erfreulich, erfreulich was ich im gestrigen desertnews-artikel lesen konnte.
booz, ak, memo und gira seien lt. aussage sloans in der bisher besten körperlichen verfassung ihres lebens. carlos hat 12 lbs an muskeln draufgepackt und wiegt jetzt sage und schreibe 270 lbs bei nur 5% bodyfat
, ak hat ebenfalls kräftig gepumt und wiegt jetzt 8 lbs mehr und hat speziell ganze 2 monate zusammen mit einem shootingdoc an seinem jumper gearbeitet. riesig freut mich auch das gira wieder vollkommen fit ist, seine achillessehne macht ihm keine sorgen mehr. coach sloan ist wohl von ihm am meisten beeindruckt, gira's physis soll grandios sein. er bringt jetzt 222lbs auf die waage, vorher waren es 210. und auch unser dickerchen d-will hat 8 pounds abgespeckt und in der offseason intensiv an seinen ballhandlingskills gefeilt. ...traumhaft,das liest sich doch gut. mein jazzerherz schlägt höher und höher.
Offseason moves pleasing to Jazz
By Linda Hamilton
Deseret Morning News
They may not have gotten the long, tall guy they and most other NBA teams have been seeking, but the Utah Jazz seem to think they've addressed most of their other offseason objectives.
Teams usually have high hopes going into training camp — NBA teams open camp activities on Monday — and while nobody's predicting division titles or the like right now for Utah, basketball operations chief Kevin O'Connor, coach Jerry Sloan and team president Denny Haslam said Wednesday they expect — barring more major injuries — to have a better, deeper team than the one that finished 41-41 last season and just missed making the playoffs.
"I said a year ago this (2005-06) team should make the playoffs," said Sloan. "I think this (2006-07) team should make the playoffs. I can't do anything about injuries. This team is qualified and talented enough, so that's how we're going to go about the season, with that in mind."
O'Connor characterized the 2006-07 team that will hold its first practice Tuesday in Boise as young but growing with the work players put in on themselves over the summer, the three draftees and the additions of Derek Fisher and Rafael Araujo via trades.
The Jazz had asked several players to come back bigger or leaner, stronger and with better skills, and they all seem to have complied, said O'Connor at the team's annual media get-together at the Zion's Bank Basketball Center.
"Everything in the offseason that we've looked at doing — from a physical standpoint — they've done," he said. "I think all those goals have been achieved.
"We think they're all going to be a year better — that they haven't reached their peak, but they're heading toward it. And we didn't lose any of the core."
Meanwhile, Fisher gives them experience, shooting and defensive steadiness at two guard positions. "He brings a lot of things to the table that we needed — not that we wanted but that we needed," O'Connor said.
Araujo added to re-signed free agent Jarron Collins gives toughness if not shot-blocking in the middle. "If somebody takes the ball down the lane, we hope they're sitting on their fanny, picking themselves up and going to the free-throw line," said O'Connor.
In draftees Ronnie Brewer and Paul Millsap, there's added athleticism, though patience may be needed to allow the youngsters to learn the pro game. "Dee Brown, the jury's out a little bit. He's trying to convert himself to becoming a true point guard," O'Connor said. And 2005 draft pick C.J. Miles made "a quantum leap" but still has a ways to go — he's still only 19.
Matt Harpring had a summer that didn't require knee rehabilitation, and rest of the core of last year's club seems to have taken the front office's suggestions of last spring to heart. Point guard Deron Williams was asked to improve his ballhandling and get leaner, which he did, losing eight pounds, said O'Connor. Also leaner are Araujo and Collins.
Carlos Boozer, Andrei Kirilenko, Mehmet Okur and Gordan Giricek all improved their strength and size.
Boozer, who worked with Alonzo Mourning's physical trainer in Miami and played pickup games at night, is up 12 to 270 pounds. Kirilenko spent two months with a shooting coach and physical trainer in Los Angeles and put on seven or eight pounds, said O'Connor, adding, "He looks terrific physically."
Okur was asked to increase his strength "on top" and did so. "He's probably seven or eight pounds heavier, but when you look at him physically, you see some development in his upper body," O'Connor said.
Sloan said Giricek reported for a physical Wednesday at 222 pounds, up from 210 last season, and apparently healed from his Achilles problem. "He looks terrific. Looks in great shape. Been able to run up and down the floor in some of the (voluntary) practices," Sloan said.
"We've got a lot of young guys that look like they have some talent," said Sloan, who sees this team as deeper and more able to fill holes created by injury than the past couple. "It's going to be fun because of the competition (for positions)."
"All of those things," said O'Connor, "I think add up to us walking up the ladder a little bit and hopefully being a better basketball team."
