With the additions of Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur, along with excellent picks in Kirk Snyder and Kris Humphries, the Utah Jazz have clearly moved in the right direction to rebuilding a franchise which was all but devastated by the retirement of John Stockton and defection of Karl Malone to sunny LA. I have to say, being a Kings fan, this team that Utah is putting together could seriously challenge the perseved Western conference powers in a couple years. Starters: Okur, Boozer, Kirilenko, Harpring/Giricek, Arroyo Bench: Podkolzine, Bell I'm not sure who all will fill out the bench, but most likely some of the team's other free agents?
Yeah they are heading in the right direction, but you made a mistake, Podkolzine was traded to Dallas on draft night.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Bobcats:</div><div class="quote_post">Yeah they are heading in the right direction, but you made a mistake, Podkolzine was traded to Dallas on draft night.</div> I wouldn't call it a mistake. Would you really want to have 3 rookies with guaranteed contracts on your team, when you can go spend the extra 5 Million or so on free agents that could make an impact right away?
This is what the roster should look like next season. PG: Carlos Arroyo / Raul Lopez / Mo Williams SG: Gordan Giricek / Kirk Snyder / Raja Bell SF: Andrei Kirilenko / Matt Harpring PF: Carlos Boozer / Kris Humphires C: Mehmet Okur / Jarron Collins IL: Curtis Borchardt / Mikki Moore The major losses are Greg Ostertag, Tom Guggliotta and Michael Ruffin. The rebuilding has gone extremely well, and with Utah's lineup they should be in the playoffs next season. The best part is that it's a young team, and in a few seasons they could be a serious contender for a championship.
Being a Jazz fan, I am smiling from ear to ear after the news of Boozer. I have always like Boozer, I wished that we would of drafted him instead of Borchardt. This year will be awesome: AK-47, Boozer, and Okur up front with Arroyo and Giricek in the back-court, then add Harpring, Bell, Snyder, Humpries, Raul, Mo Williams, and Collins or Tag, this will be one of our best teams since the finals years. I'm not going to forget Stockton and Malone, as Stockton will always be my favorite basketball player, but now I know why the Jazz slogan for this coming year is "I can't wait". I am pumped for this up-coming season!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting banks3:</div><div class="quote_post">I wouldn't call it a mistake. Would you really want to have 3 rookies with guaranteed contracts on your team, when you can go spend the extra 5 Million or so on free agents that could make an impact right away?</div> Lol, no I'm saying that he made a mistake when he said Podkolzine was on the Jazz roster when he obviously isnt.
Yea lol.. oh well another lottery pick.. i dont want him anymore take the greedy kid. His just another sell out out for the money rather then the game.
I love what they've done with the roster. Boozer is a huge steal, if that comes about. The only thing I have a problem with is Okur. I'll give them props for signing a guy who many people have listed highly on available free agent lists. Personally, the guy just doesn't look like a player to me. I might be missing something. 2.8 PPG and 1.5 RPG against the Lakers? Career 8.2 PPG and 5.9 RPG. Woo, that scares me!
Well Okur didn't really get a whole lot of playing time because of Ben Wallace, Rasheed, Elden Cambell, etc. I think Okur is a good signing. Who else would the Jazz get? Blount got resigned, Foyle got resigned, and there Dampier and a couple others but they would be hard to get. Ostertag is gone I think so a center was a need and they got one. The question is, is this team a playoff team? Most certaintly it is. They missed the playoffs by 1 or 2 games and they didn't have Harpring for 3/4 of the year, and they didn't have Boozer or Okur. Now, they have one of the most underrated PF's in the game right now and a center who can get the job done if he gets playing time. Plus, if Harpring is healthy, even better. I'm loving the Jazz's team right now, if they manage to hang on to Boozer which seems like they will.
Sometimes people just need a chance, like Okur (maybe). I'd say Jazz fans at least have the right to be hopeful. What do they say, hope in one hand, blank in the other..... You want something more to be happy about: http://www.uncg.edu/bae/people/rosenbaum/NBA/st1t1.txt AK was ranked #2 in the league in effectiveness per minute on the court. Playoff team? Gonna be a dogfight. Phoenix hasn't gotten any worse. Houston certainly got better. Memphis is a team I really like. New Orleans moves into the West next year, and they could be good. Utah could be great and still finish 10th. Well, my beloved Mavs took a hit in the Nash deal, and I don't see the Lakers coming out of this offseason with a better team. Yeh, Utah has a pretty good chance of making it into the playoffs, but no home court advantage = no second round.
