According to www.hoopsworld.com former Jazzman Jeff Hornacek is going to be Doug Collins lead assistant.  Talking to Jeff he felt as though his time as a player in the NBA has prepared him to be either a lead assistant or a head coach.   

I have not talked to Jeff, but some of this report seems a bit premature.  What if he gets the same position in Phoenix.   That may be unlikely since Collins is a veteran coach that can take a younger lead assistant whereas most of the Phoenix candidates are on the younger side where a veteran lead assistant would be more valuable.

            On yesterday’s version of Locked on Sports I presented the question do the Jazz have a fouling problem.   The data was presented on the www.thefansports.com.   We had a nice discussion about the issue and got Larry H. Miller’s point of view.

            One of the listeners asked, does sending someone to the free throw line make a team a bad defensive team.

            I have compiled the last 4 years of NBA teams, or 120 data points.   I have charted them on a graph with the X-axis being free throw attempts allowed and the y axis being defensive efficiency. There is in fact a direct correlation.

            Click here to see the charts and the data points

            One chart has the data points are in 10% increments. In other words, the first point is the top 10% of teams not allowing free throws, the second is top 20% and the last is all 120 data points.

            The next has the same with the bottom 50% then the bottom 40% and so on to the bottom 10% added on to the chart.

            Finally you can see all 120 data points.

            Bottom line, teams that allow free throws have bad defensive efficiency ratings or it can be said that allowing free attempts makes you a bad defensive team.

DJ says Kobe Bryant is on his way to several NBA Titles. PK says he thinks most Jazz fans don't care. He says that it is inevitable that the Lakers will win so why spend the energy worrying about them when you can enjoy the good weather or pursue a more rewarding activity.

We all have our opinions of Kobe.  His play, however, is undeniable,  

Chris Ballard wrote a great piece in SI about Kobe and his fanatical approach. 

It is a must read for hoops fans.

Some of the highlights

During the Kobe era at Lower Merion no moment was inconsequential, no drill unworthy of ultimate concentration. In one practice during his senior year, "just a random Tuesday," as coach Downer recalls, Bryant was engaged in a three-on-three drill in a game to 10. One of his teammates was Rob Schwartz, a 5' 7" junior benchwarmer. With the game tied at nine, Schwartz had an opening, drove to the basket and missed, allowing the other side to score and win. "Now, most kids go to the water fountain and move on," says Downer. Not Bryant. He chased Schwartz into the hallway and berated him. It didn't stop there, either. "Ever get the feeling someone is staring at you -- you don't have to look at them, but you know it?" says Schwartz. "I felt his eyes on me for the next 20 minutes. It was like, by losing that drill, I'd lost us the state championship."

Bryant had already begun to coax teammates into staying late or coming in at odd hours so he could hone his skills. "We'd play games of one-on-one to 100," says Schwartz. "Sometimes he'd score 80 points before I got one basket. I think the best I ever did was to lose 100-12." Imagine the focus required to score 80 freakin' baskets before your opponent scores one. And Bryant's probably still pissed that Schwartz broke double digits

Or ,,,

This thing, this freakish compulsion, may be the hardest element of the game to quantify. There are no plus-minus stats to measure a player's ruthlessness, his desire to beat his opponent so badly he'll need therapy to recover. One thing's for sure: You can't teach it. If so, Eddy Curry would be All-NBA and Derrick Coleman would be getting ready for his induction ceremony in Springfield, Mass. But people know it when they see it. G.M.'s, coaches and scouts cite only a few others who have a similar drive -- Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Manu Ginóbili, Steve Nash, Chris Paul and Deron Williams -- though they make clear that none of those stars are in Kobe's league. (In an SI poll earlier this season Bryant was a runaway winner as the opponent players feared most, at 35%.)

Even some of the great ones lacked it. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says that when he was young, rather than challenging everyone as Kobe does, he "just wanted peace." "I think it's a quirk of personality," says Abdul-Jabbar. "Some of us are like Napoleon, and some are Walter Mitty."

Idan Ravin, a personal trainer who works with Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Gilbert Arenas and Elton Brand and is known by some in the league as "the hoops whisperer" for his effect on players, has even broken killer instinct down into components: love of the game, ambition, obsessive-compulsive behavior, arrogance/ confidence, selfishness and nonculpability/ guiltlessness. He sees them all in Bryant.

