Still love you though, Memo. :) (via Memo’s Twitter)

Two. CNNSI’s Sam Amick has the scoop on Jerry Sloan’s interview with the Bobcats/Michael Jordan on 5/25:

I spoke to Jerry Sloan about his Charlotte interview earlier today. Nothing too new, but he said, “Everything went fine. There wasn’t any job offers or anything like that. We visited. He asked me a lot of questions and I asked him a lot of questions. I think they’re gonna interview some other people. I don’t know.” Truth be told, I failed to aske specifically who he visited with in the Utah interview.

Three. Bits from Gordon Hayward:

** Have you talked to Derrick Favors about the USA Select Team? I have not talked to D-Fav about it, but I’m sure we’ll talk about it soon.

** On Game 6 of the IND/MIA series: I haven’t really paid that much attention to the Playoffs…I think it’s pretty cool with the way [Indianapolis] is uniting around the Pacers, and they’ve been playing well. It’ll be a tough game for them tonight, but I’m definitely gonna make sure I stay away from the downtown area.

** On getting away from basketball: Well, I’m still trying to get away from it a little bit before I get back out there on the court. I’m actually going to go on vacation. I’m going to go on a cruise with somebody here soon, and after that it’ll kinda be like my final little relaxation before I start working out again. I’ve just been hanging out with friends, playing video games, going out to movies, going out to eat, just anything that a normal 22-year-old would do. Like I said, I haven’t really turned on the Playoffs unless I walk into a room and people are watching it.

** On video games: I actually just played in a grudge match against Brandon Jennings in L.A. That’s why I was in L.A. the past couple days. I played in a Call of Duty showdown, and I had a great time doing that and was able to get the victory. So I’d say I’m still pretty good at video games.

** On the aforementioned cruise: We’re going on a Caribbean cruise, so we’ll have a good time doing that…With this USA thing, it’s definitely going to have to get right back to work pretty much as soon as I get back from the cruise.

** Championship prediction: It’s tough to see the Spurs losing in a seven-game series.

** Who do you like watching as a basketball fan? To me, it’s really cool watching the Spurs and seeing what they do. How each person just plays their role almost to a T. They get the job done and sacrifice. If I were to pick a team, it’d probably be the Spurs. (1280)

** If you had a do-over, would you sign Josh Howard again? Absolutely…he brought a defensive presence which certainly helped us, and he rebounded the ball nicely and he knows how to play, and I think he got some respect from his teammates when he came back [from injury], and even after he got hurt with the knee, if you look at the games that he played, he helped us in, and that was important. And he got a great deal of respect for somebody that tried so hard to rehabilitate himself from surgery to get himself back into being able to play so he could try and help in the Playoffs.

** Bigger need: shooting or better leadership at the point guard position? Some of the players, whether it’s Alec [Burks] or Gordon [Hayward] [or] Devin [Harris], those guys have got to spend the summer and improve their 3-point shooting. It’s gotta come from within…Are we willing to change it around [through player acquisitions?] I think our consideration is really a focus on [getting] Al [Jefferson] and Paul [Millsap] and Devin to be a little bit better next year, and the [young] guys to make more of a leap.

** On Ante Tomic: He’s got one more year left on the contract over there [with Real Madrid], and we obviously had gone over and seen him play this year. He probably didn’t have as good a year this year as he did last year, and we’ll continue to evaluate…He still needs to add some strength, but he’s got some skills and he is 7’1″.

** Is there anything more that the league can do to deter tanking? I don’t think so. I think it’s difficult to do that. I do think some teams can certainly want to play their young players more and I understand that part of it, but I think you try and win. That’s the bottom line. (KALL)

I still don’t understand this “playing young players more” = “not trying to win” equation…

Tyrone Corbin
** What are you expecting this summer from Enes Kanter? Just his growth. He gotta continue to develop. He needs to play, play a lot.

** On defending the pick and roll: That’s one of the things we gotta make sure we continue to grow on, because we struggle in it some. And [opponents put one or two guys] that they don’t think handle it very well, and they use it time and time and time again. So individually it has to get better, and as a team we have to get better understanding that if you have a teammate that struggle in the pick and roll, how rotations have to be sharper from the weak side…

** As you reflect on what happened with Raja Bell and grow as a coach, have you learned anything? It happens, man. Guys are frustrated for whatever reason; they make comments. I know who I am.

