SLC Fanatics

Shakers, Rattle and Roll.

Season 1

And with the 2nd pick in the WBA inaugural draft, the Indiana Shakers select John Riddle. These were the words of Commissioner Rondall Reynoso. Thus the Indiana Shakers were officially a team. Immediately nay-sayers complained that the Shakers should have taken Jim McCarthy who was selected by Cincinnati with the 3rd pick. George Holt not to mention names like Chuck Henderson, Dave Short, Steve Peterson, Joe Seibert, all of these names were considered, but in the end the older John Riddle was thought to be more of a leader.

After that first pick, then the decisions of the Indiana Shakers quickly went down hill faster then you can shake a shaker at. With guys named Valdes, Thompson, Gannon. It was very quickly that the Indiana fans would be in for a long season already. While John Riddle lived up to his 1st round billing putting up 22 and 10 boards a game. There was not enough help from the rest of the team. Ray Valdes was at least respectable with 14 points and 6 assists. Indiana had one of the worst offenses in the league scoring only 96.4 ppg. While their defense was in the top 10, it wasn't enough to make Indiana a team to be feared.

Indiana made only one trade the 1st season, but it was a very poor trade. The first being trading Odell King and their 1st round pick for the next season in exchange for Frank Sommers. Sommers was nothing more then a poor backup getting 13 mpg, scoring only 4.7 ppg.

Due to the league not having the full 28 teams that is enjoyed today. Indiana slipped into the playoffs with a 33-29 record. Oddly this is the only season that the franchise would experience the joys of a winning record. Their playoff run was short lived as Sydney swept them in 3 straight games.

Working for the Lotto

Season 2

With the upcoming draft, Indiana would dread moving their 1st rounder, which ended up being the 6th pick. Brooklyn was able to select a young stud A.J. Shulz. They would then make a couple of trades trying to stock up on 1st rounders. They traded their season 3 1st in to Albacete in exchange for the Baltimore 1st round pick, and the #30 pick. They also made another trade with the Burning Hell receiving the #24 and #28 overall picks along with the Boston season 6 1st round pick. But I would come at a heavy cost as they would move their only good player John Riddle and Dave Thompson. And yet even a third trade with Albacete, sending away the #24 pick and Billy Chritenson for the #16th pick and Albacete's season 3 2nd rounder. Indiana would eventually select a PG Wesley Phillips with the 16th overall pick. Jim Cantrell was selected with the #28 pick. They grabbed Jim Glenn in the 2nd round with the #30 pick, and Frankie Atkinson with the #47 pick.

Early into the season Indiana traded the Baltimore season 4 1st pick to Washington to bring George Lawrence. Lawrence was a nice pickup with 12.7 ppg and 7.2 boards. Frank Sommer played very well with 17.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg and 4.6 apg. Indiana was reeling but missing John Riddle. Riddle had found his way to Sydney where was having a much better 2nd season with 26.9 ppg and 10.8 bpg.

As Indiana continued to lose games, the management could only wonder where they went wrong: Read John Riddle. They finished with the 4th worst record in the league at 20-60.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse.

Season 3.

Season three is known as the last of the all-stud drafts. We got our first glimpses of Lou Gonzales, Otto Hameleers, Kent Mercer, Jerry Bramson. Even guys like Eugene LaMaitre, Heiko Van Brandt, Kevon Duke. The list goes on. Having squandered their top lottery pick, Indiana had only a pair of 2nd round picks. But to think that they could have taken two future All-studs in Dave Williams and Dave Strom, which would have turned this franchise around in a instant. Instead GM Adam Rutland opted for Sheldon Maloney with the #32 pick, and Clifton Bank at #42. And let us not forget grabbing Charlie Jones with the #53 pick.

Charlie Jones actually played well for a late 2nd rounder putting up 11.2 ppg. Season three had a lot of trades for Indiana, which included in the departure of Frank Summer, who had been the shakers best player by far. It saw some other players leave this team such as Kris Calhoun, Wesley Phillips, Walt Jackson. As quickly as Indiana acquired 1st round picks, they moved them even faster.

When it was all said and done, the Shakers only improved their record by 9 games over the previous season. The team was left in ruins by current management. Gm Adam Rutland was fired with only a handful of games left in the season. Indiana had given up too many of their quality players, and squandered many of his picks. A change was in order.

A New Hope

Season 4

September 3rd, 2001

Indiana moves to Salt Lake City.

During the off season, the Indiana Shakers were sold to Bangerter Corp for a reported 116 million. Part of the deal, would allow the team to be moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, location of Bangerter Corp's home office. With the approval of the league the new team will be known as the Salt Lake City Fanatics.

The Fanatics will play at the Bangerter Coliseum, which features numerous luxury boxes and seats 25,011 screaming fans. Owner Brad Bangerter has been willing to do what it takes to get fans in the seats. Indiana coming off its 3rd straight dismal season winning just 29 games will have a new look to their team other then fancy uniforms. Bangerter was overheard saying, "There are only a couple people that will be on this team from last year by the time I get done with them."

