Jazz's top priority: Big guys

Their season of several shining moments and nearly as many dull lapses had concluded just hours earlier.

Deseret Morning News graphic Jazz player projections Requires Adobe Acrobat.

Jazz brass, though, did not need much time at all to identify what they need most when it all starts again.

"Obviously," Jazz owner Larry H. Miller said after watching his rebuilding franchise finish 42-40 but fail to make the playoffs for the first time in 21 seasons, "we can use somebody who can play 5 (center) every night.

"But," Miller added, "I think 4 (power forward) is our single most-glaring need."

Kevin O'Connor, the Jazz's senior vice president of basketball operations, can't help but agree after seeing a common thread among each of the NBA's top playoff qualifiers.

In the West, Minnesota has Kevin Garnett. The Los Angeles Lakers, Shaquille O'Neal and Karl Malone. San Antonio, Tim Duncan. Sacramento, Chris Webber, Vlade Divac and Brad Miller.

In the East, Indiana has Jermaine O'Neal. Detroit, Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace. New Jersey, Kenyon Martin.

"Anytime you go into a situation, and you don't have a player like that," O'Connor said of All-Star talent at power forward or center, "that's your need."

The Jazz do have an All-Star who can log minutes in the 4-spot in Andrei Kirilenko.

But he's a versatile type better-suited to play the 3 (small forward) or 2 (shooting guard), taking advantage of mismatches along the way — not a physical sort who can mix it up regularly out of the power forward position.

"Andrei's a 'player,' " O'Connor said. "I don't think you establish a position with Andrei . . . I don't think Andrei's got, quote unquote, a traditional position." A position, that is, like Malone made a tradition of manning, and redefining, during his 18 seasons with the Jazz before leaving Utah last summer to pursue free-agent opportunities with the Lakers.

The Jazz have an emerging core of perimeter players, Miller said, but they still need "somebody that can go to the low post, and score for us down there to open (things) up.

"We've got to have somebody that can overpower a zone, physically," he said. "I mean, Karl's the model for that — in the history of the game."

Kirilenko. Tom Gugliotta. Jarron Collins. Greg Ostertag . Mikki Moore. Michael Ruffin. Matt Harpring. Curtis Borchardt. Ben Handlogten. Paul Grant. Even Keon Clark for a couple of games.

The Jazz gave everybody and their brother a chance to be a dominant go-to player on the inside, but none — either because of injuries, skill level or the mere fact their game works better from the outside-in — managed to establish the sort of presence so desperately needed in Malone's absence.