Gobert's rise to the Greatest Jazz Center of All Time!

[The Fresh Prince]

30 Carlos Arroyo PG 6-2 202 July 30, 1979 3 Florida International University
19 Raja Bell SG 6-5 204 September 19, 1976 4 Florida International University
5 Carlos Boozer PF 6-9 258 November 20, 1981 2 Duke University
22 Curtis Borchardt C 7-0 240 September 13, 1980 1 Stanford University
31 Jarron Collins C 6-11 255 December 2, 1978 3 Stanford University
6 Howard Eisley PG 6-2 177 December 4, 1972 10 Boston College
10 Gordan Giricek SG 6-6 210 June 20, 1977 2
44 Ben Handlogten C 6-10 240 November 16, 1973 1 Western Michigan University
15 Matt Harpring SF 6-7 231 May 31, 1976 6 Georgia Institute of Technology
43 Kris Humphries PF 6-9 235 February 6, 1985 R University of Minnesota
47 Andrei Kirilenko PF 6-9 220 February 18, 1981 3
2 Randy Livingston PG 6-4 209 April 2, 1975 8 Louisiana State University
24 Raul Lopez PG 6-1 170 April 15, 1980 1
25 Keith McLeod PG 6-2 188 November 5, 1979 1 Bowling Green State University
13 Mehmet Okur C 6-11 249 May 26, 1979 2
51 Aleksandar Radojevic C 7-3 250 August 8, 1976 1 Barton County Community College
3 Kirk Snyder SG 6-6 225 June 5, 1983 R University of Nevada, Reno

Dat Roster Doe!

Arroyo was traded midway thru though. I remember we opened that season hot, and I'm talking HOT. Then we fell flat on our asses with two losses in a row to a winless Hornets team, and a winless Bulls team. I remember the Bulls game frankly for Boozer doing one of his twister dunks and falling on his ***.

 

[framer]

So here are Gobert's current Stats:
Points 38
Rebounds 74
Blocks 13
Steals 4
Assists 3

This ranks him at #44 ahead of:
#45 John Block
Points 27
Rebounds 18
Blocks 1
Steals 4
Assists 7

Is there a more perfect name for a center than John Block? "Block defends his man on the low block, then rises up and blocks the shot cleanly!" Not to mention that Block was pretty damn good, just two years removed from an all-star campaign. Unfortunately for the 74-75 New Orleans Jazz, they seemed to still be under the stipulation that no center worth anything at all could play more than 4 games for the Jazz. Block got all of those numbers in 4 games. He finished his career in Chicago with 2 games in 1976. Dude even looks like a stud:

 

[framer]

Also note the Andris Biedrins would still rank DEAD LAST on this list of Jazz Center has beens. . .

 

[mellow]

Also note the Andris Biedrins would still rank DEAD LAST on this list of Jazz Center has beens. . .

And still he plays ahead of Gobert.


Sigh, the tank is a brutal punisher of hope.

 

[framer]

I forgot to insert in front of Block:

#46 Paul Grant
Points 25
Rebounds 17
Blocks 1
Steals 1
Assists 3

By the time the 2002 Utah Jazz got their hands on this 7'0" University of Wisconsin product, he was 10 day contract fodder. He ended up playing in 10 games for the Utah Jazz on two separate 10 days which comprised the bulk of his 22 game career. The highlight of his career was probably being a throw in for the Stephan Marbury for Terrell Brandon trade in 1999. He currently works as an assistant for the MIT basketball team. In other news, MIT has a basketball team. . .

 

[framer]

Crap, apparently there is a 10 picture limit to a post. I will need to figure out some solution to make sure all these players are fully documented as pieces of Jazz history.

 

[mellow]

In honor of Rudy's performance against the Wuffs, this thread needs a bump.

Gobert has now played 225 minutes in 20 games. He has 48 points, 88 rebounds and 19 blocks.

That is more points than Walter Palmer.
More rebounds than Arujo or Mikki Moore.
And more blocks than Ike Austin or Jon Amaechi.

 

[framer]

Gobert's Rise to Become the Greatest Jazz Center of All Time!

OK, we had to redo this thread due to the limitations of only being able to have 10 pics in one post. Also, a lot of my pics are broken and are being fixed. Additionally, Gobert is actually ahead of more people and I will add them in until we are current when the season tips off for real.

