Craig Bolerjack analyzes the NBA Draft the Jazz had + Branden Carlson talks heading to the Toronto Raptors

Craig Bolerjack analyzes the NBA Draft the Jazz had + Branden Carlson talks heading to the Toronto Raptors

Episode Transcript

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Buckle up, jazz fans, It'stime to go ball in with Bowler on
the Bill Riley Show, brought toyou by Shipman rufing E powered by clear
Water Distilling. The TV voice ofthe Utah Jazz, Craig Bohler Jack talks
jazz, NBA, utes, andanything else going on in the sports world,
both locally and nationally. Now he'sBill Riley with Bowler on Utah's number

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one sports talk ESPN seven hundred andninety two to one a f M.
When I moved to Salt Lake Citytwenty three years ago, Craig Bowler Jack
hosted an afternoon drive talk show andthen Greig Bowler Jack was presented with a
dream opportunity, one he couldn't passup. That was to be the play
by play voice of the Utah Jazz. As a result, he had to

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give up that afternoon drive talk show. I was presented with an unbelievable opportunity
to be director of broadcasting and createsome special things and help join a great
team at the University of Utah,and I couldn't pass up that opportunity.
So today's my final day doing ashow I've done for twenty years, and
I thought I'd bring Boler on forone more balling with Bowler here on the
Bill Riley Show. By the way, thanks for the kind words early that

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turned the faucet on a little earlyon the show today, Bill, congrats
on the opportunity. And you know, that's what this business is about.
I know your listeners will miss you. You know. I thought today when
you know we were going to talkand say, God, this is real
man, he's actually he's Bolton afterputting together such a great, great run
of twenty years on local radio,my friends. So congratulations on that.

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But most importantly, what's ahead soundsexciting, sounds really exciting. It is,
and it's one of those things whereit's kind of a culmination of everything
I've done in my career radio,television, creating content, working with great
folks. It's just it was justone of those great opportunities, you know.
I mean you were presented that samething, what nineteen years ago,

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yeah, exactly, going on twentywith the jazz. You know, I
left KSL to go to CBS,same type of opportunity. I love local,
you know, but when opportunities come, you know, that's what you
work for to see, you know, and challenge yourself for something new.
And I'm excited for you, man, I really am well and I get
to do the game, you know, and you know we're all the same
we you know, on top ofall of it. As long as we

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get to still be there on gameday and bring those games to the audience,
that's and the fans, that's that'skey too, Yes, it is.
You know, that's the thrill ofwhat we do is h not knowing
the outcome. And that's the basically, I would say, the addiction that
we all have and fans too.You know, you don't know what's going
to happen. And you know,I know it's a cliche, but on

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any given day, right, Imean, that's why you play. And
that's the beauty of sport is becauseyou may get the upset. I thought
maybe Dallas would maybe shock you know, the NBA, but was not meant
to be. You know, Boston'sdefense was stellar and for Zingis in his
two games played, made a huge, a huge impact against Dallas and what

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they wanted to do offensively. Butyeah, it's time for a new opportunity,
man, I'm really excited to haveit for you. I'm excited for
it too. Our friend Craig boulderJack stopping by for a couple of minutes
today here on the Bill Riley Show. What did you make in the draft
back to back years? Greg?Now, three rookies, three rookies a
year ago, three rookies this year. Does this signal anything about a direction

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they may be going in or isthat reading too much into it? All
good questions, Bill. I thinkit's an opportunity. As Justin Zanik told
me an interview I had with themon Monday, and Danny on Monday as
well, they both kind of echoedthe same thing. I asked them,
straight up, are you going touse all three of these picks, because
you know they take up roster spots, correct, But at the same time

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they said, look, it's achance. And I guess I got my
answer that they were going to usethose picks because it's it gives them a
chance to find players for Will Hardyand the system that they want to run.
I think defense is a most importantyou know, Justin said straight up,
look, we're gonna look at guards, and they did. They went
big as well with Philipowski. Andit's interesting the Jazz were the worst defensive

