After 2 blow out losses the Jazz are left searching for answers. Fans are focused on all the things we are doing wrong. It is easy to do and a lot of it needs to be said and a lot of the questions need to be asked. Fans have been all over everything from Raja needing to sit and to #FreeAlecBurks. Some fans have gone over the top to the point where they are talking about us being the worst team in the NBA and needing to fire Corbin. I am to the point that, “If I listened long enough to you I’d find a way to believe that it’s all true.” But despite the things KOC tells us (“Knowing that you lied straight-faced while I cry”) and all of the very real problems this team has “Still I look to find a reason to Believe.”

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Intro: Puff Daddy

Yeah... this right here (tell me why)
Goes out, to every Jazz fan, that has lost someone
That they truly loved (c'mon, check it out)

Verse One: Puff Daddy

Seems like yesterday we used to watch the show
You launched the J, we knew it would go
most centers bang on the low block for dough
Memo for 3, the defense should know that
The NBA ain't always what it seem to be (uh-uh)
Words can't express what you mean to me
Even though you're gone, we still a team
wish you were here to help fulfill our dream (that's right)
In the future, can't wait to see
You lining up and draining the 3
Reminisce some time, the night KOC traded my friend (uh-huh)
Try to black it out, but it plays again
When it's real, feelings hard to conceal
Can't imagine all the pain I feelGive more than a future pick to get you back (get you back)
I really feel that trade was whack.

Chorus: Faith Evans

Every J you take, every 3 you make
Every single day, every time you play
I'll be missing you
Thinkin of the day, when you went away
What a trade to make, That future pick ain’t great
I'll be missing you

[Puff] I miss you Memo

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KOC said in a radio interview last night that the young guys need to earn playing time. I think this point sometimes gets lost with fans that want to see what the new guys can do. But I think the concept of earning it is important to help this team and the players on this team achieve their potential.

If you are the coach you have to make the young guys work to earn minutes. If they are just handed out to young players because they are young and they haven’t earned it that really doesn't develop players it cripples them. The way to get a young player better is to make them work and earn it. If the player isn’t better than the guy ahead of him in practice but he still gets most of the minutes, that player can get a sense of entitlement. That sense of entitlement for a pro athlete is a curse. What is going to drive that guy to put in all of the extra work to get better and become a star if they just breathe and are put in the starting lineup? There are a few guys that are put together like Karl Malone that will work their butt off to get better no matter what, but a lot of young players can become complacent and just want to pat themselves on the back rather than kick themselves in the butt. Look these guys have had everyone around them kissing their butts since they were in AAU ball. For the coach to have any authority over them at all they have to make them earn playing time.

The other thing giving a player PT that doesn’t earn it is it can make the coach lose the locker room. If you are a vet and work your hard everyday in practice and you get sent to the bench because we need to develop this kid that can’t play yet, you as a coach lose the respect of the team. The team starts to think the FO is calling the shots instead of the coach then you become a lame duck coach. Now the team needs a new coach to come in and try to get the team back together.

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With no NBA right now die hard NBA fans are stuck reading about everything that is wrong with the sport they love and the reasons that they don’t get to see it. We read about new CBAs, sustainable systems, hard caps, soft caps, flex caps and the need for parity. We can only dream about how this season would play out.  In between dreams right now I have read so much about how the NBA needs to fix the system to increase parity like the NFL has that I am sick.

I have always thought if there is so much parity in the NFL then why do I feel like after 5 games the Kansas City Chiefs season is over. The Bengals have a chance at the playoffs by their record, but nobody thinks they are near as good as the Steelers and the Ravens so they aren’t going anywhere in reality. We have heard the term anybody can beat anybody on any given Sunday, but we never hear anything about parity on a Tuesday night in the NBA if the Kings beat the Lakers. I am one who doesn’t think the NFL really has parity. Parity is a myth. Parity is what we talk ourselves into believing about this league that everything is so close that every week the difference between winning and losing is inches.  We look at a football team that is 7-9 and we can focus in on three games that they had a shot to win and came up short at the end. In football more than any other sport we talk ourselves into the reasons that team is really a 10-6 team and should have made the playoffs.  

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Here on SLC dunk there has been a lot of talk about the potential for the Jazz if they finish in the lottery and could get another lottery pick next year to go along with Golden State’s lottery pick would be better than competing for the playoffs next year. The scary thing to me is that the way the NBA is currently set up it makes some sense. That is where I have a huge problem. I never want to see my team lose. I don’t want a reason to feel good if we get our butt kicked by the T’Wolves.  I think there should be some incentive to winning, even for teams that don’t have a shot at making the playoffs. The Sports Guy’s idea for a two week tournament for the last 4 playoff spots is a great idea, but I think the change would be too drastic for the NBA. So I tried to come up with an approach that would reward winning throughout the season, while not changing the current season 82 game format. 

