Jazz fans sound off on team's woes

I am a season ticket holder at the Delta center for the Jazz. It is my first year here in Utah. I, previously, was a Lakers fan. So this is a new experience for me and I haven't the background of years of watching the jazz. I believe our problem is not our players, we have great players. I think Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur are worth their contracts. We just don't use them where their skills are put to best use. My concern is coaching. We must coach to the teams strengths, not to make a good coaching strategy. My thoughts are all coaching issues:

(1) Intentally fouling someone going for a layup, especially one that has beat the defense is dumb. It puts our team in the penalty early and they score more on free throws then they would if we played proper defense. We do a very poor job on the pick and roll. We need defend the pick and roll better, not foul our way out of getting beat on defense. I would foul at the end of the game if the game was on the line.

(2) We have a very good shooting team. We need to let them shoot when they are open. It is obvious that they are not given a green light on open shots in the early 24-second clock. They must wait until the clock has almost expired to take a more difficult shot. Shoot the ball when you have a good shot, the percentages will prove the practice. Defenders will have to come out early and this will open up the middle. Raul has lots of open 3-pointers, if he will take the shot. If he can't hit it try someone else at point.

We also pass up good looks on the outside to force the ball into the paint. I like a good pass inside too, but we tend to force it inside instead of looking for good opportunities. Sometimes someone will drive to the hole without a second option, and we give up a turnover. Shoot the good open shots from the outside. The inside will come.

(3) We have some super players but we do not run plays to open them up for shots. They usually have to create their own offence. They have done a good job. But with a little help they could score so much easier. We run very few pick and rolls. The Jazz in previous years were the king of pick and rolls. Have we lost confidence in its ability to create open looks.

More than one play can be going on at one time, picks and player movement should be going on all the time on offense. If you cannot get open, help some one else get open. Keep moving don't let the defense rest. Everyone stops when we start a play. We telegraph this to the viewing public not to mention the other team.

(4) We need a better half-court game plan. To watch the guards wave their arms around trying to move the offense is silly and unproductive. Every time I saw a guard do this I would pull him.