COLUMN: Even Freud can’t figure out the Jazz
An enigma is “something obscure or hard to understand,” according to Webster’s Dictionary.
Jason’s definition of enigma? The Utah Jazz.
Can anyone figure out the 2002-03 version of the Utah Jazz? One of the NBA’s most consistent franchises in recent memory is now a Forrest Gump box of chocolates: “Ya never know what you’re gonna get.”
For those of you who are Jazz fans, you have to admit you’ve been spoiled for more than 10 years. Disregarding last year, fans of the Jazz knew what they were getting: a team seeded in the top four in the Western Conference, and a team that won at least 50 games a year.
Utah fans have had the privilege of watching two of the best, and most durable players in NBA history in Karl Malone and John Stockton. Despite Malone’s sometimes incessant whining the last couple of years, these two players are blue-collar (if a professional athlete can be labeled blue-collar) players, and epitomize what a professional athlete should be.
Stockton, the NBA’s all-time leader in assists and steals (no one’s even close) has only missed 22 games in his NBA career — 18 of which he missed at the start of the 1997-98 season due to knee surgery. Malone, the second highest scorer in NBA history, has missed a whopping 10 games, half of which were due to suspensions.
The two players have combined to play 3,230 games, including the playoffs, in their NBA careers, and are still productive. What makes this remarkable is the fact Stockton will turn 41 on March 26, and Malone will turn 40 on July 24.
With this in mind, it is pretty safe to say Jazz fans have been a little more fortunate than, say fans of the Memphis Grizzlies. Then again, even Crystal Pepsi had more success than the Grizzlies.
It’s not that Utah hasn’t been somewhat successful this season. Thanks to newcomers like Matt Harpring and Calbert Cheaney, and the continued development of Andrei Kirilenko, the Jazz have exceeded many people’s expectations. Utah is 33-23 and currently in sixth place in the Western Conference. Not bad for one of the oldest teams in the NBA, playing in such a loaded conference.
However, it would be nice to know what team is going to show up night-in-and-night-out. Is it going to be the team that beat Western Conference-leader Dallas, in Dallas Dec. 20, or is it going to be the team that loses to the lowly Grizzlies (Monday)? Are the Jazz playoff contenders or pretenders? An NBA powerhouse or a Junior Jazz team?
One needs to look no further than Utah’s post all-star break performance to realize it is an enigma. Utah’s back-to-back games against the Houston Rockets were a telling example.
In their first game back from the all-star break, the Jazz picked up a big road win in Houston, beating the Rockets 103-101 in overtime Feb. 11. In that game, Harpring forced OT with a game-tying three-pointer over Yao Ming as the horn sounded.
The following day, a friend of mine had an extra ticket for the Houston/Utah rematch in Salt Lake City, so I jumped at the chance. It was a good thing I had the chance to go to this thriller. The Rockets thumped the listless Jazz 106-76. In that game, Utah shot a woeful 38 percent from the floor, and had 20 turnovers.
How do the Jazz respond? With a 109-77 shellacking of Michael Jordan and the Washington Wizards two days later. In that game, Utah hit 50 percent of its shots, and finished with 32 assists and only 10 TO’s.
Utah beat perennial playoff participant the Minnesota Timberwolves 109-97 Feb. 17, only to lose consecutive games to the Los Angeles Lakers and cellar-dweller Grizzlies. Go figure.
To make things worse, Utah isn’t even consistent from quarter to quarter. In the first quarter of their victory over the Timberwolves, the Jazz played with the energy of an Al Gore, trailing Minnesota 31-20. Utah outscored the ‘Wolves by 18 points in the third and fourth quarters.
The bottom line, it is impossible to figure out which Jazz games to watch. Finding time as a college student is hard enough as it is.
Then again, with the veteran players Utah has on its team, I fully expect the Jazz to make a playoff run, and contend for the Western Conference title … or maybe not.
Jason Turner is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism. This is only the third column he has written, so please send comments to him at jasonwturner@cc.usu.edu. Unless it is to tell him he is a schmoe; he
concedes that point already.