And Some People Think He's Expendable

[Ern III]

Andrei's contribution in the eyes of Charley Rosen...

Link

(In three attempts I've failed to get the URL properly inserted, so you know what to do)

Cheers. -mod

[Hikari]

Your link works

[Rive]

Rosen is smart.

When Andrei is playing to his full potential and the team is feeding off his energy and play -- we won't lose many games. Hopefully Andrei shows up for the playoffs... and we get homecourt.

[hoops4life]

Rosen also gave the Jazz a C for their play from the start of the season until the all star game.

[carrottop12]

Rosen also gave the Jazz a C for their play from the start of the season until the all star game.

Well, look at it this way.

Lets say you have 3 tests, the first one you do pretty good on, say a B.

The Second one you absolutely fail, and look terrible doing it. Thats an F.

The Third you absolutely ace, that's an A.

Your average grade would be a C.

That's the Jazz November, December, and then January.

[SlickWilly8]

Couldn't agree more with what Rosen is saying, when Andrei brings it the Jazz can be unstopable.
One thing though, has anyone else noticed that it seems like AK can't block shot's anymore? I mean he seems to be doing the same stuff he used to do, he just can't seem to come up with the block anymore. Has anyone else noticed this?

[hoops4life]

He gives Denver an A-. I will try and find it again.

[carrottop12]

Couldn't agree more with what Rosen is saying, when Andrei brings it the Jazz can be unstopable.
One thing though, has anyone else noticed that it seems like AK can't block shot's anymore? I mean he seems to be doing the same stuff he used to do, he just can't seem to come up with the block anymore. Has anyone else noticed this?

Yeah, he definitely doesn't have those 6-9 block games anymore, but mostly that is just because he stays at home with his opponent vs. traveling across the floor with help defense.

Honestly, I think the reason is because Deron Williams has such solid help defense on the double team.

[Neon Black]

"Matt Harpring has plunged to the basket like a fullback approaching the goal line."


serioiusly now...

[erudite23]

-= original quote snipped =-



Well, look at it this way.

Lets say you have 3 tests, the first one you do pretty good on, say a B.

The Second one you absolutely fail, and look terrible doing it. Thats an F.

The Third you absolutely ace, that's an A.

Your average grade would be a C.

That's the Jazz November, December, and then January.

Now Bat, let's get real here.

Even in your analogy, your thinking is flawed. In the first place, the Jazz' November would have been a borderline A or a very strong B. Let's award--out of 100--a 89. They were near the top of the league and dominating some good teams.

December, you glibly say an "F", but going 6-12, in which you played 12 or 13 road games compared to 5 or 6 at home is a very difficult road to hoe, and nothing more than....say 10-8, could be reasonably expected. Not just that, but in nearly all of those games, we were in it to the end, keeping all but 2 or 3 losses within 7-8 points. Disappointing, certainly, but not less than 60 out of 100. So let's go.....65/100?

Heading into the new year, we had to play the Spurs, the Suns, the Hornets, the Magic, the Mavs, the Nuggets, and the Rockets. There's no way you would expect anything less than 4 or 5 losses in that stretch. After turning in a 13-2 January, nothing less than a 98/100 is deserved.

If you simply count those three as 1/3 of the puzzle apiece, then the average score of the three would come out to 84/100....still a strong "B" in the traditional method of grading.

HOWEVER, that would still fail to include the 1st half of February, in which we have also earned a strong A, let's say 96/100. Count that as 1/2 of a total 3.5 and you have nearly 86/100. Nearly a B+.


Even if you choose that method of grading, there is no way to justify giving the Jazz that low of a score. There just isn't.

But there are much better means of measuring what the team has done than saying "well, they were gawd-awful for a solid month....so how can we give them that high of a score?"

In the first place, you have to measure against reasonable expectation. All reasonable expectations could only have justified putting the Jazz at mid-50s in win total. It was a team that was considered to be lacking in interior defense, outside shooting and good wing players, not to mention question marks at backup PG and with a looming trade-demand from its highest paid player. Sure, it may have had a diverse set of offensive weapons that could score in many ways, with two big-time players at key positions that could carry the team when games became tight; a team that could rebound as well as anyone, and one that was heavy on discipline and efficiency. Overall, weighing the good and the bad, 55 wins would seem to be the most you could expect from this team (and, yes, I do remember that we had people on this board predicting 55, 57, 58 or as much as 60 wins pre-season, I'm talking about "reasonable" expectations).

So, with that standard in mind, you have to realize that every team will go through hot and cold spells, and that a season's overall success usually depends on two things: 1) the timing of the spells, as in, are you peeking going into the playoffs or the AS break? and do your rough patches come with enough time to resolve and move forward? 2) Does your team respond to these ups and downs in a healthy manner? Does bad play lead to friction, back-biting and a downward spiral of worsening conditions or does it bring the team together, humble them, and lead to a renewed sense of resolve and overall improvement in the team? Or does good play perpetuate itself, or lead to over-confidence and complacency?

Looking at things that way, you can't give the Jazz' pre-AS play anything less than a B+ or an A-, can you? If 55 wins was the limit of reason, and they are currently on pace for 53, that should be a strong grade, no? Not just that, but we have seen them fall flat on their face for a long stretch and reply with resolve and humility. We've seen them become closer, more tight and together. Not just that, but the team has acquired a significant piece to the puzzle, which certainly should count for something.


Yes, the Jazz have had a rough patch this year unlike anything we've seen in a 50 win season 'round here before. But their play in 08 has more than made up for it, and it could eventually even be counted as a good thing before its all said and done, because they are clearly more committed to defense now than we've ever seen them, and each player has upped his individual game with the lone exception of Boozer.

No, this is simply another case of Rosen and his Jazz-bashing.

Nice to see him give some props to Andrei, though. That at least deserves a little

[d-will8]

Rosen's article about AK was actually pretty good, but the grade thing was a little ridiculous. First of all, the grade was definitely too low. After all, we are on pace to win over 50 games. Second of all, his explanation for the low grade was that the Jazz don't have the athleticism to seriously contend, which is just not true. A lot of people seriously underestimate Deron's athletic ability, and/or seem to be forgetting about Brewer's emergence and AK's resurgence. That's not to mention Price, who's a great athlete, or Boozer and Millsap, who are both pretty good athletes. Sure, we've got some guys who are below average, but, as long as Sloan puts them in the right situations (which he doesn't always do with Harpring), it's not a huge problem. I certainly don't see it being our downfall.

[bleu]

This guy is a good writer. I usually trust his material.