Utah Jazz: Boozer hasn't given up on his offense
He is quite aware of his postseason shooting woes as well, thank you very much.
But neither Boozer nor the rest of the Jazz are about to give up on the all-star power forward's offense. They still believe his shot will return and they he will help Utah win playoff games — and, heck, maybe even a stuffed animal or two.
"He's struggled a little bit, but he's still playing hard," said Jazz point guard Deron Williams at Tuesday morning's practice at the Zion's Bank Basketball Center. "His shots will come, they'll start falling. We just gotta keep going to him."
The Jazz are confident that if Boozer can start causing havoc offensively in the paint and begin to hit more mid-range jumpers he usually nails, they can steal a win against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center on Wednesday night in Game 2 (8:30 p.m.) and potentially emerge from this Western Conference semifinal series.
Boozer said he wants to try to take advantage of Utah's potential inside advantage. It would help if the rims would open up a bit on his short jumpers that have been clanging away.
Boozer might be pressing his shots as a result of playoff nerves and trying to do too much. After shooting 54.7 percent and averaging 21.1 points per game in the regular season, Boozer is only shooting 42.9 percent and scoring 15.9 ppg in the playoffs. He missed 8-of-14 shots and only scored 15 in the 109-98 Game 1 loss to the Lakers on Sunday.
Boozer wouldn't use it as an excuse, but his sore back might also be bothering his shot somewhat.
Regardless, Boozer's rebounding average has increased from 10.4 boards per game in the regular season to a dozen rebounds in the playoffs.
Another concern for Boozer and the Jazz are (his) turnovers. He said recognizing the Lakers' defense and double teams will help him not have a repeat of Sunday's sloppy first half in which he had six of his game-high seven turnovers.
Sloan said if Boozer — or anybody, for that matter — is struggling offensively, then the rest of the team needs to pick up the slack.
"I'm not worried as much about numbers as playing," Sloan said.
"I don't go out and think anybody has to get a certain number (of points) because somebody else can pick up some of those if they're working harder if they're (the Lakers) playing (Boozer) the way they're playing."
That obviously didn't happen in Game 1, when the Jazz shot 37.9 percent as a team. Of the nine Jazz players to shoot Sunday, only backups C.J. Miles (2-for-3) and Paul Millsap (2-for-4) hit at least half of their shots.
E-mail: jody@desnews.com
Recent comments
RE: re:magnus
Now there is an argument I can buy into....
magnus | May 7, 2008 at 10:40 a.m.
First let me say I love the Jazz, and the new Williams/Boozer duo...
RE: magnus | May 6, 2008 at 11:15 p.m.
Did you say Stockton was nice, give me a break!.
jtm | May 6, 2008 at 10:26 p.m.
