So, what did the Jazz learn from the Boston Celtics about winning a championship?
Here's what they should have learned: They have to make some moves.
They have to embrace risk for any shot at hugging reward.
If they sit tight this summer and wait for what they already have to somehow develop into a championship-caliber team, next season will look a lot like this past one. It will be pretty darn good, beyond respectable, and pleasant enough to make the club some money, but it will not earn them a le.
The Jazz have to decide what they want to be.
If it's pretty darn good, beyond respectable, but somewhere south of a championship, then they are right on schedule. They can sit back and say what Kevin O'Connor has said in the past: "Some of the best moves you make are the ones you don't make." They can talk about how young they are and underscore the importance of hard work in the offseason.
But, sometimes, hard work isn't enough.
Nobody worked harder than Stockton and Malone, and they never won a championship.
The Jazz deserve a lot of praise for what they've rebuilt here. They've made some mistakes and misjudgments along the way, but they've also pulled off some terrific deals, enough to compile one of the best collections of talent in the West, enough to become a legitimate force in a difficult conference.
Now that they are there, though, within shouting distance, it is up to them to push the whole thing over the top, or rather, onto the top.
That's not easy to do. Winning championships typically isn't.
Take it from a team that's never won one.
But if the Jazz are smart enough and committed enough to be real good, aren't they also smart enough and committed enough to be the best?
They can take comfort - and make excuses - in being a small-market team, and a lot of people will throw compliments their way. They will bob their heads and understand the franchise's predicament. They'll pat the Jazz on the noggin and appreciate the brilliance of what they've already accomplished, given what they've had to work with.
But that should tick the Jazz off all the more, and stoke their fires for the present and future.
They already have a nice collection of players, and they've done a nice job of collecting them.
But they need just a bit more.
Do what the Celtics did?
Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen would help.
But that's the beauty of the Jazz's current position.
They don't have to have New England's revolution.
O'Connor isn't as desperate as Danny Ainge was a season back, and that could be a blessing and a curse.
Simple evolution for the Jazz isn't enough. Not even for an eventual championship.
A substantial move is in order. But it wouldn't have to be remarkable, or pie-in-the-sky.
"If the Jazz had had Mark Eaton, they would have been World Champions this year," says Frank Layden. "I really believe that."
Frank's on the right track.
The Jazz need a little more length, a little more defense, a lot more toughness.
They don't have to have Garnett. But they do need a big man with his defensive at ude, a player who could spread the same kind of influence Garnett did with the Celtics. They don't need an All-Star, they need a tough, mean guy who will take no bull, neither in the low post, nor from teammates unwilling to expend the kind of energy necessary to make stops.
Dikembe Mutombo may not be the answer, but the Jazz would benefit greatly from some big body like him. Even if that big body is imperfect or limited. They need a presence, even if it costs them something in a trade.
What they don't need is to sit on their hands for another offseason, living solely on the promise of young players who may or may not grow up or grow stronger or grow better or grow together.
They need the reward that requires risk, and a en, to obtain.
We'll see if they learned that lesson from champions who taught it so well.
Reply With Quote
? Was he just talking about getting tougher?
