What about Fess? What about Almond Joy?

[Farsider322]

Is Fess going to take Jaron Collins roster spot next year?

Especially with the NBA inacting the fines for floppers. That was Jargon's best weapon.

Does anyone know how his developement is going?

I for one, hope that the Jazz will give him a chance on the main roster next year.


As far as Morris Almond, I think the Jazz need to keep him, but someone has to go. (My personnel hope is that the Jazz move Hart, and Collins to make room for Fees and Almond)
CJ, Almond, Korver, Brewer, Harpring......one will not be here next year
if the Jazz are unable to make a move to free up a roster spot.

I don't see the Jazz trading Brewer or Korver. Harpring has bad knees and will be hard to move, so I think it will be either CJ or Mo.

Mo has interest in the league, and may net us a draft pick or a defensive big. (BTW, I really hope we don't have to move Mo)

I hate to see CJ go, but if Dallas is interested in him, we may be able to get something valuable in return. (But its hard to see the Jazz investing four years of grooming to help another team)

CJ seems like a likely person to move, he has a lot of value, and the Jazz may have to match a free agent offer to keep him.

What ever happens, it will be an interesting off season.

[fivas14]

If we trade Mo before we actually let him play it'll be one of the biggest mistakes in Jazz history. He can easily put up 25 ppg if given a chance. However Fes will never be anything in the league. Ostertag was and will be better.

[JTSPEED]

However Fes will never be anything in the league. Ostertag was and will be better.

I think that you are completely wrong about Fes. I know he will not be like Ewing but I think that he has a lot more talent and ability then Ostertag. Fes is much more athletic and passionate then tag ever was. Granted Fes is no Koby when it comes to athleticism but he can at least move his a$$ around the basket. Tag just sat there waiting to kick the ball out of bounds when the ball came his way.

[fivas14]

-= original quote snipped =-



I think that you are completely wrong about Fes. I know he will not be like Ewing but I think that he has a lot more talent and ability then Ostertag. Fes is much more athletic and passionate then tag ever was. Granted Fes is no Koby when it comes to athleticism but he can at least move his a$$ around the basket. Tag just sat there waiting to kick the ball out of bounds when the ball came his way.

Yes but he's out of control with the ball and he doesn't have the higest basketball IQ. I don't think he'll be better then Collins until way late in his carreer

[stevebozell]

Too bad he's already better than Collins.....

[carrottop12]

I think Fes is going to be a very good center in the league.

He is honestly already one of the biggest players in the league at 7'1 288 lbs, he is far more athletic then most big men, and easily the most athletic 7 footer the Jazz have ever had.

Plus, in the only game in which he's gotten real minutes which was the Laker game this year he looked very sharp out there, he was great on defensive rotations, passed the ball out of the post well, gather the ball well on the rebounds, held it high after he grabbed he board and didn't look to rush anything.

I think he's going to be just fine.

[jazzfanak47]

i totally agree about fes. hes never going to be the best big man in the league but he has raw talent and from what i read matt harpring is working with him on how to live in the league as far as taking the game serious and working hard which matt is perfect for plus matt is helping him with his diet to get him to stop eating at dennys all the time. give the man time he will be just fine.

[carrottop12]

Yeah, apparently the Jazz have a huge summer planned for Fes from what I have heard. The Flash were going to designate some coaches during the Summer to work with Fes everyday to get him NBA ready for next year.

David Thorpe even said

D league is perfect for him this year. We wanted him to play there rather than sit in SLC. After this summer, you won't recognize him."

[JazzInsider]

[dingojazz]

If we trade Mo before we actually let him play it'll be one of the biggest mistakes in Jazz history. He can easily put up 25 ppg if given a chance. However Fes will never be anything in the league. Ostertag was and will be better.

What are you smokin dude? Easily put up 25 a game? The D-League is not the NBA.

I love his potential too, but he is a couple of years away from getting minutes with us especially if we keep CJ. If we can get good value for him in a trade, then let's do it. Obviously we won't give him away for nothing, but we have to consider moving him.

And as for your analysis of Fes you're way off on that too. Fes needs more time and development but he has a chance to be a solid player. If he turned into a more motivated version of Tag, I would be very happy with that.

[loserX]

If we trade Mo before we actually let him play it'll be one of the biggest mistakes in Jazz history. He can easily put up 25 ppg if given a chance. However Fes will never be anything in the league. Ostertag was and will be better.

People who put up 25 ppg or more last year:

LeBron James
Kobe Bryant
Allen Iverson
Carmelo Anthony
Amare Stoudamire



That's it. You think Almond can be a top-6 scorer in the league "easily"?

