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Oh, what a difference a year makes for the Utah Jazz.   At this time last season, the dysfunctional Jazz limped into the NBA Playoffs as the eighth seed in the Western Conference, and quickly got their ticket punched for summer vacation by Kobe Bryant’s Lakers.   As it turned out, L.A. was a team on a mission and the five-game series with the Jazz was just a footnote, as the Lakers made a ...

Jerry Sloan Escapes Punishment For Shoving Ref

Posted: 22nd March 2010 by TIM PETERSON in NBA
If you didn’t stay up late to see the Utah Jazz get run by Phoenix last Friday night, you would have missed the most interesting part of the game.   With 0.2 seconds remaining in the game, Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan shoved referee Michael Smith. Sloan was quickly ejected from the game and Sunday, word came down from the league, that Sloan would not face any disciplinary action for his bumping of ...
The Utah Jazz talent evaluators and every other NBA scouting department will be on full alert this month, as they attempt to grade, appraise, and scrutinize the top NBA prospects in the country.   All in preparation for this summer’s pro draft.     The NCAA Tournament is "money time" for the top college basketball players entering the draft. Their stock will rise or fall over the "forty minutes of hell" it usually takes to decide who moves on and who ...

Surprise: Utah Jazz Looking To Strike New Deal with Carlos Boozer

Posted: 16th March 2010 by TIM PETERSON in NBA
It’s not a complete shock, but it's close.     What a difference eight months make. Last July, Utah Jazz power forward Carlos Boozer was very close to signing with the Bulls, Pistons or Heat—or so we thought. The Jazz denied reports that Boozer was told he was no longer in the team’s future plans, and just like that—the war of words was on.   The end was predictable. Boozer would be traded—either before the ...

NFL Draft Rumors: Are the Oakland Raiders Going to Trade for Suh?

Posted: 15th March 2010 by TIM PETERSON in NFL
Up until Sunday afternoon’s stunning trade that saw the Oakland Raiders acquire Browns linebacker Kamerion Wimbley for a third-round pick, things had been pretty ho-hum in Raider Nation.   You know, addition by subtraction seemed to be the prevailing thought in Alameda.   Pink slips for Javon Walker, Greg Ellis, Justin Fargas, and Gerard Warren signaled that Al Davis was tightening his belt—not trying to break the chains of a seven-year losing streak.   We’ll forget that. ...

Are the Utah Jazz the No.1 Offense in the NBA?

Posted: 12th March 2010 by TIM PETERSON in NBA
With five players averaging double-figures in scoring and a perfect balance of inside-out play by Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams, Paul Millsap, and Mehmet Okur, the Jazz offense has found another gear.   The Utah Jazz has the No. 1 offense in the league, over the last ten ball games. In reaching this pinnacle, Utah has scored over 100 points in eight of its last 10 games, winning seven of those contests.     Over ...

Surging Utah Jazz Turning into Unlikely Road Warriors

Posted: 10th March 2010 by TIM PETERSON in NBA
After Deron Williams rocked the United Center with a posterizing dunk on Bulls point guard Derrick Rose in Utah's 132-108 victory in Chicago, it's time to re-evaluate these Jazz road warriors and their position in the Western Conference.     This Jazz team may have finally flipped the switch from being a young and talented team to a legit NBA title contender—not because it beat a mediocre Bulls team, but because of one simple fact: Utah is a dominant home team, and now ...

NFL Free-Agency 2010: Raiders Cut Two Veterans

Posted: 8th March 2010 by TIM PETERSON in NFL
Oakland Raiders fans, are you enjoying the hiatus from this year-round thing called the NFL? Hey, it’s a good time to take a break—if your name is Tiger Woods. But not if you’re Al Davis and we’re into the first week of March.   Memo to Al: There’s this little thing called “free agency” and it’s passing your team by.   Usually, no news is good news, but not when it comes to the ...

Utah Jazz Re-Discovering the Three-Point Weapon

Posted: 7th March 2010 by TIM PETERSON in NBA
For 22 years now, Jerry Sloan’s predictable but ever-effective pick-and-roll offense has been the mainstay of Utah Jazz basketball. From the Stockton-Malone era, right on through to the new regime of Williams and Boozer, this hard-nosed brand of basketball is deadly when executed correctly.   But times, they could be a changin’ in Salt Lake City.   This Jazz team has re-discovered something new and exciting. And it’s not alcohol or multiple wives—sorry to disappoint on that ...
With JaMarcus Russelláan unknown factoráand Bruce Gradkowskiáon his third NFL team in three years, the Oakland Raiders need to findáits starter at the quarterback position and do it pronto! á When free agency starts this week, the Raiders could also help themselves mightily byáfinding a run-stuffing middle linebacker and perhaps bring ináa veteran receiveráto bolster the position. á And no...I donÆt see Terrell Owens wearing the Silver and Black, but thanks for asking. á HereÆs how ...