As if taking cheap shots at his “friend” Derek Fisher in last year’s playoffs wasn’t enough:
Monthly Archives: November 2007
I noticed that Jazz players rank pretty high in my fantasy league, an league built on five stats category: points, assists, blocks, steals and rebounds. The rankings are based on the players who would give you the best statlines in these categories. Clearly, this shows that the 2007-08 season is a good year to have a Jazz player on your team, as you can see from the actual rank of the Jazz players:
Carlos Boozer #10
Andrei Kirileno #11 (once again a fantasy star)
Ronnie Brewer #17
Deron Williams #22
Mehmet Okur #72
Gordan Giricek #124
Paul Millsap #138
Matt Harpring #187
C.J. Miles #271
Jarron Collins #287
Jason Hart #338
Morris Almond #339
Ronnie Price #365
Kyrylo Fesenko #388
The Jazz have four (Boozer, Kirilenko, Brewer and Williams) of the 22 best fantasy players in the league. This makes the Jazz the best team from which to own a fantasy player in the league, as only a couple of other teams even have two players in the Top 25 (Phoenix: Shawn Marion #3, Steve Nash #18, one behind Brewer; Denver; AI #4 and Marcus Camby #7; Boston: Kevin Garnett #5, Ray Allen #21, Orlando: Dwight Howard #20, Rashard Lewis #9, Houston: Yao Ming #2, Tracy McGrady #18, Cleveland: LeBron James #10, Daniel Gibson #22).
So the Jazz by far are the best fantasy team from which to choose a fantasy player, as they have four of the top 25 players in the league, and no other team even has three of the top 25 fantasy players.
But let’s look at this another way. There are 30 teams in the league. Everything being equal, a team’s best player would occupy one of the top 30 spots in the league. They’re second-best player one of the spots from 31 to 60, and their third best player, a spot from 61 to 90 and so on. Using that logic, where do the Jazz players, on average, rank:
#1 PLAYER ON AN AVERAGE TEAM
Boozer
Kirilenko
Brewer
Williams
#3 PLAYER ON AN AVERAGE TEAM
Okur
#5 PLAYER ON AN AVERAGE TEAM
Giricek
#6 PLAYER ON AN AVERAGE TEAM
Millsap
#9 PLAYER ON AN AVERAGE TEAM
Miles
Collins
#11 PLAYER ON AN AVERAGE TEAM
Hart
Almond
#12 PLAYER ON AN AVERAGE TEAM
Price
#13 PLAYER ON AN AVERAGE TEAM
Fesenko
This shows us some very important things. First, the Jazz starting five is very, very good from a fantasy standpoint. To have four No. 1s in one team’s starting five means all four of those players have to be versatile and good at all five categories or good in a couple and outstanding in another. That fits all four players, and shows why the Jazz have a very versatile starting five. The exception is Okur, who is good points scorer, who will get some rebounds (but not enough). Still, he’s a #3 player on an average team.
These results also are telling about the bench, as they suggest Millsap and Giricek are good options off the bench, but beyond that the options are not so great, which is hardly a surprise. The Jazz have seven really good players, some with some big potential, and then they have Jason Hart and Jarron Collins. These statistics may be the most condemning of Hart, who despite playing in every game is considered just as valuable as Almond, who has barely played at all this year. This confirms the Jazz fan’s thoughts that Hart is more valuable watching than playing.
The news was a little devastating to the Utah Jazz when the NBA Lottery, for the top picks in a draft with two big-time players, was won by two division rivals: The Portland Trail Blazers and the Seattle Super Sonics.
Having Greg Oden and Kevin Durant in the division caused an immediate threat to the dynasty that the Jazz seemed to be building with a team full of young superstars. With Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer, the Jazz seemed destined to win Northwest Division title after Northwest Division title, particulary as the Nuggets’ Allen Iverson aged because Carmelo Anothony has already he proven he can’t carry Denver on his own. Meanwhile, Minnesota shipped the only star player they’ve ever had to Boston, and the T-Wolves are years away from being serious.
That left the Jazz as the only team with a future in the Northwest Division.
And, then, Portland and Seattle won the lottery. Here’s a look at how the division foes should stack up against the Jazz in years to come:
SEATTLE
The idea of a sonics team featuring Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis and Kevin Durant was indeed fearsome. But Allen got traded and Lewis left via free agency. And early returns on Durant aren’t good. He’s struggling, particularly when facing tall defenders, such as Andrei Kirilenko. He’ll need to improve significantly to be a formidable player in this league. The Sonics are unquestionably a lesser team this year, and it appears they have no immediate answers for the future–except that they no longer want to be in Seattle. Their only hope is that Durant develops.