[fivas14]

-= original quote snipped =-



People who put up 25 ppg or more last year:

LeBron James
Kobe Bryant
Allen Iverson
Carmelo Anthony
Amare Stoudamire



That's it. You think Almond can be a top-6 scorer in the league "easily"?

Obviously it was an exageration but I think he can put up 20-23 pts per.

[dingojazz]

-= original quote snipped =-



Obviously it was an exageration but I think he can put up 20-23 pts per.

Leave the NBA talk to the grownups. You take off 2 points?

[fivas14]

-= original quote snipped =-



Leave the NBA talk to the grownups. You take off 2 points?

Why don't you think he could be a 20-25 ppg SG in the Jazz's offense? He'll get a lot of open looks and he's one the best shooters on the Jazz.

[dingojazz]

He was a rookie D-League player last year who only played in a handful of games. For him to suddenly score 20 points a game he would need at least 15 shots a game.

Where is Almond going to get that many shots? Remember we have these guys DWill, Boozer, Memo, AK...maybe you've heard of them?

Yes Almond has potential, he can be a scorer. He showed he can put up points in college and in the D-League. But to think he can put up 20 a night is going WAY overboard.

Remember, the best SG in Jazz history is Jeff Hornacek. Horny averaged between 12 and 16 ppg during his 6+ years with the Jazz. I know its a completely different team now but just giving you some perspective.

[fivas14]

He was a rookie D-League player last year who only played in a handful of games. For him to suddenly score 20 points a game he would need at least 15 shots a game.

Where is Almond going to get that many shots? Remember we have these guys DWill, Boozer, Memo, AK...maybe you've heard of them?

Yes Almond has potential, he can be a scorer. He showed he can put up points in college and in the D-League. But to think he can put up 20 a night is going WAY overboard.

Remember, the best SG in Jazz history is Jeff Hornacek. Horny averaged between 12 and 16 ppg during his 6+ years with the Jazz. I know its a completely different team now but just giving you some perspective.

I'm not talking about this season. No way could he average 20-25 ppg in his second season in Sloan's offense. I was talking about 2-3 years down the road when Sloan's long gone.

[bsutefan]

Nobody gives Collins the credit he deserves. He's great in the locker room, he's accepts his role, he's a great teacher of younger players, he's a cheap 7 footer (what is he, $2M/year).

Sure, he'll never be a starter caliber player, and he'll never be great...but not every player on your roster can be a starter. And he is the perfect role player for an 10th/11th/12th man.

[bsutefan]

The thing that Mo brings to the table, is he can create a shot for himself. Take a look at our roster, and analyze who can create a shot for himself (or set up an easy shot for a teammate)

DWill - Yes, and Yes
Brewer - No
AK - No
Boozer - Can create for himself at low or high post, but not for others
Memo - No
Price - No (not nearly at an efficient level)
Korver - No
Harpring - No
Millsap - No (but he's improving on the low block)
Collins - No
Miles - No (but may at some point develop into this)
Almond - Yes? (we know he can score)
Fesenko - No

Looking back on the playoffs, Opposing teams were very successful at shutting down what the Jazz like to do. They'd double Boozer, and get the ball out of his hands. Most of our team would panic and just give the ball to DWill with 15 seconds or less on the clock. Luckily DWill is a freaking stud and dominated, but the best teams have 2 or 3 players that can create shots for themselves or others.

Spurs - Duncan (low-block), Parker (penetration), Ginobli
Celtics - Pierce (penetration), Garnett (low block)
Lakers - Kobe (anywhere), Odom (penetration), Gasol (low block)
Suns - Nash (anywhere), Stoudemire (Low and High post), O'Neal (low post)

If the Jazz can develop 1 more player (doesn't have to be a scorer) who can create for himself or others, I don't see how we can be stopped offensively. Can Almond develop into this type of creator?

[Fido]

I'm not sure I'd say Morris Almond can create his own shots. Especially at the NBA level. When I saw him in the league (the few times he played) I don't recall him doing so.

In looking at his stats in the d-league, he led in scoring average at 25.6/game although he was a volume shooter compared to others in the running. He had the lowest 2 pt average among the top 14 in the d-league and lowest 3 pt average among the top 5.

Having not watched a single Flash game I couldn't tell you if he is one of the only guys on the team who had to do all the work all by himself and created lots of shots or what. He still needs to step up and steal time from the other candidates at the 2 before he gets any credit at the pro level. He is still young enough to have potential working for him but I'd call it all unrealized to date.

[bleu]

Almond is such a pure shooter I could see him coming out huge if he could learn a little bit more on defense and if he made better decisions. I hope that he frikin tears everyone apart at the Rocky Mountain Revue this year.