BYU fans got Locke (until he talked himself out of it), the Jazz philosophy that bothers Locke, Scouts entire conversation, and the entire hour of Larry H Miller all here on BOLOS.

PK and Locke fight about the playoffs and the future of Trent Plaisted and Riley Nelson.

Totalbluesports.com is reporting that BYU has offered a scholarship to Malosi Te'o.   Malosi Te'o, a 5'11 195 pound running back out of Hawaii, has informed the UNLV coaches that he will be attending BYU.

Recall BYU lost RB Manase Tonga for the season due to academic issues.  This would help the running back depth.

Craig Bolerjack came on the show today and tells you what he thinks of the flopping rule that has now been implemented in the NBA.  Irritated Hots makes the call if the flop rule was called during the game and what happened when Bobby Mitchell (Bees manager) had a verbal altercation in the Portland dugout on Friday night?  It's all right here on the Best of Powerhouse!

The NBA announced today that they will be fining "Flopping."

The Warm Stove has a great collection of the best flops.  Yes, Jazz players are involved on both ends

            If you have listened to Locked on Sports you have all learned Rule #2 of Locked  on Sports, the average trip the free throw line gives a team 1.5 points, the average three point shot give a team 1.08 points per shot and the average two point shot gives a team .97 points per shot.

            Therefore when John Hollinger of ESPN was on Locked on Sports and made an off hand comment that he liked the Jazz, but they foul too much and it is going to cost them it rang a bell.  Then I watch the Jazz send the Lakers to the line time after time and I began to wonder if the Jazz have a philosophical flaw.

            It is undeniable that a part of Jerry Sloan’s defensive philosophy is to foul.  Since he took over the reigns as head coach in 1988 the Jazz have allowed 4,068 more free throws than the average NBA team has allowed in that time span.  That is over 200 per season.

            The trend has worsened since the retirement of Marc Eaton in 1992-93.  Over the past 15 years Jazz opponents are on average taking 282 more free throws a season than the average.  Over the past 10 years opponents have taken 301 more free throws per season than the average and over the past 5 years the Jazz opponents have taken 418 more free throws than the average team in the NBA

            Not since the 1991-92 season have the Jazz held their opponent to below the league average of free throws taken in a season.

            Remember each free throw is worth .766 points a game. 

            In the 2007-08 season the Jazz opponents took 2468 free throws.  The average team in the NBA took 2045.  Therefore, Jazz opponents took an extra 423 free throws over the course of the season, 5 a game.   Five free throws a game are worth nearly 4 points a game.

            It is worth noting that over the past 20 years the Jazz average shooting 20 more free throws a season than their opponent.  However, over the past 10 years the Jazz have allowed opponents to shot 77 free throws per season. 

            The thought behind this philosophy is that by fouling on easy looks you are saving points.  For that to be true the Jazz FG% defense would need to be better than the rest of the league.   However, over the past 5 years the Jazz FG% defense is the exact same as the league and over the past 10 years is just .4% better than the league average.

            The average team takes 81.5 shot attempts in an NBA game.   The Jazz opponent takes a one or two less since they are going to the free throw line so much.  

            The Jazz holding teams to .4% better shooting percentage is only one shot every three games.

            Let me give you a hypothetical. 

            The Jazz philosophy is that they will not give up any easy looks around the basket and therefore, they foul the shooter.  Using some of the above numbers let’s assume this happens three times in a game.  If the Jazz foul all three times the opponent will shot 6 free throws and on average come away with 4.6 points.   Therefore, if the shooter were to miss one of the three shots the Jazz would be better off not fouling since he would only get 4 points. 

This is not entirely accurate because the real problem with fouling is that you put the team in the penalty and then they get two free throws on off ball fouls, ticky tack fouls, etc.

            However, even if everything went perfectly I would argue that fouling when you are beat is bad idea.  You are better off contesting the shot or hoping for a miss.  The Utah Jazz shot just 61% on shots inside 5 feet for the entire season. 

            Just some food for thought in the off-season.