(04:13):
team last year, and so youhave to fix that problem because you know
what wins championships and Danny knows itbecause he had his fingerprints all over Boston
and so that's the fingerprints I thinkhe's trying to put on with his franchise
obviously. So can you get somewing defense, can you get lenked on
that edge? Yes? Can yoube become more bullish and maybe able to

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drive the paint and kick for threes? And that's intriguing as well. So
I think they got two players thatmaybe they didn't expect to be there,
but the way the draft happened,they dropped and the Jazz gobbled him up
and then you get a thirty secondpick and you go big. So maybe

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that's a little wake up call withWalker, even though you know Rockers more
of a rim protector. And Ithink maybe the Jazz are looking for more
spacing on the floor, So maybethat's what they're good as well. And
I can't wait for Summer League.I'm anxious to see the roster because I
want to know if Keyante, Sensiba, and Hendricks all three will take that

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opportunity. I would think they wouldbecause of the competition now and that's a
competition, as you know, isalways good, and that's the Jazz are
going to do a lot of evaluatingevaluations over the next three weeks once they
get through the Salt Lake Summer League, Salt Lake City Summer League in the
Vegas Summer League. So some ofthose answers may come later on exactly what

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they do have. And I'm excitedto see, like Jazz fans, just
to see how last year's three pickscompared to what the Jazz picked up this
year. Of course one all threelast year were first rounders. This year
just the second rounders, so withthe other two, So Summer League should
be fun. Yeah, I thinkso too. And to your point,
I don't know that any of thosethree guys showed me enough to where they

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can say, yeah, I getto opt out of Summer League. Now,
maybe it is an individual decision,but I think if you're if you're
Will Hardy, you're justin Zanik,you're the developmental staff. You want as
many reps as you can, andit also gives you a jump start on
playing with these new guys who youprobably expect to be at least part of
some of the rotations. So yeah, I would be pretty surprised if unless

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there's injuries, obviously, but ifthese guys are healthy, if all six
guys aren't participating, I'd be stunned. Honestly. I think Keante ought to
take the opportunity sends a ball.I think hands down, Will and Taylor
should as well. Uh. Youknow, and again you on a sudden
you wake up one morning and yourealize that, yeah, I was the
first round pick last year. Butthe world moves on, the franchise continues

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to evaluate, and I would takeI would take the opportunity to go out
and still show what I've improved onand then show these new guys, of
course, what I'm about and howdo they blend in with what we're trying
to do. So I think it'sgoing to be a loaded roster. Makes
us to see what free agency bringsas well, and Danny's got picked.

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Jazz have money that they can spend. How crazy or how aggressive would they
be in the free agency in thefree agent market, don't know, but
I think the Jazz at least stillhave opportunities to work some deals and to
make movement to make this team betterand you know, build the other part
of this equation too. How fastis Ryan one of them make this rebuild

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or retooling happen because for the firsttime since we've been here, there's another
another kid in town, right theNHL, and so you know, and
it's the same ownership group. Sowhat happens when it comes to rebuilds or
retooling? And you know, you'reactually competing now against yourself in a way
because there's ice down on that floor. I felt it Wednesday night when we

(07:55):
did our YouTube and Jazz plus threeand a half hour draft specially, and
I'd say you it's a whole differentvibe in there. So you know,
you got hockey, you got MBA, and you want both teams to win.
So maybe the biggest question for meis how fast and how aggressive is
Danny Ainge and what direction does RyanSmith give him? Well, fast and

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aggressive can mean two different things.It could mean, you know, improving
or tearing it down and being aggressivethat way too, And I think I
think the next seven to seven toten days might give us an idea of
which one of those directions they're takingbolder if they're not if they're not out
you know, taking swings if they'reout taking swings it players on the free

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agent or trade market, or theirnames are out there, that tells you
they're being aggressive. If you're nothearing that, or you're hearing current Jazz
player names being talked about in trades, maybe that gives us an idea they're
going the other way. Either way, they've got to have that plan because
to me, this is the bigYou've got to commit this summer. This
is a year kind of three thirdsummer. Since you dealt the superstars away,

