Do Larry Miller and Kevin O’Connor actually know what the hell they are doing with the Utah Jazz, or do they truly believe that a team without a serviceable power forward, point guard and center can even make a dent in the West?
The Jazz signed swingman Corey Maggette, who is a budding young star, and could become great-yet the team was not in any dire need to fill that position. In handing big money over to Maggette, they totally neglected their actual needs (i.e. power forward, center, point guard) despite the availability of the likes of Gilbert Arenas, Elton Brand and Michael Olowokandi.
But who cares? As long as the Jazz have three good small forwards, the team is bound to win the championship at some point in the near future-right?
As asinine as that comment sounds, it seems that it is the same thought running through the minds of Miller and O’Connor.
The team loses John Stockton and Karl Malone, and the big free agent signing is a shooting guard/small forward. I doubt the team will pick up Arenas, since he may be stupid enough to sign with the Washington Wizards, so the Jazz may be stuck with a team that will win 10 games.
Hey Jazz fans, make sure you treasure that impressive 19-year playoff streak, because it is as good as gone.
Is Raul Lopez actually going to be the starting point guaard this year, when he has not played in a single game?
That’s a great transition from Stockton, isn’t it?
But at least the Jazz have more than one player on the roster who is listed as point guard. The same cannot be said for the power forward position, where I suppose the Jazz are relying on Jarron Collins to come off a knee injury and save the team.
OK, I don’t drink alcohol, but the only thing that can calm me down is some hard liquor. Oh wait-I think a wine cooler would be enough to knock me out, but either way, I don’t have to think about it.
You know there is something wrong with your team when a player like Andre Miller-a Utah alum, no less-chooses the Denver Nuggets over your team. I understand they have young talent, but they’re still the Nuggets.
So in the end, the Jazz settled for Maggette, just to say that they signed someone.
I don’t have a problem with Maggette as a player, because he will be very good. By observing his work ethic and talent, it’s almost inevitable that he is going to blow up.
But where do all these players fit into Jerry Sloan’s system?
I can only imagine Raul Lopez running the pick-and-roll with Jarron Collins. OK, the team will probably have Maggette handling the ball most of the time in the offense, but have you seen him play?
Does he even closely resemble the type of player that would translate well into the motion offense?
I will just tell you: He’s not. Either the team needs to change its offense in a hurry, or it might be looking at the top pick in next year’s draft.
Why extend Sloan’s contract when his system does not even fit the players that are on the roster?
Even if the team comes to grips with the system, the team will win 30 games, max.
The system that Sloan has put forth for the last 15 years will not mesh with this group-but it’s not his fault, it’s the front office’s.
I don’t even know in what direction the Jazz are trying to move at this point.
The way the team is spending its money, the possibility of a future mired in losing is not so far away-unless Maggette turns into Michael Jordan and Sloan decides to adopt a 1-4 style of offense.
Let me break it down to you: It’s not happening.
I would try to provide a solution for the atrocity that I am looking at, or as you know it, the roster of the Utah Jazz. But I am at a loss for words.
Maybe the front office had so much pressure to sign a big-time free agent, that when they failed to attract the really big names, they settled for just another player.
The move was not as stupid as signing Kenny Thomas for the same type of money (see 76ers, Philadelphia), but on paper it doesn’t make sense.
The Utah front office has been hiding behind Stockton and Malone for so long, that only now is their true idiocy finally coming out.
The two Hall-of-Famers made everyone around them better-which is why players like Howard Eisley and Shandon Anderson were horrible when they left the team.
They were never all that good in the first place, and now it is going to start showing with the rest of the team. Matt Harpring was good last year, but come on. He is not that good, and he’s not a go-to guy.
But maybe the front office is not as stupid as I believe. Maybe they do have a plan.
Emeka Okafor may be the top player in the draft next year and he is a power forward…think about it.