by Ron Richards
It would be too easy to write this
season off, as the Jazz have
struggled to a curious record in the
first half of the year, losing as
many games as they’ve won.
It would also be a colossal mistake,
as this is still the same team that
went to the conference finals last
year, with two of the brightest
young stars in the game.
So……..What do I make of this
disastrous start to the season? Am I
frustrated to the point of giving up
on the Jazz and waiting for the
draft in hope of adding a defensive
big to the puzzle?
Hell no. Are you kidding me? I heard
some casual friends say that they’d
given up on the Jazz, as they are
horrible this year. Or are they?
Yes, they’re losing games they won
last year, so what’s the difference?
I think it is experience. I would
have thought last year would have
tempered Deron Williams to the point
where he would step in a give the
Jazz the stability and smarts that
Derek Fisher gave the Jazz, but it
hasn’t happened this far, despite
Deron turning in some impressive
numbers this season. The reason the
Jazz are falling apart in the crunch
time is twofold. One, that teams are
double teaming our bigs (Boozer,
Memo and Millsap), and playing zone
forcing the Jazz to shoot from
outside. This leads to Deron trying
to force the ball inside, creating
large numbers of turnovers, critical
turnovers. Two, that the Jazz are
lacking a presence on the floor to
keep them running their offense, and
stay in the defensive scheme that
works so well during the rest of the
game.
Derek Fisher. As much as I hated
seeing him run the fast break, hated
seeing him play the two, the Jazz
are sorely missing his leadership
and experience on the court.
I think we forget sometimes how
young this team really is,
considering Carlos and Deron are the
big guns, at 25 and 23 years of age,
respectively. It really shows up
when the crunch time comes, when we
have to make a stop or run the
offense or we lose the game. And it
only takes one or two mistakes to
sink the ship, or one or two stops
or baskets to win these games we’re
losing. Of the last twelve losses,
off the top of my head, only the
Laker game was completely out of
hand, where the Jazz had no chance
of winning. Add the Portland game to
the mix, and the Jazz could easily
have won ten of those twelve games.
That only adds to the frustration,
but it is also the reason we should
not give up, and it’s also the
reason the Jazz will turn this ship
around in the second half of the
season, make the playoffs, and in
all likelihood, go to the WCF’s.
I know, I’m the eternal optimist.
It’s too late in life for me to
change. I’m also a realist, in that
I’m not impressed overly by a hot
first half of the season, when the
makeup of a team suggests that
sooner or later reality will sink
in, and the real team will float to
the surface.
That’s why I don’t think Boston will
win an NBA Championship, or Portland
will keep this streak up, or
especially, the Jazz will continue
to struggle mired in third place in
our division and out of the
playoffs.
One of my favorite stories in sports
is the saga of Seabiscuit, one of
the greatest horses of all time. The
story is well known, but my point in
bringing it up is that the true
nature of the horse, the
overwhelming greatness, was there
all the time even when the horse had
been given up on by its owner,
trained to lose races to promote
other horses. All it took was for
one man to recognize in a glance
what should have been obvious to
other horsemen. The horse hadn’t
given up. It had the eye of a
winner.
Neither have the Jazz. You can see
it in their eyes.
Just like Seabiscuit, the Jazz know
they should be better than they are
right now. They haven’t given up,
despite some rough times.
Most importantly, finally one of the
pieces needed to ultimately succeed
is present.
The addition of Kyle Korver can be
the slight edge they need to win
these games they’re losing, but even
without him, the Jazz would have
turned the ship around. Korver will
open up the middle for Boozer,
Williams, Harp, Brewer and Millsap
to work their magic, and if he hits
one or two three point daggers a
night, keeping the offense honest
and taking teams out of the zone,
the Jazz become the team they should
be and have the perfect offensive
scheme against man to man defense.
Korver hit 226 threes when teams had
to concentrate on Iverson, and
Carlos is the man inside.
It’s a brilliant move by KOC, who
has been terrific the last two years
in guiding the Jazz. Korver is
young, only 26, but has more
experience than Deron or Carlos. He
should provide that experience
during crunch time, much as Fish did
for the Jazz last year. That can’t
be emphasized enough, and will be
obvious as the year goes on. Now,
the Jazz have a swing man who can
come in and hit the three with
anyone in the league, it’s well
known that Korver is one of the best
shooters in the NBA, bar none.
Goodbye, zones. Hello, three point
shooting. We all know that Korver
will get looks while teams
concentrate on Carlos and Paul, but
the addition of a three point threat
will also get Memo better looks as
teams won’t be able to send players
out to harass him quite as easily.
When the Jazz played Philly early in
the year, the one player I coveted
wasn’t Iggy or Dalembert, it was a
6’7” swing who struggled that night,
but his shot was a thing of beauty
even when it didn’t go in. I love
this kid.
Recently one of the radio hosts was
talking about how teams played the
Jazz much differently when Memo was
in the game, because of the three.
Add Korver to the mix, and the old
formula of how to play the Jazz goes
out the window.
But as I said before, the Jazz would
have turned this around without
Korver, they’re just too good to
hold down for long. Ultimately,
talent will out. That’s why Boston
will not go the distance, despite
having three great players. That’s
it, they have three great players.
Enough to play extremely well for
extended periods of time, but during
the whole length of the season, or
during a seven game series, it
becomes a different story. Sooner or
later, the lack of depth will catch
up to them. It’s inevitable. It’s a
great story, and I’m glad for Danny
Ainge and the Celtics, one of the
great franchises in professional
sports.
My money is on the nag wearing the
Jazz colors. The Celtics and others
are in the lead right now, but the
race has a long way to go before the
finish line.
I don’t buy the line that the reason
the Jazz are losing is because they
don’t have the bloodlines to win,
Memo and Boozer can’t play defense,
Hart isn’t good enough, the Jazz
need to radically change the team
before we can contend with the Spurs
or Boston.
That’s simply horsepucky. The Jazz
did just fine last year despite
having less talent and a sub par
Andrei Kirilenko. They came very
close to winning the whole
enchilada, and it took a superb
effort on San Antonio’s part to stop
them. By the playoffs this year,
Deron and the team will have gained
that experience needed to hold up in
those critical minutes where games
are decided and either won or lost.
One weakness, outside shooting, has
been addressed and taken care of
very nicely. The experience issue
will resolve itself with time, wait
and see. To ultimately become the
best team possible, the Jazz will
need to shore up their inside
defense, but I believe there are
ways to overcome that this year. It
will ultimately need to be
addressed, perhaps simply from
within the organization with Ky
Fesenko’s growth.
I’ve predicted greatness for this
team, and I’ve never doubted it even
through this losing streak. I didn’t
expect this to happen, not even
close, but I did think the Jazz
would struggle before the All-Star
break and then explode for the rest
of the season. I still think that
will happen. The schedule favors the
Jazz then as much as it hurt them in
November and December.
As for me, the season is just
starting. Believe in what I write,
or don’t. Doesn’t matter one way or
the other, because it will come down
to what happens on the court,
despite what any pundit, expert,
sage or seer prophesizes.
I’ve seen the eye of the horse, and
I believe.
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