BREAKING: Raja Bell Traded to 76ers for Kwame Brown
The Philadelphia 76ers have acquired veteran guard Raja Bell from the Utah Jazz in exchange for center Kwame Brown and a 2014 2nd round draft pick.
Bell refused to suit up for the Jazz after he was told that his role this year would be limited to a vocal leader in the locker room this season. Shortly after this, Utah attempted a buyout of Bell's $3.48M contract, which the veteran guard declined and requested a trade to a team he felt was a playoff contender. So after much off-season tension between Bell and the Jazz organization, it seems a deal has finally been done to assist both parties involved.
"I hate the way things turned out in Utah. I think the media made this thing out to be a lot worse than it was. I simply told them I felt I could contribute more than they needed me to and at this stage of my career, I want to play for a contender, or at least contribute and they obliged. The Jazz organization has done nothing but good things for me, and I want to apologize to the fans in Utah for all the negativity that this situation has brought onto the team. Either way, I'm hoping everyone can put this behind them and look forward. I'm excited to be playing for Philly." -Raja Bell
For his career, Bell averages 10 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.7 APG, .406%3PT, but his contributions go way beyond the stat line. Bell has earned the reputation as one of the peskiest defenders in the league, capable of providing even the most potent offensive players with headaches during their matchups. Paired with Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner, Dorell Wright and Jason Richardson, the 76ers are looking to be a force on the perimeter, both offensively and defensively this season.
Kwame Brown will add to the already massive size of Utah's front court, but we do not expect Brown to play many minutes unless the injury bug hits.
Andy Jasner, for NBA.com
Posted Fri Nov 2, 2012 10:44 PM
THE FACTS: With an impressive showing on both sides of the ball, the Utah Jazz won their first road game of the 2012-13 NBA season by convincingly defeating the New Orleans Hornets 115-80 on Friday night. Holding their opponent to a lowly 35% from the field, the Jazz got off to a hot start to this game and after the second quarter, never looked back.
For the second straight game Paul Millsap had an atrocious first half with a great second half. In the first two periods, Millsap shot 0-7 from the field with just two points and a rebound, settling for outside jumpers mostly. The second half was a much different story; Millsap shot 11-14 from the field with 23 points, five assists and four rebounds. Paul Millsap's second half explosion earned him the JORDAN Player of the Game.
The Hornets got mostly great looks on offense, they just couldn't get their strokes right on open shots. 70 of the Hornets' 80 game points came from either in the paint (43 points) or from the free throw line (27 points) and while this is usually a recipe for success, you need to be able to hit some jumpers in-between your banging and trips to the line. If the Hornets' second and third quarters weren't so flat, jump shooting-wise, we might be looking at a game that went into extra quarters.
THE STAT: The Jazz outrebounded the Hornets 58-46 on Friday night and this marks the second time in two games where Utah has outrebounded their opponent by double digits, both games resulted in wins for the Jazz.
QUOTABLE:"You can't count on teams missing open looks. We didn't have much pressure in the paint in the second half and we pretty much just gave them free throws. We need to toughen up in the low post when it counts... we can't just hope good shooters miss good looks all season. Be that as it may, I'm glad we got the W." -Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin
HOT: Gordon Hayward provided a huge spark off the bench for Utah as the Butler alumni poured in 22 points on 9-15 shooting to go along with his 3 blocks. Al Jefferson had his second double double of the season with 19 points, 12 rebounds and his first block of the 2012-13 campaign.
NOT: Offensively, any Hornet player not named Anthony Davis could be elected here. Eric Gordon, Greivis Vasquez, Ryan Anderson and Austin Rivers shot a combined 13-41 from the field.
QUOTABLE II:"Good looks don't fall all the time, and we experienced that tonight, badly. I'm happy with our execution, our spacing, we got great looks, just couldn't hit them." -Hornets coach Monty Williams
ROOKIE WATCH: Austin Rivers went 1-11 from the field in the Hornets' loss to the Jazz. Rivers' lone field goal came with :31 seconds left in the game on a sporadic three pointer about three feet behind the line.
FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Anthony Davis well warranted his average 43rd pick in ESPN Drafts with his 17 point, 9 rebound, 4 block performance.
QUOTABLE III:"I feel like I was a big reason for Austin[Rivers]'s struggles tonight. I got burned a few times off the dribble, but recovered well for a few blocks on him. He never saw them coming. After that it seemed like he was just looking for outside scoring, jump shots, and a player like Austin can't get content shooting jumpers, his strength is taking people off the dribble and taking it to the hoop hard." -Jazz guard Gordon Hayward
NOTABLE: The Jazz move to 2-0 on the season while their opposition, the Hornets drop to a 0-2 start.
