Kori Ellis
07-15-2005, 04:11 PM
Monson: Vegas rolls while Revue hits rocks
Rocky Mountain Revue
By Gordon Monson
Tribune Columnist
http://sltrib.com/sports/ci_2861958
Nobody around here is happy about it, but the Rocky Mountain Revue is on shaky ground.
The venerable NBA summer league, which opened for business in 1984 in Utah, has thrived over that span, but now is being undercut by a new league in Las Vegas -- to the point where some observers are predicting the demise of the Jazz-sponsored event. The Vegas league drew 16 teams for this month's run, while the Revue, starting tonight at Salt Lake Community College, has just six.
"We hope that doesn't happen," says Jazz vice president Kevin O'Connor. "Everyone we've dealt with has enjoyed coming here because of the way we run it. We're disappointed that Vegas was allowed to have 16 teams."
With the blessings of the NBA, the Las Vegas league, run by Warren LeGarie, an agent with SFX Basketball, is expanding quickly and growing in popularity. If it adds more teams next summer, as some speculate it might, the Jazz may be forced to close down their league and pronounce a benediction on their longtime endeavor.
"I'd love to keep it going here," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan says. "It's a good situation, good practice facilities, good arena, good fans. From our standpoint, this is a tremendous advantage . . . I don't want to go to Vegas. What advantage is there? We try to keep [young players] out of certain situations. It's difficult down there."
Indeed, one of the beauties of the Rocky Mountain Revue, in the eyes of club managers, has been that Salt Lake City's relatively tepid environment allows for players, many of them rookies, to focus on getting acclimated to specific matters of basketball, as opposed to running around town looking for whatever it is that young, extraordinarily rich pro prospects crave.
"Teams could bring their players in here, and it was nothing but 10 days of basketball," says Dave Allred, a former Jazz vice president who ran the Revue for two decades. "[Chicago Bulls boss] Jerry Krause used to go fishing up in the Uintas on an off day, but I've come to the conclusion that that's not what the modern young NBA player wants to do."
Allred says players, especially powerful high draft picks, have more say and sway these days in issues such as where a team heads for summer games: "It's not that the players are making all of the decisions, but they definitely have more input. That is what's going on here."
And players love Las Vegas, even in 113-degree temperatures.
But if Salt Lake City was the ideal place for coaches to round up their players and isolate and immerse and indoctrinate them with their preferred rotations on defense, their offensive sets, their basketball philosophy, why would they sign off on and sign up for a league in a city where diversion is matched only by debauchery?
The simple answer is:
Agents.
The Vegas league is headed by agents who not only represent players, but also just happen to represent more than a handful of coaches.
But it's bigger than just that. NBA executives and scouts enjoy Las Vegas, too. It's relatively easy to get in and out of the city. And the comprehensive draw is strong. Moreover, the league is attempting to provide an organized, smooth-running, big-time event, which, by summer league standards, has nearly always been the hallmark of the Rocky Mountain Revue.
"Those guys in Vegas have been around our summer league," Allred
says. "They saw how we ran it. They saw that it was a real NBA experience. One of the reasons we started our summer league is because we sent a rookie, Eric Leckner, to the California summer league and, at the end, we couldn't even get statistics on him. So Dave Checketts and Scott Layden got together and said, 'Let's do this right.' ''
The origins of the Rocky Mountain Revue actually centered on public relations. The NBA encouraged teams back in the early 1980s to do what they could to stir positive publicity over the summer months, and the Jazz responded with the Revue. It started at the tiny gym at Westminster College and subsequently moved to East High School, the Delta Center, and finally, SLCC.
Jazz coaches were eager to start teaching rookies.
Jazz fans were hungry to see the team's rookies - and other team's rookies - play their first pro ball.
Often they saw more than that.
Once, there was a flash flood at East High, when a sudden downpour caused overflowing street-gutter water to pour through the doors to the gym during a game. The most remarkable thing about that incident was that some of the players actually helped Dry-Vac the hardwood, so it would be playable the next night.
Every year, fans had uncommon access in a relaxed setting to players and league notables, such as Jerry West, Larry Bird, Pat Riley, Tim Duncan, Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki, among others.
Mostly, the summer league made money for the Jazz, but not necessarily a truckload of cash.
When the league first opened, Checketts promised Allred and media-relations director Kim Turner a $500 bonus if the Revue turned a profit. When it came up about a hundred bucks short, the two young Jazz execs loaded in the money themselves so they could collect the extra green.
"That league was our baby," says Turner, who no longer works for the Jazz, but was asked - he declined - by the Vegas league to help organize its logistics and growth. "We took a lot of pride in it."
Soon, it might go away.
"We were never threatened by any of the other summer leagues," says Allred. "But this might be a transition year. Vegas is adversely impacting [the Revue]. I had a vested interest in building the thing, so I'd love to see it continue. But the reality is, this is a business in transition, it's evolving."
And, in that turn, the glitz of city lights and the allure of a raging nightlife might supersede good facilities and a great teaching environment for sound basketball.
