffs in the first round, but were rather supposedly sending forward Andrei Kirilenko and his $17.8 million expiring contract to the Nuggets while acquiring Charlotte forward Boris Diaw. The move would have dropped the Jazz' projected payroll below the NBA's luxury-tax threshold of $70.3 million and saved them more than $10 million. However, the Jazz also would have been bidding farewell to Kirilenko, a former All-Star and the only remaining former teammate of John Stockton's and Karl Malone's. The deal ultimately collapsed, but O'Connor did acknowledge the talks happened. "I had a conversation with (Kirilenko)," O'Connor said, "and I can repeat this very, very accurately and very honestly. We've never initiated a trade call this whole summer about A.K. We think he's going to have a good year for us." Kirilenko has been the regular subject of trade talks in recent years and this season owns the second-largest expiring contract in the NBA, making him a valuable commodity for teams looking to shed long-term salary commitments. Only a year ago, though, the Jazz defied conventional wisdom and opted to finish the season with Carlos Boozer, who was heading into free agency and expected to leave. The Jazz believed Boozer would enjoy a strong season in a contract year -- which he did -- and feel the same about Kirilenko. But that was just part of the reason the trade talk came as such a surprise. As a small-market team, the Jazz have luxury-tax considerations, but they were taxpayers for the first time in franchise history last season, then bolstered their roster this summer by acquiring Al Jefferson and signing Raja Bell. Trading Kirilenko for Diaw seemingly would have been a step backward as a result. Kirilenko also was a difference-maker last season as the Jazz surged up the standings after the Russian forward returned to the starting lineup in January. The Jazz went 22-5 before Kirilenko's season was ultimately cut short by a strained calf he suffered in March. Following Boozer's departure, though, Kirilenko's value to the Jazz was only expected to increase taking on some minutes at power forward. Kirilenko is entering his 10th season with the Jazz, but remains young enough that he won't turn 30 until February. Despite some friction with coach Jerry Sloan in the past, Kirilenko has expressed a comfort level with his family in Utah. While acknowledging the trade talks, O'Connor did not suggest that a deal had been largely agreed to between the teams. "If you were going to make that trade, it would have been done Friday or Saturday at the latest," O'Connor said. The general manager also drew a distinction between listening to offers from other teams and actively shopping the players on his roster. For his part, Kirilenko seemingly took the developments before training camp in stride. "Look, for the last 10 years there are so many rumors around me," Kirilenko said. "So I (could) end up with any team in the NBA. This is the same way."

Deron Williams - Andrei Kirilenko - Carlos Boozer - Mehmet Okur - Jazz

Poor transition defense plagues Jazz

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 22:48:46 GMT

Earl Watson possesses insider's knowledge. After nine years spent playing against the Utah Jazz , the veteran guard is now a jersey-wearing member of the team he once opposed. Watson's loyalty obviously belongs to Utah. But his past allegiance affords him a unique perspective. He has studied, dissected and attacked the Jazz . He knows what makes Utah succeed and what also makes the team vulnerable. And one of the primary areas that Watson was taught to exploit when he belonged to the other side is the same issue that Jazz coach Jerry Sloan has put at the top of his preseason to-do list: improving Utah's transition defense. "This team has always been a great half-court team," said Watson prior to a Monday morning workout at the team's practice facility. "Because of that, teams really emphasize beating them in transition -- not letting them set up their perimeter wall or their defensive rules and rotations. You have to play fast against them."

Utah Jazz: C.J. Miles takes injury, coach's comments in stride

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 22:47:23 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY ? When it comes to NBA guys, C.J. Miles is about as happy-go-lucky as any player in the league. Laughs and smiles a lot. Stays positive. Hopes for the best. Despite a rough weekend ?

Utah Jazz notebook: Jazz feel bad for Carlos Boozer and his latest injury

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 22:46:49 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY ? Carlos Boozer and the power forward's injury were hot topics Monday at Utah Jazz practice. It's not the first time that's happened, of course. But while some took potshots and made one-liners about Boozer's latest injury, his former team took a more compassionate approach in responding to the news that the new Chicago Bulls' player broke his hand over the weekend and will miss eight weeks.

Jazz troubled by latest Boozer injury

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 22:46:28 GMT

If the Jazz are anything but concerned over ex-teammate Carlos Boozer 's latest injury, it doesn't show. Boozer spent six injury-plagued seasons with the Jazz before signing a free-agent contract with the Chicago Bulls last summer.

ROSTER REPORT

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 02:20:58 GMT