Salt Lake has a bright future that began with the annual draft. Having the #10 overall pick, Bangerter felt he would have an excellent opportunity to get one specific player. Those close to the team had indicated that Bangerter planned on drafting 6'11" center Odell Bell from North Eastern Moscow State University. However, when Bell was drafted #7, Bangerter was visibly upset. As the #10 pick around, Jack Berger a solid PF from Williams University was selected. On draft day, Bangerter was quoted as saying, "While I expected to get Odell, I also know a solid player when I see one. I spoke with Jack's coach Dave Williams, and he gave me the low down on Jack. He told me Jack is a solid worker and is very coach-able. He can score, play defense and rebound." Salt Lake also grabbed the "steal" of the draft with their #40 pick grabbing Arnold Eaton, who many had predicted to be a top 15 draft pick. Arnold has had some injury problems, which is the likely cause for a slip in stock, but he is a great all-around player.

During the free agency period, it was very clear that Salt Lake would be going for big name agents and was not afraid to spend a little extra to get whom they wanted. The first big name and a shocker to many was Bucky McCarty. McCarty was the number 3 scorer in the league last year, and surprised many when he opted to leave Maine and head west. Perhaps another surprise to many new Salt Lake fans was the departures of the teams leading scorer Mike Begely and Jim Donnely. Bangerter has admitted that losing Donnely was a mistake on his part, but Begely was expendable. Salt Lake also signed Pat McDaniel a very good PG to a 6-year deal worth 36 million. Gomer Cummings found little playing time last season inked a 5-year deal worth 10 million. Tony Gaston also was looking to come to Salt Lake, but the league blocked several trade attempts that would allow Gaston's salary to fit within the cap. Billy Elkington an undrafted rookie sign a 3 year 2 million offer.

Salt Lake then began working on filling some holes with trades. South Carolina expressed a great amount of interest in getting Pat McDaniel back. When SC offered SF sensation, Camron Diaz, and a pair of second round picks, it just made sense. Then Roswell and New York came knocking both wanting to get Billy Elkington. Both teams seemed desperate and were willing to make some significant offers. Both teams went into a bidding war for Billy, and eventually Roswell made an offer that simply could not be refused. Salt Lake would receive Clifton Banko, 2 Million cash for the current season, and 1 million for the next season as well a future Nebraska 1st round pick. This was all in exchange for Billy Elkington. The third significant trade was with New York who was looking to get rid of disgruntled Frank Fitzgerald and his 5 million a year contract. Salt Lake gave up a future 2nd round pick and Charlie Jones, who was now expendable due to the signing of Cummings and McCarty. Overall, the staff for Salt Lake is pleased with their off season acquisitions as well as their draft.

Will Salt Lake make the playoffs? That is a good question, and they are going to need to get some team chemistry as they play in the tough Midwest Division including powerhouse teams such as Colorado, Midland and Cancun. Bangerter certainly believes they will have a solid chance at picking up one of the lower seeds. This team will have a run-n-gun style hoping score a ton of points with out having to rely on much defense. And they have the ability to light up the scoreboard.

Projected Starting Five

Point Guard

Gomer Cummings - his last season stats are not indicative of abilities. He found little playing time but has been very impressive during training camp.

Shooting Guard

Bucky McCarty - averaged 27 points a game, while this may be inflated a little bit due to being the only scorer for Maine, he should be more difficult to defend as teams won't be able to double team him as much. He will also play some minutes at the point.

Small Forward

Camron Diaz - with his 17 points and 7 boards a game, he will flourish with some other scorers around him. He may get some time at the PF spot if either Banko or Berger get injured.

Power Forward

Clifton Banko - averaged 22 points a game and 5 rebounds. He needs work on getting rebounds, but on the offensive end, he will face a lot of 1 on 1 defense, which will benefit him.

Center

Frank Fitzgerald - NY's leading scorer at 18.9 points per game, he will play some valuable minutes assuming he doesn't foul too much.

Significant Backups

Jack Berger - Playing behind Clifton at the PF spot, he is a better rebounder and overall defender. He has a solid chance to make the Rookie team during the all-star break.

Arnold Eaton - He will play quite a bit at center, especially if he can stay healthy. He will get his opportunities to show off his skills.

Steve Foreman - 6 rebounds and 12 points a game is solid production for a backup. Though these numbers should drop a little bit, as he will probably be limited to 15 minutes a game.

Overall Indiana is a new team, which can score points; both Bucky and Frank were the leading scorers on their previous teams. Banko and Diaz were the #2 scorers on their previous teams. The only real question with this much offensive power is will there be enough basketballs to satisfy everybody.

This was the headlining article for the sale of the Indiana Shakers. Owner Brad Bangerter is described by many as a Capoligist expert, fiery temper, and very much a shrewd business man. He is known to be very patient and is often planning several years in advance. The season wasn't quite as good as the new management would have hoped. Realizing they couldn't compete during the current season and even the next season. Bangerter began to devise a plan to build for the future. Looking 4-5 years down the road, having hardly anything to work with. It would take time to see the fruition of this plan. They first traded Clifton Bank to Virgin Island in exchange for the young KeyShawn Eosso. Eosso wasn't much of a scorer but he was a top notch rebounder. He would be the first in a long line of solid rebounders that Salt Lake would employ.

Jack Berger was worth a pair of 1st rounders, 1 owned by Oregon for season 6, and the other being Rochester's season 5 1st. Bucky McCarty had quickly worn out his welcome in Salt Lake refusing to listen to the coaching staff. He would take many an ill-advised shot. So as punishment, he was banished to the Virgin Islands in exchange for Johnny Brose and John Felton. Both Johnny and John were very strong rebounding SF's.

