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The LeBacle
Posted by: Diana-Allen on May 16th, 2010
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.
The Eastern Conference favorites had their season end too soon at the hand of the Boston Celtics. No one expected the Cavaliers to exit the post season this quickly, they were the favorites to try to take away the title from Kobe and the Lakers.
Instead of talking about the exciting upcoming matchup between the Magic and the Celtics, ESPN and other sports news sources have been airing Lebronathons. Anything and everything about Lebron all day long.
Many fans and much of the media feel that Lebron quit on his team. With uninspiring performances in Games 5 and 6 it felt like Lebron was paving the way for the quickest exit out of Cleveland. It will be easy for Lebron to say… look we’re moving backwards, I am all about winnng and Cleveland isn’t close to a championship.
Cleveland is doing all they can to keep Lebron. Rumors have it that Mike Brown’s days in Cleveland are limited and Lebron’s good buddy, who was sitting court-side at Game 5, John Calipari could be hand picked to be his next head coach whether in Cleveland or Chicago. Even the citizens and celebrities of Cleveland are getting involved and produced a music video called “We are Lebron“.
All the talk about Lebron has to make Jazz fans wonder what will it be like in two years when we will be facing a similar situation with Deron Williams. Deron has made a few comments that has rubbed Jazz fans the wrong way. Who can forget his infamous “thats why a signed a three year deal” when Ronnie Brewer was traded. Now at the locker room clean out Deron again was talking about change and when asked how long it will take to make the team a contender Deron replied “I didn’t say I was going to be a long-term fixture. “
Jazz fans most hope that the Jazz can change enough (bring in a big man who blocks or perhaps a veteran presence for leadership ) to keep on improving so we won’t have the Will-bacle in a couple of years.
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Tuesday and the June Draft will go a long way to answering our questions, then July 1st, let the fun begin!
Jazzaholic
I think the picture with this blog is a perfect reason why Boston won this series. They play as a team, more than one hero, and I think for the most part, Doc Rivers calls the shots. LeBron may be a great payer, but he cannot be player, coach, GM and marketing director all at the same time. Basketball is supposed to be a TEAM sport. But I am afraid Deron is part of a generation where loyalty is a somewhat lost virtue. Did you hear Kevin Garnett say he lost the best part of his 20’s being loyal to Minnesota? That would make me stop and think about remaining with the same team through multiple contracts.
The first thing Williams should think about is how much he’s actually earning from the bucks the Jazz pay him. Compare him to Rondo, for instance. Is Williams better? Rondo is a better rebounder and a better defender. Williams is a far better shooter. Their PER is similar. The Celtics signed Rondo to an extension substantially lower than a max contract. Personally, I think Williams is better. But is he THAT better, that he can blame on the Jazz front office his team doesn’t win as much? Or maybe he is the one guy receiving a max contract and therefore, should be winning the Jazz some more games?
Loyalty matters and earning your bucks matter. In what regards winning a championship or not, if you’re a max guy, you need more than just not being a complete disappointment (as AK was) to earn your bucks and have the right to point fingers at your front office and the guys who sign your checks. The Jazz pay Williams Lebron/Wade/Kobe/Gasol/Duncan kind of money, and before he is clearly and incontestably better than Rondo/Westbrook/Johny Flynn (or did we sweep the season series against the Wolves?) kind of players, just thank the Gods someone paid you a max contract and GO WORK ON YOUR GAME TO EARN IT FULLY! And until then, just shut your mouth and be loyal to them.
I do think we’ll be facing this issue when his contract comes up unless we revamp the roster. Unfortunately, our hands are tied with the cap working the way it does. We have the mid-level at our disposal, and roughly 1 million to spend on free agents. The cap gives us about 9 mil towards our own players without going into luxury tax territory and that 9 certainly doesn’t pay for Korver and Boozer. Not even Boozer alone.
I hope we address our need for length in the draft. I’m warming up to the Cole Aldrich idea, even though I’d be more excited about Monroe or certainly Cousins. I hope we bring in Ante Tomic from Spain. Admittedly, I’m not too familiar with his contract status.
Good article!
You can’t accuse Deron not to be loyal to the Jazz, every year in May this guy bleed for the Jazz, he play like an MVP, he put his numbers to 25pts on more than 10 gifts, and he just see that he is alone….. 3 or 4 years ago we tried to build something, this team had many chance to prove they can pass the level, but it doesn’t work, and he see that, and he see that nothing change in this team…..