Click here for the spreadsheet and a more detailed year to year breakdown

The Riley Nelson story continues and continues.
I appreciate all the emails.   I have an email box full of have you read Dick Harmon.
So let me present two very good reporters and two different stories.

Jay Drew whose work has been untarnished for years at the SL Tribune wrote ..

The news is sure to send shock waves through both programs, and will undoubtedly cast some suspicion on BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall's claim last fall that he does not "recruit" athletes who are on missions.

When rumors were swirling last fall that Nelson was considering a move to BYU when he got home, I asked Mendenhall about it and was told that BYU only contacted guys on missions who were already in its program.

Another source at BYU told me at the time that the Cougars were not interested in Nelson and had not even offered him a scholarship out of high school.

Then long time BYU reporter and BYU historian  Dick Harmon wrote ....

The interesting part of the debate is the statement floating around that, once upon a time, Bronco Mendenhall declared he would not recruit LDS missionaries while they are serving.

If he indeed said that, he is a fool. He ought to retract it.

I can't find that Mendenhall mystery quote on file. I've been to nearly every Mendenhall practice and press conference and had plenty of one-on-one interviews and I can't find the policy statement where he made such an edict — one which now has many people labeling him a hypocrite.

Where is it? If I find it, he should certainly be held accountable for it.

Locke's Take

The bottom line here is as we have shown on Locked  on Sports is a fan is going to choose which ever story he wants not based on fact or logic, but based on what is best for his team.

I would say Dick Harmon is a very good reporter and has very good insight into BYU sports.  While, he has covered every event imaginable the idea that he has heard everything Bronco has said is ludicrous. 

DJ and PK discuss the merits of having a "killer instinct."  DJ points out that if Boston plays like they did in the fourth quarter against the Lakers they will lose.  PK says having a "killer instinct" is overrated and teams just have to win, because if you win by one point you win.  In the wake of an 18 point 16 rebound performance from Kendrick Perkins, PK enlightens us on how Perkins helped Keena Young become a member of the BYU basketball team. 

Dear David... Colin Cowherd talks about over thinking the room and Locke introduces you to Kasey Olenberger, Bees pitcher who willl be a show regular. All these conversations on BOLOS!

Former BYU Cougar Vai Sikahema joined the show as he gets ready to box Jose Canseco.  Hear what he has to say about Riley Nelson being recruited by BYU on his mission.  Blaze quarterback Joe Germaine previews this upcoming week's game with Grand Rapids and Dave Fox reminds Tony Parks just how short he is.  It's all right here on the Best of Powerhouse.

DJ and PK review game four of the Lakers-Spurs series.  They discuss the controversial calls in the last 30 seconds of the game.  DJ mentions that in addition to the Barry play, the refs may have missed Fisher's shot hitting the rim, which would have reset the shot clock for the Lakers, and the contact between Odom and Parker on a previous lay up.  PK uses the "who cares" logic and says fans have to find other discussion points besides the referees.

Riley Nelson conversation dominate today's show. BOLOS will have an interesting tid bit from Dan Sheldon from Channel 2, Locke gives the reality of the situation from a surface level point of view, and Locke remembers why he loves sports. Here is BOLOS!

Former Utah State quarterback Riley Jensen joined the show to talk about Riley Nelson's departure from the Aggie program and if you hate hearing about the Utah Sting from Dave Fox you won't want to miss Tony Parks blowing him up live on the Best of Powerhouse!!!!

First Kobe Bryant jumped over a car.   Then Kenny Smith did a really funny spoof of Kobe over the car.  Now Kobe, a pool and so many snakes, I thought I was on the set of Indiana Jones.  Read on...

DJ and PK interview Keith Nelson, father of Riely Nelson, about Riley's announced move to BYU. Mr. Nelson wanted to set the story straight as to who contacted who and when contact was made. He also talks about how the process of the announcement allowed Riley to remain focused on his mission while making this big decision.

DJ and PK talk about Riley Nelson announcing his intention to go to BYU when he returns from his mission.

Since the end of the Jazz season we have had the following discussions on 1320, K-Fan’s Locked on Sports. Place your thoughts in the comment section about the following.

Disscussion #1 – Will Boozer bounce back?

