Upper Bowl Jazz Fan

Jazz are embarrassed by Houston Rockets – 4/7/10

// April 7th, 2010 // 4 Comments » // Game Summary

I feel the need to warn you.  I’m not in the greatest of moods after seeing the Jazz get destroyed by the lowly Rockets tonight.  This post could be a little, um, critical.  Ok, I’ll be honest: this will likely be my most cynical column yet.  I feel the need to vent and I will do so here.  So if you want a warm fuzzy feeling then go here.

I knew that the Jazz were going to be a little tired after playing an intense game last night but nothing prepared me for the utter lack of effort the Jazz showed up with.

Was the entire Jazz team not aware that there are only 3 games left in the season and our position as #2 in the West would only last if they won the game?  Showing up was not enough.  And with Phoenix, Denver, and Dallas all winning tonight, our perch at #2 was short-lived…again.

As of late, the Rockets have been a terrible defensive team. They’ve given up more than 110 points in 3 of their last 5 games.  In fact, the last meeting between the Jazz and Rockets the Jazz scored 133 on their way to an easy victory.

Would it kill Carlos Boozer to try and disrupt a shot or even try for some blocks?  I mean, HONESTLY!  There is no one in the league with worse help defense.  When you can hear what the players are saying on the court you can always hear Booze barking little commands to other Jazzmen.  That could be a good thing if it weren’t while Boozer was standing there with his hands at his sides allowing the opposing team to give him a wedgie while scoring easily.

Deron Williams was definitely off.  He pushed harder last night than I’ve ever seen him play but he was not getting it done very well tonight.  It didn’t help that he constantly was guarding Aaron Brooks who is significantly faster than DWill.  Why did Sloan not go w/ a smaller lineup to deal with the Rockets fast guards?  WHO THE HELL KNOWS.

When their guard rotation is Kevin Martin, Aaron Brooks, and Kyle Lowry-all of whom are under 6’4-it would do well to either exploit those matchups like crazy on offense.  Since the Jazz couldn’t do that, at the very least they should have put in Price or Gaines to guard some of those smaller faster guys.  But, Sloan couldn’t be bothered by such things and remained his old stubborn ass-self.

Fesenko missed yet another game for the most BS reason: sore throat and migraines.  I cannot count how many games he has missed for ingrown hairs, tummy aches, sore throats, headaches, and who the hell knows what else!  Can you not give the kid some pills?  Some Halls lozenges and and a freakin’ oxycotin would have solved his problems tonight!  Why do I get the feeling that all his “injuries” are just synonyms for “hangover.”  Give me a break!

Why, in the name of all that is holy, can Kyle Korver not dribble a basketball?  He knows he’s a professional basketball player right?  He can only catch and shoot?  The only times I’ve seen him catch and then do something else, it either ends up in a travel or 3 or 4 dribbles and then an awkward pass.  If he worked on the rest of his game as much as he works on his shooting he’d be incredible.  But no, apparently he is fine NOT expanding his game.

Why can Ronnie Price NOT shoot the basketball well?  He, amazingly, went 4 for 6 tonight from the field but on the season he’s putting up an incredible 29% from 3 point range and under 40% from the field.

Ugh, just 3 games remain, and 2 on the road.  The Hornets are up next.  Thankfully, they’ve been a train wreck lately and Chris Paul is out for the rest of the season with a mysterious thumb injury.  However, that sounds like just the recipe for the Jazz to not show up again and lose to a bad Hornets team.

Ok, my rant is done.  I love the Jazz but can’t stand it when there is a lack of effort.  If you just get outplayed by a better team, that’s another story.  Sadly, this was not the case tonight.

Who ya got? Ronnie Price or Sundiata Gaines?

// March 8th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Player Profile

It’s been an interesting year for the backup point guards of the Utah Jazz.  The Jazz drafted Eric Maynor with the 20th pick in the 2009 draft.  Several NBA draft experts remarked that Maynor was a steal at that pick and possibly the last great player taken in the draft.  Early in the season with injuries to Ronnie Price and Deron Williams, Maynor stepped in and put up solid numbers filling in as the Utah Jazz point guard.

