Too much money. Too much money. If the guy is a bust, they've just sunk their franchise for the next half decade.
Turkey is on the continent that includes both Europe and Asia. In fact, the boundary between Europe and Asia is Istanbul, the largest city of that country, and that country is divided by that line. A small part of Turkey is in Europe, and a larger part is in Asia. However, the Turks are regarded as Europeans by international standard, especially in the sports world. In both soccer and basketball, Turkey is representing the teams from Europe, instead of Asia. Ethnic wise, the Turks are different from western Europeans, but they are still regarded as Caucasians rather than Asians by most people. In fact, here is the map of European countries, and here is a link to the profile of that country . Have some fun with them.
There are conflicting reports......some say it's a deal worth 41-48 million, others saying 50 mil. Hm.... I don't like Okur, not sold on him at all. However, I trust that he'll do well in the Utah system. Now I hope Utah signs Martin......
Memo is a good player. He can run a pick and roll/pop like crazy in Utah's system. He's a good rebounder too. He's average defensively, and sometimes finishes weakly, but he'll shoot a good % overall. Don't know that 5/50 is overpaying too much. He has a ton of talent. He should do well there. I'm not so sure the people ragging on him here have actually seen him play enough. Larry Brown did not like him, and jerked him around a lot. Brown did that to Matt Harpring too, and he fit in well with Utah.
I think in a few years the Utah Jazz will consist entirely of European players. They dont care that SLC is a boring place. They just want to play and be paid.
Personally, I'm glad that a team in the NBA will have an all-white starting five. It causes controversy. You never hear people say, "What a minute, all of *team name*'s starters are black! Something's not right here! Not right at all!". No one calls it racism when the majority of a team is black, it's just considered a good business decision. I'm looking forward to the speculation it causes for a team to have nothing but non-blacks as their starting five (and maybe even do decently).
Accoring to L. Bird's statements, the Jazz should be the worst defensive team in NBA history next season since "white people" can't play defense. The whole NBA will be insulted b/c they will be guarded by "white people"
Many of the countries of the EU won't even discuss adding Turkey to the EU because they don't consider them true Europeans. The Turks are racially Turkomen, not "Caucasian" which is a blanket word to to describe people from the Caucusses which are in Asia, in southern Russia. These peoples moved into Eastern Europe, but to use this word to describe everyone who is white is about as correct as using the Anglo-Saxon phrase, which describes the peoples of Angels and Saxony who moved to England and displaced the Celts. The Turkomen are most closely related to the peoples of Central Asia, and the Turcic language is most similar to the languages of the former Central Asian Republics of the Soviet Union. The peoples of Constantanople who were brought there by the Emperor Constantine when he sought to create his "great Christian Rome" were displaced when the Crusaders decided to sack Constantanople on their way back from Jeresulem, thus allowing the Turks to cross the Hellenespont and invade the European portions of Turkey.
The Jazz should get down on their knees and thank God for European players. Doesn't seem any of the brothers are saying, "You know where I'd really like to live? Utah! Man, that'd be great! Get my agent on the phone, have him call the, uh, the, uh...." "Jazz?" "Yeah!"
Turkey is considered part of the Middle East! Just like Iran, Iraq... In fact Iranians, also known as Persians, are the original "caucasions". So, being caucasion doesn't mean you aren't Asian.
The Denver Nuggets when they had Bobby Jones was the last team to have an all-white starting five. Can't remember the year.
'79? I believe that year was the one we traded him, but I thought we had Skywalker at that point. I'll have to check my media guide.