Salt Lake continued to stay the course to horde many draft picks in the future moved Johnny Brose to Texas in exchange for their season 6 and 8 1st round picks. Salt Lake was in need of filling the void at SG, so they made the 1st bad move of the season, sending Arnold Eaton to Montana in exchange for the Boston 1st round pick for season 6 and Glenallen Castro.

It was the last trade that Salt Lake would do for the season, and while they got rid of some very talented players in Eaton and Brose, they felt good for what the future held. It was at the expense of the present however, as they won only 25 games.

The esteemed writer Ron Chambers said about the Salt Lake City Fanatics: "This team has some talent. Tyler Durden has been a nice surprise for them, as has Keyshawn Esso. They have a lot of money for the off-season and no real contracts coming up until next season. So they should improve. They are making smart moved but are taking a very slow deliberate path when most teams in the WBA go for that one big turn around. But, they may become a model of how to rebuild since in the next couple of years the cap will get tighter and tighter for teams and the quick turn around may become a thing of the past."

The Fanatics strike back.

Season 5

The Fanatics were pleased with being able to pick up the GCBA leading scorer in Scott Jacoby. Jacoby struggled to adjust to the WBA style of play, and he was lucky to squeeze out 13 minutes a night. He shot 45% and scored 6 points in each outing. Salt Lake's team seemed to finally start coming together. Tyler Durden who was signed to a 6 million a year contract during the offseason was proving his worth on the offensive end. He led the team with 20.5 ppg on 54.2% shooting. Also he was grabbing 4 rebounds, with a block and a steal a game. Despite being a young team, the Fanatics were beginning to show their mettle. Camron Diaz who was always a favorite of management continued to play wih with 18 points, 5 boards and 2 steals a game. Despite starting to win a little more often then the previous years, there was something missing. When Budapest announced that they were looking to move Jose Hayes a 9 mil a year PG, teams came calling. Initially it looked as if Nebraska who was desperate for a quality PG would get him, but that deal fell through. Then the next day Salt Lake Management recieved a call from Budapest enquiring if they would be interested in the PG. Salt Lake was very interested, but it would come at a cost. john riddle the aging veteren who was a nice scoring threat on the blocks would have to be included in the deal. Along with Rob Waite along with Gomer Cummings. Gomer initially was supposed to be the leader of this team after signing a 5 year 2 million a year offer the previous season. But his inability to make shots quickly put him in the dog house. Budapest would also get Oregons 1st round pick for season six, while Salt Lake would recieved 1 million in cast for season 6 and the Budapest season 8 1st round pick.

Shortly after the trade, one sports writer wrote: Salt Lake is one of those teams you can't figure out. They play really well at home but they stink it up on the road. So come playoff time when they do not have one of the top 4 seeds, it is going to be difficult for them to win in that situation. However, they do possess a very strong starting 5, led by PG Jose Hayes who has been a bright addition to this squad. Scorers Diaz and Durden form a nice 1-2 combo and Paul Wilson is a dominator on the boards. They must hope that their starting 5 can lead them to an upset as they are one of the teams in the West contending for a playoff spot without a very deep bench. Hopefully, they will be able to avoid teams with strong Centers, like Roswell, because they seem to struggle against those types of teams.

Apparently the fresh air of Salt Lake was what Jose Hayes needed. While with Salt Lake, Hayes averaged 14 assists and 16 ppg. The Fanatics have always looked for strong defensive play first, but with the emergence of Tyler Durden and Jose Hayes as well as Camron Diaz SLC was becoming an offensive team. The finished the year ranked 12th in Points Per Game (100.4). However, their defense suffered as they were among the worst allowing jsut over 104 points per game. Salt Lake won a franchise record 34 games. They had the scoring, they had the strong rebounding of Paul Wilson who lead the league in offensive and total rebounding 5.06 and 14.40 respectively. They even squeezed in for their 1st playoff appearance. Unfortunatly as a 8th seed, they were matched up agains the golith Colorado adn their 71 wins. Needless to say they played their 3 games, and were done. But the future bode well, as momentum was starting to move in their direction.

Return of the Losing

Season 6

The offseason started out looking great. Having Picked up a Texas 1st round pick from the trade that include Johnny Brose, Salt Lake "won" the lottery getting the 3rd overall pick. Fanatics fans and management couldn't have been more excited. While it was clear that Dave Troychak and Mark Miller would easily go 1-2. There was much speculation on who was good enough for the 3rd pick overall. Many suspected that Salt Lake would take Jimmy Whalen who was the best PG in the draft. Others suspected Emmett Yee. Though Salt Lake had their eyes on Harold Gil. In the end they worked out a deal with Nebraska who had recently traded a lot of picks to move up to #6 thanks to a deal with Albecete. They were desperatly trying to move up more to get Jimmy Whalen. Salt lake was happy to oblige, and with 2.5 mil for the next season and the addition of the 6th pick later it was done.

