Utah Jazz: Carroll now a passin' assassin
"Most teams have been OK with that. They think that I can be that kind of a player, so it's been positive," said Carroll on Saturday after finishing a workout with the Jazz, the ninth of his 11 planned auditions in anticipation of Thursday's NBA Draft. He's off to Toronto and Milwaukee and has already been to Chicago, Detroit, Portland, Sacramento, the Los Angeles Clippers, New Jersey, Charlotte and New Orleans.
But as much as the 6-foot-2 Carroll has tried to broaden his game by working six days a week with his agent's clients and staff in Chicago, as much as he likes to think of himself as more athletic than people give him credit for being, maybe a better defender than people think and someone who can bring the ball upcourt and read what's going on, he's still got that deadeye reputation.
"Most teams have really talked to me as kind of an assassin," said Carroll, the Aggies' career scoring leader with 2,522 points and No. 4 in the NCAA at career 3-point shooting percentage (.465).
"I've had team representatives say that I come to the gym, and I have an ace to play (his shooting), whereas other guys come in with just a jack or a queen to showcase. "
Jazz vice president of player personnel Walt Perrin said Saturday that Carroll's shooting at this point might even be more advanced than that of Kyle Korver at the same point in their careers.
"(Carroll) does more off screens. He can knock down mid-range shots, he can do things going to the basket, he can spot up from the three. If you're looking at the same stage, when Kyle came out vs. now with Jaycee, he might be more of an accomplished shooter."
Asked how good Carroll's shot is, Perrin said, "It's pretty good, it's p-r-e-t-t-y good, it's pretty pure."
Perrin added that Carroll's age (25) doesn't scare the Jazz because he's a second-round prospect rather than a first-rounder, meaning he wouldn't get as long a contract, should he be drafted.
"I think they love it," Carroll said. "I don't know. As far as being a 25-year-old rookie, one team asked me about that, and I just told them I run around and I wear out 19- and 20-year-old rookies."
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan sees a little of himself in Carroll. "He plays to get everything out of himself. He plays at a level up here. He has to in order to be able to compete.
Recent comments
Cool that you hate the University of Utah, BYU fan but Carroll played…
Go Aggies | June 26, 2008 at 2:01 p.m.
Hope Jaycee Carroll goes to San Antonio Spurs. They need young blood…
Grandma | June 26, 2008 at 10:52 a.m.
Who care's what you guys think?
Good luck to Jaycee!Go Aggies!Everyone's an Expert | June 23, 2008 at 1:53 p.m.