The Center position for the Utah Jazz has been a collection of some of the greatest scum, villainy, and heartbreakers known to the NBA. I have 58 players (59 if you count Biedrins, which I refuse to) as suiting up for the Jazz during both the New Orleans and Utah eras and I am going to document Gobert's rise to the top as he leaves these past paragons of mediocrity in his wake!
For statistical purposes I am only going to count what these people did as a Jazzman. If they left after one season and became an All Star somewhere else, then you only get the one year counted, because if you did your best work for another team, then screw you. Also this counts for Hall of Famers who played just one game for the Jazz at the butt end of their career (I'm looking at you Walt Bellamy, may you rest in peace.)

So here are Gobert's current Stats:
Points 104
Rebounds 155
Blocks 41
Steals 8
Assists 7

This ranks him at #40 ahead of:

#41 John Gianelli
Points 55
Rebounds 62
Blocks 7
Steals 6
Assists 17

Another Center that we picked up for the tail end of his career back in 1979. Out of the University of the Pacific he spent half of his career as a Knick. Averaging 10 and 9 in 1974. He won a ring as a sophomore on the 73 Knicks. Went on to play in his home country of Italy where he won a championship with teammate Mike D’Antoni. Was also known as the G-Man

#42 Pete Chilcutt
Points 47
Rebounds 43
Blocks 4
Steals 5
Assists 10
For some reason I had high hopes when the Jazz acquired Chilcutt even though he was eight years into a mediocre career. He was brought in to replace the departing Greg Foster. He certainly wasn't the answer to getting us back to the finals in 1999. It also amuses me that him and Scott Padgett were on the same team for some reason. It's like we were into collecting white college allstars with no NBA game at precisely the point that we should have been getting real help for Stockton and Malone. But hey, at least we didn't trade Danny Ainge for the right to draft him like the Kings did. Chilcutt currently works as a sixth grade teacher, which is kind of cool.
It appears that all pictorial evidence that Chilcutt played on the Jazz has disappeared since I made this post. So here he is as a Rocket:

#43 Walter Palmer
Points 42
Rebounds 21
Blocks 4
Steals 3
Assists 6

I personally remember Walt Palmer as the worst player on the first NBA simulation game I played at my friend's house on his Sega (I think.) You would start the game up, select the Jazz, then immediately cut him. In real life, Palmer played in 28 games for the 90-91 Jazz, including 6 minutes in the playoffs. Drafted in the second round by the Jazz out of Dartmouth, Palmer went on to play one more year for Denver then headed to Europe. There, he single handedly unionized European basketball. Seriously, look it up. Definitely a living embodiment of the age old maximum, "Those who can, do. Those who can't, head to Europe, fail there, then discover a need to unionize European basketball players."

#44 Brett Vroman
Points 34
Rebounds 25
Blocks 5
Steals 5
Assists 9

This Provo, Utah product played 11 games for the 1980 Utah Jazz squad and 12 more seasons in Europe. He skipped BYU to go to UCLA then ended up playing his senior season for UNLV. he played on the '75 National Champion UCLA team. He was drafted in the 4th round by the 76rs but never played a game for them. His son, Jackson, played 2 years in the League starting in 2004. In the end, all that can be said is "Dat HAIR, Doe!"

#45 John Block
Points 27
Rebounds 18
Blocks 1
Steals 4
Assists 7

Is there a more perfect name for a center than John Block? "Block defends his man on the low block, then rises up and blocks the shot cleanly!" Not to mention that Block was pretty damn good, just two years removed from an all-star campaign. Unfortunately for the 74-75 New Orleans Jazz, they seemed to still be under the stipulation that no center worth anything at all could play more than 4 games for the Jazz. Block got all of those numbers in 4 games. He finished his career in Chicago with 2 games in 1976. Dude even looks like a stud:

 

[framer]

#46 Paul Grant
Points 25
Rebounds 17
Blocks 1
Steals 1
Assists 3

By the time the 2002 Utah Jazz got their hands on this 7'0" University of Wisconsin product, he was 10 day contract fodder. He ended up playing in 10 games for the Utah Jazz on two separate 10 days which comprised the bulk of his 22 game career. The highlight of his career was probably being a throw in for the Stephan Marbury for Terrell Brandon trade in 1999. He currently works as an assistant for the MIT basketball team. In other news, MIT has a basketball team. . .