** If there’s something you’d like to see added to the team this summer, what would it be? Just everybody getting better…we need some shooters from the perimeter that’s gonna be consistent, and the low post guys gotta get better.

** What did you tell Alec Burks at the end of the year? Gotta get better. We gotta, we gotta, got a big summer to get a lot of work in, so get better on both ends of the floor, defensively and offensively. Get his body a little stronger, and his thing is understanding the entire dynamics of the game on both ends of the floor.

** Are you prepared to start Derrick Favors next season if his play demands it? I want all 13, 14, 15 guys that we have on the roster to work this summer to take the starting spot, and that’s what your focus is all summer. “I want to start. I don’t just wanna be on the team. I wanna work to be a starter.” I want everybody to put that pressure on me to be able to start all the guys who’s on the roster. Whether it happens, well, it can’t happen, but you wanna have great guys on the team that [you want to] put in the game, and Derrick certainly has the ability. He’s demonstrated that he deserve more time on the floor whether that’s starting or coming off the bench, but I want him to work to be a starter. (1280)

Phil Johnson
** Who are your favorite young “rising star” coaches that are “doing it right”? I think Indiana has a really good organization, and their coaching staff has done a great job. I think they are at the top of the list as far as young coaches coming up and doing really a good job. You look at a Nate McMillan, he got fired this year. It’s ridiculous, because he’s a very, very good coach. That happens in this league. I think Mike Woodson, although he’s not a real young guy–he happened to play for me with the Kings–I think he’s one of the best coaches in the league.

** On Corbin’s coaching performance in the Playoffs: I told everybody I thought [the Jazz] could probably play .500 basketball. Well, they overachieved in my mind. They got in the Playoffs, which was a huge thing for this franchise, and they happened to play one of the best teams that’s ever been in the league.* I mean, [the Spurs] are a very, very good basketball team…

I was upset with everybody talking about how [Corbin] was getting outcoached in the Playoffs, this and that. That happens maybe some, but I didn’t see a whole bunch of mistakes that he made…so that upset me at that time, and I thought that that was way overblown, that on a game-by-game basis he was getting outcoached.** Yeah, maybe some, yeah, you got a very good basketball coach on the other side obviously, but I don’t think that was the reason the Jazz lost in the Playoffs…Yeah, there are obviously better coaches than others in the league, that’s the way it works, but it has a lot to do with the talent you have, the organization you have, and so forth. (1280)

* Earlier in the interview when the question wasn’t about Corbin, Phil said that the current Spurs team isn’t the best Spurs team that he’d seen, and that the ones with Tim Duncan and David Robinson were better.

** Corbin was going up against GREGG POPOVICH, and he wasn’t getting outcoached? (I wouldn’t make that statement about any other coach in the league. The statement isn’t about Corbin’s performance, but more about how highly I think of Pop.)

At the conclusion of last season, several NBA teams approached Jerry Sloan about coaching jobs. According to Dave Checketts, one of them was the Detroit Pistons. Also according to Checketts, Jerry thought about it for a couple of days and decided that he wasn’t ready to return yet.

Jerry’s also been tied to the L.A. Clippers and New York Knicks coaching positions, though neither are necessarily vacant. If you Google “Jerry Sloan,” the autocomplete gets to work:

Jerry told the Trib’s Steve Luhm (who’s the one guy that seems to have the inside track with Jerry) that he had spoken with Bobcats ownership (i.e. Michael Jordan) about the vacant coaching position and that the two sides could meet this week. In regards to the disaster of a season the Bobcats just had and the rebuilding job that it would be, Jerry said, “It’s not always about starting at the top.” Somewhere, Phil Jackass’ ears are burning. (Trib)

Jerry also told Fox Sports Florida today (from his farm in Illinois) that he’d be interested in the Orlando Magic’s coaching vacancy (“It’d be very intriguing”) if the job was offered to him.

Jerry is still so Jerry, bless his heart:

“I worked (26) years (as a head coach). It was time for me to move on and see what was going in the world. That’s been kind of interesting. But I still have that void of basketball.”

Sloan was asked what he learned about what was going on in the world.

“Well, the sun comes up every day,” he said.

That sure sounds like a guy who got bored not coaching. And right now, he would welcome another chance to get back.