Deron Williams returned while Ronnie Price tended to a foot injury and Maynor remained the backup and was solid.  He could run the point, create shots for himself and others, penetrate to the basket, and he even had a Twitter account!   Sounds like a perfect setup right?  Well, Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti called up Kevin O’Conner, offered him lifetime back scratches for Maynor, and O’Conner accepted.  Read about that trade here.

So, the Jazz were torn between a mop head and Ronnie Price as the backup PG.  They went with Price in the end after the mop head ended up in the dumpster.  No charges were ever filed.  The Jazz were still short a roster spot.  Sloan called up an old familiar to see if he would come fill in.  John Stockton politely declined citing it was no longer 1992 and that he was 48 years old.  Sloan promptly hung up as he doesn’t like to be reminded how old he really is.  They called, instead, on Sundiata Gaines who had been playing with the Idaho Stampede, a D-League team.  He had been a great scorer, passer and facilitator for the Stampede averaging 24 points and 7 assists per game.

In a home game versus the Cavaliers Sloan improbably called on Gaines to be on the floor when the Jazz trailed by 2 points with only 5.9 seconds remaining.  If you’re a sports fan you saw his game winning 3 pointer with a hand in his face as time expired.  Read about that game here.

All of the sudden he was in the national spotlight and had immediately become a local hero.  A few weeks later the Jazz resigned Gaines for the rest of the season.  However, he received virtually no playing time over the next couple weeks.  When Williams sat out due to a sprained wrist, Sunny D say his first real playing time.  He looked good, but he was still backing up Ronnie Price.

Ronnie Price is another local favorite.  Last year, let’s be honest, he got the shaft spending most of the season as the 3rd string point guard behind Brevin Knight.  Just so we’re all clear, Knight was TERRIBLE.  Knight actually lost the point guard matchup against the mop head the season before but was only given the backup job because the mop head failed a drug test.  True Story.  Knight was a horrible shooter, a piss poor passer and couldn’t run an offense to save his life (or his career, which is now over).  Throw in the fact that he was old and slow, he was all-around rubbish.

So, last year, Price got the shaft.  In the final game against the Lakers in the playoffs when the Jazz were trailing by 634 points and Sloan put in Ronnie Price for the “scrub minutes.”  Price put his best talent to work, his hustle.  The Lakers’ lead diminished and Price nearly won the game for the Jazz.  After the game, Sloan reluctantly admitted that he had probably made a mistake in not giving Price more minutes during the season.  Fast forward to this season and Price is getting those minutes.

About Ronnie Price: some say he’s a shooting guard in a point guard’s body.  I’m not sure I believe that since he can’t, well, shoot.  He’s only shot above 40% once in his career…2 years ago.  He’s never broken 35% from 3 point range ever…he usually hovers around 30%.  League averages are 45% and 35% respectively.  His free throw average is around 70%…well below league average of 75%.  Despite his major hops and the occasional hammer dunk, he doesn’t finish well at the rim, ranking below average.  Just to remind you, this from a so-called shooting guard in a point guard body.  Shouldn’t he be able to, uh, shoot?

How bout as a passer?  His assist-to-turnover ratio is generally about 2:1…which is bad.  Average point guards are usually closer to 3:1 and the elite PGs are higher.  His turnover rate (meaning the % of possessions that end in a TO) ranks in the bottom 10% of point guards.

So, he’s a bad shooter and a bad passer.  After watching him, it’s evident that he’s not particularly great at creating offense, and he can’t seem to figure out how to run the pick ‘n roll…which is a play the Jazz run every once and awhile (insert loads of sarcasm).

Remind me again what he brings?  Ok, I’m being a little harsh…but only to make a point.  His major strength is hustle, athleticism, and heart.  Those are amazing qualities.  Because of them, I will never dislike Price as a player.

However, shouldn’t we have someone running the offense who can, um, run an offense?  In the limited time we’ve seen Sunny D on the floor, he’s exhibited many of the traits needed by a point guard: good passing, floor vision, basketball IQ, etc.  He doesn’t quite have the hustle that Price does but then again, not many NBA players do.

After watching the Jazz’ offense stall time after time after time it’s become infuriating (as a Jazz fan) to watch that deterioration.  Inevitably, when Deron Williams re-enters the game, he has to dig the Jazz out of the hole that was created by the 2nd unit.

