Somebody planned a vacation
So much for the end to the Jazz's feel-good season. You had Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams both calling out their teammates after Wednesday's game. This was more than just a plea for somebody else to hit a couple of shots to help them out.
If what Boozer says is true, the Jazz had a player or players who made vacation plans for next week. Not played as if he wanted to go on vacation. Actual plans. Boozer contrasted that with Derek Fisher's supreme effort not to leave the team hanging in Game 5.
"It's sad to say that because where we are, we're in the Western Conference finals," Boozer said, "and we have some guys already having vacation plans.
"On the other side of the spectrum, you see a guy like D-Fish who went across the country to take care of his daughter and fly all the way back just to make it to the game.
"It's sad to have that. You have a couple guys on vacation. One guy having some real life stuff go on and still try to make it back and give everything he has. That's a problem and we need to get that fixed this summer.
"I'll never call out a teammate. I'll never say anything negative directly to a teammate because I love my team and I believe in that code. But we need guys that are always going to give everything they have.
"We need guys that have a championship vision. When you have your vacation plans already, that's not a championship vision."
It didn't sound like the Jazz were going to have a very fun flight back from San Antonio. The Jazz fell behind by 19 in the first quarter, when 16 of their 22 shots were jumpers. Utah coach Jerry Sloan described the Spurs as having "destroyed our will to want to play."
Williams took stock of a series where the Jazz were beaten "pretty handily, pretty easily" by the Spurs and blasted his teammates.
"It was pretty disappointing how we came out," Williams said. "We came out with not much energy from the start, not much fight, and that's something that shouldn't happen in a game like this, a game this magnitude in front of the whole world."
Williams pointedly described "three, four guys" who played hard and "a bench full of guys that want to get out there." He didn't name names but said "I know for a fact" that some guys don't want to be playing for the Jazz.
Williams said there were players who thought the season was over trailing the Spurs 3-1 in the series and questioned whether everybody in the locker room was playing to win. He didn't backtrack when told how serious an indictment that was.
"I'm not going to say they didn't play to win . . . I'm not backing up. I said it," Williams said.
He was asked if he was talking about just Wednesday's game or the entire series and answered, "Series, this year, last year. I'm not saying they don't play to win. I don't know if they care if they win or lose when it's all said and done. I don't know."
For a team that made such strides in these playoffs, the Jazz would seem to have major changes to make given the conviction with which Boozer and Williams spoke.
Their comments seemed to apply most directly to Giricek, Okur and Kirilenko, all of whom were disappointments against the Spurs. Another surprise was what Fisher said in response to a question about Williams calling out his teammates. What Fisher, the veteran leader, didn't do was stick up for everyone.
"I can't comment on the makeup of individuals outside of myself," Fisher said. "You don't ever really have to say names. Guys always know who they are, what they're capable of and what their purpose is.
"You can't make people do what you need them to do on a team. We'll see. It's unfortunate because we had a real chance to be the best team in the league right now.
"Hopefully, whoever that is that had other plans for next week, they'll be able to think about it for a while now. Hopefully, they'll enjoy it."
As splintered as the locker room seemed after the game, it's worth remembering how united the Jazz looked in winning Game 7 on the road against Houston in the first round with Boozer grabbing rebounds and Kirilenko and Okur hitting key three-pointers.
The Jazz fell behind 0-2 against the Rockets and won two elimination games plus a road Game 7. They came back after getting run in a 40-point second quarter against Golden State in Game 3 and pulled away in the fourth quarter to win Game 4 on the road.
It's too simple to say they packed it in the first chance they got because they did exactly the opposite so many times when presented with the opportunity in the playoffs.
Maybe the emotions were too raw after an embarrassing loss to end the season. Or maybe Boozer and Williams are right and it's time to make some major changes, though some contracts are easier to unload than others.
* * *
It sounds so far off but July 1, 2008 is going to be a huge day for the Jazz. It's the start of the free-agent negotiating period and the first day that the Jazz will be able to offer Williams an extension to his rookie contract, one that could be worth five years and $80 million.
That's if Williams is indeed worth a max deal. It looked that way during these playoffs but a lot can happen in a year. The biggest question might be how happy Williams is with the direction of the Jazz this time next season when he's considering signing.
I put the question to him directly after Wednesday's game, including the part about having big decisions to make next summer. His answer was interesting and offered proof that Williams won't soon be forgetting the struggles of his rookie season.
"For the most part," Williams said when asked about being happy with things. "I wasn't really happy with the way last year went. I felt like I could have helped the team a lot more than I did. I try not to hold that against them too much. It still lingers in my mind.
