Meet
Jazz #1 scoring option.
Posted by: JRN5150 on May 2nd, 2012
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.Many of the Jefferson haters on here have been saying that Jefferson cannot be the go-to guy on a championship team.
NO DUH.
I have never heard anybody argue contrary to that statement. For this year though, he is the best we have as a #1 option. We are not a championship team by any means. Who else on our roster can lead a championship right now? Lets have a look.
Millsap- Next closest thing on the team besides Al. Had a chance to take over last year but had stretches of wild inconsistency. Makes a terrific post compliment but by the time Deron left, Al had established himself as “the guy” because he is a better scorer plain and simple. His size plays a large part in this. The more teams focus on him the worse he does. Like I said, compliment man.
Hayward- Too young, still inconsistent. He cant be “the guy” yet . If you dispute that, you are foolish. Lets wait a few years.
Favors- see above. He is close though. The storm is brewing.
Harris- Out of control. Lacks confidence. His great performances have an erratic effect on the team. Lately he has helped us with big games but I am still not confident in him having the ball when we seriously need points. Iffy jumpshot (I would bet money he lead the league in airballs this year.)
The rest of the team- Dont make me laugh.
We are not in the best position this year. We are in a transitional phase with our team and it just so happened to be successful. Can we be realistic? Like most of you I would bet money that I am the biggest Jazz fan on the planet. I predicted we would be the 8 seed going into the season. But I am a chronic realist and see things how they are. We need a roster shake up before we can talk championship. Until then, lets stop being big babies over the guys who worked their butts off to get us here and lets cheer them on! Maybe we can squeak out 4 wins on the Spurs and get to the next round. But I promise you, Its not gonna happen unless we get solid play and time from each of our best players (Yes Dallan, including Al).
Replies: 17
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17 Responses
Lets look at the #1 options of the last 7 champions
Dirk
Kobe
Kobe
Paul Pierce
Duncan
Dwayne Wade/Shaq
Duncan
That is 6 Hall of Famers right there. We dont have one and we are not getting one in a trade for Al or Paul so lets wait for Favors and Hayward to develop huh?
Well than, looking into the Future…
We have two players that could very possibly lead a championship team…
Shouldn’t we be building around that? I mean we made it to the 8th seed, which is incredible and Big Al deserves most of the credit, but the goal is to win the Championship.
Not a Jefferson Hater, just a realist like you.
Big Al can not lead a championship team, Hayward and Favors could possibly… Those would be the guys I would build around, even if it means getting rid of Al.
Good thing Im not a GM
agreed. But now is definitely not the time to do that. The off-season isnt either. Maybe by the trade deadline but Kanter, Favors, and Hayward would have to improve immensely. We still need to have a winning culture here and keeping Al until the others are ready is the easiest way to optimize that.
@JRN – Can you do me a favour, watch tomorrow’s game, count Al’s points, but also count the number of points his poor defense gives up, then work out the actual number of points we need to replace. get back to me
@JRN
Your right we need Big Al. We need everything we have to play right now. But Big Al shouldnt be in the game without Millsap and Favors to compensate on the defensive end. Im not usually a fan of zone in the NBA, but I think for the big 3 lineup it could work. Al would only have to roam from block to block where his defense is best. Sap and Fav rotating on wings and pick and roll. I think it would work on the spurs. Spurs are going to shoot, they have good offense. I would rather them shoot open outside jumpers than breaking into the paint all game. If guys think they have to shoot outside because they cant penetrate, then most players start missing because there is more pressure the rest of the game and if we own all the defensive rebounds shooters miss even more. Thats how the jazz have won against alot of teams this year. Case and point Orlando
@john
I think thats pretty accurate. sucks to trade guys like Al that bring alot of heart to the game and has just had alot of misfortune. But we have to pick the right building peices. Al will be able to get some good money from teams, for that dollar amount we could get another position filled.
Favors and Hayward should be the stockton/malone for the future. But I think by the end of next year we will have core of 4 big talents with Burkes and Kanter. All four of these guys have sick intangebles and huge ceiling of potential.
@Disco I was all ready planning on doing that.. So I will let you know in the post game article
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@JRN Also I would say it would be a mistake to go into training camp and off season with Jefferson if we are not going to keep him. If they are going to split him off they need to do it and not blow it up in the middle of the season. We have seen how well that works out. If they have an off season they will at least get the grasp of how the new players are going to play. So either trade him in the off season or we are going to probably have to let him go for nothing. Who wants that?
Good post. Yes, Jefferson needs to play to his ceiling for us to win, especially since he’s who we go to for the most shot attempts and he’s guarding one of the Spurs Big 3 in Duncan.
@Jazzed uponit. You are a genius. Zone would be perfect for this penetrating team. You mitigate Jefferson’s weaknesses and you make them beat us from the outside. I wish Ty was a genius, but I’ve seen like zero zone this year, despite game after game after game getting torched by penetrating guards. Switch it up, Ty.
I also think it’s a Coaching issue that Corbin doesn’t recognize Big Al’s weakness on the pick and roll in the man-to-man situation and play to mitigate those weaknesses as well by going UNDER screens and TRAPPING. We could fault Big Al, but he’s not all of a sudden going to get amazing lateral quickness and change his capabilities. Its up to the coach to make the correct adjustments based on his player’s abilities (or lack of).
