COLUMN: Underrated Jazz will see postseason this year
“I wonder how long it will take before today’s respect-me NBA players get weary of hearing Sloan’s old-school rants and something drastic has to happen to alleviate the pressure. If nothing else, it will give us something to watch other than the Jazz’s pursuit of eight wins – or less.”
These were the words of ESPN senior writer Frank Hughes in ESPN.com’s annual NBA season preview.
Is there a better way to start out a column than to use easy target and notoriously criticized Frank Hughes, regarding his lowly prediction of our beloved Utah Jazz?
Well, I guess I could follow by reminding you that three weeks before the All-star break, Utah has eclipsed that mark by 13 wins. At 21-18, Coach Jerry Sloan is the midseason front-runner for Coach of the Year honors. Forward Andrei Kirilenko could be the best defender in the league. I have yet to see a more versatile defensive player around, just as I have yet to see a faster one-fingered typer than myself.
Fourth-year guard Deshawn Stevenson, after three years of impatient media and fan criticism, is a 47 percent shooter and a top off-season priority.
Greg Ostertag is on the trading block, and has value. Not only are the Jazz a very exciting team to watch; they are a playoff-caliber team.
Utah’s success on the court this season is an amazing feat because the off-season that preceded was so disastrous. First, John Stockton announced his retirement from basketball to the media at locker clean-out day. I can’t think of a more devastating blow to a team than losing the most prolific assists and steals man in the history of the game.
Fellow future Hall-of-Famer Karl Malone followed Stockton out of Utah by signing a $1.5 million exception with the Los Angeles Lakers. Failure to ink any big-name free agents with the most cap room of any NBA team was certainly not a positive sign for the post-Stockton-to-Malone franchise.
I vividly remember the day the historically frugal Clippers matched Utah’s offer to restricted free agent Corey Maggette. The sick feeling I got only rivaled watching Michael Jordan steal the ball from Malone on the most crucial possession of the game, and then hit a jumper to seal the NBA title. The one positive of the entire offseason was getting rid of ridiculously bad forward John Amaechi.
So, how is it possible that this group of young, unproven players are above .500 going into the All-star break? First and foremost, Sloan is using this opportunity to show that he should already have at least one Coach of the Year trophy on his mantle. Secondly, while the Jazz roster is full of young, unproven players, that’s not to say they are not very talented.
Kirilenko’s ability to rebound, block shots, and steal the ball gives Utah a chance to win every night (not to mention make me sick every time I remember I passed over him in my fantasy draft).
Matt Harpring has provided leadership and toughness on the floor. Carlos Arroyo, Raul Lopez, and Mo Williams have all been surprisingly effective thus far at running Sloan’s two-guard offense.
At shooting guard, Stevenson has found his game, playing better defense and shooting well out to 20 feet. Ostertag is having the best season of his career, averaging close to 10 rebounds a game. Lastly, reserves Sasha Pavlovic and Raja Bell have been extremely valuable additions, providing scoring ability and defensive versatility, respectively.
Now, are you going to think I’m crazy for actually believing the Jazz will earn a spot in the prestigious Western Conference playoffs? Even without captain and leading scorer Harpring, who is lost for the remainder of the year, I still believe it will happen. It may seem insane, but believe it or not there are more outrageous beliefs around the league.
For instance, Sacramento’s Vlade Divac believes he has never committed a foul in 993 games of NBA basketball. Former Knicks and Jazz GM Scott Layden likes his chances of winning the governorship as the Republican candidate in the state of New York.
Sporting my Lebron James jersey at the Jazz’s loss to the Cavaliers Saturday, a pestering fan behind me repeatedly told me James is completely overrated. James had 29 points.
OK, so maybe only the last statement is true, but to clearly restate my prediction: I believe that the Utah Jazz will be in the playoffs as the eighth seed at season’s end.
Brad Barth can be contacted at bcb@cc.usu.edu