It seems like Sloan has also grown tired of seeing that as well.  In the last 2 games (against Phoenix and the Clippers) Sundiata Gaines has been given the nod to enter the game behind Deron Williams.  I have found this most interesting since Sloan is old and stubborn.  Perhaps he doesn’t want to say the same thing about Gaines that he said about Price last year…that he made a mistake.  That’s a hard thing for anyone to say.

Heck, maybe Gaines will play the next 15 games and not do well but at least that will solidify the notion that our backup PG situation is not resolved and it’s something to address in the off-season.  But for now, who ya got?  Ronnie Price?  Or Sundiata Gaines?

Undermanned Jazz fall to Hawks at home – 2/22/10

// February 23rd, 2010 // No Comments » // Game Summary

I have to say, despite being extremely short handed, I blame Jerry Sloan for this loss.  This was a very winnable game.  His lineups, especially down the stretch, were not the winning solution.  First of all, as @Bilo_LC put it, Ronnie Price looks dazed and confused while trying to run the offense.  When Sundiata Gaines came into the game, the Jazz went onto their 30-9 run through the end of the 1^st and 2^nd quarter.  SunnyD clearly has a better understand of how to run offense plays and is a better passer and shooter.  From my seats in the Upper Bowl I could see that.  Sloan has some pretty good seats (maybe he and I should trade).  I refuse to believe he didn’t see that last night.  He must have watched Ronnie Price airball a couple open shots (WTF?) and badly miss a few more.  He also must have seen Gaines make good plays, make shots, and free throws.  Price went 5 for 14 from the floor including 0 for 4 from downtown finishing w/ 13 points and 6 assists in 32 minutes of play.  Gaines played a grand total of 15 minutes and recorded 10 points and 3 assists.

Last year, Sloan made a mistake by starting Brevin Knight for most of the year which he admitted after we lost to the Lakers in the playoffs.  He was stubborn and he knew it.  This year, determined to not make the same mistake he played Price over Maynor (when Price got healthy) which was a gigantic mistake.  After Maynor left it made sense to give Price the minutes but as we’ve seen Sundiata Gaines play he is already better than Price.  He doesn’t look confused running the offense.  He’s just as quick as Price (without the hustle, however) and is all around a better player.  Is Sloan going to tell us at the end of this year that he should have been playing Gaines all along and that he made a mistake?  Sloan: learn from your mistakes.  Play the right people at the right time.

Sloan’s mentality is play the veterans over the rookies in crunch time.  I.e. Jarron Collins playing for the Jazz for TOO LONG.  Last night, apparently the “veterans” were CJ Miles, Korver, Price, Millsap, and Boozer.  When we needed a shooter Sloan turned to CJ Miles?  That’s like saying when we needed a cold blooded assassin we turned to Miss Piggy.  Where was Mehmet Okur when we needed solid shooting and a veteran presence??  Memo played only 14 minutes after missing the 2 previous games.  He wasn’t injured, he was home with his family.  He was rested.  He’s probably the Jazz’ best shooter.  Where was he when we needed clutch shooting and free throws?  On the bench.

Sorry Sloan, you’re a hall-of-fame coach but that was the wrong decision and I can’t even dream up a reason as to why you thought that was right.  As a result, we had CJ Miles taking crazy shots in crunchtime, going 5 for 13 from the floor, and missing 2 free throws with less than 30 seconds in the game.  Give me a break Jazz!  CJ was our go-to player at the end of the game??  Sloan, you might remember a game a month or two ago where we need a clutch play to beat the Cavaliers and who was it?  Oh yeah, it was Gaines.  I’m not saying he should be taking every game winning shot but don’t tell me that you’re going to play the vets at crunch time when your idea of a veteran is subjective and the players you put in are shaky at best.

You may have forgotten this but only because we’ve been winning a lot lately but it counts more than ever for tonight’s game.

Running total of games CJ Miles has lost for the Jazz or caused the Jazz to lose momentum: 9

2009 – 2010 Utah Jazz Salaries

// December 29th, 2009 // No Comments » // Utah Jazz Salaries

*Deron Williams has a Player Option in 2012/13 meaning he can opt out before that season if he so chooses.

*Ronnie Brewer will be a Restricted Free Agent at the end of the ’09-10 season

*CJ Miles has a Team Option after the 2010-11 season as does Kosta Koufos.  Side note: I can guarantee the Jazz will drop Koufos and most likely Miles then.

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