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NBA.com’s Off-Season Rankings Are Out
Posted by: Shauna Brock on August 9th, 2012
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.So, waiting in my inbox today was an email from NBA.com. It detailed Lebron’s moment in history (whatever he did) and of course, NBA.com’s off season grades. (I am sure many of you have seen this.) The Jazz came in ranked #24 on their grades, which made me scratch my head a bit. They dumped bad pieces and added new ones. I mean I didn’t expect them to come in at #1 and adding Allen was a really smart move for the Heat, but I really don’t know if I agree with any of the rankings.
So, in deference to our team, I give you, in really bad Letterman fashion, (including the halfhearted/snarky comedy) –
The top ten reasons I am excited for the upcoming season:
10 – No lockout reduced schedule. I hated last season. 66 games packed into too many nights, waiting for injury to take over. Tired players made for lazy and injury ridden basketball.
9 – The Heat have won their championship. Can we move on now? No? Okay. Cue extended griping about Lebron and how the Jazz were once up against Michael and now it’s Lebron and will we ever get a break?
8 – The team is moving into the modern era. I miss Larry as much as the next Jazz fan, but it’s time to move forward and it seems that a number of Jazz fans agree. Greg isn’t as hands on an owner as his father, but that’s okay. What he is, is clued in to the next step in business models. If it will make the team win, he’s willing to try it and that is something I appreciate.
7 – The Chicago Jazz are no more – with Kyle and Ronnie scattered off to other teams. This makes me feel a bit better about the world. As for the Jazz East (NJ/Brooklyn) well … I hope Deron has fun.
6 – Good-bye Raja. It almost pains me to say this, but in that way I feel pain watching a hated sports rival struggle in embarrassing fashion. Raja is one of my favorite players in the league because he doesn’t mince words. But he’s also a spoiled, whiny little brat who thinks he knows better than everyone else. That’s why one goes into coaching (or blogging.)
5 – Good-bye CJ. This one actually hurts. CJ is a good kid with a good heart. They could make TV movies about how all he wanted to do was play basketball and he finally made it but he always got in his own way. The movie by the way would end on the 40 point night he’s bound to drop on his former team and the final frame would be of a blogger talking about how the worst thing the Jazz ever did was let him go.
4 – Rivalries: The Lakers are in a rebuilding phase of their own and really, if the Dwight Howard deal goes down, are they that much better? I can’t wait to see Gordon drop 30 on Kobe again. Watching the Thunder throwing down against the rest in the West is going to be fabulous. That’s a rivalry I can’t wait to see develop with the Jazz. It’s already a pretty awesome one and the Jazz seem to have the Thunder’s number more often than not.
3 – Ty. He’s got a season and a half under his belt and this is his time to prove that he can do it. I think he can. I think it’s finally clicked for him. (Other than his love for Al. Dear Al, we love you but it’s time to go be a 15 and 9 player in Minnesota again.) If it doesn’t click, we’ll have plenty to talk about.
2 – The Players:
A) Mo Williams. I’ve always liked him and felt that he made a big mistake choosing money over the Jazz. I get that it’s a business, but I’ve always thought he just fit in better here.
B) Jeremy Evans.
C) Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward. Nuff said.
D) Paul Millsap. I am going to enjoy him for every second he’s still with this team and when he finally trots off to a place that can promise him a starting role, I’ll hope he enjoys Cleveland.
E) DeMarre Carroll. Some nights you want high energy over anything else. (See Jeremy Evans.)
F) Marvin Williams. I’ll bite and see what he brings.
G) Randy Foye. He’s a good, solid guy. I like that they’ve only given him a year, but I also have high hopes for what he can bring to the team. And yes, I love his story.
1 – Jazz 4.0. I’ve bought into it. Jerseys are in the rafters for a reason – to remember legacy, not to overshadow the present. And while at times fans might miss the power punch Deron brought to the team, I think we’re all glad for Derrick and even for (most of) the time we had with Devin. The Jazz still need a solid starting point guard with longevity. They need to get rid of Al, establish stability for Paul, and make sure Derrick is spending every spare moment working on his game.
Yeah, I lied. I said my next post would be about the new GM, but really what can I say that the others haven’t? Anyway, heaven forbid I post a dissenting opinion to American basketball superiority, but hey, without Stockton on the team how can you call it a dream? Oops, a bit snarky there. But feel free to go over and tell me how evil you think I am. And by the way, the US Women’s Soccer Team just won gold.
