What Will Knight Bring?
‘Knight: Part of the Stanford Streak?’ (Jeff Gross - NBAE/Getty Images)
I had three thoughts when the Jazz acquired Brevin Knight for Jason Hart last week. The first was good riddance to Hart. The man worked hard, tried his best, and ultimately found himself backing up the back up point guard. Hart shot a dreadful 32% from the field last year. Hopefully he will have better luck spotting Baron Davis.
The second thought that entered my mind was the memory of Andre Miller battling Knight’s Stanford squad during their Sweet 16 cliffhanger in 1997. The Cardinal point guard hit a 3-pointer with seven seconds remaining on the clock to send the game to overtime. Despite seeing Keith Van Horn foul out in the first minute of the extra session, Utah hung on to earn an Elite 8 date with Kentucky two days later. We all know how that ended. Ideally, the Utah-Stanford showdown would have come one year later with an NCAA Championship at stake. Perhaps 2008 would have been the ten year anniversary of a national title if only Stanford had only held off Kentucky in the semifinal.
My final and most sobering thought was the realization that Knight is destined to disappoint because he played at Stanford. Utah’s Cardinal connection has produced Rich Kelley, Adam Keefe, Jarron Collins, and Curtis Borchardt. Kelley was a 7-footer who played two and a half seasons in Utah, never averaging more than 7.2 points. Keefe, meanwhile, came to the Jazz for Tyrone Corbin prior to the 1994-95 season. Once a lottery pick, Keefe proved to be a mediocre pro. His best season came in 1997-98 for the Jazz when he averaged 7.8 points and 5.5 rebounds. Keefe’s field goal percentage dipped below 41% in 1999-2000, earning him a ticket out of town.
Current Jazz fans know Stanford grad Jarron Collins well, as he represents one of the last links to the Malone-Stockton teams. Jazz fans are also painfully familiar with Collins’ limited offensive skills and disappointingly poor rebounding ability.
Finally, the prosecution presents exhibit D, Curtis Borchardt. The Jazz pulled off an apparent steal when they dealt 19th pick Ryan Humphrey for Borchardt after the 2002 draft. But no one else was willing to take Borchardt because of his well-publicized foot problems in college. Injuries continued to plague Borchardt, ending his NBA career before it could ever really take off.
Now the Jazz add another former Stanford man in Knight. Hopefully Knight can represent his alma mater better than other Stanford products have done.
9 Comments to “What Will Knight Bring?”
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Isn’t everyone a chance? You just never know. They may fit in and do much better than they ever have and they may be unhappy with the rules and coaching and go down hill. Let’s keep our fingers untill they are so sore that they stay crossed, that the changes are all for the better. Go Jazz.
this brevin knight trade i think is going to be great for the jazz even though my dislike for knight still exsistes i know that nothing can replace NBA experience and he will be a great mentor to all the young jazz players
the stanford theory does make me shake in my boots a little - especially after watching brook lopez absolutely STINK in the rocky mountain revue.
Hey, Brevin will bring something quite valuable to the table, something every Stanford alum possesses. He’ll be a great post game interview. Beyond that, I don’t see Knight contributing much.
What will Knight bring?….absolutely nothing. Maybe a bench warmer. Maybe he’ll be a good butt and back patter. You know, the guy that stands up off the bench and pats all the real players on the butt. He might be good as that guy.
What will Knight bring you ask?….jack ****!!
How can any of you decide what Knigt will bring when you have never seen him play with the Jazz? Who you play with and what is demanded from the coach makes a difference in what you give. I was a little surprised about CJ because he hasn’t shown much maturity but who knows what has happened in a season? I’m willing to give both of them a chance to prove themselves and if they can’t fill a spot well, then I will complain. My feeling about Korver is that he posseses (too many s?) what I like to see in a Jazz player. He had a slump towards thye end but my feeling is that he was a little confused about how the coaching staff felt about threes, and he wasn’t getting the ball much to use his quick release 3 shot. I did feel he improved on defence and this year will feel a little more relaxed with the plays and the team members. None of us will know anything until those first few games.
To add to your thoughts, Knight brings defense. I find it interesting that Ron Artest is considered a lock-down defender. Why? Because he averages 2.1 steals per game over his career? Looking at statistics, Brevin Knight averages 1.8 steals per game (career), in a lot less minutes per game than Artest. In fact, based on a per 48 minute average, Brevin Knight has a career (per 48 min) average of 3.29 steals per game, with Ron Artest having a career (per 48 min) average of 2.90 steals per game.
The Jazz aren’t getting a 3 point shooter or a potent scorer. What they are getting is a veteran point guard who plays defense, passes the ball very well, and doesn’t turn the ball over. The guy was second in the league at assist-to-turnover ratio last year behind Jose Calderon’s unbelievable stats in the same category. All this while playing on a Clippers team made up of 10 day contracts, D-League players, and veteran minimum contracts. Sounds pretty good to me.
From Jeff’s comments……I like that. It does look attractive, having his steals high in low minutes. Let’s see if he can do that this season. But he definitely has to prove himself. Jazz fans did not like Hart, so he has some pretty crappy shoes to fill. So if he can make a shot here and there. Maybe a steal. Maybe an assist. It might have been a decent trade. We’ll see. I guess he can’t be any worse then Hart.
Interesting comments, thanks guys. My concern about the defense is this: I don’t think steals necessarily make a great defender, although they can. What I mean is that staying between your man and the basket is actually much more valuable than gambling and coming up with a couple of steals per game, because gambling means you allow your man to get by you on other possessions. At the risk of sounding extremely sacreligious, John Stockton was obviously someone who accumulated a lot of steals, but he was certainly NOT a lock down defender. Now I certainly haven’t studied Knight’s game enough to know what type of defensive gambler he is, but I can say that his being under 6 feet tall makes him a defensive liability. Artest is a good defender for reasons beyond the steals. He is big and atheletic. You put Artest on someone and he’ll cause huge headaches, assuming he’s not charging into the stands to fight someone.
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