#47 Dan O'Sullivan
Points 21
Rebounds 17
Blocks 1
Steals 1
Assists 4

As an undrafted rookie from Fordam, the 6'10" O'Sullivan played in 21 games for the 90-91 Utah Jazz. He would go on to play 2 more years on 4 different teams capping his career with a 33 point scoring explosion (for the entire season) at Toronto, where he will hang his legacy. The really sad thing is that his Jazz Jersey was on sale on ebay. Nobody owned a Dan O'Sullivan Jazz jersey but Dan. I couldn't find any player pics of him, so we are going with him coaching little league basketball, which is cool:

#48 Aleksandar Radojevic
Points 19
Rebounds 28
Blocks 2
Steals 0
Assists 6
The great thing about Radojevic is that he had to play at Barton County Community College after he got Kantered because of his European League experience, then he got Ohio State Buckeye coach Jim O' Brian fired after O'Brian fronted Radojevic $6,700 in cash ostensibly to pay for his father's funeral. After that, he was disqualified by the NCAA and had to enter the draft. He was drafted by the Toronto Raptors in the lottery at 12 in 1999. Injuries derailed his careere and he was traded twice, once for Keon Clark (who hasn't been traded for Keon Clark?) After that unpleasantness he went back to Europe, returning to play 12 games for the Jazz in 2004. He currently plays pro ball in the National Basketball League of Canada (who knew Canada had their own league?)

#49 Luther Wright
Points 19
Rebounds 10
Blocks 2
Steals 1
Assists 1
What more is to be said about Luther Wright that hasn't been said? Drafted as a promising player out of Seton Hall University with the 18th pick (crazy that so much was expected out of an 18 pick) it turned out that Luther was pretty much insane. Also insane? the fact that Luther started 2 games out of his 15 game career. An article was written about Wright back in 2007 that I still remember to this day. Definitely worth the read if you have the time. Here is the link.

#50 Pat Cummings
Points 15
Rebounds 5
Blocks 0
Steals 0
Assists 0
Pat Cummings was yet another serviceable to good center to find his way to Utah at the end of his career in 1990 in order to play 4 games. The University of Cincinnati product had an 11 year career averaging about 10 and 5. He was a bit undersized to play Center and was 35 so he sure wasn't backing up the Mailman.

#51 William Cunningham
Points 8
Rebounds 8
Blocks 0
Steals 2
Assists 1
Mr. Cunningham, a legit 6'11'' 250 undrafted out of Temple played 6 games for the Jazz, actually starting 2 in 1996. Jazz were pretty good in this timeframe, so the starts are kind of mystifying. He has the distinction of playing for 4 teams in his two year career, which is something, I guess. It appears that Mr. Cunningham now works for the NSA as any pictorial evidence of his basketball career has completely disappeared.


#52 Darryl Dawkins
Points 6
Rebounds 5
Blocks 1
Steals 0
Assists 1
Yes he played only 4 games for the Jazz in 1987, and yes he only shot freakin' 14%, but he was Chocolate Thunder so I didn't have the heart to rank him any lower. For the next handful of years he would go on to play a handful of games for a handful of teams, but he never would drop below that 14% he efforted for the Jazz. Here is the highlight video. He did none of this for the Jazz. . .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V7z1UY1WbE


#53 Jeff Cook
Points 7
Rebounds 5
Blocks 0
Steals 0
Assists 0
The pride of Idaho State University, Cook had a 7 year career in the NBA with his stint with the Utah Jazz being the worst. He logged 17 minutes in 2 games with the 85-86 Utah Jazz during the regular season, but added 21 minutes in 4 games in the playoffs. He still has more points than Rudy, but those rebounds and blocks that Gobert is raking up give him the edge, although I considered ranking Cook higher based on just his mustache.

#54 Walt Ballamy
Points 6
Rebounds 5
Blocks 0
Steals 0
Assists 0
Bellamy just passed away two days ago. He played a glorious 1 game for a grand total of 14 minutes for the New Orleans Jazz at the end of his career in 1974. He was a Hall of Famer, averaging 20 points and almost 14 rebounds for his career. The good news is that had the Jazz obtained a prime Bellamy, they may not have been bad enough to have been moved to Utah. Prayers to Bellamy and his family.

