Derek Fisher - Please Be Honest

We pretty much all know the story, Derek Fisher's daughter contracted a rare form of cancer in her eye in May. Fisher missed a couple of playoff games in the Jazz's amazing run this year to be with his daughter. Fisher came in during game 2 of the Western Conference Semis and had an amazing performance to lift the team. Fisher was praised and regarded as a "hero." He put family first and was rewarded.
The way the whole Derek Fisher saga in Utah ended has left a sour taste in my mouth. Let's be honest though, who wouldn't leave their job to be with their daughter if they made millions every year? Everybody regarded Derek Fisher as a class act family man when he announced he would "walk away" from his contract in Utah to find the best medical care for his daughter. He even went as far as to say that he might not play basketball again. Not even 2 weeks later, Fisher was already having contract negotiations with the Los Angeles Lakers. Then the news conference came and Fisher was officially a Laker once again.
Riddle me this, if the best medical care was in New York when his daughter first contracted the cancer, why now is it in Los Angeles? Seems a little fishy to me. (No pun intended) In his news conference with the Lakers, Lakers GM mentioned how they had "had their eyes on Fisher" and "had been in negotiation with him for some time." Seems to me that Fisher knew exactly what he was doing when he left Utah, he wouldn't have just "walked away" without a backup plan. Fisher knew exactly what he was doing, I wish the best to his daughter, but he's no hero in my book. He simply did what every other caring father would do, which I do respect. Fisher's story is the same concept of Pat Tillman, a former NFL player that left football to join the Iraq war. Thousands die in the war every year, but Tillman is seen as nobler, and more courageous because he was in the NFL. We need to stop looking at athletes like they are superhuman, because they are not.

Jason Hart?? Come on Jazz--Are You Kidding Me??

The Utah Jazz ended the 06-07 season with plenty of hope for the 07-08 season. Predicted to finish 8th in the West in the pre-season polls, the Jazz ran the tables and made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals. Things were looking up in late June after the season ended, they only had 3 players not signed to contracts that all wanted to come back. The Jazz didn't need to upgrade, their experience in the playoffs was enough and were already looking like a potential front runner again for the 07-08 season. But then came the falling out of Derek Fisher, who left the team to seek medical attention for his daughter and signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. I respect Derek Fisher for his decision and will be rooting for him next season to do well, but surely not his team. Then the Jazz drafted Morris Almond, the purest shooter in the draft out of Rice, and Kyrylo Fesenko, a tall athletic center from Ukraine. In addition, the Jazz also signed the rights to match any contract offer for 2nd year point guard Dee Brown and 3rd year shooting guard C.J. Miles. It is also expected the Jazz with offer center Rafael Araujo the same contract. And now comes the juggernaut, without any notice, the Jazz announced they have signed another shooting guard in Jason Hart. This one begs to ask the VP of operations for the Jazz, Kevin O'Connor, "What in the bleepity bleep are you thinking??" The Jazz lose a proven champion, veteran, and motivator in Derek Fisher, and then sign an unproven, journeyman, that has made the visit to 5 different teams during 6 years in the NBA. Even O'Connor seems very unsure about the deal, saying of Hart, "he brings some veteran leadership a little bit." The Jazz right now are trying to go up and escalator that is going down. Last week Morris Peterson visited the team, a guy who fits the mold of a Derek Fisher. Without notice, the Jazz waste an "undisclosed amount"of money to Jason Hart on a multi-year contract, after Peterson chose to sign the the New Orleans Hornets. I stress "multi-year contract" because Hart has never played more than a year with any other previous team, being waived or traded every year. Hart's numbers are no better than the worst player on the Jazz roster that received comparable minutes to Hart last season. Either the Jazz are loading up for a multi-player trade, or they have gone mad. Until that trade happens, Jason Heart--go out there and prove me wrong (along with every other loyal Jazz fan out there).

Jazz Need Complimentary Players- Not Superstars

After an impressive 06-07 season, the Utah Jazz will seemingly be better next year by just having experience under their belts of playing in the Western Conference Finals. However; things have been shaken up a little by the departure of Derek Fisher for personal family reasons. Derek Fisher was a hard player to accept being a Jazzman, having seen him kill the Jazz in the many years that he played as a Laker, but it only took one game for me to swing my opinion of him. Fisher had a great court presence and did more in leadership and controlling the tempo of games, which does not appear on his stat sheet. He made one of the greatest appearances in the Conference Semi-Finals game against the Warriors when he flew in from his sick daughter's surgery during the 3rd quarter and came straight out on the court to change the game and make some huge shots in overtime. With Fisher now gone the Jazz need a leader, they need a veteran. Rumors have been swirling over Morris Peterson of the Raptors signing with the Jazz. He's a perfect fit, a good shooter that's a veteran and a winner. Not with the Raptors, but with Michigan State in college. Speaking of the Raptors, anyone else still perplexed that Sam Mitchell won coach of the year last year? Should the Jazz sign Peterson, they also need to look for a big man. Let's all face it, Mehmet Okur is not a post player. Deron Williams and Matt Harpring are better post players then Memo. Memo is capable of defending the post, but it wears him out and affects his offense on the other end rendering him as useless as Kirilenko. If Larry Miller was smart, he would get rid of players like Andrei Kirilenko and Gordan Giricek that feel uncomfortable being a complimentary player. Just as the Jazz of old were built around Stockton and Malone, the Jazz of now need to be built around Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer. Any player not willing to do that will be a poison to the team chemistry and needs a swift kick out of the Jazz door.