SLC Stars Discuss Goals, Jazz Collaboration

The SLC Stars kicked off their inaugural season on Saturday night with a loss in Sioux Falls against the Skyforce.  The Utah Jazz relocated and re-branded their D-League affiliate, the Idaho Stampede, to their own backyard in what is the growing trend of NBA development. Now when players are called up to the Jazz or assigned for a stint with the D-League team, they only have to travel a few minutes between clubs. Coaches can collaborate on the plays they run via face-to-face meetings after practices, Dennis Lindsey can watch the development and progress of Stars players in person, and local Jazz fans can now go to Stars games.

So as this new era is starting, let’s get acquainted with the Salt Lake City Stars and hear what they had to say at media day.

 

Dean Cooper

Head Coach

The Utah Jazz appointed Cooper as the head coach of the organization in 2014, the first year they gained control of the D-League franchise.  Cooper started his NBA coaching career as a video coordinator for the Houston Rockets and Kevin McHale in 1999.  Lindsey was the director of player personnel for the Rockets that year, which is Cooper’s connection with the Jazz.  Cooper’s other roles in the NBA before joining the Stampede where Assistant Coach, Director of Scouting, Vice President of Player Development, Regional Scout, and Director of Player Development.  He led last year’s team to a 20-30 record, but the Stampede led the league in NBA call-ups.

When asked how the move to Salt Lake City will impact the team, Cooper talked about increased collaboration between his club and its NBA parent. “We’ve had somebody at every practice except one,” he said. Cooper mentioned that the contact with the Jazz coaching staff is constant. “If it’s not daily, fairly it’s close.”

Cooper is eager to work with a group of big, long players.  “I think the strength of the roster is that we have a lot of size… Quincy Ford is a 6’9 wing, Henry Sims is big, Da’Shonte Riley is big.” He continued on with versatility as another strength.  “I think that we have versatility in positions, which is always important, but in the D-League I learned my first year it’s even more important than in the NBA”.

Cooper understands that most D-League players dream of using their time here to springboard to other opportunities, and he said he motivates his players by talking openly about the large NBA contracts that D-League alumni like Hassan Whiteside and Danny Green have earned by making the most of their D-League stints.. “I’ve talked to the players about that. Hey, with the new collective bargaining agreement next year there is another $15 million jump in luxury tax threshold, so there’s a lot of money to go around. Everybody has a different path. Hassan Whiteside had a different path than Danny Green, who had a different path than Tyler Johnson.  So I tell them just stay the course and do what you do.

“Hopefully we lead the lead call-ups again, and make the playoffs.  But if we lead the league in call-ups I will be the happiest guy in the world.”

 

Jaylen Bland

Guard

Cal-Riverside

6′ 3″ 205 lbs

#2

Bland originally went to Murray State, but minutes were hard to come by, so he transferred to UC Riverside. As a Highlander, he averaged 16 points per game and was selected to the all-big west second team twice.  Bland was the Stars top pick at 15th overall in the 2016 D-league draft.

 

Eric Dawson

Forward

Midwestern State

6′ 9″ 250 lbs

#34

Dawson averaged 16.6 points and 10.6 rebounds at Midwestern State before going undrafted in 2007.  Out of college Dawson wound up playing with the Austin Toros, where the Jazz’s Quin Snyder was then the head coach.  “Great guy,” Dawson said of Snyder. “Xs and Os, he knows the game inside and out. He doesn’t sleep. He called me at 3 o’clock in the morning about one play in the D-League several years back.”  He shared that Snyder is the same guy today as he was back then. “He’s not going to change.  That’s just him.”

Since going undrafted Dawson has played with 15 different teams.  At 32, he’s a little older than some of the other guys on this roster and he sees himself being the leader. “Just the tenacity to learn. Get other guys better and just enjoy playing basketball…  I want to take the knowledge that I learned from the vets in the NBA and give it to the rookies that we have.  We have a good group.  Everybody is open and willing to listen and that’s what’s going to be good for us because we can all take constructive criticism and be able to turn it into something positive.”

 

Quincy Ford

Forward

Northeastern

6′ 8″ 225 lbs

#12

His senior year Ford averaged 16.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.5 steals, and shot 34.8% from three on 6.5 attempts per game. Ford went undrafted in the 2016 draft class and joined the Utah Jazz training camp before being cut and joining the Stars.

At 6’8″ Ford is a bit of a positional ‘tweener.  Asked about whether he thinks he is a three or a four he said, “I think I’m more of a wing, a three, who can be able to go to the four. The NBA is changing with stretch fours who can shoot and dribble. I think I can just be a mismatch problem, at the four or three, being able to use my body. I know there will probably be a lot of guys who are quicker but just understanding spacing and back cuts and being smart.  I think I have a pretty good advantage with that.”