But, then, this is the NBA.
Rocky Mountain Revue
By Gordon Monson
Tribune Columnist
http://sltrib.com/sports/ci_2861958
Nobody around here is happy about it, but the Rocky Mountain Revue is on shaky ground.
The venerable NBA summer league, which opened for business in 1984 in Utah, has thrived over that span, but now is being undercut by a new league in Las Vegas -- to the point where some observers are predicting the demise of the Jazz-sponsored event. The Vegas league drew 16 teams for this month's run, while the Revue, starting tonight at Salt Lake Community College, has just six.
"We hope that doesn't happen," says Jazz vice president Kevin O'Connor. "Everyone we've dealt with has enjoyed coming here because of the way we run it. We're disappointed that Vegas was allowed to have 16 teams."
With the blessings of the NBA, the Las Vegas league, run by Warren LeGarie, an agent with SFX Basketball, is expanding quickly and growing in popularity. If it adds more teams next summer, as some speculate it might, the Jazz may be forced to close down their league and pronounce a benediction on their longtime endeavor.
"I'd love to keep it going here," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan says. "It's a good situation, good practice facilities, good arena, good fans. From our standpoint, this is a tremendous advantage . . . I don't want to go to Vegas. What advantage is there? We try to keep [young players] out of certain situations. It's difficult down there."
Indeed, one of the beauties of the Rocky Mountain Revue, in the eyes of club managers, has been that Salt Lake City's relatively tepid environment allows for players, many of them rookies, to focus on getting acclimated to specific matters of basketball, as opposed to running around town looking for whatever it is that young, extraordinarily rich pro prospects crave.
"Teams could bring their players in here, and it was nothing but 10 days of basketball," says Dave Allred, a former Jazz vice president who ran the Revue for two decades. "[Chicago Bulls boss] Jerry Krause used to go fishing up in the Uintas on an off day, but I've come to the conclusion that that's not what the modern young NBA player wants to do."
Allred says players, especially powerful high draft picks, have more say and sway these days in issues such as where a team heads for summer games: "It's not that the players are making all of the decisions, but they definitely have more input. That is what's going on here."
And players love Las Vegas, even in 113-degree temperatures.
But if Salt Lake City was the ideal place for coaches to round up their players and isolate and immerse and indoctrinate them with their preferred rotations on defense, their offensive sets, their basketball philosophy, why would they sign off on and sign up for a league in a city where diversion is matched only by debauchery?
The simple answer is:
Agents.
The Vegas league is headed by agents who not only represent players, but also just happen to represent more than a handful of coaches.
But it's bigger than just that. NBA executives and scouts enjoy Las Vegas, too. It's relatively easy to get in and out of the city. And the comprehensive draw is strong. Moreover, the league is attempting to provide an organized, smooth-running, big-time event, which, by summer league standards, has nearly always been the hallmark of the Rocky Mountain Revue.
"Those guys in Vegas have been around our summer league," Allred
says. "They saw how we ran it. They saw that it was a real NBA experience. One of the reasons we started our summer league is because we sent a rookie, Eric Leckner, to the California summer league and, at the end, we couldn't even get statistics on him. So Dave Checketts and Scott Layden got together and said, 'Let's do this right.' ''
The origins of the Rocky Mountain Revue actually centered on public relations. The NBA encouraged teams back in the early 1980s to do what they could to stir positive publicity over the summer months, and the Jazz responded with the Revue. It started at the tiny gym at Westminster College and subsequently moved to East High School, the Delta Center, and finally, SLCC.
Jazz coaches were eager to start teaching rookies.
Jazz fans were hungry to see the team's rookies - and other team's rookies - play their first pro ball.
Often they saw more than that.
Once, there was a flash flood at East High, when a sudden downpour caused overflowing street-gutter water to pour through the doors to the gym during a game. The most remarkable thing about that incident was that some of the players actually helped Dry-Vac the hardwood, so it would be playable the next night.
Every year, fans had uncommon access in a relaxed setting to players and league notables, such as Jerry West, Larry Bird, Pat Riley, Tim Duncan, Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki, among others.
Mostly, the summer league made money for the Jazz, but not necessarily a truckload of cash.
When the league first opened, Checketts promised Allred and media-relations director Kim Turner a $500 bonus if the Revue turned a profit. When it came up about a hundred bucks short, the two young Jazz execs loaded in the money themselves so they could collect the extra green.
"That league was our baby," says Turner, who no longer works for the Jazz, but was asked - he declined - by the Vegas league to help organize its logistics and growth. "We took a lot of pride in it."
Soon, it might go away.
"We were never threatened by any of the other summer leagues," says Allred. "But this might be a transition year. Vegas is adversely impacting [the Revue]. I had a vested interest in building the thing, so I'd love to see it continue. But the reality is, this is a business in transition, it's evolving."
And, in that turn, the glitz of city lights and the allure of a raging nightlife might supersede good facilities and a great teaching environment for sound basketball.
But, then, this is the NBA.