<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Former Utah State forward Spencer Nelson showed exactly what kind of player he is on one play Thursday in his workout with the Utah Jazz. Nelson, 6-foot-9, 230 pounds, had his shot blocked two times in a row on the same move to the basket. He got the rebound both times and eventually scored a layup. "If you look at the stat sheet he was 1-for-3. If you look at the hustle sheet he got two points for your team," said Jazz basketball operations senior vice president Kevin O'Connor. "You want to say he's too slow or he's not big enough or he is this or he is that. You know what, he's a really good basketball player," he said. Nelson, who led the Aggies to a 24-8 record, the Big West Conference Tournament championship and a berth into the first round of the NCAA Tournament, worked out for the Jazz along with forward Angelo Gigli (Russia), forward Mike Bell (Florida Atlantic) and power forward Robert Rothbart, who played professionally in France. "You concern yourself a little bit about the leg (knee surgery in 1998) and you concern yourself about what position, but don't sell him short because we're certainly not," O'Connor said of Nelson. "He's one of those kids that somehow is going to figure out a way to play basketball somewhere." According to Jazz assistant coach Gordie Chiesa, players like Nelson have a chance in landing a roster spot. "If you like Matt Bonner of the Toronto Raptors, you have to like Spencer Nelson because they're the exact same player," he said. "He's an overachiever. On every NBA team you need guys like that off the bench."</div> Source
Hinton has it wrong in the Deseret News. This kid was A-1 player of the year in Idaho as a senior in 1998. He redshirted in 2002 because of the knee injury which happened in practice in late October. He tore the ACL and had a partial tear of the Medial Collateral as well. I hope KOC sticks with, "this kid will figure out how to play somewhere",........ just not with the Jazz..... We don't need another bum knee on this ball club!! I'd say he's NBDL material or Euro fodder.......... Tank
What's with the Jazz and "He's one of those kids that somehow is going to figure out a way to play basketball somewhere." Man, we need players who can change the team in at most 3 years(I'm very impatient specially after all the supposedly "big players" we signed last summer).
If they want someone with heart they should get Ronny Turiaf with the 34th pick. Or Juwad Williams with the 51st.
Unfortunately, Turiaf's stock is headed for the basement. If he could have found a way to skip the workouts he'd have been better off. He just doesn't have any area of his game that stands out in a crowd. If I had to call it right now, I forget about getting Paul, Felton, or Williams and I'd pick the best player available when it's our turn, and thats going to be Antoine Wright at #6. Then I use everything I've got to move up as high as I can get toward the mid first round and grab the best kept secret in the draft......Roko Leni Ukic. I've been high on this kid since last year and mark my words, passing him up will be a foolish mistake. And just for grins, my main concern will be getting positioned for the 2006 draft. .....My PG of the future for the Jazz, is coming out of Arkansas next year. One Mr. Ronnie Brewer. Played his high school ball at Fayetteville, and doing the intelligent thing and getting a couple of years maturity in College. This kid is gonna take somebody to the promised land..............You heard it here first!! Tank