In 2010 the Indiana Pacers were sitting at 22-46 with 14 games left. That is a .325 winning percentage. Most teams in that spot fold up like an accordion with the hopes of landing the next Rose, Durant, or Wall. The Pacers kept working their butts off. They finished the last 14 games going 10-4 over that stretch. Of those four loses, one was in OT and one was by a single point. One of those wins they had was a big hit to the Jazz season. If the Jazz win that game they get home court in the first round of the Playoffs, instead the Pacers made it so we could open the playoffs with “Utah Sucks” chants in Denver.  

But the real issue for the Pacers is that they finished the year with 32 wins. Had the Pacers continued to play at the level they were playing they would have won either 26 or 27 games. The team that won the lottery last year, the Washington Wizards, won 26 games. The team that ended up picking second, the Philadelphia 76ers, won 27 games. The Pacers would have been somewhere in the mix with those ping pong balls, had they not decided to try to win games down the stretch of the season. The Pacers who need a PG and a PF could have been in the running for a top 2 pick in a draft that had John Wall and Derek Favors taken in the top 3 picks.  Poor Indy got penalized for winning and slipped to the 10th pick in the draft.  I think I can fix that problem.

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After reading countless posts about who needs to go, who needs to stay, why losing is a good thing, and how the playing time should be divided, all I was left thinking was when did this all happen? I want answers.

Col. Jessep: *You want answers?*
Kaffee: *I want the truth!*
Col. Jessep: *You can't handle the truth!*

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Thank You to the Utah Jazz

Everyone knows this wasn’t the best season. We have often criticized the players, the coaches, the front office and everyone because things didn’t go the way we had hoped.  Well here is a post to just thank the Jazz for what they have done right and what they have brought to the table. So often we focus on what we aren’t instead of what we are. So here is a little thank you for the  2010-2011 Utah Jazz.

Thank you Greg Miller

For Trying to carry on your dad’s legacy and continue to build the team that we can be proud of. Thank you for investing in our future, by building a team around young players and being willing to take chances to help the team grow.

Thanks KOC.

Thank you for your tireless work in finding the right pieces for or small market franchise to be competitive and for your work building for our future. Thank you for your draft foresight in bringing us Gordon Hayward, even though a lot of fans didn’t understand how much he really had to offer. Thank you for bringing in Big Al, for not letting our franchise be taken hostage Denver style. Thanks for bringing us Devin Harris and Derrick Favors and those 2 future picks. We will expect you to deliver on those picks and to continue to bring in players to help this team get back up the mountain and to eventually get to the top. But just know that we do appreciate your hard work.  

Thanks Jerry and Phil

Thanks for everything. Thanks for the 26 years, the playoffs appearances, the finals trips, the wins, even the hard fought losses. Thanks for your fight, your toughness, and your attitude. Thanks for being united in everything you did.  Thanks for your loyalty. We will miss you forever and always cherish the memories.

Thanks Tyrone

Thank you for building on the principles that Jerry and Phil work so hard to instill in this franchise. Thanks for handling a tough situation with class and steadying a ship that hadn’t been rocked for over 20 years.  We will expect you to build on the experiences that you have and to turn this young group into contenders. We look forward to our future together.

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Do you know why Jerry Sloan has never won coach of the year award? People here on SLC Dunk have touched on this several times, but it comes down to Sloan is always expected to do well so the media never gives him credit for what a good job he does. It is constantly posted on here about how the media has their expectations and so while we can see the injustice of Scott Brooks getting a coach of the year, the same time that Durant, Ibaka, and Westbrook start coming into their own, we also need to be able to see past when our expectations are too high, or not focused on the same thing as the players focus. A lot of us expected Al to come in and average 23 and 13, but when you look at his actual numbers they are not as bad as people would have you to believe. It comes back to expectations. If we had thought it would take Al a while to learn the offense, the team to adjust to the first low post player we have had in a decade and for him to be playing through a jacked up knuckle on his shooting hand, we would have gladly accepted his numbers this year. So next time we get ticked at the media for them making their decisions based on expectations we need to remember that we are all guilty of this at times.

