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Show Sports WWW.WSUSIGNPOST.COM Summer League Jazz fans view talents of new picks 5 Ferreira and Roberts to lead Weber Tennis By YOGI THATCHER sports reporter | @Yogi_T23 By ROB STEWART sports reporter | @robbedsports The Utah Jazz ended the Las Vegas Summer League with a 2-3 record, winning games against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers. While last year’s first-round picks Dante Exum and Rodney Hood didn’t participate due to injuries, other Jazz regular season roster players Bryce Cotton, Jack Cooley and Chris Johnson stood out. In the first game against the Miami Heat, Jazz point guard Bryce Cotton scored 28 points, while adding five rebounds and four assists. The Jazz fell short, losing to the Heat 82-79 while their #10 overall pick sat out due to “general soreness,” and the Jazz’s #12 pick, Trey Lyles, scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds. The second game against the Minnesota Timberwolves resulted in a matchup between former college teammates Karl Anthony-Towns and Trey Lyles. While Towns had the better stats of the two, including 14 points and 10 rebounds, Lyles and the Jazz took the win. Lyles chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds himself. In game three of the summer league, Lyles got a rematch with another college teammate. This time, it was shooting guard Devin Booker. Booker scored 18 points, helping the Suns beat the Jazz. Lyles scored 10 points while Bryce Cotton, Jared Cunningham and JaJuan Johnson contributed 13 apiece in the losing effort. Game four matched up the Jazz with the Washington Wizards and #15 overall pick, Kelly Oubre, who outspokenly said that he was the best player in the draft during the workout process. Oubre scored 12 points to help the Wizards beat the Jazz 86-78. Cotton, of the Jazz, added 20 points, despite the loss. Game five was the final game for the Las Vegas Summer League, and the Utah Jazz took on #2 overall pick, D’angelo Russell, and the Los Angeles Lakers. In the last game, Jazz fans finally got to see why the Jazz brass and management were so excited to take Lyles at #12 when he scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while hitting four threes. According to the San Diego Union Tribune, JJ O’Brien and the Utah Jazz agreed on a partially guaranteed deal that ensures him a spot on the camp roster to compete to make the final roster come opening night. O’Brien played one season at the University of Utah before transferring to San Diego State and playing over 100 games in his home town. Australian forward Brock Motum has also been offered a partially guaranteed camp deal but has not accepted it yet. The 6’10” Australian played his college ball at Washington State before playing for the Jazz Summer League team a year ago and spending the last year playing pro- TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2015 SOURCE: CHARLES FOX/PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER/MCT Providence’s Bryce Cotton celebrates after hitting the game-winning 3-pointer in a 55-52 victory over Villanova at the Pavilion in Villanova, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, February 3, 2013. fessionally in Australia for the Adelaide 36ers. Jazz point guard Trey Burke was selected as one of 41 participants who will get a chance to try out for team U.S.A., which will compete at the Rio Olympics. The tryouts and scrimmages will take place at the UNLV campus between August 11th and 13th. Burke will compete with Jimmy Butler, Mike Conley, Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes, Tobias Harris and Victor Oladipo for a spot on the roster. The Jazz players and coaches report to camp the first week of September to prepare for the season. Brazilian point guard Raul Neto is currently at P3, while many players are in Salt Lake City working out with coaches and boxing trainers. Comment on this story at wsusignpost.com This fall will mark the beginning for Brad Ferreira and Mark Roberts as the new leadership for Weber’s Tennis program. Ferreira was made the new director of tennis for the Wildcat men’s and women’s programs. Working as his new assistant coach will be Mark Roberts. Ferreira has been with Weber State for over four years and will double down his role as director along with the responsibility of being head coach for both the men’s and women’s teams, which entails overseeing the recruiting and scheduling of games. Ferreira is not only a coach for Weber State but also an alumnus. Having moved from his home in Johannesburg, South Africa to Ogden, Ferreira played for Weber from 1986-90. During those years, Ferreira paved the way for four consecutive Big Sky Championships. This pattern continued itself when Ferreira led the Wildcats to two straight Big Sky regular season championships, including one undefeated regular season record. In his three years as the men’s tennis head coach, he has an overall career record of 41-32 and a 25-5 Big Sky Conference record. “We are pleased with the work Ferreira has done to elevate our men’s tennis program,” Athletic Director Jerry Bovee said in a statement. “We anticipate his leadership to have a great effect on our women’s