Great post, but u forgot youngness on this team. Right now i agree with u, Big Al is unchangeble (I said it correct?). And im sorry if I hurt someone, when Jazz CJ cancer was injured, we have a real powerful team. In fact, after that episode, I start to say I BELIEVE in this kids.
Go Jazz go! I BELIEVE.
@JRN5150……
I SUPER glad you made that list!!! Did you notice something about those championship players you listed?????
Duncan 13 time All Defensive team! Thats a record.
Dirk had Chandelier (All Defensive Player)
Kobe All D Player
Wade All D Player
Pierce had Rando and Garnett (BOTH NBA All D team)
Not only do those HOF have All D teammates in the case of Duncan, Wade, and yes even FN Kobe the teams best offensive player is the best DEFENSIVE player.
Defense wins championship. You cant make clutch late game shots when your down 15…..Note to Big Al.
It’s up to Ty Corbin to make adjustments to minimize Big Al’s Defensive weaknesses. Spurs exploited them all day in game 1. You can’t ask Big Al at this point to ‘hey you have to become all-Defensive player for this series, ok?’. Ty has to adjust who’s on the floor versus the opponent players on the floor, the defensive schemes, the rotations, etc. Same-old same-old is going to get us what we’ve gotten with it in our previous 4 games (not including the game where Pop rested guys) this season versus the Spurs: a double-digit loss.
That is my whole point Omar. We dont have the firepower this year. But getting rid of Al is the worst thing we could do this or next year. Who says in 3 years we cant add Jefferson had Favors to that list? There are very select few who are elite on Offense and Defense. Lebron, kobe, and Wade is about it. So until we have one of those guys you cant expect our best offense to be our best defense. Favors has that potential. But it would be stupid to trade Al and put all of our eggs in the Favors basket.
@JRN5150 I don’t think it would be stupid to trade Al, Millsap, and/or Harris this offseason. We will get pieces back from those trades! We could get a scoring 3 and a decent point guard via trades and free agency next year and this team would be built around a defensive player like Favors. We are not going to be able to afford $10-14 Million for Millsap, $10-14 Million for Al, and extend Favors and Hayward, and above all truly compete for a championship.
Favors has shown that he is ready. Favors does one thing that all great players or teams must do, play great defense. Do you really think he wants to sit on the bench any longer?
Yes, Al and Millsap may be our 1-2 offensively this year and have worked to get us to the playoffs and helped teach the young guys some nice moves. But we need to look to make this team a contender.
uuummmm??? I think you guys are misreading my comment. All I am doing is challenging the false dichotomy some people are trying to construct. All I have been hearing by Big Al supporters is that “ya he plays terrible defense but he is our best (or “only” to some supporters) scoring option.” As if it is either or?? So basically you are condoning poor defense on the condition that one is great offensively and scores a lot. And that is why you listed great offensive championship clutch scorers, to make that point. I was simply stating what you seemed to have ignored…..THAT THEY ARE EITHER SURROUNDED BY OR ARE THEMSELVES ELITE DEFENDERS. You did not mention that part.
And believe me, believe me, believe me, I know Big Al will not be NBA All D player EVER!!!, Let alone once someone suggest “hey go be an all NBA defender.” There will be world peace and I will marry a Playboy playmate before that happens. All we ask is that he play D, not even great D, or All NBA D, just play s o m e defense!! That’s ALL. Not asking much.
Furthermore, this is not simply an issue of Pop being lightyears ahead of Corbin in coach ability and knowledge. Every team before and after the Spurs series knows how to attack the Jazz, regardless of it being Pop vs. Corbin, this has been a reoccurring issue all year.
Corbin is useless. That is a given. But there comes a time when you need to self-assess and take individual responsibility and decide you yourself want to play D. I don’t think Corbin needs to convince Hayward, Favors, or even Carroll to “hey guys play good D ya.” NO. They are winners and team first players, not lazy short-sighted self first players. Kids learn how to defend the P&R in middle-school. Kids know how to defend it before they know how to drive, yet a multi-millionaire vet does NOT know how??? Its not a question of knowledge its a question of will. Making this a character issue with Big Al. Thats why he should be traded.
First play of the game tonight, when Parker goes easily around Big Al and gets a lay-up and Big Al turns to Harris and makes a face throwing his arms in the air, A) he should think “hey maybe its my fault” and B) Corbin should signal to Favors and bench Big Al the rest of the first quarter. Id rather the Jazz get swept with Corbin sending a message for over the summer and next year, if you don’t play D your not playing. But Corbin sucks, so Howard and Big Al should dig the Jazz like a 12 point hole in the first quarter.
KC is absolutely right. It’s up to Corbin to recognize his players strengths and weaknesses. Al sucks at defense, but is a great offensive threat with Millsap, and Favors on the court.
Corbin needs to realize that he can compensate for Al’s defensive liability by having Favors on the floor. Problem solved.
Someone mentioned how Tubbydough does something similar with Boozer. He plays him 20 minutes a game because he is a lazy player, but does score in volume.
@Me: OMG
No joke…the best scoring option is Blake Ahearn!!! He needs a chance but won’t get it because he doesn’t look the part.