Yesterday, there was plenty of Utah Jazz related news to go around. If you missed any of it, you can find all that below. However, first, I want to post a video that isn’t Jazz related. Yesterday, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant accepted the Kia NBA MVP award after an incredible regular season. The acceptance speech was one of the better acceptance speeches you will see. If you missed it, you can watch it below. *Warning* if you easily cry, you may want to grab some tissues.
Kevin Durant MVP Acceptance Speech
News9.com – Oklahoma City, OK – News, Weather, Video and Sports |
Now that you’ve gotten a chance to see that, here is the Jazz coverage that you may or may not have seen from yesterday.
Utah Jazz Open Pre-Draft Workouts Wednesday (via Purpleandblues.com)
The Utah Jazz announced Tuesday that they will hold their first pre-draft workouts on Wednesday. The Jazz will workout a total of six players. The players coming in for workouts, however, are not guys that you will see going in the lottery.
The Jazz will host Taylor Braun, Bryce Cotton, Stephen Holt, Akil Mitchell, Mike Moser, and Ronald Roberts Jr. (Continue reading here)
NBA Mock Draft: Celtics with the first pick (via Purpleandblues.com)
Last week, we did an NBA mock draft where we simulated one of the possible scenarios that could happen come June when the NBA Draft happens. In that scenario, the Orlando Magic landed the top pick. If you missed that mock draft, or want to look at it again, you can find it here.
In today’s NBA Draft scenario, the Boston Celtics were the lucky ones to grab the number one pick. Last week, I showed all the lottery teams picks. Today, I’m just going to show picks one through seven since that is where the Utah Jazz could possibly land in the draft. In this scenario, most Jazz fans will be disappointed in who jumped us. (Continue reading here)
NBA Draft Combine: Who will be there? (via Purpleandblues.com)
On May 14-18, players who are hoping to hear there name called in this year’s NBA Draft, will be attending the NBA Draft Combine held in Chicago, Illinois. During this time, potential draftee’s test their speed, strength, agility, as well as their basketball skills in from of NBA GM’s, coaches, and scouts.
Yesterday, NBA Draft Express unveiled a list of over 60 draftees who have officially announced that they will be attending the NBA Draft Combine later this month. The list is broken down into underclassmen, seniors & draft eligibles, and not attending/not invited.
Among the underclassmen that are participating is Kansas freshman Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid. Also, Duke freshman, and Utah Jazz fan favorite already, Jabari Parker. Julius Randle, coming off a freshman season at Kentucky that ended in a loss in the National Championship game, will work out. As well as Dante Exum out of Australia. Exum has had quite a bit of hype heading into the draft. Exum played in the United States during the Nike Hoops Summit last year. A lot of scouts were impressed with him, and it will be interesting to see how he performs during the combine. (Continue reading here)
The Mailman’s Hunting Gallery (via Purpleandblues.com)
Yesterday, a picture of Utah Jazz legend and hall of famer, Karl Malone, surfaced the internet showing off his hunting skills when he took down a bear. “The Mailman” has been known to be an avid hunter as he has posted many pictures of how well he has done on his hunts. In fact, if you have seen pictures of his house, you can see how well he’s done by the amount of wall space his success takes up.
It’s always fun to look through pictures. So today, I figured that we would take a look at some of the ones that “The Mailman” has posted. We can title this slideshow, “Hunting with Karl”. That could be a new TV show on the Outdoor Channel, which I’m sure Malone would approve of in a heartbeat. (Continue reading here)
Will new Utah Jazz coach fit typical NBA profile, or will organization think outside the box? (via DeseretNews.com)
Within the next month or so, the Utah Jazz will name the franchise’s fifth head coach since the club moved to Utah in 1979.
If the Jazz proceed according to form, they’ll select a former NBA player who has worked for at least eight years as an assistant in the league and is around 47 years old. That is, if they choose a coach that fits the profile of the current head coaches in the NBA.
Of the 30 coaches who finished the 2013-14 season, 18 have experience as players in the NBA. All but five — 25 — have worked as an NBA assistant and their average length of service was 8.6 years.
Wait a minute, that sounds a lot like the coach the Jazz just got rid of, doesn’t it? Tyrone Corbin was 48 years old when he took over as the franchise’s fourth head coach after working for seven years as an assistant, following a long career in the NBA as a player. (Continue reading here)
Be sure to check back with us here at The J Notes every day for more Utah Jazz coverage, as well as coverage of the NBA Playoffs.