Are the Jazz REALLY this terrible on the road? They just lost to Washington and New Jersey (and neither game was really all that close) and now they are getting absolutely SPANKED by the Celtics 72 - 48. I know they've struggled on the road in past seasons, but prior to this road trip, their road record this season (12 - 6) was excellent. How did they get this bad this quickly on the road? Is it just a little slump, or has the rest of the league figured out some fatal flaw that lets even bad teams beat the Jazz on the road? BNM
I haven't watched enought Jazz games in the past couple weeks. But, I know that team seriously lacks depth.
I think the differences between Boozer and Al Jefferson are really starting to show - Believe it or not - but they were better defensively with Boozer and I do not think they have the same kind of finisher with Jefferson. Jefferson is more of a back to the basket kind of guy - but I do not think he really thrives in the pick and roll offense they are running with Deron - Boozer was much better for that there. They have a system - and the pieces do not fit as well as they did in the past.
But, they had a 12 - 6 road record at the start of this road trip. It's like the wheels suddenly fell off. They went from a good road team to a horrible one overnight. And, they were never a great road team when they had Boozer, either (21-20 last year and 15-26 the year before). BNM
I do not follow them close enough to see what is happening now specifically, maybe they miss Okur who I think just came back and is not up to speed? but my opinion in general is that their team is downgraded from last year - the loss of Wes, the Al-Jeff for Boozer trade - I expected them to be good but not as good as last year.
Al Jefferson was a stat monster on a bad team. Carlos Boozer was a stat monster on a good team. I'm not at all surprised that Jefferson is struggling with better teammates. Being "The Man" on a terrible team is easy. As they say, 'somebody has to get the stats'. He's barely at break even in terms of Ortg/Drtg (109/107), especially considering his team is in first place.
Raja Bell has been a significant downgrade over Wesley Matthews as well. Matthews was a 12 PER last year, but Bell is barely at a 9 this year. Bell/Jefferson has proven to be a significant downgrade over Matthews/Boozer. The strange part is the record is on pace to be better in terms of W/L, yet the actual stats say they should be 24-18 right now instead of 27-15.
Weren't most of those wins uncanny 4th quarter comebacks? Maybe it's simply a matter of them returning to normal through three quarters.
Well Utah managed to play the Celtic even after my initial post and lost by "only" 24. Even more inexplicable; the Hawks lost to the Hornets by 41 (100 - 59) tonight - AT HOME. How does a team that's 13 games over 0.500 lose by 41 at home? BNM
also, much of the BOS game UTH was without Deron-is-Deron. Earl Watson and Ronnie Price playing 41 combined minutes against Rondo probably didn't help
Jefferson happened. Rudy Gay, Al Jefferson, Zach Randolph, Kevin Love are all the same kinda player... Shitty defense, always on bad team, never saw a shot they didn't like, and are stat padders with a me first attitude.
Jazz had lots of big comeback wins on the road early in the year. It masked the fact that they were getting into those hollow to begin with. Now teams are closing the door on them and not letting them back in.
could on say the Blazers toxic offers (Milsap) happened? it caused them tp get rid of Maynor for nothing and perhaps not sign a few others, and then not signing Wes, killed their depth
Okay, so I just watched the replay of the Philly/Utah game. The reason they suck right now is simple, horrible defense and turnovers. They also have no bench.
I can't understand why the Hornets lost by 58. Tyson Chandler played 12 minutes (4 fouls) and Sean Marks subbed for him for 17 minutes.
If he had said "ha! that team sucks! they have no bench! Blazers ROOL, JAZZ DROOLZ!" you might have a had a reason in making your post. But since he was making an observation that had nothing to do with the Blazers, you just did an epic fail.