(08:58):
you have to go all the wayin on one direction or the other,
don't you agree? Yeah? Iagree. I think the trigger will
be what they do with lowry marketand Bill if they sign him to the
to the big contract that he's hopingand looking for, that would trigger that
they're going to move forward faster ifthey decide to move him. And then
that's the other that's an automatic rightthat they've decided to strip it down to

(09:22):
the bones and let the youth getthe experience and bring in maybe a couple
of vets that can help fill thegaps and play for next season's draft.
But you know drafts, you know, the jazzra head the number eight pick
they end up ten, there's noguarantee with any anything, Atlanta ends up
with a number one pick, right, and you know, even if you

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fail or play to fail or playto lose however you want to phrase it,
and there's still no guarantee that youend up with that number one draft
pick. But even though next yearmany scouts and general managers believe this one
could be an ever change draft,but again, you never know, and
you never know who comes out thisout of this draft. You mean,
yo, Look, Jokich's was asecond rounder and now becomes you know,

(10:09):
multiple MVP guy and maybe the bestsecond round probably is the second the best
second round pick of all time.So you never know what you get and
how you know when you do thoseinterviews. I think that's one of the
most important things. What drives youThe personality that comes with this package of
athleticism and who has an alpha personalityyou know as well as I do.

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Will Hardy talked many times last year, we're still looking for that leadership,
the alpha attitude, and it soundslike on paper that all three of these
new picks may have that ability tolead. Now, it's hard to do
so when you're nineteen and twenty butI'm anxious again to see the aggressive nature
their work habits and how they takeon this new role as an MBA pro.

(10:54):
You know, it's funny you talkabout big off seasons. I kind
of think it's a big off seasonfor Will Hardy as well, because you
mentioned it at the very top Bowler. They were the worst defensive team in
the NBA last year. They've gotto get better at that. Now,
what the roster looks like remains tobe seen, but you know it's you
know, Will, Will has beencaught kind of in the in between as
well, where's this team going?But you can commit to being a good

(11:16):
offensive team, but at some pointin time you're going to have to be
you can't be the worst defensive team. So I think it's a big for
Will and his staff this summer.They've got to figure out a way to
get through to these guys and makethem at least slightly better on defense next
year. Have to. I thinkit's the number one thing they have to
concentrate on. They drafted I thinkfor that particular reason as well. And

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look and the other thing, Bill, what happened a lot last year was
when the Jazz were stripped down inboth Will's first and second year. They
handed it to the young guys tofigure it out, and that's what they've
been going through. But also theturnovers that occurred, and Kiante was just
said, go go figure this thingout. And it's not easy, right

(12:00):
to run a franchise at twenty yearsof age. But the turnovers were the
other issue where they never got backand transition d off a giveaway and they
multiple times shart themselves. They werecompetitive but didn't know how to close games.
And also with youth comes panic andwith panic comes turnovers and then just

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watching the team run it to therim. So I think those are all
the things that hopefully one year inthis league, Will I guess resonate to
Keyante, Senza bon Hendricks, andalso the three new guys that are going
to be lined up here real soon, they're gonna have to figure that out
quick, very quick. Bowler,thank you for coming on the show all

(12:43):
these years. Thanks for your yourfriendship. Play by play guy to play
by play guy, Kansas City guyto Kansas City guy, albeit a k
State to a KU guy. We'vewe've buried that hatchet for sure, and
I just I've appreciated. I gotto know you when I was back KSL
in the old days, and it'scarried all the way through and I just

(13:03):
wanted to say thanks for all you'vedone and jumping on the show and helping
me out and doing all that stuff. And I look forward to us being
able to gather for lunch a littlebit more often now that I don't have
a show in the middle of theday and we can keep talking Chiefs and
Royals and Jayhawks and Wildcats. Ilove it. Bill, Congratulations. I

(13:24):
hope you feel good about your accomplishmentsand only fund more fun as ahead.
I love what the opportunity holds.And you know what go utse right.
I mean, it's interesting the Bigtwelve BYU. Man. I can't wait
Case States coming to Provo. Youknow the Cougar Blue. I tell you
what. I'm anxious to see howcollege football turns out this year. And

(13:45):
Bill, you're right in the middleof it, man. And again,
congratulations, Thanks for the great compliments, and lunch will be on me,
I promise. Craig, Thanks,We'll talk to you soon. All right,
Tom, There he is Craig Bowler, Jack, my good friend,
my fellow Kansas City, and hewent to Shinny Mission northwest to olate the
south. He went to k State. I went to KU. But we
can agree on things here in thismarket. He's the voice of the Jazz.

