Nice update on Keth's travails in the NBA.
http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=2 ... ategory=11
McLeod making his way in NBA
Monday, May 23, 2005 Story by JOSH WEIR Repository sports writer
Photos by Bob Rossiter Repository photographer
The road to his ultimate goal was filled with some interesting detours.
A training camp in Portland. A season in Italy. Four months with Minnesota. Two weeks in Fort Wayne, Ind.
But Keith McLeod eventually found his place in the NBA. Now he might just stay awhile.
McLeod, a former McKinley High School standout, recently finished his first full season in the NBA, starting 47 of 53 games for the Utah Jazz after signing a one-year deal in the fall.
The 6-foot-2 point guard averaged 7.8 points, a team-high 4.5 assists, 2.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals while shooting 35 percent from the floor and 77 percent from the foul line.
But more importantly, McLeod proved he was NBA material.
“I came into a situation where I could play and where I could be effective in this league, and that’s what it comes down to,” said the 25-year-old McLeod, who played in 33 games with Minnesota in 2003-04 before being released the day before his contract was guaranteed for the year.
“(Utah) Coach (Jerry) Sloan’s motto was always ‘Be ready for anything’ and it fit me like a glove.”
It also fit the Jazz as a whole.
Injuries cost stars Carlos Boozer and Andrei Kirilenko a combined 72 games. An early-season falling out between former point guard Carlos Arroyo and Sloan also caused plenty of distraction.
It was injuries to Arroyo and back-up Raul Lopez in the preseason that opened a starting spot for McLeod, who capitalized by leading the Jazz to a 5-1 start.
“It was tough,” said McLeod, the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year in 2002 while at Bowling Green. “We were rolling. Then we started to fade back a little bit once the injuries happened.”
Arroyo came back on Nov. 16, soon lost his good standing with Sloan, sulked when he was benched and was traded to the Pistons Jan. 21. The injuries piled up and the Jazz were on their way to a 26-56 season.
In the midst of all this, McLeod’s individual year was filled with more highs than lows.
Breakout games against San Antonio (18 points, eight assists, four rebounds) and Sacramento (14 points, 11 assists, five rebounds) highlighted a season where he scored in double figures 17 times while sporting a 2.38 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Injuries (hamstring, groin, wrist) did cost him 29 games and his shooting suffered as the season wore on, especially as Kirilenko and Boozer disappeared. But he learned a lot in his first full NBA season, like how a six-month season versus the best basketball players in the world can take a toll physically.
“The season is long,” said McLeod. “You have to take care of your body, and with the traveling, you have to eat right.
“And everybody can play. You can’t really take a night off.”
That’s never been a problem for McLeod, who endeared himself to Sloan and the Jazz organization with his dedication and work ethic.
Phil Miller, the Jazz beat writer for the Salt Lake Tribune, said McLeod could usually be found at the Jazz practice facility if it wasn’t game day.
“Keith is real coachable,” Miller said. “He’s willing to follow the game plan and do whatever is asked of him, learn the system and work hard.
“And honestly, the team had a hard time getting total effort from everyone this season, and that had always been a staple of the Jazz.”
Miller believes McLeod — a restricted free agent — will be offered a contract by Utah, but that the team will also pursue a point guard in the upcoming draft. The Jazz have a league-high five picks.
“Jerry really likes his competitiveness, and that’s a big selling point with Jerry,” Miller said.
Sloan and Jazz Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations Kevin O’Connor were unavailable for comment.
Whatever happens, McLeod counts himself lucky to have played for Sloan.
“He’ll get on you and tell you what you need to work on, but he always puts confidence in his players,” McLeod said about the veteran coach, a former player who has been in the NBA for 34 years. “He was great for me. He told me what I needed to hear and always had confidence in me.”
McLeod saved his best performance of 2005 for the Timberwolves and superstar Kevin Garnett, who periodically calls his former teammate to check on him. McLeod went off for a career-high 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting and added five assists in a 100-84 Jazz loss April 15.
“I’m so happy for Keith,” Garnett said in the April 16 edition of the Deseret Morning News. “I hope he’s (in) a future edition of this Jazz organization. They got a good — not even a good, but a great guy. He’s going to work his butt off to be the best, and when you look at the Jazz history, that’s what kind of guys they have.”
McLeod never imagined a day where his cell phone would ring and a future Hall of Famer would be on the line offering advice.
“The guy has been like a big brother to me,” he said of Garnett, the 2004 NBA MVP. “It means a lot.”
Garnett, one of the NBA’s most intense competitors, set an example for McLeod, who recalled how no one could talk to Garnett from the time the team bus left the hotel until game time.
McLeod has taken that kind of focus and combined it with his trademark work ethic to make it in a league where undrafted players don’t always stick.
“A lot of guys can do what I do, and they are 6-(foot)-8,” McLeod said. “I try to separate myself with how hard I play.”
He doesn’t care to speculate where he’ll eventually land next season. Potential suitors could include the Cavaliers, who will likely cut ties with Jeff McInnis.
When asked about joining LeBron James and fellow McKinley grad Eric Snow in Cleveland, McLeod said, “I ain’t discriminating.”
His address still is unsettled, but it seems that the wiry kid from Canton has found a home in the NBA.
You can reach Repository writer Josh Weir at (330) 580-8426 or e-mail:
[email protected]
McLeod’s
career
highlights
High school
n Named Ohio’s Mr. Basketball and Associated Press Division I state Player of the Year following 1997-98 season, in which he averaged 19.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in leading McKinley to 23-3 record.
College
n Named Mid-American Conference Player of the Year in 2002 with career scoring average of 17.1 points.
NBA
n Played in 33 games for Timberwolves in 2003-04.
n Played in 53 games, starting 47, for Jazz in 2004-05. Averaged 7.8 points per game, with career-high 20 points against former team, Timberwolves, on April 15.
Keith Article in Canton Repository
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