Meet
Of Sunshine and Three Pointers
Posted by: deb on May 13th, 2010
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.
There are many aspects of Utah Jazz basketball I do not fully understand, one of which is the basketball mind of Jerry Sloan, so I hope I can get some answers from those of you who do understand him. I would like to know if the benching of Ronnie Price and Kyle Korver in the game Monday was about one specific play or in general how they were playing. Both played minutes well below their season average and even below their playoff average. For Kyle who shot 90% in the previous game, this seemed odd. Please let me know what you think the reasoning was. I wondered if it was Jerry’s subtle way of letting them both know they would not be playing in Jazz uniforms again, either by trade in Ronnie’s case or not offering Kyle a contract.
My other question is whom you think has a chance of being gone after this summer either by their own choice or Jazz management’s trades and lack of offers. My guesses are: Boozer, Korver (will cause me many tears-as anyone who knows me would tell you), Kirilenko, Price, Jeffers and probably Fes. This is a long list and somewhat unlikely, but could happen. Please let me know your thoughts on this subject.
The following exit remarks from Kyle were very interesting and I have to wonder if he really wants to come back, listen and tell me what you think. A couple of things really stood out for me, “there is nothing wrong with sun”, he did spend the first third of his life in Southern California and has extended family there. And then there were a couple of comments about what he was looking for in his next employment location, “a place with opportunity to excel as a basketball player, where you can play in a system where your talents are utilized and where what you do is appreciated”. Asked if Utah provided all this he responded “a lot of it”. Do you think the Jazz can provide all that for Kyle or any player for that matter?
So your job is to be a mind reader and let me know what was in Jerry’s mind when he drastically reduced Price’s and Korver’s minutes in the last game of the season and if Kyle wants to come back or if the Jazz want him back?
Thanks for your comments and insights.
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In answer to your first question, Kyle didn’t play many minutes on Monday because his defensive liability. In the games that Kyle played a lot of minutes, he was defending players that he could leave to help his teammates on defense. Basically, what happened in game 4 is Phil Jackson forced korver to match up on Kobe for a short time and Sloan was forced to take him out for either Matthews or Miles. So he didn’t get many minutes in the first half of the game. As for Price, he came in and made a few mistakes that put the Jazz in a whole; something that he does from time to time. Sloan was forced to go back to D-Will earlier as a result.
As for who will be gone next season, I see Boozer leaving (although I don’t want him to!), Korver will stay, Miles will stay, Matthews is a career player for Utah as long as Sloan is around, Okur will be here, Price stays (although I don’t think he is a point guard), Kirelenko stays, Jeffers leaves, and Fes stays. There is no way they let Fes go after the potential he showed in the playoffs. He gets one more chance to progress.
I think Korver wants to stay, but it will depend on his opportunities elsewhere.
1 – I have been rather vocal about not wanting Jerry Sloan back so I am not going to comment on his mindset or thoughts.
2 – I think that your list is way too big. Boozer isn’t going to be back, although I would love if we did a sign and trade for Bosh. Toronto doesn’t want Bosh to walk, and playing as the key piece in our system with D-Will at the point has got to be attractive to Power Forwards across the league. Korver will probably not be back, although I think it is a BIG mistake to let him go. He just broke the 3pt shooting percentage, and in a perfect world, Jerry would retire and the new coach would be a bit more free to let 3 pointers fly. We will not find a better 3 point shooter than Korver. Sadly, I see Korver going to greener pastures unless we have a coaching change. AK will be back, at least until the trade deadline. His expiring contract is only nice to have when you don’t have to pay the first 2/3 of the 17 million bones. Price will be back. Jeffers will be gone replaced by the new draft pick, and lets face it, he was never really here. Fes should be back if we are smart. Fes was the only Jazz player who had an even or better plus minus for the each game in the series with the Lakers (and his minutes came almost exclusively with the Lakers starters on the floor). He even overcame his butterfingers and pulled down over 10 boards in the last game. Another team will probably take a chance at him this off season, but if we match their offer and actually played him, he could be a serious defensive stopper. He just needs minutes vs. real NBA talent and he will improve considerably, and he is a bargain for a big NBA body.
Bosh will not want to come. He has the chance to be with wade or lebron, possibly in NY. As much as he might like the idea of playing with D-will, I think he thinks he’ll have a better chance at winning by joining one of those 2 guys. Also, I think he’d like to be in a bigger market. And going to miami if wade stays there would give him a great team, a city he’d love, and sunshine.
I think that if boozer leaves, kirilenko will definitely stay. If he doesn’t he’ll be traded for a big center
Yeah, Phil Jackson used a lineup that got Korver in trouble defensively, because all the guys he could guard were way more athletic than him. I don’t know about Price.
I hate to say it, but I think KK moves on to a more open offense, but I’d love to see him back.
The good thing is, we’re in good hands with Matthews and CJ. I love their play and their contracts!
KK has two drawbacks. His defense has really improved, but it is what it is, average at best.
His other problem is he can’t make his own shot, which CJ and Matthews, to a lesser extent, can.
He is basically a catch and shoot player. Teams just guard him close and shut him down.
If Boozer walks, which I think he will, the Jazz will be able to bring him back, but there’s a lot of dinero floating around. It will depend on the offer and the offense.
Jazzaholic
Kyle’s been bugging me as of late. He really is too one-dimensional to keep around.
@ J.R.
AK’s defense as far as the jazz go isn’t as average as one might think his numbers have always been high on the defensive end blocked shots, steals, and rebounds. Agreed he doesn’t accumulate 10+ rebounds a game when a player is guarding another out on the perimeter rebounds are really hard to come by.
As far as his offense goes he can drive to the basket but the players who usually guard him are the players who play man-up defense. Catch and shoot basketball is part of sloans offense Ie: screen and roll, pick and roll, and pick and pop.