Cleaning out lockers, cleaning out notebooks
Easily the most surprising development as the Jazz cleaned out their lockers Saturday was to hear Andrei Kirilenko talk about winning a title in Utah. Kirilenko also was the Jazz player who suggested the team needed the fewest changes to be a championship contender.
"I'd say nothing," Kirilenko said. "We have everything."
It was a remarkable development considering Kirilenko's discontent last summer. After qualifying several answers about his future by mentioning his contract situation, Kirilenko was asked where he truly wanted to be.
"This is the only team I know in NBA," Kirilenko said. "I know everybody. I love everybody here in the organization."
We'll see how quiet this off-season is for the Jazz. They have 13 players under contract for next season (which has to be a record) and are likely to tender C.J. Miles a one-year qualifying offer to return. Miles would spend his second summer as a restricted free agent.
They have a payroll (with Miles) of $62.5 million, which is over last year's salary cap ($55.6 million) but below the luxury-tax threshold ($67.9 million).
With Deron Williams due a potential maximum extension (five years, $80 million) and Kevin O'Connor voicing his desire to keep together the Jazz's young core of players that includes Ronnie Brewer and Paul Millsap, I'd have to think the team is unlikely to spend.
They have three picks in the draft, at No. 23 of the first round and Nos. 46 and 52 in the second round. The Jazz have a roster spot for the first-rounder, but O'Connor doesn't like to fill the 15th spot in case he has to take back a player in a two-for-one trade.
At the same time, the Jazz are not about to sell the pick and lose out on a bargain player for four years. O'Connor said the Jazz likely would draft the best player available, but do have needs with several players entering the final year of their contracts.
O'Connor could opt to trade Kirilenko, but the Jazz would have to find a taker for the $50 million left on his contract. For his part, Williams has come out against making any major changes to the roster.
"If we can keep this team intact," Williams said, "I think we're only going to get better as we play together. I look forward to it."
* * *
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan agreed to a one-year extension in December and is expected back next season. Sloan said he would go through his usual practice of notifying the team this summer that he did want to return.
"I don't know what tomorrow'll bring," Sloan said. Talking about locker clean-out, Sloan added: "This day is a tough day. I don't like it a little bit."
* * *
Both Williams and O'Connor praised the Lakers, who could develop a playoff rivalry with the Jazz in the coming years. Both are young teams on the rise (along with New Orleans) while Dallas, San Antonio and Phoenix are all aging.
"They're definitely going to be around with the group they've got," Williams said. "When they added Pau [Gasol] this year, they just became a contender right away. Kobe's Kobe. They have a great group over there, they've got young guys, they've got a lot of energy off the bench and they're a great team."
O'Connor said, "I thought we played the most talented team in the NBA in the Lakers, with the deepest team."
As O'Connor noted, the Jazz finished with 60 wins this season, same as last season. They won 54 games in the regular season and six in the playoffs. They won 51 games last season and nine in the playoffs, reaching the conference finals against San Antonio.
* * *
It will be interesting to see if the Jazz ask Miles to play in the Rocky Mountain Revue again this summer and whether Miles again takes a pass as a restricted free agent. Miles' decision angered Sloan last year, especially when Miles started slow in training camp.
Miles said he didn't think the Jazz would ask him to play in the Revue, feeling he proved himself as an NBA player this season. Sloan, meanwhile, was asked what he thought of Miles looking ahead to another free agent summer.
"He's a young player and . . . the summer is where you make yourself," Sloan said. "A lot of times you come in and if you don't have a great summer, you're a little bit out of shape, things don't go well for you, you struggle a little bit."
* * *
Sloan and Williams both talked about the need for leadership and toughness. Williams suggested that for as much as Houston and the Lakers complained about the Jazz's physical play, the team could have been even tougher in denying easy layups.
"I think Matt Harpring said we need to sign Hoffa [Rafael Araujo] for a 1-hour contract," Williams joked.
--Ross Siler
"I'd say nothing," Kirilenko said. "We have everything."
It was a remarkable development considering Kirilenko's discontent last summer. After qualifying several answers about his future by mentioning his contract situation, Kirilenko was asked where he truly wanted to be.
"This is the only team I know in NBA," Kirilenko said. "I know everybody. I love everybody here in the organization."
We'll see how quiet this off-season is for the Jazz. They have 13 players under contract for next season (which has to be a record) and are likely to tender C.J. Miles a one-year qualifying offer to return. Miles would spend his second summer as a restricted free agent.
They have a payroll (with Miles) of $62.5 million, which is over last year's salary cap ($55.6 million) but below the luxury-tax threshold ($67.9 million).
With Deron Williams due a potential maximum extension (five years, $80 million) and Kevin O'Connor voicing his desire to keep together the Jazz's young core of players that includes Ronnie Brewer and Paul Millsap, I'd have to think the team is unlikely to spend.
They have three picks in the draft, at No. 23 of the first round and Nos. 46 and 52 in the second round. The Jazz have a roster spot for the first-rounder, but O'Connor doesn't like to fill the 15th spot in case he has to take back a player in a two-for-one trade.
At the same time, the Jazz are not about to sell the pick and lose out on a bargain player for four years. O'Connor said the Jazz likely would draft the best player available, but do have needs with several players entering the final year of their contracts.
O'Connor could opt to trade Kirilenko, but the Jazz would have to find a taker for the $50 million left on his contract. For his part, Williams has come out against making any major changes to the roster.
"If we can keep this team intact," Williams said, "I think we're only going to get better as we play together. I look forward to it."
* * *
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan agreed to a one-year extension in December and is expected back next season. Sloan said he would go through his usual practice of notifying the team this summer that he did want to return.