WBA Senior Writer Zagrieb Zano wrote in his yearly draft grades: Salt Lake was the lucky lottery winner by getting the 3rd pick. And while they would have been content to select Whalen they really had their eye on Harold Gil, but wouldn't be able to justify taking him with the 3rd pick. They were more then happy to trade their pick for the 6th pick and get some cash in the process plus still get Gil. They were hoping to draft Karl Maloney for sentimental reasons in the 2nd round but Albacete took him just a couple picks earlier. So their second choice was Johnathon Booth who will be a nice backup Diaz.

Grade B-

With the addition of John Davis, then the only thing left was to resign Camron Diaz and this team would be making another playoff run. That is when things went sour. Camron felt that Salt Lake was looking to replace him with the younger Harold Gil. And he felt that his days as a starter were numbered. Though there couldn't be anything further from the truth. Camron would accept a nearly identical offer to go play for Boston.

The loss of Camron made Owner Brad Bangerter physically ill. Camron was the heart and sole of the team. Not only was he the defensive gel that kept this team together, his leadership was unquestioned. Also lost was a young Keyshawn Eosso would was turning into a very good center but his loss was overshadowed by Diaz. While there was still hope that Harold Gil would be able to fill in for Camron. Simply put, the young rookie wasn't yet ready for the WBA game. While he did play very well scoring 16.9 ppg with 1.7 spg and 3.5 apg. His temper was becoming a big problem. He was only averaging 27 minutes per game. Primarly due to his tempter and knack for getting kicked out of games. Tyler Durden was continueing to play as well as ever scoring over 21 ppg. John Davis and Paul Wilson combined for 24 rpg. jose hayes was dishing out just over 9 assists per game.

Despite the starters all playing very well, there wasn't any chemistry with the loss of Diaz. Salt Lake sank to a low of winning only 19 games. It was easily the most dissapointing season for the Fanatics in their history.

Building Anew. Season of Contraversy

Season 7.

Trying to put a horrific season behind them, the draft lottery wasn't very kind either. Salt Lake would ahve the 4th and 5th pick, though they were deserving of higher. Salt Lake also have the 16th pick. Late at night on the evening before the draft. Owner Brad Bangerter and friend Marc Hameleers were discussing possible plans for the draft. Colorado had the #1 pick and was debating on drafting Greg Lacy or Obagemi Mabruke. He concluded that Lacy would be the best for his team. It was assumed that Capetown would take Mabruke and Cincinnatti would take John Van Horse as they had stupidly traded away all-stud Jim McCarthy. Brad and Marc discussed several different scenarios. Marc who needed a center wanted Van horne or Bradshaw, but assumed that he would be taking Sean Ashman with his 12 pick. Salt Lake had decided they would be taking Eric Manning with either the 4th or 5th pick. But wasn't sure about the other.

On draft day, just as the draft was beginning, Salt Lake was contacted by Utah. Utah with the 8th pick was looking to move up. Salt Lake always looking improve their CAP situation as things were very tight decided to listen. Utah offered was to take the 4th pick and 1 mil for the current season in exchange for the 8th pick. Initially, this would seem like a foolish move for Salt Lake to consider such a move. Then it dawned on the management, that they would likely be able to take prized SF Cordell Parks who was the GCBA defensive player of the year out of North East Moscow State University. And in doing so, because it would be with the 8th pick, Parks' rookie contract would be cheaper. Thus in the long run saving Salt Lake 2 million over the next 3 years. Owner Brad Bangerter always thinking of the future agreed. It was such a simple deal. Or so he thought.

That is when all hell broke loose. Colorado was steaming mad that he wouldn't be getting Van Horne claiming that Salt Lake had agreed they wouldn't take Van Horne if he was available. Nebraska GM Brandon Morefield who had been heavily critized by Bangerter about allowing a trade with Lou Gonzalez to alabecete and also getting a very favorable deal from Cincy getting Jim McCarthy, also cried foul. He accused Utah and Salt Lake of collusion despite this being the only trade that Salt Lake and Utah had made with each other. Other owners such as that of Cancun saw the deal for what it was. A simple deal to save Salt Lake money while still getting a desired player. It seemed as if the league was split on the issue. Colorado despite getting all the players they assumed they would be getting, decided to sell their stake in the Pioneers. Bangerter even offered to leave the league if commishioner Rondal Reynoso felt he did anything wrong.

After a investigation, it was determined that the Salt Lake and Utah had done nothing wrong. But that didn't stop some of the fueding and critical remarks made on both sides. With the 16th pick, Salt Lake picked up a gem in Oman Fatafehi. For only 1 mil over 3 years. It was believe that Salt Lake would once again be competive.

The contraversy wouldn't end there. Early on the Fanatics continued to struggle to win games despite having what most would agree to be a good amount of talent. Looking to change thigns up. A deal was struck with Oregon and Capetown. They would send Oman Fatafehi and the Budapest season 8 1st round pick to Capetown. They would send John Davis and Jarrett fox along with the Miami season 10 2nd to Oregon. In exchange they recieved bill Rainwater, Marten Kureikis, Oregon season 11 1st rounder, Capetown season 8 1st rouner, and 3 million for season 8.

Rainwater and Harold Gil were playing well, but with Rainwater fouling out so often and Gil getting many techicals, they both averaged only 27 and 26 minutes per game respectively. Tyler durden in reduced minutes was only scoring 13 points per game. Martin Kurpeikis was playing well, and Jose Hayes while starting to slow from age was still playing strong. But the team was in shambles. There was no leadership. nothing the coaching staff tried would work.

