I was wondering what the consensus on them is? I haven't heard a lot of talk about them, they got some nice additions this offseason. Last year, they really heated up trade but unfortunately they ran into the lakers, were was playing OUTSTANDING basketball before the playoffs started. Their core consits of: Williams, Jefferson, Millsap, Miles and Okur. They added Jefferson, Hayward and Bell. I think they could be a top 4 team in the West.
Thoughts?
I don't like them. Jefferson has never been on a winner in Boston or Minnesota and that means he will be learning this year. Did you see what Raja Bell did last season? Unless you caught one of the 6 games he played, you didn't, either.
Wes Mathews is a huge loss and I think they have replaced Boozer as best they can, but they didn't replace him, you know? He was great in Utah. Okur is hopefully healthy and the same player we last saw on the court. Kirilenko needs to have a huge year and I stopped expecting him to do anything a long time ago. Still, the West from 2-15 is a level playing field. If they want to make a move this season, they could very well end up in the Conference Finals. They have talent, but I like the mix they've had the past couple of seasons a lot more.
Good team. Great coach. Love Jerry Sloan to death. Love the fact that he doesn't take any . Good solid core. Al Jefferson's gonna take a little time to get acclimated. Now he will be in game that actually mean something and feel a little pressure for once instead of putting up meaningless numbers in Boston and Minnesota.
With that said, hopefully, for your sake, they don't see the Lakers in the playoffs ......
Great reply darrin. We are really having some basketball discussion!
Was his injury serious? I can't even remember why he went down right now. I assume it was semi-serious if he missed the playoffs but it's not an Oden injury right?
Okur is ed. He tore his achilles and before that his back was acting up every other week. He's not going to be ready until Dec. I'd wager. His shooting will save his career, but Okur won't be as good as he was.
Wes Matthews was a huge loss. A week or so ago all the Spurs fans were talking about why it's hard to find a Bruce Bowen and who comes closest. They were all stupid for not mentioning Wes Matthews. He's already one of the better perimeter defenders in the NBA and will eventually be the best. His O is good too. He will be everything Bowen was and then some. A huge loss. I hope Paul Allen dies slowly.
That said, I'm glad we picked up Raja. He's not injury prone- his wrist is the first major injury of his career. He knows the system. He's a tough mother. All he has to do is slide his feet, scowl and drain open threes. All of which he's capable of. Obviously, I'd rather have Wes, but it, we made lemonade.
Baby Al is going to be great for us. We're starting training camp early and he's been here all summer working with the Jazz coaches and training staff. I think he'll be comfortable in our system well before most analysts and people are predicting. Boozer was a piece of . He was finesse and short and couldn't ever get it done on D and could only get it done offensively against short scrubs. He was a cancer in the locker room and a selfish, disingenuous piece of towards the fans. I have no problem with Big Al over Boozer and I laugh and laugh and laugh at anybody who dares suggest otherwise. Anybody who saw the half of Jazz games that Boozer played in while under contract with us knows Millsap alone would've been an upgrade, much less Al Jefferson.
Losing Matthews and Okur aside, we're better than Portland, San Antonio, Houston, OKC, Dallas and anybody else who isn't the Lakers.
Why Deron Williams Will Leave Utah For Dallas
http://dimemag.com/2010/08/why-deron...ah-for-dallas/
By Andrew Macaluso
There has been speculation from Jazz fans concerning whether or not Deron Williams wants to stay in Utah anymore. After losing teammates Carlos Boozer, Ronnie Brewer, Wes Matthews and Kyle Korver, is there any reason not to believe that Deron would want out? D-Will had an interview with David Locke (the new radio voice for the Jazz) a couple weeks ago, and he stated that he no longer lives in Salt Lake City during the summer months. Is this a sign?
I was in contact with Locke via Twitter about whether or not Deron’s heart is still with the Jazz after losing half of his team this offseason, and he stated that “Jazz fans are concerned about losing Deron, but what have the Jazz done that would make his heart be out of it? If it is, there’s nothing they can do about it.” I think losing four of the best players on his team would cause his heart to be out of it a little bit. Deron’s already stated that he’s frustrated with the way things are going in Utah, and this appears to only exacerbate his case.
In July of 2008, Williams signed a three-year extension (with a fourth-year option) for $70 million to stay with the Jazz and help bring them a le. Well, it’s been two years and there’s still no le. All the Jazz have to show for it is first round playoff exits and going over the luxury tax to bring back the same team back from ‘09, with half of them leaving during free agency this summer. It’s not that Williams couldn’t take the Jazz to a championship; it’s just his supporting cast seems to fall apart at all the wrong times.
If D-Will chooses to opt-out of his contract in 2012, where would he end up? How about following his roots in Dallas to play with the Mavericks. Deron starred at The Colony High School near Dallas, and last year at the NBA All-Star Game in Dallas, that was the happiest Williams has looked in two years. Another thing to consider is that the Mavericks will have substantial cap room in 2012, right when Deron can choose to become a free agent. If Deron ends up in Dallas, he would have a much better supporting cast than with the Jazz.
