We are fast-approaching the all-star break, and we have already passed the half-way point of the season. The Jazz are currently in 4th place in the west (were I not so modest, I would point out that this is precisely the prediction of this blog for this team) and they are only a 1/2 game back from the Mavericks. They have won tiebreakers against the Blazers, the Spurs, and the Mavericks so that, if there is a tie, the Jazz will have home court advantage, a cherished prized that is arguably more important in Utah than anywhere else in the league. They have been playing truly amazing basketball as of late, winning in the presence and absence of Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams. Clearly, at least for the past month or so, this team has found itself and has the urge to win.
After a little analysis, my optimism soars higher. If the Jazz can beat the Nuggets on Saturday (keep in mind that the Nuggets are playing their contested rivals the Lakers tonight, in LA, which means that they will probably be both physically and emotionally and mentally tired for the Utah game), then the Jazz creep nearer to a coveted second seed in the West. Also, the Lakers are not as dominant as they were last year. The West does not appear to be Kobe and then everyone else. When examining the remaining schedule for this year, it becomes apparent that this is no longer a fictional dream. The Jazz have five games remaining against teams with a better record (2 Lakers games, 1 Nuggests game, 1 Hawks game, and 1 Celtics game), four of which are at home. They then have 12 games against teams that are of a rougly similar, albeit worse record (against the Rockets, Hornets, Thunder, Suns, and Blazers). Let's assume that the Jazz lose all 5 of the hard games (which they won't) and let's assume that they lose half of the 12 somewhat easier games (again, which they probably won't). That puts the Jazz at a record of 53-29, a formidable record, probably yielding a 2nd seed. Also according to Hollinger, the Jazz will end up in 2nd place out West. I used to think this was silly, more representative of their recent play than thier true talent. Now, I don't. Kevin O'Connor, Jerry Sloan, don't trade away Boozer, don't mess with this team, this is real.
Friday, February 5, 2010
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.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
The LeBron's
Until tonight, I never believed in the Cavaliers. I thought that they were just the LeBron's and that their playoff performance against the Magic last year justified that belief. I watched in disgust as a team that has (in my humble opinion) the greatest player in the league fell from grace. They tripped, they fell, they tumbled, and nothing LeBron could do would stop the inevitable crash as a team that would have easily lost to a Garnett-lead Celtics team slowly crushed the playoff life out of them.
What bothered me most was the way in which Cleveland lost. The game plan seemed to be give James the ball, and pray for true greatness to occur for 48 minutes on 7 separate occasions. This worked as much as it could, but even LeBron transcendent him was not enough to outlast a clever and effectively coached Stan Van Gundy team as they ground the LeBron's to a stop. And when things got rough, the "coach of the year" disappeared. He would arbitrarily place James on a random Magic player and blow a 7 point half-time lead within 3 minutes of the start of the third quarter. He would deliberately run plays that had LeBron shooting fade-away jump shots. It was madness.
Tonight, I eagerly watched the Hawks and the Cavaliers play in Atlanta. If I were to have told you that LeBron was going to play very poorly offensively, against a hostile crowd and a fired-up Hawks team, you would have told me (erroneously) that the Cavs would certainly add another loss to their record. My statement to you would have been wrong, though, so do not judge yourself too harshly. LeBron did play incredibly poorly offensively. He almost had as many turnovers as he did made shots. He missed time after time when he had a chance to blow the game open. What fascinated me was the lack of the other two premises upon which my statement stood. The crowd was not hostile. The Hawks were not fired-up.
This is partially their fault, but I would like to give credit to the Cavaliers more than take it away from Atlanta. Mike Brown's preparation for this game, right after an emotional victory over the Lakers, was impeccable. It astonished me. He prepared a defensive scheme that made Joe Johnson look much worse than LeBron did in this game. It involved James shutting him down and throwing different double-teams at him every time he touched the ball. His execution silenced an emotional team and emptied a stadium full of fans thirsty for vengeance after an embarrassing sweep from last year. It reminded us what a championship caliber team looks like, and what a team that is not nearly there, regardless of what PER might lead us to believe, truly is. For now, my hat is off to Mr. Brown. He shocked me. The Cavs won with teamwork, and gutsy play from both Mo Williams and Delonte West. They won with fierce defense, certainly worthy of any team in the NBA. Most importantly, they won with LeBron shooting six for twenty (yes that is 30%), missing all five shots from beyond the arc, turning the ball over 4 times, and mere mortal play. Goodbye LeBron's, hello Cleveland.
What bothered me most was the way in which Cleveland lost. The game plan seemed to be give James the ball, and pray for true greatness to occur for 48 minutes on 7 separate occasions. This worked as much as it could, but even LeBron transcendent him was not enough to outlast a clever and effectively coached Stan Van Gundy team as they ground the LeBron's to a stop. And when things got rough, the "coach of the year" disappeared. He would arbitrarily place James on a random Magic player and blow a 7 point half-time lead within 3 minutes of the start of the third quarter. He would deliberately run plays that had LeBron shooting fade-away jump shots. It was madness.