            To me the #1 issue of the off-season is will Carlos Boozer bounce back from a disappointing playoff.   This is his first on the floor failure of his career and how players deal with failure defines their career.   In Seattle, I saw first hand when Vin Baker crumpled under the pressure and never returned to form. How will Boozer react, will he wilt or will he work?

Discussion #2 – Can you define the season a success without knowing the future?

            There is no doubt that progress has been made. However, most of what I have read about calling the season a success is based on the future success of the franchise. It seems promising, but without knowing the future can you call this a success? The Phoenix Suns fans called seasons a success that in retrospect now they wish they had more.

Discussion #3 – What about change for change sake? 

            There is an on-going call from a small minority of listeners for the Jazz to make a change for change sake at the head coaching position. The idea is absurd and looking through the history of the NBA it has been a disaster everytime some has tried it.

Discussion #4 - Ronnie Brewer and his future?

            Ronnie Brewer has me flummoxed. He improved greatly. He finishes around the hoop better than any non superstar young player I have seen. He moves terrifically without the ball. He peaks out on my numbers systems. He has the ability to defend, though I am not convinced he is a good defender. 

            At the same time, he is not a good shooter. The Lakers and the Rockets both left him unguarded during the playoffs. His inability to consistently knock down the outside shot clogged the floor for the rest of the Jazz offense.

            Can he be the shooting guard of the future? How do you balance both Brewer and Korver? Considering how he improved last year what can we anticipate this off-season?

Discussion #5 – Should the Jazz follow the Colts and the Seahawks?

            In the NFL, both the Colts and the Seahawks have named the successor to their current head coach.  The timetable is undefined in Indy, but in Seattle it will take place in a year.

            With the Jazz assistant coaches under high demand, both Tyrone Corbin and Jeff Hornacek are interviewing for the Phoenix and Chicago jobs, should the Jazz name a successor to Jerry Sloan. 

That is what we have discussed over the past week. Place your thoughts in the comment section. 

Taking a break from watching the latest Indiana Jones movie Monday with his family, Keith Nelson discussed his son's decision to transfer from Utah State to BYU.

Riley Nelson, who became USU's starting quarterback during 2006 and then left on an LDS mission to Spain, on Monday notified the coaching staffs at both schools through e-mail that he will join Bronco Mendenhall's program next March.

"it actually happened very rapidly," his father said.

Upset at reports that he or Riley acted unethically or violated any NCAA rules, Keith broke down the timeline on his son's transfer.

In a period of "a month to six weeks," Keith said Riley's coach at Logan High, Mike Favero, asked Keith if his son would entertain potential scholarship offers from other schools. Keith said Favero had been discussing Riley's situation with BYU receivers coach Patrick Higgins, who recruits Cache Valley.

After talking with Favero, Keith contacted the Barcelona  mission president to receive permission to discuss the possibilties with Riley. During regular e-mail messages - which both sides receive on Mondays - Riley wrote that he would consider leaving USU.

In mid or early April, Keith said, Higgins and quarterback coach Brandon Doman offered Riley a scholarship through e-mail. Riley made a relatively quick decision, allowing him to eliminate distractions on his mission, Keith said.

"What the major factors are, I can't tell you," Keith said. "The only thing I know is Riley would leave no stone unturned."

Riley, who set a national record his senior year with 84 touchdowns (53 passing and 31 rushing) will have three years or eligibility left in addition to a redshirt season.

BYU starting quarterback Max Hall has two years of eligibility left. Quarterbacks Jason Munns and James Lark left for missions after last season.

Keith Nelson is scheduled be on 1320 KFAN at 8:10 a.m. Tuesday

The Miami Dolphins are having mini-camp right now.   John Beck spoke with the reporters.

(On what it has been like learning a new system) – “Work started on this a long time ago. As quarterbacks, we were putting in plays before this happened, just kind of going over stuff. It feels good to go from the classroom to the field and actually put in play.”

 (On if anything can be read into him taking the first-team reps today) – “Josh (McCown) and I are splitting reps day-to-day. The first day I got to take it, the next day Josh did, so we’ll go back and forth. First-team wideouts are kind of intermixed between the two so it’s good because we’re always getting to throw to those guys we’re going to throw to. We’re always getting work with those guys that are going to be playing.”

