Well, you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have, the facts of being a Jazz fan. At least we did not go 1 -3 on this trip because that is what we could / should have ended up with. At the same time, if AK doesn't jack up a three pointer with 11 seconds left on the shot clock when we are leading by 2 with less than a minute to go in the game and Boozer was killing everyone in sight and should have got the ball - AND then decided to try and go for the steal on the last second drive against Jefferson we would have been 3 - 1 on the trip. Seriously AK, the risk of that steal was not worth the reward, it was a selfish, desperate act to try and single handedly win the game when the rest of your team was ready to close it out. Just stay in front of him and make him take a fade away from the corner, game over, you win. I think that AK might be the most over-rated defensive player in the league. He is not blocking shots this year and he is routinely getting beat of the dribble because he is going for the dumb steal. Guess what, forcing the other player into a horrible shot and miss is just as good as a steal, you get the ball back without them scoring in both situations. The fact is this, AK is more worried about his personal stats than anything else going on in the game.
I am fully in the trade AK for an expiring contract and a pick camp now. I have been on and off that bandwagon all year, but this time I am seatbelting in. CJ might actually be a better fit for the Jazz (shoot me now for giving CJ any props) and the money saved could end up keeping both CJ and Millsap around. This team is really just one defensive minded player away from being the force in the NBA for the next 5 to 7 years. We need that one guy who cares about nothing more than defense to get those big stops at the end of the game. It seems like all of our guys are offensive minded first and we just need that one crazy defensive guy. I know this would never happen, but imagine Ron Artest on the Jazz in place of AK. We would win 4 of the next 5 championships with that team. If was Kevin O'Connor, I at least make the call to Sacto.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Umm....About Last Week
- A Look Ahead -
The Jazz now only have 4 road games left, at Minnesota, New Orleans, Dallas and San Antonio. I am predicting a 2 - 2 finish in those games. We should loose to Minnesota, beat New Orleans and Dallas and then loose in San Antonio. Seems about right considering how we play up or down to the competition on the road. That leaves 10 home games and we should win at least of 9 of them. So, as I see it that is 11 - 3 over the last 14 games for a final record of 55 - 27 which should be good enough for home court advantage in the first round. With all of the struggles on the road this year, they really need to get it.
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5 comments:
CJ!!!
As for Artest... he really wouldn't mesh well with Sloan. And his many T's that he seems interested in getting really wouldn't help the Jazz at all.
CJ!!!
But would Artest perform any worse than Andrei "lets pass it to Memo in the coffin corner for a sh#t shot, rather than D-Will at the top of the key" Kirilenko. Thanks AK. I know he can be good but I am with you Boozer, he does not car about this team anymore. I mean really, how many times have you said "man, AK is awesome this year." Maybe once?
I agree that Artest would not mesh well with Sloan which is why it will never happen, but the Tech's dont really bother me because the Jazz are dead last in technical fouls received this year. Adding 10 or 15 techs would not hurt us much. Think of the unintentional comedy that would ensue as well, can you imagine him trying to mesh with the good folks of Utah? Artest might be the first player ever to buy a house outside of the state he is playing in. He would have to hire a personal pilot to fly him in for practice and games. We all hate him and love him equally at the same time. The more I think of it, the more I want it to happen.
If you're bringing in Artest, you better bring Jerry Stackhouse in for veteran leadership. Can you imagine those two living next door to each other in Utah? Can you imagine the scars the Elder fresh out of the MTC would get when he knocks those two doors one after the other? SLC PD would have a special patrol golf cart that would just do doughnuts in the street in front of their houses.
First, C.B. - thanks for the banner shout-out up at the top of the page. Great stuff, hahaha!
B-hammy, great post. I was out of town this weekend and had to rely on my Blackberry to keep up with the Jazz scores against the Celtics and the Nets (as well as getting my Jazz fix here). Talk about going from euphoria to dejection with the click of a button. I guess this is all we can expect from a young team, even though we keep hoping for some consistency. I agree on all the points about AK, even though I didn't get to watch the game. He has really been playing poorly since his injury.
With regards to the Artest-like defender discussion - how about a guy like Quinton Ross? I don't know when/if he's available, but Bill Simmons likens him to a poor man's Bruce Bowen, and from what I've seen, I'd agree. He can hit an open 15-footer and he's got lock-down man-to-man defense...you know, the kind where he's not Russian, not going to gamble on steals, and generally just gets under the skin of the guy he's guarding. I do think C.J. can grow into a great defender - he just needs more minutes and probably another year max. He's got the athleticism and he really gets after it like a dog after a bone, but he isn't schooled on the nuances of the game yet (which should come with more minutes).
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