(14:07):
I'm the voice of the Utes.And I'm just happy to be able
to call him a friend and callhis son, DJ, who I work
with here at the radio station,a friend as well. And I'll be
working with another I'm leaving a bowlerjack here at the radio Station's that's DJ,
who's awesome. But I'm reuniting withDJ's brother, Nick, who's part
of the great creative team that I'llbe joining up at the University of Utah,

(14:30):
and I'll have a bowler Jack inmy day to day life, even
if it won't be DJ, it'llbe Nick. So anyway, appreciate those
guys for what they do and allthey do. Oh, we've got him
already, so let's just carry rightinto it. We'll take our break in
a minute. Here leave the newestmember of the Toronto Raptors family joining another

(14:50):
ute north of the border friend ofthe program, Brandon Carlson, joining us
here today on the final Brandon,how about you and I both starting new
chapter in our careers. I'm goingfull time with to you. You're going
to the NBA. How are things? That's great? I think Jerns might
be a little more exciting to usea great place, so, you know,
a little jealous you guys still bethere. Well that's I'm excited,

(15:13):
but I know you've got to beexcited and your family's got to be excited
too. Didn't get drafted, butthat's okay. You landed yourself a nice
two way contract. Walk us through, walk us through the day yesterday.
I know you were you're probably sittingwaiting for your phone to ring, either
about being drafted or something else.So how was the day? And walk
us through it? Yeah, Iknow the great day was a full of

(15:35):
excitement and a lot of nervous energyas well. But yeah, I just
I was at my parents' house justwatching it when the Lakers were about to
make their pick, and I geta call from my agent saying that the
Rafts wanted you. So you know, it was just one of those situations
where as Gray and They're like theydidn't They kind of want to know now,

(15:56):
So you know, it's a greatfit for me. I love the
organization. And the people I metthere. I had a great workout and
I loved the area. So youknow, I'm super excited for this opportunity
and you know it's a It's goingto be a great time for sure.
So you did have a workout withthem? Did you have one or multiple
or how did that go? Yeah? I had to work out with them

(16:17):
in I went like middle of June, like June, around June like ten
or eleventh, I think, Andyeah, I went. It went really
well, played played super solid atthat workout, and you know, I
had a ton of the the staffthere and you know, got a nice
tour of the facilities and stuff.So it was great. You know,

(16:37):
they're they're great people and you know, a lot of fun to be around.
Uh. I don't know. Doyou have any relationship with Yakub at
all? I mean he was heobviously predated you. You were still in
high school when he was playing here. But have you and he talked?
Do you know him at all?Have you guys ever worked out together?
No, So I've only met Yakubone time, and right I got back

(17:00):
from my mission, he was backhere in the in the gym working out
with with Tommy Connor and so Ithought I was really like maybe thirty seconds
of exchanging some words and then wenton our way. So that's the only
time I've met and talked with him. So you know, it'll be exciting
to you know, get in touchwith him again talk about his day at

(17:22):
Utah online obviously, so I'm lookingforward to it. Did the Raptors give
you any idea of kind of whattheir expectation for you was. I'm sure
Summer League is going to lie inthere somewhere, but on a two way
deal that allows you to kind ofmove between the G League and the NBA.
What's what have they told you sofar? Yeah, so they're expecting
me to, you know, playquite a bit this summer League. You

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know, I got myself in agood situation, and obviously I still have
to uh go and and and earnand prove that, you know, I
deserve to be on this on thistwo way, So you know, I'll
get more information as it comes downwith too. I know, I head
out to Toronto on July first tostart some training for the Summer League in

(18:08):
Vegas. But yeah, so I'mnot for that. I think we'll get
more into the expectations about it allwhen I get out there and stuff and
start working with them, But Iknow that Summer League is the main priority
right now, and just you know, excited to get to work and you
know, kind of show that showcasemy skills with them so well. I
mean, you knew you were goingto be playing basketball still, but but