#55 Chad Gallagher
Points 6
Rebounds 0
Blocks 0
Steals 0
Assists 0
Creighton product Chad Gallagher was drafted in the second round of the NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns. He didn't make the squad. He was later picked up by the Jazz and played a total of three minutes spread over two games during a ten day contract in February 1993. The two notable things about Mr. Gallagher is that he retired from the NBA with a perfect shooting percentage of 3-3 at 100% and was the 1991 Missouri Valley Conference player of the year during his NCAA days.

#56 Aaron Williams
Points 4
Rebounds 3
Blocks 0
Steals 0
Assists 1
Aaron had a pretty good career all in all, just not as a center for the Utah Jazz. He played in 715 NBA games, but just 6 with the Jazz his rookie season. Most will remember him as a serviceable backup big on the New Jersey Nets playoff squads from 2001-2004.

#57 Carl Kilpatrick
Points 3
Rebounds 4
Blocks 0
Steals 0
Assists 0
Back in 1979, Carl (we will refer to him as Carl the Lesser) snuck into two games for a total of 6 minutes. From the University of Louisiana at Monroe, he was drafted in the 8th round and lived, for those six minutes a dream that most of us never will.

#58 Darren Morningstar
Points 1
Rebounds 1
Blocks 0
Steals 0
Assists 0
Started 15 games for Dallas in 1993 before being cut. He was then plucked from the CBA by Utah where he played in exactly 1 game for 4 minutes to round out the rest of his NBA career. Started College at Navy, then transferred to Pitt (not exactly sure how that worked.) He was drafted in the second round by the Boston Celtics 2 years earlier who couldn't find a use for him. But seriously, how could you not give this guy a chance:

 

[framer]

Reserved #2

 

[framer]

Reserved #3

 

[framer]

OK we will need to restart this thread, but because I can only use 10 pictures per post, I need to reseve some space.

 

[Coach Ellis]

Corbin needs to take the leash off this beast. Let the French Phenom become the greatest ever that he's destined to become.

More minutes for the Steifel Tower. Any more DNP - Coaches Decisions and a dedicated Jazzfanz member is going to need to organize a picket line outside of Energy Solutions Arena.

 

[framer]

Added Brett Vroman and inserted an overlooked Paul Grant at #46. Notice he is rocking the black and copper alternate road Unis. Loved those uniforms.

 

[JimLes]

Didn't he play bass in Dokken?

 

[JimLes]

#51 William Cunningham
Points 8
Rebounds 8
Blocks 0
Steals 2
Assists 1
Mr. Cunningham, a legit 6'11'' 250 undrafted out of Temple played 6 games for the Jazz, actually starting 2 in 1996. Jazz were pretty good in this timeframe, so the starts are kind of mystifying

They're not mystifying at all. I remember this well because one of the games he started was nationally televised. It was 1998, not 1996. He started because the two Gregs were both hurt and the Jazz preferred to keep Big Dawg coming off the bench.

 

[framer]

See that's just like Jerry Sloan, limiting the Big Dog's development by playing him fewer minutes. #FreeAntoineCarr

 

[JimLes]

See that's just like Jerry Sloan, limiting the Big Dog's development by playing him fewer minutes. #FreeAntoineCarr

You gotta bring players along slowly. You can't just take a 36 year old, only 18 years removed from playing HS ball. and let him play large minutes. It could ruin his confidence and hinder development.

 

[akirac73]

Didn't he play bass in Dokken?

Also went to the same dermatologist as Carlos Boozer.

 

[framer]

Gobert also passes Walt Palmer:

#43 Walter Palmer
Points 42
Rebounds 21
Blocks 4
Steals 3
Assists 6

I personally remember Walt Palmer as the worst player on the first NBA simulation game I played at my friend's house on his Sega (I think.) You would start the game up, select the Jazz, then immediately cut him. In real life, Palmer played in 28 games for the 90-91 Jazz, including 6 minutes in the playoffs. Drafted in the second round by the Jazz out of Dartmouth, Palmer went on to play one more year for Denver then headed to Europe. There, he single handedly unionized European basketball. Seriously, look it up. Definitely a living embodiment of the age old maximum, "Those who can, do. Those who can't, head to Europe, fail there, then discover a need to unionize European basketball players."