2006 Utah Jazz

Colonel_Reb

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Well, Utah has trimmed its roster to 15, and only 5 are white. Big change for the Jazz over the last 2 years. In 2004, they had 9 whites on their roster. The only good news as far as the roster goes is that one black will probably be cut from the roster soon. We'll see what happens. Here are the whites that will remain on the roster.

Mehmet Okur
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Andre Kirilenko
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Matt Harpring
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Gordon Giricek
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Rafael Araujo
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KG2422

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I would have liked to see them get Travis Diener from Orlando. He would have been an excellent fit.
 

Hockaday

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Fond memories of the Jazz. When I first got there in '81, they were cellar dwellers. They had Rich Kelly and Billy Paultz on the front line, and Daryl Griffith at shooting guard. Griffith would hoist up 25 shots a night to score 25 points, and the Jazz might win every third or fourth game.

I worked downtown and lived on 5th East and Third South, so I'd just walk to work. Several times I passed Billy Paultz. He'd be by himself, walking along and eating a frozen yogurt, staring into it intently, I think so people would leave him alone. He was real tall and real wide. I don't know where he got his clothes.

Kelly was quotable and Paultz was Paultz, so the Jazz were looked on as loveable losers. One year, I can't remember how, they actually made the playoffs, and gave Houston a hard time. Paultz made the highlight reels when Akeem Olajuawan got frustrated and punched him in the face from behind.

Later on the Jazz got the Mailman and Stockton and got very good. Now they're gone, and with them a lot of the Jazz's identity. I no longer live in Zion and don't keep close track of the Jazz any more. One thing's for sure. They'll never get two draft steals like Stockton and Malone so close together again.Edited by: Hockaday
 

Colonel_Reb

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Mehmet Okur is an ironman! Thats what the local sports guys are saying about him, that he has proven he is tough and has been the only guy reliable for the Jazz over the last 3 seasons. He has a sprained ankle but will be starting tonight against the Clippers, which will make his 202'nd straight start, the 6th longest streak in the NBA.
 
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With nine whites in 2004, the Jazz didn't make the playoffs.

This season thus far, they have the best record in the league.
 

Colonel_Reb

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Tonight 2 whites started for the Jazz and they are playing the new Denver Nuggets pretty close in the 3rd. Giricek got a lot of time early on and had some nice shots. AK drained a couple of 3's too, when Denver was on a roll. They are making a run right now.
 

Colonel_Reb

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Caramello Anthony makes a crucial mistake under the goal and lets the ball go out of bounds. The Jazz got the ball back with 21.1 seconds left and a 3 point lead.
They held on for the win! Nice way to finish a game for the Jazz!
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They now have a 5 game lead in the division with a 29-15 record and can now work on extending it.
 

white lightning

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Way to go Jazz! I would love to see them make a deep run into the playoffs.Last year was unusual to see them struggle like they did.Good luck to them the rest of the year.
 

Colonel_Reb

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Mehmet Okur was named Western Conference Player of the Week after averaging 26 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 3 games last week. He will need to keep leading the team, as Carlos Boozer is out for at least 4 weeks with an injury.

Congrats to Memo!
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Colonel_Reb

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Memo had 20 tonight, with 15 in the second half, including a huge 3 and a nice 2 point shot, both in the final minute, to beat the Bulls 100-95. When they call on him late in the game, he always delivers. He is the money man!
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Its a shame guys like him always get overlooked in the All-Star voting.
 

whiteCB

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Okur is starting to play at a sick level! When did he get such a good touch from the 3 pt line? He is really impressing me with his performance of late.
 

Colonel_Reb

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Memo went 13 for 15 with 32 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assistsin 31 minutes against the Hornets Monday night and had 8 points, 5 rebounds, and a block in just 19 minutes tonight in a win over the Pacers.





Matt Harpring had 14 points tonight, along with 2 steals, 2 rebounds, and 4 rebounds. He had 19 points against Charlotte.
 

Colonel_Reb

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The Jazz are 43-19 now, and play at Miami Tuesday. Memo had 29 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assistsin their win against the Hornets last night. Gordon Giricek had 16 points, and Matt Harpring had 10. The Jazz have the 4th best record in the NBA, and are only 2 games behind 3rdbest San Antonio. They are currently riding a 6 game winning streak. It is pretty fun to watch them on TV out here.
 

guest301

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I think the Jazz are the sleeper team in the upcoming NBA playoffs and Harpring has been on a nice scoring run lately. He's closer to the form he displayed two years ago.
 

white lightning

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I just wanted to say that we need to get behind the Utah Jazz and root them on in the playoffs.They knocked out the Houston Rockets and will now face the Warriors.I think they have a good shot to win this series.They are very fun to watch as they usually play two or three white players at a time.Kirelenko is going to have another block party in the second round.He is finally starting to play like his old self.Good luck to the Jazz.
 

Angelcynn

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White lightning, did u also witness Kirilenko swatting Yoa Ming? I enjoyed that. About rooting for the Jazz I made my mind up about that when the season started. I also have a soft spot for SA Spurs with the love for Ginobili.
 

white lightning

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Good point about Ginobli.He is as athletic as they come.I also love Nash on the Suns.We should also support Heinrich & Nioccini on the Bulls.

I also loved watching Sasha Pavolvic score 16 points in game 1 and he had 3 monster blocks.One of which saved the game.This kid plays above the rim.
 

white lightning

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AK47 had seven blocked shots tonight to go along with 14 points.Way to go Kirelenko.He is the best shot blocker in the nba.Harpring & Okur also had huge games with over 20 points to help the Jazz win game one.
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White Mike

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AK47, I like that. Good nickname. I've never really watched the yoBA, but after seeing Utah's starting line up, I'm gonna follow the Jazz through them winning the championship. They had 3 whites on the court the whole game. And they were even subbing in whites for whites.
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One thing I did notice were the anouncers refered to Matt Harping as "hardnosed" and "blue collar" on more than one ocasion. Go Jazz.
 
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The Jazz are indeed the whitest team in the NBA but this is not saying much. They have four white guys who see regular playing time and two of their three best players are black.

Nonetheless, I guess that this is the only team capable of giving white players some creedence.

The one advantage to the Dirk meltdown is that the Jazz dont have to face him and therefore will move on to the semi-finals, in all likelyhood.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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in my opinion, AK47 is one of the top 5 players in the league when he's healthy. not so much for his scoring, even though he's capable of doing a solid job on offense, but he can guard virtually anyone.


he has incredibly long arms, good leaping ability, and phenomenal timing which account for his number of blocks, but he does SO MUCH MORE that never ends up in the stat sheet. as much hype as is lauded on Bruce Bowen, who truly is an excellent defender, Kirilenko is MUCH better i believe. he can guard anyone from Kobe toTim Duncan! NOBODY else in the league is such a complete all-around stopper as the Russian.


if it weren't for the injuries he's suffered over the last couple of seasons, i feel he would have been a lock for both the All Star teams and all-NBA defensive teams, even with the caste system in place. he's that good.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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this is what i mean...


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White Mike

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AK47 had 20pts, 9 rebounds, and 6 blocks
Okur has 23 pts and 18 rebounds.

Jazz now lead the Warriors 2-0. GO JAZZ.
 
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