 

Evrik Gary

Guard

Francis Marion

6′ 3″ 180 lbs

#20

Gary holds records at FMU for 3-pointers made and attempted, free throws made, free-throw percentage at 88 percent, and is also the second all time leading scorer.  After college Gary went to play professionally in Europe. In fact, his flight to play in Luxembourg was his first time flying on a plane in his life.

Last year Gary averaged 13 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 26.9 minutes for BC Beroe in Bulgaria.

 

JJ O’Brien

Forward

San Diego State

6′ 7″ 215 lbs

#22

O’Brien is familiar with Utah as he started his collegiate career at the University of Utah before transferring to San Diego State.  As a senior, O’Brien averaged 10.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.4 steals a game. O’Brien went undrafted in the 2015 draft class.  O’Brien played last season with the Stampede, where he averaged 14.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.5 steals per game.

Cooper saw the value of O’Brien’s Jazz call-up last season. “He went for ten days last year and he was playing pretty good when he got called up, but when he came back he was a completely different guy,” the coach remembered. “You realize it’s a lot different than you think.”

O’Brien agreed that the call-up impacted him as a player. “I think the first couple games before the call-up I started playing much better. Then I came back I had missed playing a lot.  I just continued how I left off. I definitely was a different player.”

The biggest flaw in O’Brien’s game in his long-range shot.  Last year he shot 29.9% from three with the Stampede.  O’Brien knew that was a flaw and addressed it this summer. “I think I worked a lot on my shooting,” he said. He also added that, “I think coming into this year in the D-League I want to be more physical on offense and defense.”

O’Brien knows Utah far better than most of the players on this roster, and he is excited to be here. “I’ve been here a lot in Utah and it’s just nice to be somewhere I’m familiar with. I know people around, I know the city, so it’s just somewhere I’m familiar with.”

 

Marcus Paige

Guard

North Carolina

6′ 0″ 164 lbs

#44

Paige was 4-star recruit coming out of High School and elected to attend distinguished North Carolina.  Of the 141 games that he played in during his four year collegiate career, Paige started 139 of them.  Statistically, his best year was his sophomore year where he averaged 17.5 points, 4.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds, 1.5 steals and shot 38.9% from three on 6.5 attempts per game.  Some of those numbers slumped in his junior and senior seasons, causing Paige to slide on draft night.  The Utah Jazz drafted Paige with the 55th pick.

Paige already sounds very educated when talking about the biggest difference between the professional and college games. “The attention to detail is night and day from college to the NBA, and I played for a very good college coach.” As a point guard, Paige will need to pay attention to detail to as he only averaged 1.6 assists per game in summer league and will need to learn this new offensive system.

Paige is the only player drafted this year by the Jazz currently on the Stars roster¹ and will be a key focus on development.  Paige mentioned that the new veteran Jazz players were already taking him under their wing. “The vets, the new guys were helpful.  George Hill was great… In camp he did a good job of spending extra time with me after practice if I had questions.  And also Boris and Joe where great at sharing their experience in the league, talking about road trips are like, talking about the grind of an 82 game schedule.  So it’s just great to learn from them.  The Jazz have something great where they have a great organization full of guys that care about each other.”

 

Da’Shonte Riley

Center

Eastern Michigan

7′ 0″ 240 lbs

#33

Riley first went to Syracuse where he played 9.2 minutes in 17 games before transferring to Eastern Michigan.  Riley averaged 4.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks in 25.7 minutes per game his senior year.  After graduating, Riley went undrafted in the 2014 draft class.  Last year Riley played with the Stampede where he averaged 3.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in 14 minutes per game.

 

Patrick Simon

Forward

Seattle Pacific University

6′ 8″ 220 lbs

#40

Simon is one of two players to turn a tryout into a roster spot on this team.  In his senior year at Seattle Pacific, Simon averaged 16 points, 5.0 rebounds, and shot 50.0% from three on 5.5 attempts per game.  After going undrafted in 2014, Simon went on to play with Erdgas Ehingen in Germany.  Simon averaged 12.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, and shot 43.5% on 4.9 threes in 26.9 minutes a game.  The forward out of Seattle Pacific clearly made this roster because of his shooting touch and hopes to stretch the floor.

 

Henry Sims

Center

Georgetown

6′ 10″ 245 lbs

#31

In Sims final season at Georgetown, he averaged 11.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.4 blocks in 27.5 minutes per game.  Sims went undrafted in the 2012 draft class and actually joined the Utah Jazz summer league team before moving on to play 135 gams with New Orleans, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Brooklyn, including 61 starts.

