Tuesday, January 19, 2010
What Say the Fans
ESPN just posted this article citing my man Ray Allen complaining that the fans have too much influence on the All Star game. Now this is tricky business, who wants to insult the people who make the whole league possible (unless you happen to be an ESPN insider, then you'll be able to hear the truth straight from Hollinger's dry mouth)? But somehow Tracy McGrady's 3.2 point average in 6 games, hardly seems the kind of convincing evidence that he's the second best guard in the West. What does ESPN do when caught choosing between McGrady's nearly $23 million contract and the .07% of China's population who thinks McGrady is A-OK'd (rhyming couplet) on the one hand, and the past sportsmanship award winner and common sense on the other? Why, they do what anyone would when wondering seriously about the relevance of the fan's voice in determining basketball philosophy and policy. They open the floor up to fans' comments. Click here to vote.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Boozer Bungle
Marc Stein just wrote an interesting article about the league's interest in a Boozer trade. Apparently, last week the Mavericks wanted him in a pure money deal in which Dallas would get Boozer and Utah would get money relief and an expiring Gooden contract. This clearly isn't going to happen. The Jazz have already parted with a great talent for the sake of money (Eric Maynor is also feature today on ESPN.com as a "rookie gem") and the management has said repeatedly that they are not going to throw Carlos away.
This article was important because it revealed what the current Boozer stock is in the NBA: next to nothing. He is simply worth money, but not worth a respectable player in a trade. This is something that most Jazz fans have already realized. He is a very talented basketball player, don't get me wrong, but he has certain weaknesses that make him unworthy of a trade in the long run. He can consistently score 20 points and nab 10 rebounds, which is no small feat. He cannot, however, be an integral part of a championship team unless he is surrounded by good defensive players, particularly a shot-blocking center.
These are my fears with Boozer. Again, this is not a very good Jazz team. If the playoffs were to begin today, they would be left in Salt Lake City twidling their thumbs. I was hoping that we could trade him for some young talent this season such as a Noah from Chicago. Alas, this doesn't appear to be in the cards, at least at this point in the season, and Feburary (and the trade deadline) creeps ever closer. We must remain optimistic that the Knicks play worse and that we can get a good draft pick. For now, let's hope that the Jazz continue to play at a top-five (!) level and can at least put up a fight in the playoffs, if they make it that far.
This article was important because it revealed what the current Boozer stock is in the NBA: next to nothing. He is simply worth money, but not worth a respectable player in a trade. This is something that most Jazz fans have already realized. He is a very talented basketball player, don't get me wrong, but he has certain weaknesses that make him unworthy of a trade in the long run. He can consistently score 20 points and nab 10 rebounds, which is no small feat. He cannot, however, be an integral part of a championship team unless he is surrounded by good defensive players, particularly a shot-blocking center.
These are my fears with Boozer. Again, this is not a very good Jazz team. If the playoffs were to begin today, they would be left in Salt Lake City twidling their thumbs. I was hoping that we could trade him for some young talent this season such as a Noah from Chicago. Alas, this doesn't appear to be in the cards, at least at this point in the season, and Feburary (and the trade deadline) creeps ever closer. We must remain optimistic that the Knicks play worse and that we can get a good draft pick. For now, let's hope that the Jazz continue to play at a top-five (!) level and can at least put up a fight in the playoffs, if they make it that far.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Money man
It's official: if the playoffs started today, the Jazz would be left out. That means that they currently own a record worse than a Yao-less, McGrady-less (for all practical purposes, although he is an all-star starter!?!?!) Rockets team, a Blazers team which is so injured that I won't even bother saying who is out, and an Oklahoma City team that is still very, very young.
My fears before this season started were that the Jazz would be willing to keep Boozer so that they could be a mid-level playoff team and lose in the second round. As it currently stands, they won't even make the playoffs. What has been the response from the team? Get rid of a Harpring contract and a young, talented point guard to clear up some cap space for a 9th place team. It seems preposterous, but there it is. If they can't make the playoffs, there is no point in keeping this team together. The Jazz need to take a gamble by trading Boozer and hopefully finding some impossible way of dumping Okur.
As I have previously stated on this blog, I am not a big Okur fan. In fact, you could go so far as saying that I passionately dislike his basketball abilities. The western conference is full of talented big men, and to survive and thrive in it, you need one on your team. We have Boozer's offense and occasionally 15 points from the money man. Neither plays defense. Boozer rebounds. If we amalgamate all of these talents, we have half of a good player in two people that make multimillion dollar contracts this year. The Jazz are no longer being smartly conservative. Just conservative.
Please, no more money man antics in the future. A good old-fashioned center who plays defense, can't shoot worth shit from beyond 17 feet, and at least tries to earn his millions of dollars will do. Money man indeed.
My fears before this season started were that the Jazz would be willing to keep Boozer so that they could be a mid-level playoff team and lose in the second round. As it currently stands, they won't even make the playoffs. What has been the response from the team? Get rid of a Harpring contract and a young, talented point guard to clear up some cap space for a 9th place team. It seems preposterous, but there it is. If they can't make the playoffs, there is no point in keeping this team together. The Jazz need to take a gamble by trading Boozer and hopefully finding some impossible way of dumping Okur.
As I have previously stated on this blog, I am not a big Okur fan. In fact, you could go so far as saying that I passionately dislike his basketball abilities. The western conference is full of talented big men, and to survive and thrive in it, you need one on your team. We have Boozer's offense and occasionally 15 points from the money man. Neither plays defense. Boozer rebounds. If we amalgamate all of these talents, we have half of a good player in two people that make multimillion dollar contracts this year. The Jazz are no longer being smartly conservative. Just conservative.
Please, no more money man antics in the future. A good old-fashioned center who plays defense, can't shoot worth shit from beyond 17 feet, and at least tries to earn his millions of dollars will do. Money man indeed.
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