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"There is only one Lord of the Ring, only one who can bend it to his will. And he does not share power." -- Lord of the Rings

Here in Utah you can’t go anywhere without seeing a symbol of the Mormon faith - a CTR ring. The ring stands for “Choose The Right” as a reminder to help make proper “decisions.” Well in LeBron’s quest for a different kind of ring he could have used a CTR ring to help with his decision. After spending 7 years playing for his hometown team and watching all of the moves that they made since his arrival to become a title contender, LeBron must not have learned anything. Championships aren’t won over night. Championship teams aren’t built overnight. Now am I saying that Miami won’t win a championship? No, they have way too much talent to write off. I am saying that they didn’t CTR in all of their decisions this year.

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The Man in Black

With Brandon Roy’s knees looking like they have hung around with Greg Oden too long, the Dread Pirate Roberts looks like he will get to take over the ship in Portland.

I know the Jazz have moved on and OMSW is no longer with us, but it is still fun for me to see him get minutes. Maybe Portland knew that Roy’s legs were in trouble this year and they saw an opportunity to lock down a player that could end up replacing him better than anyone (other than Yucca Man) would have thought.

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What is right with the Jazz?

The past few days on here on SLC Dunk we have focused on everything that is wrong with the Jazz. Well I am here to say maybe all isn’t right, but a lot of things are right.

The Price is right.

While Ronnie Price has been on the team for the last few years we haven’t had anyone’s role yo-yo more than Price. Ronnie has bounced from 2nd string to 3rd string and back nearly every year since he has been here. The thing about Ronnie is he has never let that affect his play. I mean Ronnie has been the back up to Jason Hart, until he took the spot from Hart and gave us the block on Luke Walton’s dunk in the playoffs. So Ronnie had worked his butt off that year to become the backup PG, only to lose his spot the next year to Brevin Knight. That year he was the 3rd point guard the entire year until the 4th quarter of the last game of the playoffs, when it was clear that Ronnie would never back down in a game (there is no wonder that Sloan had Ronnie in last night). He single handedly got the Jazz within striking distance of the Lakers. Sloan admitted after that game that he should have played Ronnie more.  Then he was our backup PG, until Eric Maynor looked like he was the better player and about to take the spot. Then we trade Maynor and Price is back to the 2nd string PG. Now this year we get Earl Watson to come in and be the back up PG only to see Ronnie do what Ronnie does and hustle his way back onto the floor.

Last night against Miami, Ronnie might have not shut D-Wade down and he might have committed a flagrant foul that could have cost us the game. But in true Ronnie Price style, he worked his but off hit a big 3 that tied the game in the 4th, played the point down the stretch and ran the pick and roll, splitting the D and getting the ball to Elson leading to his game winning FTs. Lets face it the Price isn’t perfect, but the Price is right.

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“Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.”—Shawshank Redemption

Amar wrote a great post on The Hype surrounding NBA Teams and the OKC Thunder. If you missed it check it out.  http://www.slcdunk.com/2010/10/21/1766146/rumbles-of-thunder-dont-believe-the-hype#storyjump

A response to Hype-

Hype is just Excitement mixed with Hope.

First off- Kevin Durant is a once in a generation talent. That is why his team gets the hype. Durant could be playing with 4 guys in my rec league and his team would get hype. The truth is anytime there is a player that is that good that young we tend to put the hype behind them. Amar listed some teams that got hype that didn’t do anything, but come on, hype isn’t batting 0 for 5. There was a lot of hype when Larry Bird got drafted when he was still in college for another year. There was a lot of hype when a 6’9” rookie point guard got drafted to play alongside the leagues best center. I think both Bird and Magic delivered on the hype that they got. When Dr. J joined the Sixers there was a lot of hype. Jordan’s teams got tons of hype even though they had never got passed The Bad Boys.  When Jordan returned from baseball there was hype.  When Tim Duncan joined forces with David Robinson there was a lot of hype. When Shaq came to LA there was hype. When Phil joined Kobe and Shaq in LA there was more hype. When Shaq joined D-Wade there was hype. When KG and Ray Ray joined Paul P in Boston there was hype. When Pau joined Kobe and Phil in LA there was hype. All of those teams had the hype and won championships. Was there hype when Ewing went to NY? Yes. Was there also hype when Barkley went to Phoenix? Yes. Was there hype when Barkley and Pippen went to Houston? Yes. Was there hype when Grant Hill and T-Mac joined up in Orlando? Yes. So it isn’t cut and dry that hype means that a team is a future champ or a failure. Have teams been over-hyped? Yes. Have championship teams been under the radar? Yes.

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Milk Was a Bad Choice.

So maybe we should have some Sunny D and OJ.