“I don’t have an agent,” Sloan said. “I don’t need for anybody to talk for me. If somebody calls me, I will listen.” (FS Florida)

Nothing earthshattering there, but Jerry’s Jerryness makes me smile.

Side Note 1: The Orlando Magic’s Senior Vice President, Pat Williams, was the GM of the Bulls when Jerry was a player. He once had this to say about Jerry:

“In all my 28 years in the league, the player I most admire is [Jerry] Sloan. I’ve never been around a greater competitor, a more focused guy, a guy who cared as much…There’s never been another Sloan. Never will be.” (longer excerpt and source here)

Side Note 2: In the days and weeks after Jerry resigned from the Jazz, his wife, daughter, long-time friend and farm caretaker, Checketts, and Gregg Popovich all predicted that he’d be back coaching. More recently, Karl Malone made the same prediction as well.

Side Note 3: KSL poll results :)

Across its three leagues, CSKA Moscow went 41-3 in the regular season and 16-3 in the Playoffs for a total record of 57-6. The club was undefeated at home, with all six losses coming on the road.

CSKA was playing from behind out of the gate in Game 1, but AK converted a 4-point play on CSKA’s final possession of the first quarter to tie the game. AK played the entire first half and dominated, with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. CSKA led 35-32 at the break.

30 seconds into the second half, AK landed awkwardly on an opposing player and hopped off to the locker room. He didn’t return, but CSKA broke it open in the 4th on some hot shooting. Jamont Gordon in particular went nuts on the offensive end after getting into a mini-slapping (girl fight-esque) altercation with a Khimki player. Final score: CSKA 81, Khimki 62.

Game 2 was the next night, and AK was out. During the break between the first and second quarters, AK was called to center court and presented with the Alexander Gomelsky MVP Award. As far as I can tell, it’s an award presented by the “Soviet Sport” newspaper (so something like the “Sporting News” awards maybe?) based on a vote of experts and journalists.

Side note: Gomelsky was the most famous coach in Soviet/Russian basketball history and won national championships, European Championships, World Championships, Olympics gold, and is an inductee of both the Naismith and FIBA Halls of Fame. CSKA’s arena is named after him, and AK trained under him as a youth at his St. Petersburg sports school.

CSKA won Game 2 easily, 79-61, after holding Khimki to a 5-point first quarter.

The first four games of the series were a four-games-in-five-nights deal, and AK had said that he expected to return by Game 4. Unfortunately (for me), CSKA swept the series and it didn’t go to four games.

Before tip-off of Game 3, AK received yet another award, this time the PBL Offensive Player of the Year. Both AK and the Defensive Player of the Year, Khimki’s Zonaras Planinic, made the All-PBL first team.

Timofey Mozgov sighting at the game (he was a Khimki player before the NBA and played on Khimki during the lockout):

Game 3 was another not-close game, with Alexey Shved*, who started in place of AK, carrying CSKA. CSKA took it 90-75: Confetti, cutting down the net, medal and trophy ceremony, champagne and cigars in the locker room, and the whole shebang.

This was CKSA’s 10th consecutive Russian championship and 19th in 21 years, and with the conclusion of Game 3, CSKA’s 2011-2012 season came to a close.

*Shved reportedly entered the 2010 NBA draft knowing he wouldn’t get drafted so that he could have more of a say on where he ends up. A number of teams are expected to pursue him this summer, including OKC, Memphis and Minnesota. Haven’t seen the Jazz mentioned though. Shved is a 6’6″ guard that can play either guard position and has good ball-handling skills and shot 47% from downtown this year. His athleticism is also out of this world and he’s a highlight factory. Sound like someone we could use?

** Gordon Hayward on how Kanter’s rookie hazing started: Enes was foreign [and] Enes is a big dude, so I don’t think anyone was trying to mess with him that much and we were still kinda feeling him out. One time on the plane, Enes was sitting there–like I said, this has been a month and a half or so since we started the season–and they said something to him, and I sat right behind Enes so I kind of was overhearing the whole conversation. Enes just was like, “I don’t feel like a rookie anymore.” And as soon as he said that, things were just completely downhill for him.

The rest of the flight, ’cause the vets were like, “Oh, you don’t feel like a rookie? OK, we’ll make you feel like a rookie.” So the rest of the flight, he was standing up the whole flight. Didn’t sit down til we had to land…Everybody on the team started just dinging [their flight attendant call buttons] and Enes was supposed to come over, so it was just ding, ding, ding. I mean, he was just getting frustrated. [The rest of the story was lost due to a poor connection.] …pretty funny, he kinda brought it on himself.