Tonight, I eagerly watched the Hawks and the Cavaliers play in Atlanta. If I were to have told you that LeBron was going to play very poorly offensively, against a hostile crowd and a fired-up Hawks team, you would have told me (erroneously) that the Cavs would certainly add another loss to their record. My statement to you would have been wrong, though, so do not judge yourself too harshly. LeBron did play incredibly poorly offensively. He almost had as many turnovers as he did made shots. He missed time after time when he had a chance to blow the game open. What fascinated me was the lack of the other two premises upon which my statement stood. The crowd was not hostile. The Hawks were not fired-up.
This is partially their fault, but I would like to give credit to the Cavaliers more than take it away from Atlanta. Mike Brown's preparation for this game, right after an emotional victory over the Lakers, was impeccable. It astonished me. He prepared a defensive scheme that made Joe Johnson look much worse than LeBron did in this game. It involved James shutting him down and throwing different double-teams at him every time he touched the ball. His execution silenced an emotional team and emptied a stadium full of fans thirsty for vengeance after an embarrassing sweep from last year. It reminded us what a championship caliber team looks like, and what a team that is not nearly there, regardless of what PER might lead us to believe, truly is. For now, my hat is off to Mr. Brown. He shocked me. The Cavs won with teamwork, and gutsy play from both Mo Williams and Delonte West. They won with fierce defense, certainly worthy of any team in the NBA. Most importantly, they won with LeBron shooting six for twenty (yes that is 30%), missing all five shots from beyond the arc, turning the ball over 4 times, and mere mortal play. Goodbye LeBron's, hello Cleveland.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
True Garbage
What has happened? I remember recently sending a slightly over-enthusiastic text message to my brother which stated that the Utah Jazz were fifth in team PER as rated by Hollinger. This was big news. For once I believed in this ridiculous statistic (the individual one is better, but I still have my doubts about it as well) partly because of my obvious biases toward my hometown team, but also because it described what I was seeing myself with the few bits of box scores, two-minute highlights, the win-loss spread over the last ten games, and other scraps that I can accrue in Seattle.
Then Minnesota struck. For the fourth time of the season and the second time against Utah. Of their twenty losses, Deron Williams owns none. Of their four wins, Carlos Boozer owns half. This is pathetic. And after beating such teams as the Lakers, the Magic, and the Spurs, no less. This was then followed up by a 2-3 road trip, in which I was able to watch one of the most sloppy games I have ever seen against the Heat. Dwayne Wade usually owns the Jazz, but on this day, he didn't even have to (he did score 29 points). Carlos Boozer scored 12 points in the first couple minutes and then 2 points (free throws!) for the rest of the game. Okur looked like a joke. A big ugly, joke. I hate to pick on the guy. Lord knows every team needs an unathletic white center who can't play defense, can't create his own shots, rarely rebounds, and can shoot threes all day, while making a slightly less than great percentage of them. In defense of the big man, he did do something that very few (if any) have done before and very few (if any) will do again: he made Boozer look like a first-team defensive player.
What makes me more furious about this team is the trade of Eric Maynor. Unless this is the precursor to a blockbuster trade of Boozer for a good big man, this trade is unacceptable. If the Jazz didn't want to pay over the salary cap, they shouldn't have re-signed both Boozer and Milsap. Don't ruin the future to make up for your poor off-season management. At this point, I am at a loss: I don't know which league the GM is watching. We are slow, we can't play defense, and we are wasting the talent of a truly brilliant player in Williams. Now, we have ruined the great picks of two rookies (one undrafted) to clear up some money (apparently). Utah is too good for this. We have too much tradition for it. We were infamous as a dirty, defensive team that was *nasty*. Now, it seems that management of the team is content to sit back and sneak into the playoffs in a very talented conference, unwilling and unable to make bold moves and surround our only hope for salvation with some real talent, instead of ugly big men (Lamar Odom still looks and balls like Ms. America compared to Okur). This is all I want for belated Christmas: a dedication to trying to win a championship, risking losing more games while attempting to win more. In the words of another ugly white guy, "Merry Fucking Christmas." (Larry Bird)
Then Minnesota struck. For the fourth time of the season and the second time against Utah. Of their twenty losses, Deron Williams owns none. Of their four wins, Carlos Boozer owns half. This is pathetic. And after beating such teams as the Lakers, the Magic, and the Spurs, no less. This was then followed up by a 2-3 road trip, in which I was able to watch one of the most sloppy games I have ever seen against the Heat. Dwayne Wade usually owns the Jazz, but on this day, he didn't even have to (he did score 29 points). Carlos Boozer scored 12 points in the first couple minutes and then 2 points (free throws!) for the rest of the game. Okur looked like a joke. A big ugly, joke. I hate to pick on the guy. Lord knows every team needs an unathletic white center who can't play defense, can't create his own shots, rarely rebounds, and can shoot threes all day, while making a slightly less than great percentage of them. In defense of the big man, he did do something that very few (if any) have done before and very few (if any) will do again: he made Boozer look like a first-team defensive player.