 (On how everybody gets equal opportunity with a three-man competition) – “That is not our job to worry about. When coach says, ‘go in,’ we’re in and just trying to take care of our plays. We can’t worry about the other stuff. We can just worry about what we can do and let the coaches do their thing.”

 (On if he was surprised when the Dolphins took Chad Henne in the second round) – “I never really get into the draft or who we are taking. Obviously we had taken Jake (Long) before the draft happened. We knew about that. My job is to worry about things I have control of. My job is to worry about the plays that I get and when I am at practice to do them right.”

 (On his thoughts on Bill Parcells) – “For me I was just excited because they brought Coach Parcells in to win. That’s why I play football. I play football to win so when they brought somebody into win, I felt it was a great opportunity because that is what they are doing with this place. They want to turn this place around, get this place back to the way it was and they want to win football games and I want to be a part of it.”

 (On how much he has matured in the last year) – “A year makes a big difference, just the way your eyes see the game. Being in the situations I was in, we had some ups and downs last year and I got to learn a lot from both sides of it. Those downs some people might say were hard, but I learned a lot from them. A lot of those things I learned last year are paying off and helping me right now.”

 (On if he feels he did not have the best opportunities to grow last year) – “For me, I just look at last year as an opportunity to get some playing time and things to learn from. It was a rough year. My mind is not thinking about what happened last year. I don’t even think about that stuff. All I think about on a day-to-day basis is the things I can work on right now. When practice ends, I go home tonight and I work on things at my house. That way I can be better the next time I step on the field.”

 (On what he has been working on fundamentally) – “I think you guys saw this earlier, we were throwing over the net. These are drills that are new to us as quarterbacks that Coach (David) Lee has brought with him that they used in Dallas and had success with. They are bringing them here because they want us to be the best quarterbacks that we can be.”

 (On what he learned from Trent Green last year) – “Trent (Green) was only out there for the first part of the season, but I learned a ton from Trent Green. He was a great person to watch at practice and a great person to see how he approached the game as a veteran starter and Cleo (Lemon) also. I don’t want to look back on last year because last year is done with, but there were a lot of things that happened negative for us that I took as a positive into this year because I could learn from them. Right now all my focus is on the best quarterback I can be right now in 2008 for the Dolphins.”

 

DJ and PK talk about the Eastern Conference Finals and the lack of defense shown by Boston. PK brings up the "Debbie" call and the guys discuss "Great Teams"

According to Larrry H. Miller during Thursday's Fab 5 at  5 with David Locke on 1320,K-Fan's Locked on Sports, Jazz assistant coach Phil Johnson has pulled his name out of the running for the head coaching position in Phoenix. 

Jeff Hornacek interviewed in Phoenix this week and may be in Chicago today.  Tyrone Corbin is in Phoenix to interview today.

PK and Locke fight about Carlos Boozer, Jazz assistants being considered for other coaching jobs, and the NBA playoffs.

Here is the first half of the conversation reflecting on the season that was. For part two listen to Locked on Sports Friday when the latter part of the interview will lead to a conversation. Here is LHM.

Locke goes off on officials screwing the state of Utah again, Locke is flummoxed by Ronnie Brewer and the scout give his run down on Ronnie Brewer's abilities. Here is BOLOS!

Chris McCoskey from the Detroit News came on the show to talk about the NBA playoffs and noted a similarity that Boston has with Salt Lake City.  Bees manager Bobby Mitchell tells you what happened last night in Fresno when there wasn't a game and how do you pronounce Vujacic?  It's all right here on the Best of Powerhouse.

In light of the Lakers comeback in game one of the conference finals, DJ and PK revisit the issue of Kobe's status as an ego maniac.  DJ points out that Kobe seems to be learning and trusting his teammates more.  PK calls Kobe's performance in game one brilliant, then mocks him for commenting on his team's youth.

On today's Best Of you will here a Locke breaking down the "change for change sake" argument, a surprise call in form everyone's favorite former Jazz Center Greg Ostertag, and Locke talks about one of the biggest sporting events in the world, today's UEFA Championship. All of it can be heard here om BOLOS.