When I looked at the preseason roster, there were three guys that I thought would have not shot at making the team, Nichols, Gaines, and Jeffers. But after the first 3 preseason games, one thing should be very clear, the Jazz have 17 capable NBA players right now. While I currently do think that those same 3 could still be on the outside looking in it should be worth noting that Sunny D has been very impressive and that OJ competes.

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In the off season you have a lot of time to think about things that don't really matter, but are fun to discuss. I was talking with some of my buddies about an all time team. If you could put any 12 players on a team what it would look like?  I tried to be unbiased. (I would have started Stockton, but settled to just have him on the team.) I also wanted to put Jerry West instead of Kobe, but Kobe is probably better. This is what I came up with

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On June 24thKOC was a four letter word. As Jazz fans, we tend to over react to every possible situation, but this time he was blowing it and all of us could see it. I tried to tell myself there must be some method to his madness. Every where I turned there was KOC bashing. Everyone knew KOC was off of his rocker, everyone that is except for KOC. He seemed genuinely confident that the Jazz had just made a great move. It was as if he knew something that no one else knew. That is Kevin O’Conner. He has been able to remain calm and take criticism, while quietly going about business making moves that have made the Jazz one of the most successful teams in the NBA the past decade.  KOC has seemed to be two steps ahead of everyone else the entire way and this off season was no different. While the talking heads on local TV and radio were killing KOC for letting Boozer walk, he was acquiring a trade exception from Chicago. While Newspapers and blogs were calling for his head for not drafting a big man, he was drafting what he felt like was the best player available and working behind the scenes on getting a low post force for pennies on the dollar. While fans were upset over the Wes Matthews situation, he was bringing in the veteran leadership that the locker room had been missing. This last week SBNation ranked KOC second best GM in the NBA. (http://www.sbnation.com/2010/7/22/1582380/nba-general-manager-rankings-pat-riley-heat)  I thought this was a perfect opportunity to give praise to the man.

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The more I thought about it the more I think it was the right move. I know you just think I went crazy, but just look at the situation.

Everyone wants us to take a big guy, but  when Cole Aldrich came in at 6'9" and Ed Davis by all accounts being 3 to 4 years away from being productive, who do you take? Patrick Patterson, He was the 4th best player on his college team that didn't even make the final four. I'm not sure he is the number 2 people keep demanding. The Jazz felt that they wouldn't help us out any more than Kosta and Fes. It was to the point that we need another project big man about as much as we need to give CJ a max contract. KOC said that the Jazz felt like after Monroe was off the board then we were better off looking at other ways for bringing in a big man. I guess they are looking to bing in a veteran big man who we know can contribute. The Jazz are still going to try to develop Fes and Kosta. Let's not write Kosta off yet, he is still younger than Udoh and some of the players in this draft after all. Also the pick opens up opportunities for us to move AK for a big and another role player. I know it would be losing AK, but his contract is a good trade chip. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense.

Hayward was the best NBA ready player available. He was on most  draft boards as the 3rd best wing player, after Turner and Johnson. Most people outside of Utah like the pick.  He is a great pick and roll player and also makes AK expendable, again trade for a big and maybe another player. The Jazz also said that they wanted a guy that could make plays and make those around them better, cross Henry off the list. They wanted a guy who was a solid defender, cross Babbitt of the list. So the more you think about it, Hayward had the most to offer. I also thought it was interesting to note that the guy the Thunder were trying to trade up to get was Hayward. They love him and were willing to give up Eric Maynor and two first rounders for him, to the Pacers for the 10 pick. To me that says a lot about how good he could be. For all the bashing on KOC, when he is liking the same young guy as OKC he must be doing something right.  This also made any thought of trading down to get him unrealistic.

The pick also makes bringing Boozer back more believable. There are still reports out there that Boozer could end up in NJ, Chicago, or Miami. The thing is that if a team is going to give Boozer max money, then it is likely we could do a sign and trade with him and get something back in return and since we have trade exceptions.

Another thing that made me feel better is that KOC said that they tried to move up, but that the asking prices were to high. I took that with a grain of salt until I heard  on a podcast that that was true. The Jazz were really trying to move up in the draft, but teams were asking way too much.

I agree that he isn’t going to be an all star. I am very worried how a guy with a stroke like his goes from 45% from 3 to 29%. I am worried about his muscle and how well he will develop. All isn't roses with him, but he is a winner and a hard worker. I really believe he will be very solid  for a long time. Brad Stevens also said yesterday on Kall 700 when he was asked about his percentage going down and he said, "he'll make every big one" and he also said  "if I were a Jazz fan I wouldn't lose any sleep over it."   I hope he is right. For now we need to get behind this guy because, even if you don't like it, he is ours.