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Slow and Steady Wins the Race…
Posted by: Ryan Walker on February 17th, 2011
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.Like most things in life, time heals all wounds.
Time also allows for growth and progress and that is exactly what I believe this Jazz team needs right now, time…
Being patient and waiting can be a very frustrating thing, especially when our leader and MVP can opt out of his contract after next season. Assuming that D-Will doesn’t break our hearts and go home to Dallas to team up with Mark Cuban and Dirk Nowitzki, I truly believe that we have a great group of athletes who are capable of contending for a World Championship (with a few more pieces obviously).
It may seem like we are in the pit of despair, and that winning is only something we will be able to tell our children about one day, but that’s not the case and all true Jazz fans know it. The fifth straight home loss was a shock i’ll admit, I mean when something like that occurs for the first time in 29 years it can pack a punch for sure. The fact of the matter is that this team has been plagued with injuries all season, and those injuries have affected some of our best players. The “Money Man” may not be a true center, but the man can shoot a basketball, and when you have a point guard who is as effective and dynamic as Deron Williams, the most important thing for him is spacing. A pure, and dangerous shooter benefits tremendously from Deron and vice versa. Missing Memo has hurt us this year, period.
Andre Kirilenko, when playing well is vital to what the Jazz want to do on the court. Is he an inconsistent shooter? Yes. Is he always completely focused on winning? No. Despite those things I believe that the team is at it’s best and most dangerous when Andre is playing at his best and committed to winning at all costs. His ability to fill up a box score, overall length, and creativity close to the basket is truly unique, and having him hurt has been a big factor in our recent struggles. Raja has been hurt, and sadly inconsistent, CJ is hit and miss, along with a bunch of other issues.
Most teams take years to gel and those years are filled with growing pains and disappointments. Let’s not forget that we lost four key pieces last year and trying to fill the shoes of Booz, Kyle, Wes, and Ronnie B won’t be easy. Let’s finish out the year strong with a good second half, hopefully make a splash in the playoffs, and continue to get better by building around Deron, Paul, and Big Al. With those three committed to each other, the fans, and the organization, this team has serious potential and I can’t wait for what the future holds!
Replies: 4
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4 Responses
Six days off will help those with injuries heal. Everyone but Okur should be back by tues. A simple trade would help. Does not have to be a major one. They last couple of years I would have to agree with KOC to let the deadline pass. This year a move needs to be made. Let’s hope this will be a learning process for the team and they will get on the wining ways again.
I agree the jazz need another scorer. That would put us over the top. Deron would not leave us for dallas dirk is on the last leg of his career he has played for 13 years and deron would only be there in there rebuilding years it wouldn’t make any sense for him. And any one who says he will leave for the money is crazy he will get just as much money here.
AK has had great games in the past, but he needs to go (hopefully by trade very soon). His $17mil is killing us financially, and I would only support resigning him in the $3-4mil range. I wouldn’t mind not resigning him even then. He doesn’t have a natural place on the floor. He is too slow to deal with quick SFs and too weak to deal with strong SFs. His talent used to be unique, but he is past that and now is simply mediocre.
AK has said he will take a significant pay cut because he wants to finish his career in Utah. Obviously he isn’t worth what we are currently paying him, probably not even half. I am going to disagree with you about his ability on the basketball court though, he IS a game changer when playing well and definitely has a place on the court. When he’s healthy again, look at who D-Will sets up for easy dunks more than anyone on the floor, look at who’s MOST willing to get out and run with Deron… It’s Andre. He is a former All-Star who wants to be in Utah– if a player of his caliber wants to stay and is willing to do it cheap, you’d be crazy not to take him up on it. He’s not perfect and definitely has his issues but is worth sticking with.