Meet
Upon the Conduct of Each Depends the Fate of All
Posted by: Spencer D. on February 16th, 2012
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.“Remember, upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all.” –Alexander the Great
This quote struck a chord with me when I read it earlier today, as I sat at a journalism conference not paying attention to the speaker(she was talking about layout, something I haven’t ever really done).
It reminded me of this current Jazz team that we’ve watched rise and fall, especially as of late during the 3 games in 3 nights run. The first night, in Memphis, was absolutely the best team basketball the Jazz have played all year, possibly besides their dismantling of the Clippers at home a few weeks ago.
The point of this though, is that to me as a fan sitting on my couch watching all these games, the Jazz don’t seem to be on the same page. I’m not saying there’s a division in the team, like there’s a fight between vets and young guns for playing time. I can honestly say this Jazz team is the most unselfish team in the NBA this year. Everyone on the team roots for everyone else, and there are nights when the old guys sit because they weren’t able to produce. But instead of doing what the usual NBA player would do, our vets realize that they need to play harder if the team is going to win. When I say that the players aren’t all on the same page, I mean that there’s a lot of confusion offensively.
Yes, our defense has been horrendous as of late, but as a former high school basketball star(ok, I wasn’t ever a star, but I did play)when your team fails to produce on the offensive end, it’s incredibly difficult to motivate yourself and your teammates to play hard defense. I think that’s what’s happening with the Jazz right now. The offense seems to stagnate and to halt for large portions of the game, and when the offense stops, so does the defense.
But when the offense is clicking, Hayward is diving for loose balls, Earl is throwing Early Oops, and the Jazz are trying to get every steal and block they can. Good offense leads to good defense, and vice versa.
So what needs to be done to fix this issue?
Honestly, I think Ty is doing his absolute best. Unless you don’t watch the games or read twitter feeds, you’ll know how Ty took the team to the Civil Rights History Museum. That was a incredible team building experience. I know when my high school team would do team dinners and have parties for Christmas and New Years, it helped us bond and become closer as players and friends. We were able to translate those friendships onto the court.
For some reason, the Jazz just don’t seem to be running the offense smoothly. I think this will all come in time, as the young guys learn and grow. And honestly, the Jazz have exceeded every expectation set for them at the beginning of the season. I was mentally prepared for a Washington Wizards type season, but the Jazz’s incredible start destroyed my mental guard, and I got caught up in the magic of the game, and started believing maybe we could actually go deep in the playoffs.
What I’m saying is, in time things will get better. But for now, let’s sit back, enjoy Linsanity, and seeing the HATED Lakers doing terribly with Kobe taking 25 shots a night.
One last quote about teamwork.
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” –Antoine de Saint
Follow me on Twitter @Spencer_Durrant
Replies: 1
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One Response
Interesting. The offense cannot run smooth since our only scoring threats live in the paint. Other teams see that and close it down. You know why Sap became the double team target, he was the only double consistant double threat. Everyone else scores in the paint, except aprox 3 3pt shots a game. Easy to defend.
Want to see a ship, draw it. Want to ride one you need to build it. We are looking, to sail one you need a builder, and a captain, and a sailor, etc. We only have artists.