** Hayward on Kanter’s mic drop: That was something in the locker room they talked about him doing. They had kinda rehearsed a little bit and I don’t think anyone thought he was gonna actually go out there and do it. They told him if he did it, then he wouldn’t be a rookie anymore and he wouldn’t have to bring donuts everyday or anything like that. So I think he was sick and tired of it and just went out there and did it and he was kind of lied to. So I think he was upset about that.

Poor Enes got lied to, but that lie led to one of the greatest Jazz moments in recent memory. So the moral of the story appears to be that sometimes, lies can be good. :)

** Hayward on whether Kanter secretly enjoyed the hazing: I think if you were to ask him he might say he was frustrated, but you could just tell he did kind of embrace it and he liked the attention. He liked being involved with the older guys and the vets, and they liked it too, so it kinda worked out for them both.

** Hayward on his own rookie hazing: One practice we get there and it was Big Al’s birthday. Big Al was always on Jeremy [Evans] pretty hard and he’s on Enes too, so he comes on us and says that we can’t have a weak happy birthday song; we need a performance. And this was at the beginning of practice, so Jeremy and I are freaking out. We’re going the whole practice thinking, what are we going to do? We don’t have anything ready. We pretty much took the practice off mentally and were trying to figure out what to do, and by the end, we had to sing “Happy Birthday” to Al. I did some beat boxing and Jeremy did some vocals. (video)

*UDQM

** Hayward on whether his rap career is over: I would say I’m a one and done. (2)

** Earl Watson: [Alec Burks] is back in town [in Kansas City]. We actually gonna meet up and go to church on Sunday. (1)

** Kevin O’Connor on the Jazz’s most pressing need this off-season: (7-second pause) I would say shooting, but that comes at a premium first of all. And the second thing is, as you get into the Playoffs, there’s a lot of guys that are really good shooters that can’t get a shot in the Playoffs. So you gotta look at that situation and say, “How do I get people that can be able to stretch the defense* but also be able to play the other end and hopefully also be able to move and get open?”

[Host makes catty remark about Kyle Korver.]

KOC: I think Kyle’s terrific, I don’t want to go there with that but that’s part of some of the things you talk about. (KUTV)

*This is so revealing about the place of three-point shooting in the Jazz offense. Guys capable of hitting three-pointers are just out there to stretch the defense and act as decoys, but not actually take shots unless the ball happens to be in their hands as time is running out.

** Randy Rigby on Kevin O’Connor’s selection to the NBA’s Competition Committee: As [the NBA Board of Governors was] voting on this selection of individuals on there, I went to [David Stern] and put a strong plea for them to consider Kevin O’Connor as a great candidate, being I think one of the best minds in basketball from general managers.

** Rigby on Hayward and Derrick Favors’ selection to the USA Select Team: It speaks very well to our fans and to this community in the job that Kevin and Ty[rone Corbin] have done selecting and developing these players to be who they are, and to them. (2)

(1) KALL
(2) KFAN

So, here’s mine (originally posted at SLC Dunk; click to enlarge):

And here’s the one I did last year, since I don’t have much else to post right now (click to enlarge):

If you would’ve told me a year ago that I would have crazy, excited butterflies in my stomach in the days leading up to and during the Euroleague Final Four, I wouldn’t have believed it. Funny how life goes.

One definite advantage the Euroleague has over the two other leagues CSKA Moscow plays in: Teams in the league come from so many nations that all coverage is in English, i.e. I can finally understand AK’s interviews again.

CSKA Moscow’s journey to the Final Four started with the team flying players and their families to Istanbul:

On Day 1 in Istanbul, there were press conferences, interviews, photo shoots, and P.R. events. It was AK’s first trip to the Final Four since 2001.

The main press conference had the star and coach of every Final Four team at the podium.

CSKA Head Coach Jonas Kazlauskas: I am sure that my team will show all their best in competition for this trophy.

Andrei Kirilenko: I’m very happy to be here. It’s great competition. I think for this moment, four best teams from Europe playing this Final Four, and it’s going to be very tough to win the trophy, but I think we did a pretty good job during the whole season and we deserve to play here. (EL)

Next, each star-coach tandem posed with the Euroleague championship trophy:

On Day 2 in Istanbul, CSKA Moscow took the court against defending champs Panathinaikos in the first of two semi-finals matchups that would determine who goes to the Finals.