Sims spoke as to why the extended Jazz organization has attracted him multiple times now.  “They’re about winning. They’re about making guys better and improving and I like that. I like to win. I want to win.”

Sims spoke to how hard it was to be cut for the Utah Jazz training camp roster, but understands that’s life in the NBA. “It’s not like a regular 9-5, you’re not guaranteed the next day. Anything could change day to day. Somebody could get hurt and it could affect you. But emotionally you just got to be solid.”

When asked what Jazz and Stars fans should know about his game, Sims gave an enthusiastic response. “I love to play man. I’m passionate about the game. I love to play with my teammates. I love getting my teammates involved, and I love seeing my teammates succeed. I celebrate harder for them than I will for myself.  I’m here to play hard and make fans happy and make the team happy.”

 

Jermaine Taylor

Guard

Central Florida

6′ 4″ 210 lbs

#24

Taylor was a star at Central Florida, averaging 26.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.3 steals and shot 37.6% from three on 7.9 threes a game in 31.9 minutes.  This led to the UCF product being the 32nd overall draft pick in the 2009 draft class by the Washington Wizards.  Taylor was traded on draft night to the Houston Rockets.  The next year he was traded to the Kings before being waived.  Taylor proceeded to play in multiple different leagues overseas, spending time in Spain, China, Israel, New Zealand, and the Dominican Republic. Taylor opened up about how players would prefer the D-League for the NBA exposure if the money weren’t better overseas. “I think if they actually paid the players more, more players would rather stay here than go overseas.  But because the pay is what it is, travel is what it is, you’ve got to go across the waters… I believe that the D-league could be way bigger.”

Taylor is a veteran of professional basketball and is excited to bring that leadership and perspective to the team.  “(It) puts you on a whole different level, especially when you are playing with the young guys.  The only experience they have is college and AAU, but because I have been a pro for a while, it kind of separates me and I have a lot to offer to them.”

Even though Taylor has played in many different countries, his favorite basketball memory is a NBA one: “My first NBA start against the Lakers. I had to guard Kobe (Bryant) and I held him to the lowest scoring amount he had that year.”

 

Dakarai Tucker

Guard

Utah

6′ 5″ 195 lbs

#15

Tucker played his college basketball up the hill at the University of Utah. Over his four years he appeared in 125 games and started 26 for the Utes.  In his senior year Tucker averaged 5.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and shot 41.7% from three.

Turning an open tryout into a roster spot is not something that happens often, but Tucker did so with the Stars. Spurs guard Jonathan Simmons followed a similar path, turning an open tryout for the Austin Toros into a contract with the Spurs. Simmons’ story has been a major motivator for Tucker through this process.

“I’ve had multiple people tell me, ‘You can do this, you could be like him.’  He mentioned me on Facebook so it’s great motivation for me.”

Tucker offered a scouting report for those who didn’t see his 125 career games at Utah. “I’m a great shooter, I play defense very well and I like to do hustle plays.”

As you might imagine, someone who turns an open tryout into a roster spot has to be a hard worker. Tucker talked about what he has been working on this summer to improve.  “Continue to play hard on defense, continue to shoot the ball like I did in college and probably better, handle the ball more”.

 

Jeremy Williams

Forward

Texas-El Paso

6′ 7″ 200 lbs

#23

Williams went undrafted in 2011 and played basketball professionally in Finland, France and Canada. Last year, Williams played with the Stampede and averaged 8.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.6 blocks in 23.0 minutes per game.  One thing Williams will need to improve is his 33.6% shooting from three.

 

How To Watch The Games

This year D-League games will be streaming through Facebook Live.  The easiest way to catch on of these is to go to slcstars.com where you will be able to find a link to each game.

 

Home Opener

The first Salt Lake City Stars home game is November 18, at 7:00 PM MT.  The games are played at the Lifetime Activities Center-Bruin Arena on the Salt Lake City Community College campus in Taylorsville and tickets start at $5.00.  Gina Calvert, the Corporate Communications Manager for Larry H. Miller Sports & Entertainment, spoke to me about some of the fun things that the Stars will be doing for fans at the home opener.

“We are still finalizing some details on what will happen opening night, but it will be a celebration of basketball and a great night out for families. Doors will open at 5:45 p.m., with Stars’ magnetic schedules being handed out at the doors. The Kids’ Zone will be up and running with an array of activities for kids to enjoy throughout the night. Fans can expect to see some former athletes in attendance, along with Sam Gordon and JP Gibson. We will also be hosting a postgame autograph session with select Stars’ players, so we encourage our fans to stick around after the game.”