Mi piacerebbe conoscere: Got some good news—I was re-called by the Jazz the other day. I was actually up in Boise, and we had just finished a Friday night game against the Idaho Stampede. Got a call around 11 pm that night from one of the Jazz athletic trainers, saying that Fesenko (the other Jazz rookie assignment player) and I were to catch a 6 a.m. Delta flight out of Boise back to Salt Lake City so we could be back in time for practice Saturday morning with the Jazz. We made it back early that next morning, and have been back since.
There are about five more games left on the Flash schedule, spread out over these next two weeks, so I don’t know if I’ll get re-assigned or not (knock on wood). That’s kind of out of my control, so I won’t worry about it too much. It wasn’t too big of a transition going back to the Jazz. I got a couple playful “Welcome home” lines from some of my teammates like I had just really came home. But you know, I still stayed in my same spot in SLC, still worked out with the coaches before home games, and still worked out at the practice facility after hours while I was on “assignment,” so it was just business as usual returning back to my old team. I’m more than glad to be officially back though.
Switching gears a little bit--March Madness is in full swing. I’m definitely following that -- I’m in a few Tournament pools. Who do I have winning the whole thing this year? My money’s on Memphis. They played in the same conference as I did in college, Conference USA, so I’ve gotta stay loyal to that. Even though they are a No. 1 seed, people are still sleeping on them; everybody keeps staying they’ll be the first top seed to get knocked off. Sure they don’t exactly lead the country in free throw shooting percentage, but they’ve been right there in the Elite Eight for the last couple seasons. They’re due -- it’s their time, and this is their year. Hope I don’t jinx them or anything. But I’m confident in those boys. Memphis don’t lose this for me!
This is also the time of year when a lot of underclassmen start declaring for the NBA draft. It reminds me of my junior year at Rice -- I did the same thing. I averaged about 21 a game as a junior, after dropping in about six points a night as a sophomore. I decided to use the early entry opportunity and “test the waters” without hiring an agent and jeopardizing my college eligibility. For a player like me from a small school that didn’t make it to the NCAA Tournament, “testing the waters” offered me a chance to gain exposure (or get exposed) for the next level, as well as get a taste of the NBA game and see where I stacked up against other draft prospects. I went through with it; I entered my name, worked out for a handful of teams, and participated in the Orlando Pre-Draft camp.
Going into it all, my plan was simple -- if, after my showings at the private individual workouts and the Pre Draft camp, a team told me they would take me in the first round, I was going to stay in the Draft. Anything else, and I was going back to school. Every team I talked to told me I was in strong consideration for their second round picks, but none said they would use their first round pick on me. So, I returned to Rice (on the NBA radar), put together a solid senior campaign, went through the Draft process again, and was selected 25th overall in the '07 Draft. Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? Every player’s situation is different, so there’s no right or wrong answer, but I guess the moral of this story is that timing is everything.
Probably along with Memphis, I was definitely rooting for the underdog team in Davidson. Coming from a mid-major school myself, it’s always good to see a smaller school represented. Stephen Curry is fun to watch -- I’m always a fan of scoring guards who can put up big numbers. Couple of the guys were talking about whether he’s going to enter the draft or not, because while it’ll be hard to top the year he’s having in his next two years at Davidson and his stock might not get much higher, he’s only a sophomore and kind of undersized (NBA speaking). He’ll be fine though, whichever way he decides to go -- he’s got two parents to guide him, plus his dad, Dell, is a (retired) NBA veteran (who currently works with the Charlotte Bobcats organization if I’m not mistaken.)
Quick ‘Curry’ story before I wrap this one up: Earlier this past summer, right before the Draft, I was in a workout with the Charlotte Bobcats. After the workout, their coaching staff, GM, president, etc. and I were in the conference room for the ‘interview’ portion of the workout. There were about fifteen Bobcat staff members in the room, and I was in the ‘hot seat’ facing them, kind of like a professor would be facing a classroom of college students. Everybody from the head coach to the head scout would fire question after question at me, about topics ranging from my college career, to my family, to personal questions about my background. Dell Curry and Michael Jordan (who both work within the organization) were among that group, and finally, MJ, who had been reading over my scouting report the whole time the discussion had been going on, looked up at me and said:
“So, be real with me -- can you do anything else besides shoot, or are you just gonna be another Dell Curry?”
As soon as he said that, everybody in the room started chuckling and looking at Dell, who was laughing himself. Mike had indirectly taken a shot at the both of us. Keep in mind, DC was a retired 15-year NBA veteran, and while he wasn’t MJ (who is?), he had a very solid career in his own right. Jordan’s question kind of lightened the mood up in the room a little bit. I started laughing to myself along with everybody else, and eased up a bit -- til I glanced back over at Mike who was still looking right at me with a stone face.
Should I fire back at Mike, defend myself, and answer the question straight up -- even jokingly? Nah. I was born AT night, not LAST night; I wasn’t gonna touch that potential confrontation with Mike Jordan with a 10 foot pole. So I kind of misdirected the question. Instead of answering it directly, I decided to keep the mood light. After the glance over at MJ, I looked away and over at DC:
“Before I answer that,” I said, “Mr. Curry -- no disrespect!”
Everybody burst out into laughter again. Good save Almond. Even Mike cracked a grin after that response. Then they all started bantering and talking about something that happened way back in like ‘89 or something like that. And that’s where the dialogue (and this story) ended. So whenever I see Davidson or young Curry on TV these days, I think of that particular incident.
Anyway, that’s about it for this entry. I’m on the team plane headed back to Salt Lake right now. Just put that new Rick Ross album on my iPod, so I’m gonna check that out. I’ll catch up with y’all later.
Morris buddy Way cool on the add!!! Me and U R not the same kinda person or anything like that. But I do love my JAZZ and I do love your game. I truly hope that Sloan dosent truck U off like he has done with so many of our young talented players over the years. What U R doing for the flash alone will do good things for your carrer and wether U stay with the jazz or not I will always follow your carrer and cheer for you. Keep up the good work your new pal
