<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">PORTLAND, Ore. ? With the preseason screeching to a close this week and the Nov. 1 start of the Jazz's 2006-07 NBA regular season now barely more than a week away, coach Jerry Sloan still isn't sure if two of his top scorers can play together. But, Sloan suggested before the Jazz's 114-110 preseason loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night, it's not because there is not enough ball to go around. Rather, it's the defensive end of the floor ? and the presence of Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur on it ? that continues to concern him. "I don't know," the Jazz coach said when asked if, as widely presumed, he has settled on a starting front line of Boozer, Okur and small forward Andrei Kirilenko for the beginning of the season and beyond. "I've got to (consider) how successful ? or unsuccessful ? we have been ... defensively. That's the biggest thing," Sloan added on yet another night the Jazz would have trouble keeping their opponent from scoring virtually at will. "Memo and Booz, at times sometimes, are not as effective defensively as I think they should be. And I don't know if it's because I'm playing them together, or what. But I've got to take a look at that a little bit." Asked how he'd break up the two should he elect to go that route, Sloan ? before watching Blazers big man Zach Randolph score a team-high 22 points down low ? didn't seem quite sure. Would he possibly sit Okur, who averaged a team-high 18.0 points and team-leading 9.1 rebounds per game last season? Or could it perhaps be Boozer, who merely averaged a 16.3-point, 8.6-board double-double in 2005-06? "We'll just see how it goes," said Sloan, who is quite familiar with the Kirilenko-Okur-Boozer combo. "We ended up (last season) with those guys there. They did a pretty good job; we were able to score some points.</div> Source
Man, I love Sloan. I think he and I think a like in terms of what we like in a team. But I can't agree about that Andre Miller clone over Chris Paul. I mean I like Deron Williams, but Chris Paul was at one point #1 overall on most mock drafts for a reason. He was nba ready, clutch, and he's got veteran instincts and quickness. A guy like that is very coachable and has tremendous upside, especially late in the game. He would get respect from the older players. Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse. BTW, I do like CJ Miles potential and Ronnie Brewer was an excellent pick for that late in the weak draft.