"I don't know what tomorrow'll bring," Sloan said. Talking about locker clean-out, Sloan added: "This day is a tough day. I don't like it a little bit."
* * *
Both Williams and O'Connor praised the Lakers, who could develop a playoff rivalry with the Jazz in the coming years. Both are young teams on the rise (along with New Orleans) while Dallas, San Antonio and Phoenix are all aging.
"They're definitely going to be around with the group they've got," Williams said. "When they added Pau [Gasol] this year, they just became a contender right away. Kobe's Kobe. They have a great group over there, they've got young guys, they've got a lot of energy off the bench and they're a great team."
O'Connor said, "I thought we played the most talented team in the NBA in the Lakers, with the deepest team."
As O'Connor noted, the Jazz finished with 60 wins this season, same as last season. They won 54 games in the regular season and six in the playoffs. They won 51 games last season and nine in the playoffs, reaching the conference finals against San Antonio.
* * *
It will be interesting to see if the Jazz ask Miles to play in the Rocky Mountain Revue again this summer and whether Miles again takes a pass as a restricted free agent. Miles' decision angered Sloan last year, especially when Miles started slow in training camp.
Miles said he didn't think the Jazz would ask him to play in the Revue, feeling he proved himself as an NBA player this season. Sloan, meanwhile, was asked what he thought of Miles looking ahead to another free agent summer.
"He's a young player and . . . the summer is where you make yourself," Sloan said. "A lot of times you come in and if you don't have a great summer, you're a little bit out of shape, things don't go well for you, you struggle a little bit."
* * *
Sloan and Williams both talked about the need for leadership and toughness. Williams suggested that for as much as Houston and the Lakers complained about the Jazz's physical play, the team could have been even tougher in denying easy layups.
"I think Matt Harpring said we need to sign Hoffa [Rafael Araujo] for a 1-hour contract," Williams joked.
--Ross Siler
7:25 PM
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4 Comments:
I feel like the Jazz need a little tweak to the team. I dont know what it is but they need something. Somehow getting rid of Hart and Collins maybe? Also they have got to settle on 2 of their 4 shooting guards dont they? Or atleast cut it to 3 SGs. I also wish there was something they could do about this stupid stigma they carry around that they are the most physical team in the NBA. For whatever reason, if its the Jazz they are physical and dirty, if it is the Spurs or the Pistons we are talking about, then it is just good defense. I dont see a lot of difference between those 3 teams defense so why is one physical and the other is good defense?
The problem, as I see it (non-Jazz fan here), is that the Jazz are just way too over-aggressive with their hands when playing defense. The key to playing good NBA-defense without getting called for fouls is to use your body. Refs tend to let a LOT go down there in the paint when the bigs are banging away at each other. The Jazz are very good at this, and tend to do a great job rebounding. However, most of their players lack lateral quickness and this results in Jazz players reaching in over and over again. I couldn't believe how many times I saw jerseys being grabbed by the Jazz in that first game with the Lakers. NBA refs will call those slap and grab fouls every time (they're the easiest to see!).
Personally, I think the Jazz are a fascinating team to talk about (along with the Nuggets) and they might have been the second best team in the West. So, do you try and make changes to improve or do you give the current group another chance? I'm reminded of Tiger Woods, who changed his swing even though he was already successful. Why? Because he wanted to get better.
I think the Jazz would be hard pressed to find a satisfactory trade involving Kirilenko. The front court seems crowded (but defensively deficient) with Okur, Boozer, and Millsap. My guess is that they'll try to find an athletic 3 that can drive and move his feet on defense (somebody who can deny dribble penetration).
bdb - focusing on the end of the bench is not the key to a championship.
drunken5yearold - I agree about the Jazz using their hands for defense. Look at Harpring, the guy comes in and slams his body into players and the refs call fouls against them! It doesn't even make sense the amount he's allowed to rough up a player as long as he doesn't use his hands. On the opposite side, I find it amazing how often Boozer uses his hands to push off on a pick and roll.
I think they just need one other guy who is going to be reasonably consistent next to Deron and also can play some defense too. Boozer and Kirilenko disappear all the time. Okur and Korver are streaky shooters and bad defenders. Brewer for whatever reason isn't in the rotation for crunch time.
The good news is that they are really young. Brewer and Millsap are very athletic and could get even better than they already are. Plus, one of the only things holding Deron back from taking over for 4 quarters is endurance and that should improve as he gets older.
Boozer needs to make a commitment to improving his defense and the Jazz could also use a quicker center than Okur.
b- My thought about getting rid of Hart and Collins wasnt to improve the end of the bench, I should have been more clear. I'm not sure, but I think Collin's contract is up at the end of next season, and I know Hart's is. That is about $5 mil in salaries that are coming off the cap that you can pair with another player to get a rotation player that is a better defender.
Drunken5- I agree the Jazz do pick up a lot of stupid fouls, however there is no way you can tell me that they are that much slower than the rest of the league. Again, for instance the Spurs, they are one of the oldest teams in the NBA, you cant tell me they are quicker than the Jazz on defense, yet they are considered a good defensive team. They do a lot of clutching and grabbing as well. My point is that the Jazz have a reputation so they get those little ticky tack hand slaps called immediately and are in foul trouble constantly and over the fould limit 4 minutes into a quarter so the other team is always shooting free throws.
There are very few teams that dont use their hands. The NBA has such big and quick guys playing nowadays it is just a matter of which fouls the refs call and which ones they decide to let slide, a foul could be called on every possession for both teams on the court. The problem comes in the officials using their discretion on which fouls they are going to call and which ones they arent. So when the Jazz already have this stigma or reputation the officials are more inclined to call a foul on the Jazz as compared to the Pistons who have a reputation of being a good defensive team.
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