Hooped Up

Derrick Rose is going home, and a record crowd of freshmen are following him to the NBA. The Chicago Bulls selected Rose, who grew up on the city’s South Side, with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft Thursday night, choosing the Memphis guard over Kansas State forward Michael Beasley.  Below are the rest of the NBA draft results.

Round 1 NBA Draft Results

Second round results after the jump Read the rest of this entry »

Team USA is official and here are the members selected by the USA basketball comitee.

Carmelo Anthony
Carlos Boozer
Chris Bosh
Kobe Bryant
Dwight Howard
LeBron James
Jason Kidd
Chris Paul
Tayshaun Prince
Michael Redd
Dwayne Wade
Deron Williams

This is an awesome squad but, who is going to take a back seat to who and who leads this team?

Get well Larry!

Jazz owner Larry H. Miller is hospitalized with complications from diabetes. A statement released by the Jazz late Monday morning said that “according to his doctors and family, Miller is doing well and is expected to make a full recovery.”

Deseret Morning News

Five young Indian players will take part in the ‘Basketball without Borders’ program, the first NBA-backed event in the India, to be held here from July 3 to 6.

The Indian players selected for the event are Pratham Singh, Hirendra Singh Rathore, Shadab Khan, Vishesh Bhriguvansh and Arjun Singh.

Kyle Korver (Utah Jazz), Ronny Turiaf (L.A. Lakers), Pat Garrity (Orlando Magic) and Linton Johnson (Phoenix Sons) will join the 53 under-19 players from 15 countries and territories in the four-day camp.

The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), are organising the camp at the American Embassy School.

Hooped Up

Utah has a nice thing going on right now, but in the deep west that don’t mean jack.

The “trade Boozer” notion has less to do with any of that and more to do with the option he can exercise at the end of next season to become an unrestricted free agent. Boozer can walk away from the Jazz and sign with whichever club he chooses, according to the terms of his contract. Rumor is that the Miami Heat are preliminarily making him a priority target. Considering Boozer has a home in south Florida, and his child’s health condition reportedly is aggravated by altitude, and remembering the way Boozer deserted the Cleveland Cavs to sign his current deal with the Jazz, is a trade the best way to protect themselves from any such scenario?

Salt Lake Tribune

Let the exodus to the east begin.

After months of paying attention to 4th quarters and cursing the Knicks for existing…again! The most holiest of times are upon us my friends. Here are my predictions for the first round. Now I could use my crystal ball to also predict how many games each of these match ups will go but, I left my crystal ball in the Thunder Tank.

Round 1
Western Conference
Lakers vs. Nuggests - Lakers
Jazz vs. Rockets - Rockets
Spurs vs. Suns - Suns
Hornets vs. Mavericks - Mavericks

Eastern Conference
Celtics vs. Hawks - Celtics
Cavaliers vs. Wizards - Cavaliers
Magic vs. Raptors - Magic
Pistons vs. 76ers - Pistons

Deron Williams got the best of Chris Paul on Saturday.

Williams of the Jazz defeated Paul of the hometown Hornets to win the Skills Challenge at the All-Star Saturday, according to a Yahoo Sports report.

Williams was perfect in the final round, cruising through the course in a record 25.5 seconds. His time eclipsed the former record of 25.8 set by Steve Nash in 2005.

Yahoo

According to a one-line note from NBA columnist Mitch Lawrence in Sunday’s New York Daily News, “Looking for a big man who can rebound and guard — something its own (starting center) Mehmet Okur is not always inclined to do — Utah has targeted Indiana’s Jeff Foster for a potential deal.” The Jazz indeed have had interest in Foster for some time, but there is no current reason whatsoever to believe a deal to pry the 6-foot-11 center from the Pacers could be put together this month.

Deseret Morning News

The cause of Jason Hart’s lower-back inflammation is a bulging disc, the Jazz’s backup point guard revealed Friday. “I have a little strain, a bulging disc — nothing serious, for surgery, anyway,” said Hart, who has missed three games already because of the back, will not play in the Jazz’s ESPN-televised game tonight at Washington and does not expect to play when Utah closes a back-to-back road set Saturday night at Memphis.

Deseret Morning News