From Deseret News archives:
Finally fit, Okur is impressing Sloan
Jazz center expected to start tonight, his 5th in preseason
There is one character around these parts, however, who lately seems flaw-free.
Like so many who do the theme park thing here, Mehmet Okur is just visiting — in Anaheim with the Jazz for tonight's preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers. No matter where they've been this month, though — Eugene, Ore; Indiana; Toronto; Timbuktu — even Jazz coach Jerry Sloan seems hard-pressed to find a blemish in the big Turk.
"He's played awfully well," Sloan said of Okur, whose second Jazz training camp and preseason is quite a reversal from the first.
"In comparison to a year ago, you're looking at a different player. He seems to play with a lot more confidence. He's running well. He seems to be much happier."
That's not all.
"He can really shoot the ball. He can pass the ball. He has some post moves," Sloan added. "We really like the way he's come back."
With a nod toward that sentiment, Sloan has started the 7-foot center in all four of the Jazz's preseason games to date and plans to make it five straight tonight.
If the tram Okur has taken gets where it seems headed, that starting streak could continue right into the regular season. That would be quite a switch from last season, when Okur was the only Jazz player not to miss a game — but started just 25 of 82.
From minutes to a place in Sloan's opening lineup, of course, nothing is guaranteed: "You know," the Jazz coach said, "that always takes care of itself — who is able to produce, and who is not."
That Okur has so far, though, is testament to an offseason of intensive training and international play.
The same cannot be said of 2004, when a title ring won in a mostly reserve role with the Detroit Pistons, a new six-year, $50 million contract from the Jazz and wedded bliss conspired to keep Okur from reporting to Camp Sloan in optimal shape.
"He had a little trouble last summer — because he got married," teammate Andrei Kirilenko said.
Who can blame a guy for forgetting his sit-ups while he is still honeymooning with a former Miss Turkey?
Okur's summer of 2005, however, presented no such excuses — and none need to be made.
With his minutes increasing from 15 in the 2-2 Jazz's preseason-opening win at Toronto to nearly 28 in last Thursday's exhibition victory over Portland, Okur is averaging 7.8 boards and 9.8 points in 23 minutes per game.
He has one double-double, two double-digit rebounding games and three double-digit scoring games.
"You know," Sloan said, "it's amazing how conditioning can really help you — and I think he's a perfect example of that. He seems so much farther ahead."