Future Forecast: Bleak with a 45 percent chance of moderate
DENVER
The Nuggets realistically are looking at two or three good years with the Iverson-Anthony combination. They have good players surrounding. If they were in the East, they could challenge the Celtics for the conference, one would think. But then, you have to remember how they played in Boston the other night … In the West, they could challenge the Jazz for the division, one would think. But then, you have to remember how the Iverson-Anthony combo lost significant ground to the Jazz at the end of last season.
Future Forecast: Good turning to crap.
Minnesota
How many good moves have the T-Wolves made in their history? Not many. Their best move was to draft Kevin Garnett. That they could never build a legitimate contender around him is a testament to Kevin McHale’s ineptness. Pre-Garnett, the T-Wolves were a perennial lottery team. Post-Garnett, expect more of the same. They didn’t get enough for Garnett to build a future where they can even contend for a playoff spot in the West.
Future Forecast: Abysmal to Bleak
Portland
The big question with the Blazers is Oden’s health. If he’s a perennial injured reserve guy–and there’s reason to believe he will be, Portland will struggle. But the Blazers have some excellent young players in Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. They’re going to struggle for a bit, but expect the Blazers to work their way into the playoffs and then potentially evolve into a contender if Oden stays healthy.
Future Forecast: Struggling to Playoffs
The Jazz
The prime issue in Utah is keeping some of the young talent. Clearly, they absolutely must re-sign Deron Williams and Paul Millsap. They need to have Boozer long-term. Okur and Kirilenko are expendable if we find like talents, but they are under contract enough to contribute to a perennial playoff power. Ronnie Brewer’s improved play makes the Jazz an instant contender.
Future Forecast: May to June–a championship contender.
As of now, here is how I see the next five seasons finishing up in the Northwest Division:
2007-08
1. Utah
2. Denver
3. Portland
4. Minnesota
5. Seattle
2008-09
1. Utah
2. Denver
3. Portland
4. Oklahoma City*
5. Minnesota
2009-2010
1. Utah
2. Portland
3. Denver
4. Oklahoma City
5. Minnesota
2010-11
1. Utah
2. Portland
3. Oklahoma City
4. Denver
5. Minnesota
2011-2012
1. Utah
2. Portland
3. Oklahoma City
4. Minnesota
5. Denver
Six games into the season, I offer these five observations:
1) Jason Hart is not the answer as backup point guard. Does anyone have Dee Brown on speed dial? Hart is shooting 11% from the field and the team looks listless and disorganized when he is running the point. Two immediate alternatives are first, seeing what Ronnie Price can do as the backup or, second, letting Andrei Kirilenko play point guard for the eight minutes a game that Deron Williams is not playing.
2) Ronnie Brewer is the answer as the starting shooting guard. Brewer has been phenomenal in the first six games. He plays within the offense and is intense on defense, ranking third in the NBA in steals per game. Brewer is a great finisher around the basket and is averaging a stellar 16 points per game. He’s even made three baskets from beyond the 3-point arc.
3) Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer are All-Stars. If there was any doubt whether the duo could keep up the brilliance they displayed in last season’s playoff run, that has been put to bed. Both should represent in this year’s All-Star game. If Baron “I play for myself” Davis makes the All-Star team instead of Williams, that will be a travesty.
4) Paul Millsap needs more minutes. Seriously, did Jerry Sloan see the game against Cleveland? Millsap looked like an All-Star. Then last night at Seattle, he gets 17 minutes! Millsap needs at least 30 minutes a game.
5) These players need fewer minutes: Jason Hart (should get 0 minutes), Gordan Giricek (adds nothing unique to the team) and Matt Harpring (great player but would rather see Millsap in the game).
Near the end of tonight’s Jazz-Cavs game, the Cavs, down by one, fouled Ronnie Brewer. While Brewer was waiting to shoot the free throws, right in front of the foul line, Damon Jones walked in front of him and started talking all sorts of smack. He wouldn’t leave so the ref had to come and get him away from Brewer. Can the league implement a technical foul to assess in this case? It’s obviously not sportsmanlike. Damon Jones is perhaps the most annoying personality in the league, with his main competition being Baron Davis. I can’t fathom how his teammates even get along with him. Maybe they don’t. Incidentally, Brewer sank both free throws and the Cavs left Salt Lake City with another loss to a Western Conference Team.