"At the same time, I love it here, I love Salt Lake, I love the fans, I love the team. All the guys on the team are great guys. Off the court, everyone is great. On the court, I might not agree with some guys' effort, some guys' thought process.
"A lot of guys think different than me. I like to win. Some guys, it seems like they don't play to win sometimes."
If you want to know how important that rookie extension is, just ask the Cavaliers how much they sweated out LeBron James' decision last summer. James ultimately signed for three years, not five, to preserve his right to leave should the organization take a backward step.
* * *
Hope you enjoyed the blog during the playoffs. We'll keep posting here through the summer, including during the NBA Finals. If there's anything you're interested in seeing or starting a discussion about, please e-mail me at rsiler@sltrib.com
--Ross Siler
If what Boozer says is true, the Jazz had a player or players who made vacation plans for next week. Not played as if he wanted to go on vacation. Actual plans. Boozer contrasted that with Derek Fisher's supreme effort not to leave the team hanging in Game 5.
"It's sad to say that because where we are, we're in the Western Conference finals," Boozer said, "and we have some guys already having vacation plans.
"On the other side of the spectrum, you see a guy like D-Fish who went across the country to take care of his daughter and fly all the way back just to make it to the game.
"It's sad to have that. You have a couple guys on vacation. One guy having some real life stuff go on and still try to make it back and give everything he has. That's a problem and we need to get that fixed this summer.
"I'll never call out a teammate. I'll never say anything negative directly to a teammate because I love my team and I believe in that code. But we need guys that are always going to give everything they have.
"We need guys that have a championship vision. When you have your vacation plans already, that's not a championship vision."
It didn't sound like the Jazz were going to have a very fun flight back from San Antonio. The Jazz fell behind by 19 in the first quarter, when 16 of their 22 shots were jumpers. Utah coach Jerry Sloan described the Spurs as having "destroyed our will to want to play."
Williams took stock of a series where the Jazz were beaten "pretty handily, pretty easily" by the Spurs and blasted his teammates.
"It was pretty disappointing how we came out," Williams said. "We came out with not much energy from the start, not much fight, and that's something that shouldn't happen in a game like this, a game this magnitude in front of the whole world."
Williams pointedly described "three, four guys" who played hard and "a bench full of guys that want to get out there." He didn't name names but said "I know for a fact" that some guys don't want to be playing for the Jazz.
Williams said there were players who thought the season was over trailing the Spurs 3-1 in the series and questioned whether everybody in the locker room was playing to win. He didn't backtrack when told how serious an indictment that was.
"I'm not going to say they didn't play to win . . . I'm not backing up. I said it," Williams said.
He was asked if he was talking about just Wednesday's game or the entire series and answered, "Series, this year, last year. I'm not saying they don't play to win. I don't know if they care if they win or lose when it's all said and done. I don't know."
For a team that made such strides in these playoffs, the Jazz would seem to have major changes to make given the conviction with which Boozer and Williams spoke.
Their comments seemed to apply most directly to Giricek, Okur and Kirilenko, all of whom were disappointments against the Spurs. Another surprise was what Fisher said in response to a question about Williams calling out his teammates. What Fisher, the veteran leader, didn't do was stick up for everyone.
"I can't comment on the makeup of individuals outside of myself," Fisher said. "You don't ever really have to say names. Guys always know who they are, what they're capable of and what their purpose is.
"You can't make people do what you need them to do on a team. We'll see. It's unfortunate because we had a real chance to be the best team in the league right now.
"Hopefully, whoever that is that had other plans for next week, they'll be able to think about it for a while now. Hopefully, they'll enjoy it."
As splintered as the locker room seemed after the game, it's worth remembering how united the Jazz looked in winning Game 7 on the road against Houston in the first round with Boozer grabbing rebounds and Kirilenko and Okur hitting key three-pointers.
The Jazz fell behind 0-2 against the Rockets and won two elimination games plus a road Game 7. They came back after getting run in a 40-point second quarter against Golden State in Game 3 and pulled away in the fourth quarter to win Game 4 on the road.
It's too simple to say they packed it in the first chance they got because they did exactly the opposite so many times when presented with the opportunity in the playoffs.
Maybe the emotions were too raw after an embarrassing loss to end the season. Or maybe Boozer and Williams are right and it's time to make some major changes, though some contracts are easier to unload than others.
* * *
It sounds so far off but July 1, 2008 is going to be a huge day for the Jazz. It's the start of the free-agent negotiating period and the first day that the Jazz will be able to offer Williams an extension to his rookie contract, one that could be worth five years and $80 million.