The Mavericks have one of the best shooting big men in the history of the NBA in Dirk Nowitzki. Don’t get it twisted though – he’s not a choke artist like fans believe. This is a guy who is 7-0 and has averaged 23.0 points and 8.5 rebounds for his career, all on jump shots. But let’s face it; Dirk’s never had a great point guard in his prime during his time in Dallas other than Steve Nash – and he still couldn’t lead the Mavericks to a le. Devin Harris never got the chance to prove, Jason Terry is a shooting guard and Jason Kidd is over the hill. If Dallas ends up with a Dirk and Deron combo, and that’s over 50 wins every season with just those two alone. Then you consider after the Mavs signed Deron they’d have at least $9 million to spend on another free agent in 2012 – Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and Antawn Jamison will all be available.
The best part of all is that Deron has the chance to play for the arguably the best owner in basketball, Mark Cuban. Cuban is the kind of guy that will gladly go into luxury tax in pursuit of a le, which he’s done numerous of times. Deron just wants to win, and at this point, he can’t win in Utah. Maybe Chris Bosh was right, it’s time players stop mixing loyalty when it comes to free agency.
What do you think?
we staked
Last edited by badfish22; 09-01-2010 at 02:19 PM.
al jefferson>>>>> boozer
jefferson is younger, less injury prone (even with the acl injury 2 years ago).
jefferson put up better stats playing with some ty point guard. boozer put up less stats plaing the with best point guard in the league.
jefferson blocks shots, boozer doesnt .
Boozer never played on the Hornets.
Pipe dream, Dallas. If Deron does leave SLC, which I doubt he will, I bet he goes to LA.
And Boozer was given that contract in Utah for a reason--and it wasn't because of Deron Williams. Boozer was already breaking out.
Too bad since signing that deal, he's just been breaking down.
We're better then last year.
And here's the reason why.
We added a true low post scoring threat who can draw double teams down low in Al Jefferson who's light years ahead of Boozer in that category. Which means we can run plays we haven't been able to run since Stockton and Malone.
By giving us the ability to have a dominant low post scorer it's going to open up our offense and give us more options.Remember the left side clear-out; that play started with Stock passing the ball to Karl on the low left block, John running a hard cut past Karl and looping past 2 screens all the way around to the top of the key. Meanwhile Horny starts on the opposite 45 and cuts off a BRuss screen on the right elbow and cuts hard down the lane, while Tag moves up to the high post in the right block and sets a screen for BRuss, who then goes to the low right side and sets a second pick for Stock while he runs his curl and then BRuss flares to the right 45 extended. That all took about 5 seconds, and it all happened only if Karl didn't pass to Stock on the give and go on Stock's first cut past him in the post. Karl would start to back his man down, but because everyone else was in motion the defence couldn't gamble and double team Karl. If they did we moved the ball and found Horny streaking down the lane, or Stock at the top of the circle, or BRuss on the elbow, or Tag open on the right block... or several combinations of open players on the one play.
However Jefferson's gonna have to improve his passing and defense.
However even as bad a defender he's averaged nearly two blocks per game. And what I really like about him is that he admitted defense is a weak spot in his game never in the years Boozer was on Utah did he ever acknowledge that he needs to improve on that side of the ball.
And you also have to remember we're talking about a 25 year old who constantly got triple teamed in Minnosota on each possesion and still averged near a point per possesion because of his low post scoring and his average mid range jump shot.
Here's some interesting stats about Jefferson
"In over 200 post plays on Minnesota never once did he get a pick to free him, only once was he moving when he caught the ball. He just gets the ball in the left block sets himself and makes a move and converts it 48% of the time. If you consider how many times he's fouled it's about a point a possession"He literally had no help on Minny which is why I don't understand how peole can rip him apart for being an inefficient scorer when you get triple teamed on each possession and the best player you can kick it out too is Flynn."On the over 200 post plays I watched only 7 times did he catch and shoot right off a pass, think about how many times Boozer and Millsap have just caught the ball and quickly put it up off good passing"
"Jefferson plays the pick and roll part differently then Boozer he rolls instead of pops. He's Unstoppable going to the rim."
" Since January 4th he hasn't missed a shot when he rolls to the rim he either gets gets fouled, converts or has a few turnovers as a result of bad passes or just mistakes"
Hes' actually a very effective Pick and Roll player. However unlike Boozer he doesn't Pick and Pop nearly as much but instead takes it inside and Scores or gets fouled. As the season moves on I expect him to improve his pick and pop abilities.
At this point Jefferson is already a better scorer then Boozer and they both are great rebounders and bad on the defensive end. However I feel there's more room for Jefferson to improve then Boozer at his age. Jefferson has shown stretches of being a good defender, Boozer not so much.