Then accusations spearheaded by Nebraska GM Brandon Morefield started showing up. Brandon not happy that Brad Bangerter was able to point how his ineptitude and favortisim displayed while on the trading committee was determined to fight back. He started accusing that Salt Lake was losing games on purpose. Obviously the Salt Lake Management vehemently denied the baseless accusations. But through persitance, It came to a point that commishioner Rondall Reynoso took unlawful action. Having hired their own coach the league forced Salt Lake to turnover coaching duties to the league.

Justice has a nice sense of irony. There is obviously an assumption that every team will always try to win, though it isn't uncommon for bad teams to play just a little bit worse when it comes to getting better lottery chances. Immediatly, after the league took over the coaching reigns, Salt Lake had its worst losing streak of the season losing 9 straight, and going 1-12. It was then that the league realized what they should have known already. It was what Salt Lake management already knew. The team just wasn't that good despite the talent. Oddly enough no apology by the league or Nebraska was ever given, despite their blatant ignorance of the leagues by laws. No compensation was given for such a disgraceful action by the league.

While on the surface there appeared to be merritt to the baseless accusations, it turned out not to be true. Even senior WBA writer Zagrieb Zano had written a indepth article that indicated that Salt Lake City would be one of the up and coming teams:

February 14th, 2003

Western Powershift

by Zagrieb Zano

It has been an up and down history for the Salt Lake City Fanatics over the past 3 seasons of their exsistence. Making the playoffs in their 2nd season things were looking up. Losing Keyshawn Eosso one of their top rebounders and the glue to the teams success Camron Diaz. with no way of replacing these key components they suffered their worst season winning only 19 games in 80 attempts. finish 40 games out of first place does bring its consolation prize of getting a top draft pick. Fate seemed stacked against the Fanatics who were expected to get the #2 pick overall. The lottery gods deemed they would get no better then 4th. Luckily in a previous trade they aquired the NY pick. Which traditionally is going to be a good one and this year was no different as it gave the SLC Fanatics the 5th pick overall as well. Team captain Jose Hayes openly complained to management about getting some solid backup players so he wouldn't need to play quite so many minutes. He all but gave a ultimatum that if quality players were not brought in, he would demand to be traded.

The Fanatics delivered selecting Eric Manning and forging a trade with Utah to swap picks and some money allowing SLC to select GCBA Defensive Player of the Year Cordell Parks. The deal enabled them to take Parks for less money, had he been selected higher which was initially the plan. More importantly, it would give SLC some comfort when Harold Gil happened to lose his temper as he does on occasion. Manning proved in workouts that he should be able to provide 12-15 minutes of quality play giving Hayes a rest. Management also selected a local player from the University of Utah, Oman Fatafehi who will backup the WBA's All-Time leading rebounder Paul Wilson. He should allow Wilson to get a few extra minutes of rest thus extending the rebounding monster's career. not much is expected from KD Mobley AKA Rashman and Jarret Fox, they will have some time to adjust to the WBA lifestyle.

Many people close to the organization expected SLC to take one of the quality centers that were available. GM Brad Bangerter explained it this way, "We were definetly very excited about the prospect of selecting either John Van horne or Craig Bradshaw. And it was a tough decision, one that we hadn't determined until draft day itself. In the end one of my contacts in the GCBA has told me that there should be a quality center in next years draft that would fit this team very well. So we opted to fill some other holes first that would give us as much cap leniency as possible." Fanatic fans are hoping that this year they can make a strong push for a playoff bid. We may see the return of Hayes averaging 12 points and 16 assists like he did for portion of the season he had when joining the club. [Tyler] Durden stated, "Things are coming together, we having a good offseason through the rookie camp as well as veterens camp that just started. I think we are going to surprise a few people and I dare say we will have one or two of us in the All-Star game this season."

It could be said that the Fanatics may be one of the deepest teams in the league. If their rookies can fulfill their role as expected then don't be surprised to see them competitng with the elite teams. They have no delusions of making a serious run for the title, but they hope to have their first ever winning season. This team is built behind the tremoundous rebounding abilities of Paul Wilson and John Davis. Over the past couple of seasons, Davis was referred to as a cancer to which ever team he played for. And while it is true that his first year with the Fanatics had them ending up with a Franchise record for losses, he seems to have found a home here in Utah. wilson and Davis accounted for 61% of the teams rebounds last season. SLC is hoping that Gil and Parks can relieve that tremendous load slightly. Durden and Davis should once again provide the majority of the scoring. If Gil can restrain letting the officials know how bad they are doing, he could score more then last seasons 16 ppg. gil was very productive in the 27 minutes that he averaged. All the experts are wandering if this team will learn to play some defense as they were 2nd to last in the previous season. The addition of Parks, Manning and Fatafehi should bolster the defensive concept.

The starting lineup should be the same as last season. Jose Hayes will once again be the floor general and hopes to improve on his 12 points and 9 assists per game. he often outplayed the opposing PG, only see the bench unable to keep the lead. Hayes should reduce his turnovers some with a better overall supporting cast. Eric Manning out of Amsterdam will get the remaining minutes at the point. He has a great sense of the game. He is ideal for the Fanatics, for they love pass first mentality. not to mention his defensive prowess.

