Utah Jazz Basketball Articles: 2006 Early Season Analysis
Jerry Sloan has a quality team on his hands, but it still hasn’t developed the way it should. The Jazz are doing better away from home than at the Delta Center, which has owner Larry Miller to worry about. For the second year in a row they started well, but have dropped shortly after. Can the Utah Jazz return to their former glory?
Utah hasn’t done much right this year. They are only scoring 88.1 PPG, 27th in the NBA. Turnovers, 15.8 per game, have been a problem. Really when it comes down to it, Utah isn’t meant to score. Kirilenko, Harpring and Boozer belong to a supporting cast. They don’t have a type of reference, which they will need if they want to win closer games. Devin Brown and Giricek are the shooting guards and can shoot if needed, but neither can create their own shot.
Utah is doing some things right. They are tied for seventh in the NBA in rebounding, which is crucial since they shoot very poorly (41.8%, the lowest in the NBA). Keith McLeod’s injury gives Deron Williams more time to develop. While they don’t score much, they rank seventh in points allowed, so the Jazz at least stay close. Bringing in Gordan Giricek and Matt Harpring gives them a slightly deep bench, but it doesn’t take long when injuries pile up.
The biggest blow to the Utah Jazz has been that of injuries, where almost everyone has already been injured. Andrei Kirilenko is the star of the team that does it all, and the team cannot survive without him. And it’s not just him; it is Boozer, Giricek and Harpring who are just as injured. With Mehmet Okur out injured, Greg “I can’t believe he’s still playing” Ostertag has to step in.
We all knew taking the place of Karl Malone and John Stockton was going to be tough, but these injuries are bringing them back to the point of regression. They may want to think about getting rid of one of his numerous escorts. Jerry Sloan, as Larry Brown, has never really liked playing rookies, but he’s killing himself for not having a choice right now. If they could stay healthy, each and every one of them, then maybe they would have a little iota in the playoffs. As of now, the Utah Jazz don’t even have that.