UP NEXT: For the Jazz (2-0): Saturday Nov 3 @ Spurs (1-1), Monday Nov 5 @ Grizzlies (0-1)
For the Hornets (0-2): Saturday Nov 3 @ Bulls (1-0), Wednesday Nov 7 vs. 76ers (0-1)
In the light of Gordon Hayward's three block performance against New Orleans on Friday night, the third year shooting guard has earned himself a nickname in the Salt Lake City area: The Jazzmanian Devil
"It's stupid and cheesy, but I love it honestly." said Hayward of the moniker. "Taz was always one of my favorite Looney Toons and still is to this day [chuckles] so when I associate the nickname with that, it makes it twice as awesome."
Hayward has built a reputation over the last two years and an outstanding recovering defender, blocking shots from behind with regularity. "There's nothing better. Your guy blows past you and they think they have an easy hoop, and all of a sudden the ball's in the stands."
When asked about Hayward's new nickname, Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said "The name fits him, he's a blurr out there. He's not too fast, or too agile, but one minute he's not in the play and the next he's blocking a shot, tipping off a pass. Gordon's really tenacious out there, unforgiving. But off the court, its another thing; he's the nicest, funniest person you've ever met."
Last edited by StraightBaylien; 02-04-2013 at 03:14 PM.
Busy Rollings, for NBA.com
Posted Sat Nov 3, 2012 11:44 PM -- Updated Sat Nov 4, 2012 12:03 PM
THE FACTS: Tony Parker had a game-high 6 assists at halftime and produced exactly the same amount in the second half on his way to 12 dimes in the game with only 2 turnovers. Parker also finished with 14 points and a couple of steals. His San Antonio runningmate, Tim Duncan had another solid game tonight with 20 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and two blocks.
The San Antonio Spurs were extremely efficient against the Jazz Saturday night, shooting 50% from the field while holding their opposition to just 43%.
The Jazz had to play more than half of the game with their star forward Paul Millsap in heavy foul trouble. Millsap played only 21 minutes, finishing with just 11 points and 2 rebounds. Attempting to pick up the slack was third year guard/forward combo Gordon Hayward AKA the Jazzmanian Devil. Hayward scored 24 points in 29 minutes, connecting on 7-of-8 field goal attempts and all 9 of his free throws. Hayward's lone miss came late in the game on a wide open 3-pointer which would have brought his team within a single point.
QUOTABLE:"I had a great look, I couldn't believe it rimmed out. I would have put my salary on that shot going in, it looked money from where I was standing. But I can't dwell on a missed shot. I'd love to make 7 of every 8 shots for the rest of the year." -Jazz guard Gordon Hayward
HOT: Despite missing a crucial shot late in the game, Gordon Hayward was on fire for the Jazz and sparked their comeback effort in the third quarter. At one point, Hayward scored 9 straight points for the Utah Jazz; two 3 pointers and an And-One. Hayward finished with 24 points on 7-for-8 shooting, 9-for-9 from the charity stripe.
NOT: Paul Millsap committed back-to-back frustration fouls in the second quarter giving him 4 fouls with over half the quarter to go. This was a huge deflation from Utah's gameplan on both sides of the ball.
QUOTABLE II:"We caught a huge break out there with Millsap being in foul trouble. He can be a damn pest on the boards, on both sides, and a menace with swiping the ball away from the bigs. I'm not saying Favors, or Kanter, or Carroll are any less of players, but none of them is the threat that Millsap is, obviously." -Spurs coach Gregg Popovich
GOOD MOVE: By now it seems praising San Antonio for staying calm under pressure is almost redundant. The NBA has seen these kind of games from the Spurs time and time again, but it is always impressive. With the Jazz firing on all cylinders, the Spurs stayed composed and waited for the younger Jazz team to begin making mistakes and benefitted with a victory.
BAD MOVE: The worst move of the game can be awarded to Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin; with Paul Millsap just acquiring his third foul it seemed as though Corbin would wait it out until the next dead ball before subbing Millsap out. In hindsight this was a horrid move as Millsap swiped for the ball on the inbound and picked up his fourth foul about half way through the second quarter. Millsap would sit until 3:00 to go in the third.
QUOTABLE III:"Offensive execution down the stretch: It's hard to coach that, to teach these situations in practice, because that sense of urgency isn't there. That sense of 'we need to make a big shot' or 'we need to come up with a big stop, or turnover', games like this are really the only time you get to practice. The more close games we play, the better our odds are." -Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin
ROOKIE WATCH: No rookies participated in Saturday night's affair.
UP NEXT:
For the Jazz (2-1): Monday Nov 5 @ Grizzlies (0-2), Wednesday Nov 7 vs. Lakers (3-0)
For the Spurs (2-1): Monday Nov 5 vs. Pacers (2-1), Wednesday Nov 7 @ Clippers (1-2)
02-04-2013, 09:41 AM