What makes me more furious about this team is the trade of Eric Maynor. Unless this is the precursor to a blockbuster trade of Boozer for a good big man, this trade is unacceptable. If the Jazz didn't want to pay over the salary cap, they shouldn't have re-signed both Boozer and Milsap. Don't ruin the future to make up for your poor off-season management. At this point, I am at a loss: I don't know which league the GM is watching. We are slow, we can't play defense, and we are wasting the talent of a truly brilliant player in Williams. Now, we have ruined the great picks of two rookies (one undrafted) to clear up some money (apparently). Utah is too good for this. We have too much tradition for it. We were infamous as a dirty, defensive team that was *nasty*. Now, it seems that management of the team is content to sit back and sneak into the playoffs in a very talented conference, unwilling and unable to make bold moves and surround our only hope for salvation with some real talent, instead of ugly big men (Lamar Odom still looks and balls like Ms. America compared to Okur). This is all I want for belated Christmas: a dedication to trying to win a championship, risking losing more games while attempting to win more. In the words of another ugly white guy, "Merry Fucking Christmas." (Larry Bird)
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Why It's Hard to Follow Basketball from Afar
This video conveys my general feeling of trying to glean NBA coverage without actually attending games or watching them on TV. True, this video is for LA fans, by what a slight bit of research would probably reveal is the local Lakers TV channel. But it speaks to a larger point. This game was largely covered in the national media as a case of Kobe having a broken finger. Which isn't to say that Kobe's finger, his sickness, or playing two games in a row didn't have anything to do with the loss. But it seems to me that the sports media's obsession with stories they already know leaves them unable to cover stories they don't know. What we end up seeing, presuming we don't have the local Utah Jazz station, is very much like the video that opened this post. It's a reel of Lakers highlights, and yet, if we ever glance at the score, we'd notice that the Lakers are behind and staying there.
This isn't to single out the Lakers, who are generally singled out as the NBA team (but that misses the point). I think the larger problem is staying on top of stories as they develop. It's waiting for things to be solidified in stone so you don't end up making the wrong calls. Predicting a team is going to the moon, when its only going to Minnesota. It seems to me (though, granted, my view is askance and taken from afar; meaning I don't follow the NBA nearly as much as I should to be pontificating on its followers' weaknesses, but that's my life) that coverage of the league always lags about a year behind where it should. Therefore, the Orlando Magic are one of this year's big stories. Not to say that that's wrong, but I suspect that other teams are creeping up, ready to strike when everyone in the media least expects it. Pretty soon it'll be mid spring and journalists will start making a retroactive case that 09/10 was their year, ensuring that we'll be inundated with mass amounts of coverage of them as next year's team to watch, while yet another team (one hopes the Jazz) prepares for its moment.
Then again, its very hard to predict these things. Is Atlanta the future of the league, or was November just a hot month? I don't know. (And its hard to know when I only hear about the Hawks in relation to the Celtics, which is partly the fault of coverage and partly the fault of my own biases: my strong emotional connection to Garnet over, say, Josh Smith. But that emotional bias, which limits my ability to take in Hawks or Smith stories as important to me, is itself due to a lack of past coverage, a lack of any narrative to connect new data to.) What I do know, however, is the way coverage is means that really awesome stuff often doesn't make it onto the public consciousness to every one's detriment. And although that video might not capture the whole truth of the league either, it does show that our current vision may be heavily distorted. Plus, it provides solid evidence for my beliefs about Farmer.
This isn't to single out the Lakers, who are generally singled out as the NBA team (but that misses the point). I think the larger problem is staying on top of stories as they develop. It's waiting for things to be solidified in stone so you don't end up making the wrong calls. Predicting a team is going to the moon, when its only going to Minnesota. It seems to me (though, granted, my view is askance and taken from afar; meaning I don't follow the NBA nearly as much as I should to be pontificating on its followers' weaknesses, but that's my life) that coverage of the league always lags about a year behind where it should. Therefore, the Orlando Magic are one of this year's big stories. Not to say that that's wrong, but I suspect that other teams are creeping up, ready to strike when everyone in the media least expects it. Pretty soon it'll be mid spring and journalists will start making a retroactive case that 09/10 was their year, ensuring that we'll be inundated with mass amounts of coverage of them as next year's team to watch, while yet another team (one hopes the Jazz) prepares for its moment.
Then again, its very hard to predict these things. Is Atlanta the future of the league, or was November just a hot month? I don't know. (And its hard to know when I only hear about the Hawks in relation to the Celtics, which is partly the fault of coverage and partly the fault of my own biases: my strong emotional connection to Garnet over, say, Josh Smith. But that emotional bias, which limits my ability to take in Hawks or Smith stories as important to me, is itself due to a lack of past coverage, a lack of any narrative to connect new data to.) What I do know, however, is the way coverage is means that really awesome stuff often doesn't make it onto the public consciousness to every one's detriment. And although that video might not capture the whole truth of the league either, it does show that our current vision may be heavily distorted. Plus, it provides solid evidence for my beliefs about Farmer.
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