When Ronnie was traded he was upset, like i was….. like me he listen the front office told everyone that they will only make trade to improve the team, and they cut his friend for money…… and at this period no one could say that wes will be so great………. and he never talk about money, he talk about win, he just want to win, and he want a team built for the win….. i want that too and i’m hundred percent behind him……
Brewer wouldnt have changed anything against the lakers. There fore the Jazz are working towards improving the team. Brewer doesnt play center so he would have not done anything against the Bynum/Gasol/ maybe even Odom combination. IF Dwill goes, ill be sad, but the NBA is a business and teams will do whats in their best interests so a player must as well. I wouldnt bolt if I was a player like Dwill. Utah is a good team that comes soo close they can almost taste it. Hes still making a ton of money. Its not like hes playing for the Nets or Wizards fighting for last place.
Which major trade/FA worked out last year? Spurs, Mavs, Cavs, Toronto? Nope! Magic? Hedo vs Carter? Hummm.
Change for change sake hasn’t done well this season. Suns, Jazz, Lakers, Celtics minor tweaks.
So, let’s not jump off the deep end. Matthews was a significant upgrade! Let’s hope Kevin can pull another Matthews our of the weeds and get a productive draft pick.
If you keep some flexibility, like AK’s expiring contract, you might be able to pick up a Pau freeby.
Jazzaholic
I think Tomic is locked up for a few years and because of the upcoming lockout, I doubt we could see him until 2012 at the earliest, but he’s still quite young and developing.
Jazzaholic
French Dude,
After getting a max deal, it’s easy not to talk about money. But hey, guess what? The Jazz lost games when Williams was outplayed by Johny Flynn. Derek Fisher, Odom and Kobe hit their big shots against the Jazz in game 3. How about Williams? The Lakers had lost their poise in the 4th quarter in game one, and with the Jazz leading by 4, comes in Williams.
There are 2 types of max players. The true superstars that will carry their teams when it matters. The not so great players that got away with a max contract. Until now, Williams is closer tho the later than the former. And maybe he’ll continue to develop as he’s been and switch it. But as of right now, I think he should have bigger worries such as ‘why can Derek Fisher stop me?!’ and ‘why can’t I carry my team as well as Kobe does when they need it’.
I love him as a player and think he’ll have an awesome future. But his behavior of putting things as though everything is the front office’s fault pisses me off!
Sorry Joe i’m totally with Deron, he said exactly the same last year, and i think the front office have made a big mistake last summer by changing nothing, i was for geting rid of booz memo and ak for younger and cap space, it was time to rebuilt something, now we’re blocked by the luxury tax, by the mistake of resigning memo and now our future is very dark if the lottery give us only a 11 or 12 pick…………. and it’s easier for kobe to carry his team when his frontcourt give him 45 rbds and 10 blocks
French Dude,
Alright. I see your point. It’s just that the attitude of pointing fingers at others pisses me off. The Jazz gave D-Will a max contract at a time Chris Paul was a consensus as the best point guard. They trusted him. Williams should be thankful to them for it and show a lot more respect while giving his input about how the Jazz could get better. For instance, he should say those things to Kevin, Jerry, Greg and Randal, not to the media. And he also shouldn’t threaten them to leave. The Jazz trusted him in the truest form: giving him a lot of money. He should give them some loyalty back.
Lets just hope things turn well for the Jazz tonight.
Agree with you Joe, Clearly, kill your boss in the media is not always the good solution, you better discuss face to face, but sometimes, things have to be said, i’m not very agree with the “take your money and shut your mouth” thing, it’s his team too, and his interest to have a great team…… and when you see the lot of bad moves made by the front office the last 10 years it’s really scary….. insane contracts for just average players…….Crazy drafts, (suton, whaley, snyder, humphries, almond, borchardt, lopez, fes, kouf, quincy lewis, padgett……)………. hope for a top 3 to be sure they will not make a mistake, again……
I agree with you Joe. I really think there is a better way to handle the situation. Deron can make his point to the media without have it be in such a threatening way. It isolates me as a fan, it makes me think why do I care about this guy, “his team” when he clearly doesn’t care about how we feel.
I think the Jazz have done everything they can to show D-Will that they want him, that the care about winning. The Jazz are a top 3 team in the West. Yes they have areas they can improve (interior defense, post players) but all teams in the West minus the Lakers have weaknesses.