CSKA looked awful out of the gate. The team was settling for long jumpers and iso’s–which is totally uncharacteristic of the style of basketball they play–and building a brick house. On the other end, they looked lost on defense and gave up tons of open shots. AK and Nenad Krstic were called for two fouls each before four minutes were out; Krstic was subbed out, but AK stayed in the game. For once, Kazlauskas’ “I smell something disgusting and I know it’s you” expression was warranted.

Midway through the game, the camera panned to none other than Deron Williams and wife making their way to courtside seats.

Tweeted by Deron:

In the second quarter, CSKA managed to hold PAO to five points, which was the lowest point total for a quarter in Euroleague Final Four history. However, they weren’t making any headway because they weren’t scoring either. A successful run of iso’s by Alexey Shved got CSKA back in the game, and then in a facepalm move (for PAO), they fouled AK behind the line with 2 minutes to go in the half. AK made 2 of 3, making it a 3-point game. A block and rebound later, AK hit a 3 to tie the game. Halftime: 34-32.

In the third quarter, CSKA took its first lead of the game on another AK 3. It was close the rest of the way. In the final minute, CSKA point guard Milos Teodosic put CSKA up two with a bucket, but proceeded to miss two free throws in the final seconds that could’ve put CSKA up four. PAO had a chance to tie or win the game on the final possession, but lost the ball and never got a shot off. And it was onto the Finals for CSKA.

On Day 3, the Euroleague held its annual award ceremony (covered in detail here).

On Day 4, CSKA faced the tournament’s Cinderella team Olympiacos, which had taken out Barcelona in the other semi-final game two days earlier. These were two teams that know each other well, as CSKA Coach Jonas Kazlauskas previously coached Olympiacos, and Olympiacos Coach Dusan Ivkovic previously coached CSKA Moscow. Teodosic also previously starred for Olympiacos (and won Euroleague MVP in 2010 while he was with the team), and also plays for Ivkovic on the Serbian national team along with Krstic.

Deron was at the game again…

…and tweeting pics of “my boi AK47″:

The above was written as events happened, which all took place before halftime of the championship game. The game ended in a devastating, gut-wrenching way with CSKA losing its 19-point first half lead and Olympiacos taking its first lead since 7-6 on the final shot of the game with 0.7 seconds left. Olympiacos won the game and championship by one point.

After Game 3 against the Spurs, I said I just wanted to forget everything and remember Derrick Favors’ block on Tiago Splitter. I wish I could just remember this:

But somehow I can’t. This game HURTS. Again, if you had told me a year ago…

CSKA now returns home to Moscow (and apparently Deron and his wife are traveling there with AK and Masha) and will play in the Russian Professional Basketball League finals this week (best of five; CSKA’s last games of the season).

AK was named Euroleague MVP and to the Euroleague First Team at the EL Awards ceremony on Saturday (Final Four was on Friday; championship game on Sunday). He also received his Best Defender Trophy, which had been previously announced. I highly approve of his decision to do his hair. :)

AK’s acceptance speech:

It’s a great honor, but in my mind, I would like to split this award in 15 pieces. That’s how many players we got on our team. Those guys with me every game, every practice, every minute in the locker room, and I think they make me better player, and they make me better person, which is more important. So I would like to share this award with them…Thank you very much.

The first award of the night that he received, though, was the Euroleague Best Defender Trophy (voted by EL head coaches):

Next, the All-League First Team (voted by media and fans) was announced. Slick presentation:

AK became only the second player in Euroleague history to pick up three awards in one night after Panathinaikos’ Dimitris Diamantidis (guy in green tie on the far right below).

Post-ceremony interview:

Q: Congratulations. You have all the trophies. How do you feel?
It’s very nice, all the individual awards, it’s always nice to have, but I don’t feel full. Older you get, you want your team to win. And if your team wins, you feel happy.

Q: What about tomorrow’s game? Will you be the Final Four MVP?
I don’t care about Final Four MVP. I only care about result. If we win and [teammate Nenad Krstic] scores 50 points, I’ll be happy to name him MVP. I’m not that cocky and I’m not that greedy. I don’t want everything. I want a title.

More on AK and CSKA tomorrow.