program as well.” In addition to Ferreira, Mark Roberts will be joining the Wildcats Athletic program after two years as the assistant coach for Southern Methodist University’s women’s tennis program. Before that, Roberts was the head women’s coach for University of Texas at El Paso where he reorganized a struggling program into an undefeated season, something that had not occurred in over 8 years for UTEP. One of Roberts’ most notable achievements was his awarded title as the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Mountain Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2012 for his efforts at UNLV where he worked previ- SOURCE: WEBER STATE ATHLETICS Brad Ferreira was made the new Director of Tennis for the Wildcat men’s and women’s programs. ously before his position at SMU. Roberts is also an honor graduate from New Mexico State University, where he earned his Bachelors of Arts in Communication Studies during May of 2004. From there, he transferred to the University of Las Vegas to continue his education by earning his Master’s of Science in Sport & Leisure Services Management from in 2012. Following a standout collegiate playing career at New Mexico State, Roberts would also go on to play for Utah State University. As an Aggie, Roberts played no. 1 singles and doubles and was team captain in his lone year with the team (2002-03). He also played at Boise State for two and a half years (2000-02), qualifying for NCAAs in doubles with a national ranking of 23 as a junior. Roberts was named team MVP his sophomore year while equaling the school record for singles victories (31). “We are extremely lucky to have Roberts join our program,” Ferreira said in a statement. “All three previous schools he has worked for have significantly improved with his help. He has the experience and results to be a head coach at a major school, so we are very fortunate he chose to help us at Weber State.” Ferreira and Roberts have begun collaborating for this upcoming season, and both are very optimistic for Weber’s tennis program this years. Comment on this story at wsusignpost.com Jazz fans, it's time to forgive Deron Williams By ROB STEWART sports reporter | @robbedsports On Feb. 23, 2011, the Utah Jazz shook the NBA world by trading twxo-time All Star Deron Williams to the New Jersey Nets. By receiving two future firstround picks, the previous #3 overall draft pick Derrick Favors, as well as Devin Harris and about three million dollars cash, it looked like it was a win-win for both teams. Fast forward four plus years, and it is obvious that the Utah Jazz won this deal. Derrick Favors has turned into a very valuable NBA player. The 6’10” power forward averaged 16 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks during the 2014-15 regular season, while proving that he is a bonafide NBA starter. If Favors was the only piece the Jazz had gotten in return, that would have been enough in NBA SOURCE: JIM RASSOL/SUN SENTINEL/TNS Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade draws a foul on Brooklyn Nets’ Deron Williams during the first half on Sunday Jan. 4, 2015, at AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami. trade standards. But they got much more. One of those future first-round picks ended up being Enes Kanter, and although the Jazz and Kanter had their ups and downs, the trading of Kanter freed up playing time for French center Rudy Gobert. The three million dollars ended up being the same amount that the Jazz sent to Denver in a trade of the number 46 pick, Erick Green, to the Nuggets for pick #27, which ended up being Rudy Gobert. He averaged 8.4 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game last year and has become a key part of the offense. Devin Harris played for one year with the Jazz and lead them to their last playoff appearance in 2011-12. In the summer of 2012, Harris was shipped off to Atlanta for 6’8” forward Marvin Williams. He provided valuable leadership, averaged 8.2 points per game and shot 34 percent from the three-point line in his two seasons in Utah. The last piece of the trade the Jazz received was a future first that was conveyed through the Nets originally from the Golden State Warriors. After the pick was lottery protected for the first two years, the Jazz finally received it in 2013. That pick #21 overall was combined with the Jazz’s own #14 pick to trade to Minnesota for the #9 pick, which they used to se- lect national college player of the year, Trey Burke. In a nutshell, the Utah Jazz received through the Deron Williams trade and moving pieces the following players: Derrick Favors, Rudy Gobert, Trey Burke and Marvin Williams. Among NBA General Managers and professional writers, the Jazz won this trade. It took four years for Brooklyn to hate Deron Williams and Williams to hate Brooklyn. Just last week, Williams agreed to a contract buyout with the Nets, so he could return home and play for his childhood favorite team, the Dallas Mavericks. His two-year deal is worth around 10 million and has a player option for year two. Despite all that, maybe the time has been long enough for Jazz fans to accept that he isn’t the villain any more. 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