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Utah Jazz: Quest for answers

Nuff said-good article

This was a great article. Here are my own five observations after watching the preseason.

1. Brewer and Korver are amazing and have really stepped up on both ends of the floor.

2. Boozer still isn't committed to playing defense. Sad...

3. Miles and Almond have been very disappointing. I agree with the decision to start Miles and still hope for the best, but the results thus far are less than stellar. Unfortunately, Almond is still not ready.

4. Surprisingly, Fesenko has made the race for the backup big man a little more interesting. Good job, Fesenko & Koufos.

5. Kirilenko will do a good job coming off the bench.

In your no.3 piece: To suggest Korver starting is unrealistic. He currently 'lacks' lateral quickness and overall game stamina. Once he's lost his wind by being out on the court for any length or duration, his game begins to suffer, his legs always seem to lose their spring considerably--and consequently so goes his incredible dead-eye shooting. If he continues to strengthen himself and his stamina, your suggestion certainly could work.
CJ just needs to continue to buckle down even more, i.e. acquire Brewer's MONSTER work ethic in order to gain more in-game "confidence". Look what that same ethic has done for Brewer. Hard[er] work ethic will likewise breed more mental toughness, confidence and ultimately will give CJ more end-of-game experience as his on-court skills solidify and his value gives reason to keep him on the floor, more. This kid's got talent and just begs refining via the crucibles of game experience and pushing himself to higher levels in his personal work ethic.

Please don't use the term "quest" in any headlines about the Jazz, we don't want to set them up to lose like that team down south!

can we be done with the word "quest", please?
It was old a while ago.

Interesting - disapointing about Almond. Didn't see the preseason but last year as a minor leauge he made a lot of points. I know he may be a shooter but what about Defense? Sloan not happy about his progress or no progress? I know how important about Sloan Style.

Great game, I thought brewer was a beast out there, man those days in the gym do show on the floor. and brevin knight I thought was Fantastic, so much better then hart. Korver did great too!

This is a Jazz comment board. Please take your petty high school stuff over to the BYU hate boards and continue to wear it out over there.

Been a fan since they stepped off the plane from naw-lins...This may indeed be the best team my boys have ever assembled,no dissrespect to Stock/Mailman/Hornyman,...now it`s time to go win it all,no excuses,all the pieces are there,no doubt,do they have the heart and really want to win it all?

Almond is fine - He just got drafted by a team that is loaded with talent ahead of him in that position. The Jazz wing players in order AK, Brewer, Harpring, Korver, Miles, Almond.

See I am not the only CJ fan. He has great upside if he would just stay better focused on his career and what he needs to do to get better. I think Sloan needs to start him regardless of how bad or good he plays for at least the first month. Give him a chance to play and gain confidence. Korver is not starting material. He is a come off the bench player. AK is much better off the bench as he gets more involved in the offense and that flows over to his defense. But with AK out of the starting lineup, Boozer and Okur need to work harder on the defensive end.

Koufous is better then Fesenko and CJ isn't any good, and the potential that he has, has been there since he got on the team, exactly when is this potential going to show up?

Regardless if CJ plays well or not, the choice to put him in the starting lineup will make the jazz a more versatile team. One thing I think CJ brings to the table that is highly underrated is his length. He is a solid rebounder, and he may not block to many shots but he alters them. In a few more years I could see him being the second coming of AK. With AK coming off the bench, it adds considerable depth to this team, and I don't think we really lose to much with CJ in there, in fact it will probably spread the floor more, and open things up for Booz, D-will, and Brewer inside, and even get more open looks for Okur.

CJ is the age that Dwill was when he was a rookie. How much love did Dwill get that year? Don't forget that CJ is barely old enough to drink legally. He will only get better. He is much better than Deshawn and look he's a starter out East now. The Jazz never let there youngsters mature and get playing time. Maybe this is the start of developing their talent and keeping it.

I didn't see alot improvement in Almond and Feez from last year which causes me to question the value of the developmental league. It appears to me to be like the summer league being just one big pick-up game. In the D-League Almond is "the man" so there is no one to bench him when he does not play defense. I wonder if sending them to a good european league would be more benefical?

My Top 10 Observations in no particular order:

1)D-Will will be fine. In the meantime, I love what Ronnie Price and Brevin Knight bring in his absence. Against Portland, both guys played very solid.

2)Kosta Koufos has a ton of potential. I'd rather watch him on the court than Fes...and much more than Collins. He'll have a chance, since he works hard.

3)CJ Miles is still miles away from tapping his potential, but at least he finally knocked down a few shots last night.

4)AK coming off the bench with the right attitude, will help us win more games on the road. Hands down.

5)Boozer is no Malone. He is a great talker though...

6)Memo will have a strong season if he works on defense and takes the ball to the hoop and opens up his outside game.

7)Korver will win us 5 or 6 games with his free-throw shooting ability, his presence that spreads the defense, and his mental toughness.

8)Ronnie Brewer has all-star potential and will have another break-out season! Dunkathon!

9)Millsap is a stud.

10)Almond is the team's biggest question mark...too bad we're so stacked at the 2.

11) Jazz win 60 games this year!

Koufos is the best backup to all the bigs, period. Not only his work ethic, but he runs better, is more passionate, and seems to get better the more he plays. If he goes any time to the d-league, we are making a huge mistake. No comparison of him to Fes, or Collins even. We need Koufos. Use him!

3 observations

Brewers improvement in driving to the hole with the ball is much more important than his improvement in his outside shooting. Some other than Williams needs to take it to the hole for the playoffs.

The Jazz will play a lot more motion offense -similar to the offense that they played in 2004 - (not the pick and roll offense) We played 4 minutes against Portland with AK, Brewer, CJ, Okur and Boozer - not one pick and roll was set - it did not look good. This is the main reason to put AK on the bench because he thrives in this offense - He was an All-Star that year. It will also help the Jazz in the Post Season. The Lakers were very good at stopping the Pick and roll. The Jazz must develop another offense set that is successful.

Millsap will be backing both AK and Okur (meaning Koufos and Fess will be sitting on the pine) Millsap has slimmed down in weight - so we will see who guards the big line ups when it is Millsap Boozer and AK. AK guards Gasol, Millsap guards Odom and Boozer guards Bynum.

you guys bag on miles so bad but he does what the coach asks him too. c.j never gets very many shots during the game so to say he is not doing good is just stupid. If sloan gave him 10-12 shots a game like some other guys he would score 15-20 points every night.

I afgree with the reincarnation of FDR. We need Koufos, but while I do like him better than Fes. I'm still holding out hope with him. He's a little taller and more athletic, he just needs to grow up, and he might be a solid cog for us at center, and I think Koufos is more suited to play the four, but it might depend on how quick the four is he would have to guard. All in all I'm friggin excited for this season, and to see what the NBA western conference race will bring this year.