Harassing Kobe obviously didn't work; Play the What Did Boozer Yell? game; Reporter strikes out at practice
EnergySolutions Arena fans were relentless in their heckling and harassing of a certain Laker player who played them for fools before missing 19 shots while being taunted and teased all game long.
That’s even more interesting when considering this came out of Kobe Bryant’s mouth on Wednesday:
“The more they boo me, the more they heckle me, the more they relax me, the more I play better. You would think they would know that by now.”
Making that even more interesting, this came out of Kobe Bryant’s hands in Thursday’s game:
An oh-fer first quarter, one missed game-winner, and a total of 18 points on 5-for-24 shooting. By my math, that means he had more missed shots than he did points.
Wow. Just imagine how horribly he would’ve shot had Jazz fans not heckled him so much.
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Quick trivia question. What did Carlos Boozer – during his 23-point, 22-rebound performance in Thursday night’s win – yell after his left-handed dunk in the fourth quarter:
A) And one!
B) And one more zero on my next contract!
C) And one more game as a Jazz player to help my contract bailout situation this summer!
D) HEY!
E) *%#!
F) FREEEEEDOOOOOOM!!!
G) Pistons, show me the money!
H) Take that all you fans who’ve been booing me – and, yes, I’m shouting at you, Jazz fans!
I) CHA-CHING!!!!
J) So easy even I can do it against a Caveman!
K) Utah is the new Cleveland!
L) Grizzlies, show me the money – pysch!!!
M) I caught the ball coming out of the net – that counts as another rebound!
N) Opt out of this!
O) PAU!
P) Defense is for people who can’t dunk like this!!!
Q) I’m getting tired from all of this yelling!!!!!
R) Why is the alphabet so long!
S) Have I already yelled: “And one!?!”
T) How about “Hey!?!”
U) OK, gimme a Carlos Boozer Toyota dealership and I’ll stay!
V) I think I just strained my left vocal cord!
W) I wish I could slam Jody’s blog like I dunk the ball!
X) Sign me and Matt Harpring up for next year’s slam dunk contest!
Y) All of the above, except for W!
z) None of the above and I thought you said this was a “quick trivia question!!!”
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Friday was an unsuccessful day for me when it came to mining for a couple of golden nuggets of extraneous info at Jazz practice.
Hoping to get some fun or interesting notes, I first asked Jerry Sloan if he saw John Stockton at Thursday’s game and if they had talked.
“Yup.”
Hoping still to get more than a one-word answer – although it was quite insightful, you have to admit – I pressed him a bit and jokingly asked if he requested his fellow Class of ’09 Hall-of-Fame inductee to return to the arena for Game 4. You know, as a good-luck charm.
Sloan’s response was more than one word, but barely. He quickly dismissed all Stockton-Being-The-Real-X-Factor-related questions by grumbling about how neither of them believe in that superstitious sh-tuff. Only he didn’t say “sh-tuff.” He actually just said “stuff.”
My Round 2 running-into-a-brick-wall moment involved myself and rookie Kosta Koufos. Curious, I asked Koufos if he had any bitter-sweet feelings about missing out on the Utah Flash’s championship series, which ended Friday night. He did, after all, spend time in Orem for a while and helped the D-League team play well during his recent assignment there.
Me: So, do you feel as outlined in the above paragraph?
Koufos: “I’m focused on being (with the) Utah Jazz. You know, I’m a Utah Jazz player. .. My time with the Utah Flash was just trying to get better as a basketball player and to develop myself (for) the Utah Jazz.”
Me: But is there any part of your focused Utah Jazz heart that wishes you could’ve played with your old Flash teammates?
Koufos: “I’m a Utah Jazz player, so, I mean, that’s all I can say. I’m here to help the team out any (way) that’s possible, come here every day, and I just try to get better.”
Me: Gotcha. But do you keep in touch with anybody on the team, say Morris Almond, and ask how they’re doing?
Koufos: “Like I said before, I’m here as a Utah Jazz player and I’m just here to work hard. That’s it.”
OK, OK. I see where this is going. One last question: While you, a Utah Jazz player, were focusing on becoming a better Utah Jazz player and developing and helping the team any way possible as a Utah Jazz player, did you, a focused Utah Jazz player, happen to see John Stockton, a former focused Utah Jazz player, in the stands and will you, while developing as a Utah Jazz player, ask him if he’ll return Saturday for good-luck charm purposes?
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Lastly, in case you’re trying to book your vacation time at work this fall, it looks like the Jazz will play a couple of preseason games in Los Angeles next October along with their exhibition tour in Europe.
Utah, according to this blog on insidehoops.com, will participate in the Laker’s annual “Shootout at Staples Center.” The first game will likely be against the Clippers on Oct. 17 – you just have to fill in the blanks off of the announced Lakers schedule – and then the Jazz will play either the Lakers or the Charlotte Bobcats on Oct. 18.