Tyler Durden is the teams top Shooting Guard. The fans have come to count on his pin point shooting. While he is not a stand out 3 point shooter, he is deadly from the line as well as inside the arc. Being in the top 15 for FG% considering how many shots he takes is a tremendous feat. Scott Jacoby has slowly come into his own after coming into the league. Most people believe this is a result of a personal issues dealing with his wife. His senior year he was the GCBA leading scorer with 23.8 ppg. The WBA game has been a little difficult for him to adjust to. In his third season with SLC he has become a valueable contributor and at times played 25-30 minutes with great success. He is good enough to start for about 40% of the other teams in the league and he helps give SLC a great offensive punch off the bench. Rookie Jarret Fox if he is lucky will get some garbage time minutes.

Hell knoweth no fury like a woman scorned? Then the infernal pit hasn't met Harold Gil. a terrific rookie season was marred by his excessive outbursts that got him kicked out of 35 of 80 games. He was credited a league record 73 technicals. No other player was any where near this amount. League officials deny that he is being targetted. but the rest of us can only look at the difference of Gil and the next closest "hot Head" Mark Miller of Utah who was hit with 11 technicals. Regardless Gil has promised to try to play nice a little bit more often. We can only imagine the type of numbers he will put up if this is true; considering he averaged 16 ppg in only 27 minutes last season. Cordell Parks will challenge Gil for the starting job, but he may get more time then he planned on if gil is unable to avoid the wrath of the referees. If given enough minutes Parks could possibly challenge for the 6th Man award and even Rookie of the Year. Regardless he should help his team with his defensive skills.

Able to leap players in a single bound, able to muscle anybody near the boards, and so good he alone out-rebounded Roswell's entire team 35-25. Paul Wilson is one dimensional, but his dimension changes how the game is played. Opposing players know they get lucky to get rebounds when faced against Wilson. And to think that the rookie Oman Fatafehi who will back up Wilson is one of the top rebounders in the draft. he plays very similar to Wilson. He doesn't shoot often but when he does he makes it. He is a better defensive player and plays great team ball. not to mention that Castro as decided to take Oman under his wing to teach him the finer points of the pro game. The GCBA Top scoring player K.D. mobley may get some minutes, especially for his knack of getting to the free throw line. But I suspect the WBA refs will not be as excited to give the rookie the All-Star Treatment for calls.

No longer the cancer John Davis is the other giant among men when it comes to rebounding. One of just a handful of players to average over 10 boards a game which is a great feat, but now try doing that with Paul Wilson hogging up the boards and that makes it even more impressive. both Davis and Wilson were the top two offensive rebounders grabbing 9 offensive boards a game. Davis can also score when called upon. He tends to get stupid fouls but he plays terrific team defense. He is backed up by Glenallen Castro once again who is a adequate backup and a decent rebounder. He is on the end of his rope and will probably retire following next season. This would expecially be true if indeed SLC is able to find a quality Center to draft next season.

All in all on paper this team appears to have the depth that it lacked last season. That alone behind the respected coaching of Brad Bangerter should put this team in the playoff hunt. If this team is able to play some quality defense, then they will be a team to be careful against. The powershift in the west is changing and it would appear that SLC is part of that powershift.

In the end it was a very dissapointing year with the Fanatics only winning 25 games. But they had some key pieces to the puzzle in Parks and Manning. That they hoped would be an important part of their building process.

A Reason to Cheer

Season 8

The offseason going into Season 8 would be one of the most active offseasons that Salt Lake would have. It begin with working out a deal with Washington that would send Harold Gil and the 19th overall pick to Washington in exchange for Eugene LaMaitre and the Washington season 9 1st round pick. While LaMaitre was a little over paid at 10.75 mil a year. Brad Bangerter felt that Gil was too much of a head case to take his team anywhere.

Then they worked out a 3 way deal, with Montana and Oregon. It would send Jose Hayes to Montana, and Salt Lake would get the Oregon season 9, Montana Season 12 1st round picks. Along with backup J.J. McCauley and 3 million in cash for season 9. It was purely a cap related move as Salt Lake was over the cap.

Then Salt Lake followed it up by sending Tyler Durden and the 22nd overall pick in exchange for Keith Douglas and the 4th overall pick. Finally, Salt Lake would have a pure point guard in Douglas. And the need for Durden was no longer considering that LaMaitre was coming to town.

On draft day, while the Fanatics desperatly wanted the PF/C out of North East Moscow State University by the name of Brad Bangerter, it was pretty clear that he would be taken either #1 or #2. And while Salt Lake had the 3rd and 4th picks, it was likely they would be able to move up. As predicted, Bangerter went #2 to Albacete. Salt Lake then drafted Dennis Evans a fine shooting gaurd and Wally Birkhead who was the best defensive PF/C in the draft.

Early into the season Salt Lake made yet another deal, this time with New York. They would said good bye to the beloved Paul Wilson and Bill Rainwater along with a 2nd round pick. They would get in exchange Cameron Sampson a young PF, Emillio Browne a sharp shooting 3 point specialist and Rick Shulz, another quality SG who can score. And a 2nd round pick was thrown in.

Salt Lake was playing better then the previous year, but even with Eugene LaMaitre being selected to the all-star team. It simply wasn't enough to get to the playoffs. During the all-star break, Monana and Salt Lake made one last deal. Dennis Evans and a Salt Lake 1st round pick would go to Montana in exchange for Arnold Eaton and a Varese 1st round pick.

