After the first half of the Jazz’s preseason and training camp, it looks like Ronnie Brewer has earned himself the starting shooting guard spot. While Jerry Sloan would be quick to deny this, and there’s still the possibility of trade (really now, Kobe?) or injury, Ronnie Brewer should start the season as the team’s two-guard while earning some serious minutes.

Fans saw flashes of potential in Ronnie Brewer last season — mostly on the defensive side of the ball aside from a few dunks and other athletic plays. This preseason, however, Brewer has averaged 21 points per game while shooting at an incredibly accurate percentage and stealing the ball 2.3 times a game.
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I hate all of this talk. I hate to think that AK will be wearing another uniform going into next season. I really hate that it has come to this. I have a couple of thoughts…

Number one:

If I am Larry Miller and I have to make a choice between Jerry Sloan and Andrei Kirilenko I am choosing AK. I would not have said this five years ago, as I tend to agree with the Millers philosophy of protecting your coach, but it is not five years ago. Isn’t Sloan the guy that will not commit to coaching the team beyond the next season? Isn’t he the guy that says he may wake up one morning and decide that coaching is no longer for him? Every offseason we wonder if he is going to retire and if he is honest, he would tell you that he wonders the same thing.

The question is: why would we trade one of the most unique talents in the league to protect a coach that may or may not be around next year? Nobody talks about this and it drives me nuts. Furthermore, I believe that with the right coach the Jazz, as they are presently constituted, have a serious chance of winning it all.

I am a realist though, and I know that Sloan is not going anywhere.

Number two: I think Jazz fans are too hard on AK for complaining. People tend to think that making millions of dollars makes you immune to being normal. I contend that it is normal for people to complain when they are not satisfied with their work… especially highly competitive, ultra-driven, professional athletes. Picture that you are on the fast track at your place of employment, that you love what you are doing and that you have shown serious value. You provide leadership, you are the one negotiating and closing the deals. Your company decides that they think you are hot stuff and give you a raise; you are on top of the world.

Can you picture that?

Now imagine that two new guys are hired and you are blatantly demoted. Instead of negotiating and closing deals you are the guy taking notes in the meetings. Not only are your responsibilities taken away, which completely ticks you off, but your boss humiliates you in front of your coworkers, belittling you because of your salary, something that you legitimately earned. No normal person would just let that slide and be a “team player.” You would be miserable and you would let a few people know.
Not only would you let some people know, but you might not try as hard as you used to. After all, your contributions are no longer appreciated like they once were. They may tell you that you are an intrigal part of the team and that your notes are needed to be successful, but no matter how often they tell you that, you know what you are capable of and you long to contribute at that level again.

Andrei is no different. It is not about the money, it is about contributing. At the expense of sounding like Chris Crocker, we should all leave AK alone and let him handle this. I would prefer he not do things through the media, but he is just reacting in his way and everyone reading this, given the circumstances above, would react in their own way.

Should we give in to his demand, or try to work things out again? His value improved after EuroBasket, but if the Jazz are being “forced” to trade him, that hurts his value.

An article in the Salt Lake Tribune had this to say:

“I’ve thought about it a lot and I came to a decision. I want to leave Utah Jazz. The European championships that just ended became sort of a test for me and now I think I know what I want to do.”

More info coming tomorrow. Jazz fans, is this good or bad news? Some could consider this a big loss, while other fans may rejoice at this excuse to trade AK47.

Seeing as Andrei Kirilenko could be the one piece that makes or breaks our status as contender, here’s his statistics from his first game in the FIBA EuroBasket 2007, playing for his home country Russia.

According to EuroBasket’s homepage, Kirilenko put up impressive numbers in his team’s victory over Serbia:

24 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and “drew seven fouls”

Now, I’m not sure whether he got fouled seven times, or committed seven fouls, but my guess is the latter. Either way, those are most typical Andrei numbers. Keeping in mind that Andrei is our fourth option, he probably won’t get near these stats, but it’s nice to see he’s still interested in filling up the box score (with something other than points).

Unless I missed somebody, no other Jazz players are participating in the tournament.

La287 also maintains Daily Basketball, a round-up of the latest NBA and NCAA sporting news.

Well, this offseason has slowed down since the signings of Ronnie Price and Jason Hart, and right now the news around the NBA is that former stars Reggie Miller, Allan Houston, Charles Oakley, and others would like to return for another chance at an NBA title.

(By the way, Greg Ostertag will not really be coming out of retirement, or signing with the Jazz.)

Considering the names of Ronnie Price and Jason Hart don’t yet instill fear in the hearts of Jazz opponents, here’s a list of former Jazz players who the Jazz should try to bring out of retirement. To qualify for this list, players must have played at least 250 games in a Jazz uniform (sorry Darryl Dawkins and Spencer Haywood), no longer play in the NBA, and be a registered member of the AARP looking for another NBA paycheck.
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