How will Jose Canseco do as a boxer?  Alema and Dave tell you who the funniest personality from local news is and Joe Dupree from ESPN Radio in Baton Rouge joined us hear what the New Orleans media thinks of Deron Williams in comparison to Chris Paul.  It's all right here on the Best of Powerhouse!

DJ and PK talk about the coaching future of Jeff Hornacek.  An article in the Arizona Republic reports that Hornacek is interviewing with the Suns and the Bulls.  DJ mentions that Hornacek has made comments during "Jazz Live"  showing that he would like to be more involved with the Jazz.  PK points out that unless the Jazz hire him as an assistant they will likely lose him to the Suns.  They discuss the Jazz head coach position and who might fill that role after the departure of Sloan.

Today's edition includes a Carlos Boozer shot chart for the playoffs and the regular season, Dan Sheldon givng his lasting impressions of the Jazz and Lakers series, and a part of David Locke's life he is just nor ready for yet. Here is BOLOS!

Should officials be made available to the media at the end of sporting events?  How serious is Milsapp's injury and when would he be back to full strength?  Those questions were answered today and right here on the Best of Powerhouse.

            I have acquired a shot chart for Carlos Boozer shots from different areas on the floor over the past two years and the playoffs.

 It is clear that Boozer slumped badly during the playoffs. What is also clear and might surprise you is that on a shot from 5 feet and out Carlos Boozer has shot only 43.5% over the last two seasons. On a shot from 16 feet and more he has only shot 43%. In a quick comparison with other scoring power forwards this is not that unusual.

            Therefore, if you can take away his inside game you are going to minimize his effectiveness greatly.   Both the Lakers and the Rockets were able to do this. In the regular season Boozer shot 64% at the cup, but in the playoffs he shot just 51% and little lower against the Lakers

            In addition, Boozer really struggled to hit his outside shots.   On the right side of the floor from 5 to 15 feet Boozer shot 41% in the regular season but in the playoffs was just 1 of 11. Boozer likes to go left and he likes to go left to the middle from the right side of the floor.   Both the Rockets and Lakers took this away from him. From the right side of the floor at 16 to 23 feet Boozer shot 46% during the season, but in the playoffs he hit just 3 of 12 and was 0 for 3 v. the Lakers.   They simply wouldn’t allow him to take that look. 

            This shouldn’t surprise anyone since in the regular season Boozer was great from the right side of the floor hitting 62 of his 117 shots from beyond 16 feet. 

            Overall, Boozer never had his outside game in the playoffs. On shots from 5 to 15 feet he shot just 36% in the playoffs and on anything outside of 5 feet he shot 29% during the playoffs.

Here is the Excel sheet of all of his shooting

PK doesn't want the Spurs to win another title. PK hates the Spurs because of flopping, facial expresions, and what he see's as dirty play. DJ says Jazz fans don't want the Lakers to win so the Spurs would be a good choice to knock them off.

Also here is the phone call that had PK laughing as DJ accused Debbie of not sounding like a "Debbie"

Journalism professors tell students to report the news, not make it.  Somebody wasn’t listening.

In today's BOLOS you get the entire Opening Smash, Locke's conversation with Jeff Hornacek and Jazz GM Kevin O'Connor. Here is BOLOS!

Dave Fox and Alema Harrington tell you who Jazz fans should like to see win the NBA title now that the Jazz are out of the playoffs.  Was this past season regression or progression?  We'll have a little irritated hots as well.  It's all right here on the Best of Powerhouse.

DJ and PK debate whether the glass in half empty or half full for the Jazz.  DJ notes that it may be half empty because the Lakers are a young team set up for a three to four year run.  PK argues that the Jazz are moving up and, with the exception of the Lakers, match up well with the teams in the west.  PK accuses J-Sloan of using the team's youth as an excuse.

The Jazz struggled in December and then rolled thru 2008, but some of those December problems reared their head again in the playoffs.  Read on...

Hear what Sasha thinks he'll have to do in order to win the race coming up tomorrow afternoon at Miller Motor Sports Park.  It's a 1pm start and fans are able to go on the track 30 minutes before the race to meet the drivers, take pictures and get autographs.  It's all presented by Grand and Little America Hotels.  Hear the interview here.

As per the norm, as the year comes to the end the Utah Jazz players and coaches address the media as lockers are being cleaned out