i dont know what is wrong with the jazz right now, with harping hurt and the rest of the team playing awfully without harping in the lineup, it appears that without malone and stockton, the magic has seem to run out in utah.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting starchild:</div><div class="quote_post">i dont know what is wrong with the jazz right now, with harping hurt and the rest of the team playing awfully without harping in the lineup, it appears that without malone and stockton, the magic has seem to run out in utah.</div> You've gotta give it up for Jerry Sloan though. True students of the game may have been able to call the Jazz underrated in the preseason. Many were saying that 20-25 wins would be their peak potential, I predicted 30-35, but they've been ever better than that! Now the Jazz are without Harpring and they're still floating around .500. Of course the transition out of the Stockton/Malone era is going to be bit rocky, but personally I think the Jazz have exceded nearly everybody's expectations. With Kirilenko improving every game, and Arroyo and Lopez keeping the Stockton pick'n roll flavor alive, I see the Jazz returning to the 50 win club sooner rather than later.
The Jazz miss Harpring for one big thing, scoring. He was their leading scorer when he went down, and they're a .400 - .500 team without him. They wont make the playoffs without him. But as for the Jazz, don't worry about them. If they still had Harpring I think they'd be in the top 8 in the West right now. Arroyo's assists have gone down without him, Kirilenko stats have stayed the same, but his minutes have gone up. The team misses him, but Utah's future is good and they are on the road to recovery. That took one season, some teams have had 5 or more and are still lottery bound.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting tmac15:</div><div class="quote_post">The Jazz miss Harpring for one big thing, scoring. He was their leading scorer when he went down, and they're a .400 - .500 team without him. They wont make the playoffs without him. But as for the Jazz, don't worry about them. If they still had Harpring I think they'd be in the top 8 in the West right now. Arroyo's assists have gone down without him, Kirilenko stats have stayed the same, but his minutes have gone up. The team misses him, but Utah's future is good and they are on the road to recovery. That took one season, some teams have had 5 or more and are still lottery bound.</div> I agree that they miss Harpring's scoring ability, they also miss the intangibles that he brings to the table. He hustles after loose balls, plays hard on D and keeps things positive on the floor with his attitude. He's the type of player that you might overlook when he's doing his thing, but when he gets hurt his absence becomes glaring. But I think the Jazz will be more than fine, this team is already deeper than many of the Stockton/Malone squads were, and they're all young players. The Jazz get nothing but respect from me as far as how they've gone about rebuilding the team with minimal damage.
The foundations are there for Utah also, Arroyo, Lopez, Harpring, Kirilenko and our future draft picks can all be built around. Kirilenko is 22 (might of just turned 23) so he will only get better. The same applies for Arroyo and Lopez. Harpring still has his best days ahead of him. Utah's other players, like Raja Bell and Jarron Collins will prove the be valuable of the bench, and starter worthy. And don't forget Jerry Slaon is coaching these guys, he brings the best out of everyone.