Jefferson's gonna be set up down low for the first time in his career and be given easy looks, It's gonna take some time to adjust but he's definitly gonna love how much easier things will be for him here as opposed to Minny. And his post game is arguably the best in the Nba up there with Gasol and Duncan. So there's a lot of room for him to grow as a player in Utah under a hall of fame coach.
And Jefferson already has a consistant mid range jumper. And he'll continue to improve it. But I think there's a better chance of Jefferson becoming close to as good a mid range shooter as Boozer then Boozer become close to as good a post player as Jefferson is.
And Korver was a great player but he was one dimensional, Hayward brings more to the table in the long run then Korver ever could.
He brings offensive rebounding. He's a three point shooting threat. He gets to the foul line(30% of his points are from the foul line). He bring excellent size at his position. He's an effective ball handler. And he can be a legit point forward. He's a good passer. And has a high basketball Iq. And he's a good defensive player
He was an amazing 3 point shooter but for the second half of the season they forced him to create his 3 point shot off the dribble as opposed to just being a knock down shooter. That's a hard adjustment to make mid season for any young player but he clearly has the ability.
He wasn't a good defender in college?
He spent most of his time defending power forwards whiles his natural position is the 3. But he was still effective because he never gives up on plays he ralerly gives his man lanes to the basket . He also uses his Iq on the defensive end and understand the tendencies of the players he's guarding.
He was an amazing 3 point shooter but for the second half of the season they forced him to create his 3 point shot off the dribble as opposed to just being a knock down shooter. That's a hard adjustment to make mid season for any young player but he clearly has the ability.
Go look at his statistics when he was just a knockdown shooter. He had one of the highest percents in college
He's been a great 3 point shooter ever since he game into college
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6AdlhgwqWo
People call him non athletic but compare him to a guy like Evan Turner.
Evan Turner vs Gordon Hayward
Age 21 20
Height 6'7 6'8
Weight 214 211
Reach 8'7.5 8'7
No step vert 27.5 30.5
Max vert 34.5 34.5
Max vert reach 11'6 11.5
Bench reps 9 10
Agil 11.06 11.73
Sprint 3.27 3.22
Hand size 8.75x9.5 8.5x9.25
He has the potential to be a much better player then Korver who was great as a shooter but not really spectacular in many other areas.
And then Bell replacing Matthews. The reason why Bell is gonna benifit this team is because he brings veteran leadership, toughness, three point shooting and the ability to guard the other teams best player for a whole game. Just by having a defensive man like that playing together with a healthy AK-47 this team is gonna be much better defensivly . However what Bell's gonna have to do is make sure he knocks down three pointers all season long he has to be our three point shooter along with are best defender. We've already seen what kind of player he is on the defensive end and thats exactly the kind of player Sloan wants for his team. Bell already knows the system and wants to be here.
What you guys seem to be forgetting is how much better C.J miles was last season before the injury. Personally he's this team X Factor. He can be a great player when he drives it to the hoop and doesn't always settle for the jumpshot. He's put on muscle this offseason and looks in great shape for training camp.
Okur also is expected back anywhere from training camp to the begging of the season. If he gets healthy and can space the floor for Al Jefferson this team will be much better against teams with good frontcourts like the Lakers.
1st: It is a massive opinion and assumption to think Matthews will be better than Bowen or have a better more productive career. Lets see him be the best perimeter defender in the league for years, lead the league in 3 PT shooting, be an iron man in games played and play a pivotal role on multiple championship teams that were always at the top of the league defensively.
I am not sure Utah will be better than the Spurs. They might have a better record and some of that will likely be because the Spurs coast a lot in the regular season. I definitely think they will be close and I have pegged Utah at number 2 in the West, but the Spurs still have some upside with regards to who goes further in the po's.
Honestly considering what Jefferson can become in Utah I really don't belive there's gonna be any doubt about him leaving after this season I think he'll sign an extension after the season.
There's a reason no one in Utah wanted to keep Boozer in Utah. But that's something Bulls fans will just figure out next season.
What a piece of article. Nowhere does it mention the Jefferson trade, Raja signing, and the fact that Deron approved the pick of Hayward. Deron was just on TV a few days ago saying how he can't wait to get to camp and start this season. He's as happy as he's been since being drafted.
Your article is EPIC FAIL!!
Not to mention the fact that Al Jefferson was the one man Deron wanted on the team
Deron approved the Hayward pick? Yikes.
Why wouldn't he approve of him?
Like I said in my post above Hayward brings alot to this team.
Ever since we acquired Jefferson, EVERYBODY has approved of the Hayward pick. Including Deron. Our disappointment didn't have to do with Hayward himself, but the need for a big man. We got our big man anyways.
Well, we will see how it plays out this year.
Its not my article, its DIME magazines. Dont be butthurt about the impending Dallas domination.
Deron is half white, meaning you can only logically expect him to spend half his career in utah.
The disappointment should have had something to do with the fact Hayward sucks
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