Video: Karl Malone Lacks Big Country Survival Skills

Greg Ostertag reached a Final Four as a Kansas Jayhawk and, after the Utah Jazz made him a first-round draft pick, made consecutive NBA Finals appearances in 1997 and 1998. He made his name as a defensive presence in both situations, although Ostertag ended up as a journeyman center and suffered an injury while trying to revive his career in the D-League.

Needless to say, Big Country has seen better days, like that time he blocked Karl Malone. From behind. During shooting around before a Jazz-Lakers game. It's a bit of lightheartedness from a guy who wears a dour look during table tennis matches against little kids and whose YouTube reel features other people dunking more often than him throwing down. Even in this 12-second clip, though, Ostertag is not the star. That honor goes to the Frenchman who may or may not have seen defense before this particular incident.


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Cart Before Horse: Brook Lopez gets a Max Contract

Mired on a team with few highlights for years, Brook Lopez quietly developed into a serviceable center. It wasn't until the (then) New Jersey Nets dealt rookie forward Derrick Favors, point guard Devin Harris, two first-round draft picks and cash to the Utah Jazz for Deron Williams that any positive attention appeared in Newark.

Brook Lopez reveals his charbroiled secret to scoring in the post. (Getty Images)

Williams-to-the-Nets meant a top-tier facilitator paired with one of the few legit 7-footers in professional basketball. Their first whole season together, 2011-2012, should have been full of ESPN Top Ten plays. An early foot injury derailed that possibility, limiting Lopez to just five games.

Fast forward to this summer. The Nets moved across the Hudson River to roost in Brooklyn, continued flirting with the Orlando Magic in an attempt to acquire the increasingly dramatic Dwight Howard, and had to handle Lopez's restricted free agent status with kid gloves. Then it became clear that, when the Dwightmare is over, Howard wouldn't wake up on the East Coast.

Despite his injury, Nets management had to re-sign Lopez. What's more is, they had to offer Lopez at least $58 million over four years unless they wanted to start a bidding war with the Houston Rockets — another team pursuing Howard — or Portland Trailblazers, who missed out on RFA Roy Hibbert when the Indiana Pacers matched the maximum offer sheet the All-Star center signed with the Blazers.

Make no mistake: keeping Lopez is not a move to patch holes. He is a threat to score 20 points in the paint each night, and there are exactly zero NBA teams that would shy away from a center who can fill the bucket like that. Unquestionably, though, there are problems with the deal, and with Lopez. The Standford product puts up points, but is somewhat of a liability on the defensive end. Through four pro seasons, Lopez is averaging just 7.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 34.1 minutes on the floor. Worse yet is that the numbers dipped last season to 3.6 rebounds and 0.8 blocks. Whether or not the numbers from such a small sample size are indicative of what he would have done over a 66-game season, those are unacceptable statistics for a center at any level of basketball — Biddy through The Association.

Lopez has a new contract and, as often is the case in pro sports, he must now prove that he's worth even a fraction of what he's owed. The general populous would do inscrutable things for $60 million. All Lopez has to do is keep making a ball go into a basket, and ensure that his hands work when that orange sphere clangs off the iron.


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NBA Summer League: It's Happening

Alec Burks gets the better of Jacob Pullen in college, upped the ante Monday. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

NBA Summer League competition began this week as D-Leaguers, young players already in The Association and others hoping to make rosters took to the court in Orlando. Squads representing the Philadelphia 76ers and Utah Jazz squared off in the early game before giving a turn to the offseason versions of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers.

Two of the more notable performers were Utah's Alec Burks and point guard Jacob Pullen, playing for the Philly offshoot Liberty Ballers. Both Big 12 alums filled their respective stat sheets. After a quiet rookie season, Burks scored 31 points going 10-14 from the field, 1-2 from three-point range and 10-11 at the foul line. Pullen — having missed out on being drafted in 2011 and then playing pro ball for a year in Italy — shot 8-14, including 4-7 on trey attempts and 3-3 at the charity stripe, which was good for 23 points. He had a team-high four assists, but also committed four turnovers.

As always, a good showing in summer league doesn't necessarily equate to good statistics in actual NBA games, or even making a team's roster, so temper any expectations for a few more months.

Games slated for today pit the Detroit Pistons against the Orlando Magic (currently in progress), and the Brooklyn Nets against the Boston Celtics. All summer league games can be seen for a subscription fee through NBA.com, where box scores are also available.


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