The Fanatics were estatic to get Eaton back who they had traded away back in season 4. And immediatly upon the arrival of Eaton, The Fanatics started winnings games against the best teams. They had a lot of ground to make up in a short period of time. Being 7 games back for the 8th seed, would be an incredible amount of games to makeup. Salt Lake accepted the challenge and would end up with the 2nd best record in the league for games played after the all-star break. They gave top seeded Colorado 3 of their 16 losses for the season. And won their last 4 games. But they fell 1 game short. Ironically, if they would have gained the 8th seed and faced Colorado, it is very feasible that they could have pulled off the upset win.

Salt Lake had finished with his best record in franchise history of 36-44. And things were looking very good for the future.

Baby Steps to Success

Season 9

The offseason was not particularly kind once again. The most significant loss was Keith Douglas who opted to played for Albacete. The Fanatics went after players such as Emmitt Yee but the best they could get was Columbus Dasher who wouldn't play a single minute. On write wrote the following about Salt Lake in a season preview: 5-SLC

Probable Starting five: 1-Eric Manning 2-Eugene Lamaitre 3-Cordell Parks 4-Wally Birkhead 5-Arnold Eaton

Preview: Loosing Keith Douglas to Albacete will definitely hurt. But Eric Manning has been waiting for an opportunity to play some significant minutes since he was drafted, now its his chance to shine. His development will be key for this team, as most of the other key players from their rotation are back. If Manning should falter, SLC management probably will look for help at the point position. Rumours are already starting about Woody Reynolds coming over via trade.They ended the season on a very good note after acquiring center Arnold Eaton, making a push for the playoffs but falling short at the end. They have strong depth at the swingman position with Lamaitre, Parks, Rick Schulz and Emilio Brown. One of them might be dealt for a PG. It is also hoped that Wally Birkhead, a strong defensive player, can work on his offensive game in the offseason to complement Eaton in the frontcourt. Cameron Sampson will be backing him up and should provide quality minutes, maybe even starting in place of Birkhead.

The Fanatics continually pressed up against the cap was forced to trade away their first round picks for future picks. So they would be forced to go with their same team as the previous year, while missing their starting point guard.

The preseason games were a good tune up for the Fanatics. They finished in the top 10 for the preseason tourney. The regular seasons started out well, after two weeks of play, Salt Lake actually was leading their division, though most experts new this was not something that would last. Shortly after an interview with owner Brad Bangerter hits news stands, a strange thing happened. In the article, Brad Bangerter talked about how his team was not getting the respect that it deserved, and that their success was merely a fluke. Those of a superstitious nature would claim that these are the mating calls for the Hasho Curse. Others think that Salt Lake just started playing tougher teams. What ever it was, the Fanatics starting in a downword spiral.

While they were able to record somewhat, they had lost their 6 game lead over Texas. In a last ditch effort to improve their team, they sent Cameron Sampson to Sacramento in exchange for Paul Dilmore. There were rumors that they were in serious discussions with Cancun in a deal that bring Brad Bangerter back home to Salt Lake. But it never materialized.

The Fanatics improved their win total yet again, with a franchise record 38-42. it was good enough for a 7th seed. They would face long time rival Nebraska. While Salt Lake played them tough, Nebraska showed why they were the 2nd seed, and swept the Fanatics out in 3 straight games. It would seem that Salt Lake has put itself in a postion to improve even more next year. While they do need to resign starting pg Eric Manning and sf Cordell Parks. They also have 2 1st round picks and a 2nd round pick.

Eugene LaMaitre again led the team with 18.8 ppg, 2.1 spg, 6.2 rpg. Despite those numbers he was snubbed from the all-star team. Arnold Eaton had his best offensive season as a pro knocking down just over 16 ppg with 8.7 rpg, 2.1 bpg and 1.2 spg. Cordell Parks who is still working on his scoring side, played well on the defensive end. 13.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 4.3 apg and 2.6 spg. Wally Birkhead also playing very strong defense. Near the end of the year his offensive game seemed to pick up as well. As a team, they were 2nd in points allowed 97.6. They need to get some offesive firepower to get them up to the elite level.

One step forward, 5 steps backward

Season 10

Coming off their 2nd play off appearence since moving to Salt Lake. The mood with the management was good despite not meeting the expectations that the team had. Looking over the draft pool, Owner Brad Bangerter was not excited about any of the potential players he would be able to draft. He put in motion the order to trade their picks for future considerations. Long time rival was the first to bite on the offer. Montana grabbed teh 15th overall pick in exchange for their season 15 1st round pick. Rick Shulz was surprised when he was informed he would be playing for the Alaska Snowbears. Salt Lake aquired the Alaska season 15 first round pick as compensation.

And then it happened. The previous season there were rumors that Cancun and SLC were in serious talks to send all-stud PF/C Brad Bangerter to the Fanatics. Prior to the draft the deal was made official. Cancun would recieve the 14th overall pick for the upcoming draft, Montana's 1st round pick of season 12 and SLC's season 11 2nd round pick. All of Utah cheered knowing their favorite son would be playing for the hometown crowd. Having been a leader for Cancun as they grabbed another of their championship rings. Bangerter had also been a leader in Albacete in his rookie year as they won the championship. With 2 years in the league and two rings, it is no coincidence that neither of those teams have won a ring since moving Bangerter.