That's if Williams is indeed worth a max deal. It looked that way during these playoffs but a lot can happen in a year. The biggest question might be how happy Williams is with the direction of the Jazz this time next season when he's considering signing.
I put the question to him directly after Wednesday's game, including the part about having big decisions to make next summer. His answer was interesting and offered proof that Williams won't soon be forgetting the struggles of his rookie season.
"For the most part," Williams said when asked about being happy with things. "I wasn't really happy with the way last year went. I felt like I could have helped the team a lot more than I did. I try not to hold that against them too much. It still lingers in my mind.
"At the same time, I love it here, I love Salt Lake, I love the fans, I love the team. All the guys on the team are great guys. Off the court, everyone is great. On the court, I might not agree with some guys' effort, some guys' thought process.
"A lot of guys think different than me. I like to win. Some guys, it seems like they don't play to win sometimes."
If you want to know how important that rookie extension is, just ask the Cavaliers how much they sweated out LeBron James' decision last summer. James ultimately signed for three years, not five, to preserve his right to leave should the organization take a backward step.
* * *
Hope you enjoyed the blog during the playoffs. We'll keep posting here through the summer, including during the NBA Finals. If there's anything you're interested in seeing or starting a discussion about, please e-mail me at rsiler@sltrib.com
--Ross Siler
1:40 AM
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6 Comments:
Aaargh. This pisses me off. I can't believe Boozer and Williams would throw their teammates under a bus like this. This will certainly only exacerbate the problem/misunderstanding, and create a rift between american and non-american jazz players. And no one can tell me AK doesn't want to win. Look at his 4th quarter block on Oberto in game 4. Realizing a basket would be disaster, he goes for that ball like his life depends on it. Then Fisher bricks one on the other end.
In all honesty, I think it might just be cultural and language differences. It's hard to express your disappointment in a foreign language, and I'm sure it's even more so when you're struggling, trying to get yourself in the game.
intersting, im from houston and im glad to see at leas one texas team made it and it wasnt the jazz, as bad as i hate the jazz i still wish things will work out thats pretty low for BOOzer and DW to call out AK and Okur Williams seems to cocky after a couple of good series and lucky layups, he wasnt hurt that was a excuse they made even before the game started they knew they were done and want to point fingers..good team leaders dont do that..hope they enjoed this year though cuz theyll all be on vacation next year early playoff exit GO ROCKETSSS!!!
I don't Okur should be called out on this one. He played his but-off on the defensive end, even if he couldn't get his shot going. I don't think you can call him a disappointment against the Spurs, guarding Duncan is nigh impossible. He's a keeper. AK put in a tremendous effort, but I think he is frustrated at being relegated to being a role player. Considering his highest on the team salary, I think he might be happier on another team and the jazz could pick up some good talent on a trade. Trade Giricek, he didn't come to play the whole post-season. They really need a tall athletic 2 guard to defend and hit the three with more consistency that Giricek has shown.
Having left the Jazz in my move to CA, take heart Jazz fans. You have a great program that bobbled for a while and righted itself rapidly back to success. It is good to challenge character, and if character really does exist being challenged will only turn it around. If there is indeed a deep current that needs to be exposed then by all means do it. We all think basketball is a business but the majority of players love the game and play from the heart and not off talent alone. Lets expose the good and train the bad up to be better. The Jazz have always been outstanding at growing the skills that go with the natural talent and ability of our current and past players. Any player that runs from that will find the grass is not greener on the other side. The grass is greener where it gets watered.
That was really trashy from Williams and Boozer to call their team mates this way publibcally.
I'm die hard fan for the Jazz, and I like the Jazz because I think the have a class players, by the way I'm Egyptian and I could choose any wining team have some thugs, but I choosed the Jazz for the class they showed( I'm Jazz fan from 4 years ago), even when they were losing, I was still fan for them.
If williams and Boozer took this bath( being trashy), I think I will not be a fan for the Jazz any more.
Williams and Boozer should show leadership, which means they should do it behind close doors, there is no way that team mate will like you to be a star and winner and you trash him like that.
Boozer was injured, and the team won as I think 7 out of 8 and Okur was the star, and Okur in my opinion still a star, who could stop Yao Ming the same way he did, he did a good job on Duncan, mean while Boozer couldn't even guared Oberto.
It was really frustrating hear potential super stares to state such a thing publicly, they ruin the whole season for me after I was really happy for what they did.
Stockton never called out a teammate. Never.
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