(18:32):
you know, the NBA is thebest of the best, and I'm sure
you'll be happy to play basketball whereveryou could get, you know, get
a chance to play and make aliving. But it's got to be so
cool, Brandon, to know thatyou're going to get a crack at playing
at the NBA straight away, andthat there's an NBA franchise out there that
really wants you to come in andbust your butt. Yeah, it's very

(18:52):
exciting. I think my family wasgiving me a hard time because when I
got the call, I didn't seemvery excited. I just very straight face,
wasn't smiling too much or anything likethat. And I think it's just
all like the roller coaster of emotionsI was having and the shock of it
all in about probably like thirty minutesan hour later, it finally said it

(19:12):
in like, oh my gosh.You know, this is something I've been
working towards and I have a greatopportunity right here in front of me.
That's you know, I'm even ahuge step closer than what I've been before.
So, like you said, playingwith the best of the best,
you know, I'm really looking forwardto continuing to make my way through.
So what's the what's the next coupleof days or week hold for you?

(19:34):
Are you going up to Toronto?Are you hanging here till Summer League?
What's what's kind of the plan foryou over the next week or so.
Yeah, so I go to Toronto, fly out there on either the first
or on June thirtieth. It We'llfly out and I'm there for like a
week, and then we had towe had to Vegas for Summer League,

(19:55):
which Summer League starts on July twelfthand goes to the twenty second. So
yeah, I'm just gonna get itready for that and start training with the
team. So that's fantastic. Justa quick thought on the program you're leaving
the Utah the Utah program, there'sa lot of turnover as always as kind
of the case in college basketball,But give me a thought on laws and

(20:15):
lovering, and you played with himand banged with him in practice. Is
he ready to take that next stepand maybe be a bigger role in the
program next year? I think so. I mean, last is one of
my best friends and he's a greatguy, and I think you know,
he had a lot He had aninjury, pretty serious injury last that kept
him out for a little bit,and I think that kind of messed with
him. But I'm really excited forwhat he's gonna do. I know he's

(20:37):
he's one of a real hard workerdoing up shots all the time, spends
a lot of time in the gym, and so I'm really excited to see
what he can do. I thinkhe's going to be, you know,
a huge piece for Utah and theirsuccess this year. Well we'll look forward
to seeing that and how Craig putsthat thing together. It could not be
more excited for you. It's beenit's been weird for me. I've been

(20:59):
part of your basket journey all theway through and now to see you be
able to kind of continue it onthe pro level is fantastic. So,
uh, thanks for all the timeswe do the interviews together. Brandon really
appreciate that stuff. I'm sure I'llsee you around the you when you're back
in town, but go kill itthis summer in Toronto and win yourself a
spot on that team. All right, all right for sure, Thank you
so much. We'll talk to yousoon. That's Brandon Carlson with us here

(21:22):
on the Bill Riley Show today,newest member of the Toronto Raptors, not
drafted by the Raptors, but signeda two way deal with the Raptors that
will allow him to play some summerleague and earn his way, if not
on the full roster, certainly withtheir G League team and continue to develop
there. Of course. Another formerUtah big man who was pretty good in

(21:44):
his day playing up in Toronto aswell. That's Yaka Perle. So really
really happy for Brandon and everything goingon with him. So thanks to Greig
Bowler, Jack, and thanks toBrandon Carlson for joining us here on the
final Bill Riley Show. Text lineis open to if you want to join
us at eight seven seven three fivethree zero seven hundred. I've gotten some
nice emails today as well, too, so I appreciate that I'll read some

(22:07):
of those. I've got a lotof thank yous to come up within the
final hour or so of the program. I'll tell you what I'll miss and
more on the way, and againif you have anything you want to talk
about, from the Jazz to hockeyDraft, to anything else to a favorite
memory of this show down through theyears. I'm not gonna tell you I
hate I'm not going to tell younot to send them because I love reading

(22:29):
them. So hit me up eightseven seven three five three zero seven hundred
Bill Riley Show Yes