A third major trade occured when Bangerter spoke with Capetown head honcho Adrian Arceo. Needing a SG now that Rick Shulz was out the door; SLC packaged their season 11 1st round pick and Sacramento's season 13 1st round pick for SG Jalen Bell and an Alaska season 13 2nd round pick. Management was pleased to be able to bring Jalen to Utah having eyed him for several seasons. But the Fanatics were not yet done with their major trades. They sent All-Star Eugene LaMaitre, Oregon season 11 1st round pick and the #43 pick to bring in a true point guard in Austyn Williams and the Carolina season 15 1st round pick.

This move was somewhat questioned by the media considering the on court leadership that LaMaitre provided. Most felt it was a salary cap move with LaMaitre still getting paid 10.75 mil. And his age was undoubtly part of the decision process. On the other hand Williams is a top point guard who can play at the 2 spot, he has quick hands, and being only 25 he is only going to get better.

There was extremely high hopes and expectations for this newly created team. Unfortunatly the team didn't gel well together. Despite the quality of players, they simply were not winning as many games as most experts predicted. Management knew that what was missing was Eugene LaMaitre. Early on in the season they decided they had to make some changes. Despite how popular and effective Arnold Eaton had been playing, he was in a contract year and Brad Bangerter knew that he wouldn't be able to resign him. So he sent him to Colorado in a three-team trade with Montana as the middle man. SLC recieved Evelio Jackson and 3 million in cash.

Despite not having the defensive effort from a year ago, this Fanatics team was exciting to watch. Brad Bangerter led the team in scoring with 17.5 ppg. Jalen Bell was somewhat of a dissapointment scoring only 15 points per outing, when he was expected to average around 23. Cordell Parks was quickly showing why he is in a elite class of defensive players. Averaging 6.8 boards, 1.5 blocks and 3.1 steals per game. He was named to the All-WBA defensive team as the top defending SF in the league. And gave Lou Gonzalez a run for his money as defensive player of the year. Ausytn Williams had a stellar season scoring 11 points a game and 9 assists in just 30 minutes. Eric Manning who shared the point guard duties racked up 7 assists per game and nearly 8 points in only 28 minutes of work. This was one of the first years in a while that they did not outrebound their opponent. Perhaps spoiled by the glory years of Paul Wilson and John Davis, the lack of rebounding was one area that would need to be addressed.

Salt Lake would only win 33 games with 47 losses, which was 5 wins fewer then the previous season. However the team looked good on paper, and with youth as an advantage, and most of the significant players signed for at least 4 more years, hopefully this was simply a bump in the road to the championship.

Season 11: It can get worse.

Following suit as the previous season Salt Lake traded out of the draft for further picks. With no new enthusiasm that often follows newly drafted players. Salt Lake had to make some moves in the FA market. Bangerter being the miser he is was unwilling to simply waste money. The first big free agent to sign was veteran George Holt. Holt had played for Boston the year before and it appeared he was beginning to come into his own. The MO on Holt was his love of shooting regardless if it was a good shot or not.

In discussions with George prior to signing him, he assured Owner Brad Bangerter that he would play within the team concept. The Fanatics signed him for a 1 year deal hoping that he was the scoring center that they longed after, thus allowing BB to play at the PF spot. Salt Lake also picked up Johnny Brose off of waivers. Brose was once Salt Lake's most valuable commodity nearly 6 seasons before. Keyshawn Eosso once again joins the team. The one time starting center for the Fanatics was tired of playing in Carolina and was looking forward to join Brose once again. Umberto DiTullio was the last significant player to be signed. Early on Umberto was thought to be the next big PG. However his poor shooting skills have made his value drop.

George Holt had a incredible training camp as he stuck true to his word to play within the offense. He was shooting over 50% through the preseason. This would continue for most of the season. Holt was having a career year averaging 20 ppg, 8 rpg, 1 steal and block a game. He would end the season shooting a career best 49.8%. He lead the team in scoring. Jalen Bell rebounded from the disappointing previous year. He shot over 50% and averaged 19 ppg. BB once again had another solid year with his sharp shooting and netting 17.6 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 3.5 spg, 2.7 bpg. The ownership would still like to see BB be a little more selfish and take over games. Austyn Williams had another terrific season as the floor general averaging a double double in points and assists. He also had over 2 steals per game.

The real treat to watch was the emergence of Cordell Parks. Parks had always been a fun player to watch with his defensive tenacity and his growing ability to score. Parks was truly spectacular and the league took notice. With almost 17 points a game, his scoring took the backseat to his masterful defensive play. Grabbing nearly 10 boards a game, with 1.8 blocks and 3.6 steals per game; Parks was recognized by the league with his 1st Defensive Player of the Year award. He beat out John Van Horne and long time defensive stopper Lou Gonzalez. He was also 1st team All Defense at the SF position.

Despite some great individual performances, the Fanatics had another disappointing season. Winning just 28 games caused a lot of disbelief in the current team structure. Despite the strong defensive play on individual basis, the team was 2nd to last in points allowed. With another early vacation, the team's direction seems uncertain. Early rumors that Parks and Birkhead would be moved to bring in a all-stud player.