Replies: 11
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11 Responses
Yeah, definitely saw that thing from Aldridge. The guy is a bona fide crazy person. The 76ers had the 2nd-best offseason by signing 5 players in the same position (including absurdly overpaying Nick Young), amnestying a useful player in Elton Brand, and signing Kwame Brown? What? They made their team measurably worse. What the literal hell is David Aldridge talking about?
And, honestly, if the Lakers make the trade that’s in the winds … they aren’t making themselves any better. But from what I can tell, Aldridge isn’t exactly one who cares about any team from the West that isn’t the Fakers.
I think Mo just signed a RFA offer sheet, which the Jazz didn’t match. It wasn’t a matter of Mo leaving the Jazz for more money, they had the option to match.
Jazzaholic
Glad you took my advice Shauna. Good post.
For me, David Aldridge has lost almost all credibility. There is not a single analyst for TNT who kinows less about the Western Conference than him, (well ok, Fran Blinebury and Steve Aschburner, the other two worst analysts for the NBA).
First of all, he has at least 3 teams in WC in the top 10 that wont even make the playoffs (Houston, Denver, and Dallas).
Aldrdige apparently doesn’t even know that the Nuggets have Aron Afflalo and Al Harrington. Ty Lawson is now the only consistent, proven player on that team (though Faried and even McGee are on their way up). Gallinari seems increasingly more likely to be a bust.
He has the Houston Ropckets in the top 5 off seasons. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In the immortal words of Peter Griffin, “What…an…ass!”
The Rockets lost their entire team, got rid of 4 out of their 5 best players (Scola, Lowry, Dragic, and Lee) and will get below 20 wins this season.
The Mavs signed a bunch of plugs to attempt to keep their sinking ship afloat, but will not make the playoffs.
Does this idiot even watch the NBA?
Dont even get me started on the so called Power Rankings….
Even in the days of our championship run with Stockton and Malone I bet those asses over at NBA HQ had us in the late teens on their stupid lists.
I like how you can glean just how batsh** insane Aldridge is by reading his colleague’s article – from John Schuhmann’s power rankings at http://www.nba.com/powerrankings/ —
” Philadelphia (35-31)
Pace: 91.9 (24), Off: 101.7 (17), Def: 96.6 (3)
If you can figure out what the Sixers’ plan is, let the rest of us know. Elton Brand had just one more year left on his deal and played a big part in Philly’s surprising success last season. Yet, he was sacrificed so they could sign … Nick Young? And they replaced Brand on the frontline with … Kwame Brown?”
Of course, now none of it matters, since Philly really did have a great offseason thanks to adding Bynum.
Meant to say Aldridge didn’t even acknowledge that the Nuggets LOST Afflalo and Harrington.
@Chris, are you talking to me, or do you mean “you” figuratively?
If you’re talking to me, I said absolutely nothing about the Sixers. Elton Brand had a resurgence last season, and Lou Williams is a phenomnenal guard. And of course Iggy is a beast.
My guess they’re building for the future. That being said, why they chose Kwame Brown and Nick Young is unexplainable. I think they’re looking to the future. But seriouslly Kwame Brown? That guy has pretty much been unanimously declared a complete bust.
The thing that surprises me is in the past I’ve always thought Aldridge was a good to decent analyst, just one who had a ridiculous East Coast bias (Let’s be honest, they ALL do, just like over here have a Western Conference bias).
But these two lists are just completely retarded.
Great Post! I really like your top ten. I’m stoked for this season too.
A very nice post and good reasons for being excited about the up and coming season. What works out works out, sometimes the GM is yelled at because he did not get done what many of us wanted done. You have to remember it takes two or more to work out a trade. If one teams says no, he did not like the deal. The GM can only do so much. If there is a future trade in the works I do hope it is done before fall training camp. The new player will be going through what the other players and and know the system better. Go Jazz and the very best to you in the upcoming season.
If Utah let Big Al go, that would free up enough money for Utah to hopefully attempt securing a more long term point guard, even though I think I will really like the mix of Mo Williams and Randy Foye. If Utah could keep Millsap while letting Big Al go, a start 5 of Mo Wiliams, Alec Burks, Gordon Hayward, Paul Millsap, and Derrick Favors could be a pretty solid ticket. Although, I still want to see how Utah does with Mo, Hayward, Millsap, Favors, and Jefferson all starting. Millsap has hit three 3-pointers in a row before; I think his outside game has some roomt to grow but he will always be a beast down inside.