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Show rttrf THE SUMMER &mi iW5 iiiiniTi CHRONICLE UTAH SHORTS iwifmfjfami rlMii mi f ATli i .1 .j mi ( In l mm! 11 iiiiwnw-- urn W nose hair trimmer at a garage sale, and when have two teams with three picks, four teams with two you nine with no picks, and Kobe Bryant telling teams picks, Karl Malone not to use picks in the Game, here goes nothing... WALDEM All-St- Chronicle Sports Editor 1. There was once a time when the sense of excitement and nervous anticipation I felt about the NBA Draft rivaled that of a horny 17 year old about to lose his virginity with that girl from fourth period. This year, though, the Draft seems a lot less like chemistry class and a lot more like foreign language specifically, trying to understand whatever moronic dialect it is coming out of President Dubya's mouth. Basically, this time around, you've got a better chance of understanding just what the hell he means by "sublim-inable- " than accurately forecasting who's going where. I guess that has its benefits; trying to get inside the heads of the league's various general managers, player personnel directors and vice presidents of basketball operations was starting to get scary. For the most part, it was all right For instance, you channel into the brainwaves of former Lakers honcho Jerry West and you get a montage of players' physical specs, cumulative stats, costbenefit analyses and fairly accurate assessments of whether or not talent will translate into NBA ability. However, after tapping into the respective psyches of Bulls guru Jerry Krause (Mmrru..powdered jelly doughnuts) and Clippers weenie Elgin Baylor (Ya know, my shoelaces really do look like bunny ears...Hello, Mr. Bunny!), the headaches I was suffering from just weren't worth it. Nevertheless, I am occasionally a man of weak willpower and, in this case, despite knowing better, I just can't resist the temptation. So, in spite of the chaos inherent within the process when colleyou have six high schoolers and 1,634 the with the team gians, when you have top pick trying to as selling a much it success trade away and having about as nt early-entra- lff!h!VA iwvi rt, 3 Or;r.!cls Ssorts Columnist All of us dream that one day we will create a moment in which we dazzle the world and become stars. v , Most of us remember when Michael Jcid&rt hit the winning shot in jooS against the Utah Jazz to win his sixth championship. ' These types of moments are ingrained into our minds, and we reraember them as if they happened yesterday. Dreaming tlie moment is one thing, but performing it requires tremendous will. We are seeing a downward trend in the basketball world of clutch performers, and With the influx of young players, we will see this trend continue. To be clutch, you must relish the moment and not be afraid of it You have to look at the blazing fire and run into it instead of running away from it Players cannot think cf missing the shot, but must believe that the only outcome of the moment will be their making the last shot, Then, and only then, will they be clutch players. 1 :t ar v. Barkley, Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon all rumored to be joining this team next season, what could the Wiz posn discounts to sibly need other than a bevy of senior-citize- buffets? Well, we could start with a nickname and logo that aren't the result of a run amok with his box of Crayolas, D.C-are- a but unfortunately, such problems are usually not addressed through the Draft. Of course, problems such as the disaster that the Wiz have become usually aren't addressed in the Draft, either at least, not in one lacking someone along the lines of Shaquille O'Neal or Tim Duncan. That won't change this year. When the Wiz first won the rights to the top selection, they were ecstatic; only when the realization that there is no one worth picking No. overall hit them 2.7 seconds later did they realize that, with or without Mikey next year, they're still going to suck. trade for a few So, barring some miraculous veterans with the teensiest bit of talent, they figure they may as well make history and become the first team in history to use the top pick on a high school player. The guy getting his name in the record books will be Kwame Brown, from the Glynn Academy in Georgia. 2. Los Angeles Clippers: With Lamar Odom contractually obligated to stick around for at least one more year, and a halfway-talente- d supporting cast around him, the Clips aren't quite as embarrassing as that uncle of yours suddenly who can stick quarters up his nostrils. They'll get even better with their second small forward Tyson Chandler, in as many years, 1 last-minu- te high-school- see er draft, page 11 Nate Altoff is the lone U player eligible for this year's Draft. NBA Playoff Debacle May Be Smallest Of Jazz' Worries couldn't have gotten into the NBA but many of the young rookies break down in the pressure moments and cannot muster up the courage to take the last shot They are intimidated by the ball in the closing seconds of the game.. Many of the franchises in the NBA put too much hope on these young players and overwhelm them. They expect the impossible . all-ti- ar , . RORY BRUNNER and ruin the careers of what could be future stars. The mind must be groomed, and most of these rookies who will be selected tonight should not start If they do not start, theycan learn through observation, and then they will be able to create a more complete Idea of what to expect when they start playing. Then, we will have a foundation of players who will not be intimidated by the moment. However, the franchises are pressured into throwing the players into the fire by the players themselves. They want to play because they have never sat the bench before. To create the moment your mind must be strong enough to handle it, but if you don't have the capacity, you will break and will be forever intimidated of fulfilling a dream that you thought would be the pinnacle of your life. Asad welcomes feedback at: Chronicle Asst. Sports Editor With the upcoming NBA Draft Wednesday, the hometown Jazz are g looking to capitalize on an and tainted offseason. After elimination by the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the first round of the Playoffs, it was obvious there was need for changes on the court. Little did they know, the troubles were only beginning. With an array of mishaps as well, the Utah Jazz's squeaky-clea- n e image has taken a beating, and the Jazz are once again looking at already-troublin- off-cou- rt thug-styl- see BRUNNER, page mi vs Blitzz (10-M- Milwaukee i 627 ) vs (7-1-- 3) 2:30 p.m. CT Milwaukee, Wis. CHRONICLE I PCL BASEBALL WNBA USL SOCCER Starzz (4-5- ) Miami (5-5- ) 627 1 Washington Wizards: With Michael Jordan, Charles Of course, there is the small issue of actually making the shot Many players have been labeled clutch. But now, we cant even name five players in the league who have established themselves as clutch. On the opposite side of the spectrum, we have labeled many players as choke artists, or just players who have repeatediy proven that they can't hit the shot when it counts the most Karl Malone, fairly or unfairly, has been labeled as a player who cannot perform in the fbal stretch of the game because the pressure gets to him. You also cannot name many young players who are clutch. When was the last time you saw Kobe Bryant? Kevin Gamett, Vince Carter or Tim Duncan make a clutch shot in the Playoffs? Most of them pull a Houdini. at the end of games. Being clutch makes you a compelling player. Most of the great players have been clutch. Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, and Michael JorLarry Bird, Kareern Abdul-Jabdan were all clutch players who created the moment instead of just going through die motions. The players who wiil be selected m tonight's draft most likely won't be clutch players unless they learn from the right people. In the NBA, 75 percent of the game is mental. Everyone in the league has amazing physical talent or else they i Ju,f1 nTriMiiMiniiiiiT1i an mil slightly-use- d ERIC r m 7 p.m. ET Miami, Fla. SPORTS EDITOR vs Fresno Stingers (36-3- 9) (45-33- ) vs 7 p.m. Franklin d Covey Field 627-2- 9 ERIC "WALLY" WALDEN WNBA PCL BASEBALL Starzz (4-5- ) Washington (2-8- ) 629 vs 7 p.m. ET Washington, 630-7- D.C. EWALDENCHRONICLE.UTAH.EDU Sacramento Stingers (36-42- ) (45-33- ) 3 Franklin Covey Field 581-704- 1 10 |
