RealGM

Deron Williams A

Deron effectively took over either scoring or distributing when it was needed. He played hard for extended minutes despite his bruised tailbone. His distributing was hurt a little by Houston's tight defense, but he still managed to run the offense with efficiency (most of the time). He needs to work on free throws.

Carlos Boozer C

Sure, Houston's D was solid in the post, but Carlos settled too early and too often for those 15 footers. As always, his defense was questionable. He did, however, try to improve certain aspects like free throw shooting.

Andrei Kirilenko C +

Great game one; he continued to do the little things throughout the series and came up with a few big defensive plays. Still, he seems a little disconnected at times and it shows up in his lack of consistency.

Mehmet Okur B-

His new attitude about rebounding has really helped the team. Both he and Carlos are among the top rebounders in the playoffs. Struggled a little with his shot.

Ronnie Brewer B

He wasn't able to get inside as much, yet he still shot at .511. In games like game 5, he seemed like one of the only ones really hustling. There were times when his defense against McGrady was flat out impressive.

Kyle Korver C+

His biggest issue was how horribly he shot the 3. At the same time, he's one of the best shot blocking 2's in the league (#2 behind Bryant at 1 BPG). He came up with some big ones and did a good job exploiting Jackson in game 6.

Matt Harpring B-

His stats really aren't all that high; they've all gone down since the regular season. But the aggression and tough defense this guy gave us was huge. Alot has to be said about his hustle, even when he's a little off his game.

Paul Millsap B-

He struggled in a couple of games early because of very physical defense on his inside. So he balls up and comes out swinging in game 6. He continues to be the best defensive player on the team; and though his rebounding has struggled he gets more blocks than anyone on the Jazz.

Ronnie Price B

You really can't ask for much more from him. His decision making isn't always perfect, but he comes in with energy and keeps things going for a few minutes when DWill is out. He did hit a couple of very important shots.



I really don't think anyone did horribly, despite how bad our overall offense was. Houston is a great defensive team, so you can't compare player's regular offensive stats to their stats this series. It may have been ugly, but the Jazz stole 2 in Houston despite all the media BS about them not being able to win on the road. The team upped their defense and took the series in 6, pretty much meeting expectations.

Overall:

B

Those are some tough f***in grades man.

DWILL- A: He is the man. Straight up willed in this team to victory in every game that we won.

Booze- C: I think Houston fought to neutralize him the most, but still this dude is supposed to be out "All-Star" and he couldnt get close to his usual stats vs a 40 yr old, a EuroRookie, and 2 Scrubs.

Memo - B+: He worked his butt off on the boards during this series, didnt score in boat loads but came up with big plays when we needed them.

AK - B: He did a lot of little things in this series that went unnoticed. He also went through stretches of defensive play on McGrady that were out of this world. Consistently active. Made jumpers.

Brew - A-: For a guy who this is first real playoff action he stepped up. He rarely let McGrady get to the hole. TMac made a bunch of tough, long jumpers over him but I will take those over him getting to the rim any day. He consistently knocked down jumpers including a huge 3 last night. Got some key steals. I dont think we could have asked for anything more than what we got from him.

Harp- B: Matt made some big plays here and there and competed through out the series. Not his fault that Sloan puts him on TMac, but worked hard when he did.

Sap- C+: Honestly I thought that he struggled in this series. He was out of control on offense at times and was getting beat by Landry in the hustle department. Had some good stretches, but I expected more.

Korver- B-: Korver played well I thought. He got beat on D, but I think he was doing what he could. Had some key defense plays though, blocking McGrady getting steals. Passed extremely well in this series. Made some nice plays. His mid range game was going. He gets this low a grade because of his dismal 3 pt shooting.

Price- C+: He played really, really well in the first two in Houston and than disappeared for the rest of the series. From Game 3 on I got really nervous when he came in for Deron. He played better when he was matched up with Brooks, but he smoked by Bobby Jackson once Alston came back.

The starters

Deron Williams: A+
The only consistent jazz player. Brought it every game.
While everyone else on the jazz struggled with their shot d-will shot 53% from field and an incredible 59% from 3 pt land

Carlos Boozer: C-
His 6 of 17 shooting in game 6 where the jazz offense was rolling, he really had a tough time this series. He couldn't hit a jumper this series:


Memo Okur: B
5 out of 6 games he had double doubles. Compared to last year's 1st round series against Houston this year he had a huge improvement. This year he didn't have to worry about Yao. But he still struggled a bit with his shot so that hurts his grade.

Andrei Kirilenko: C
After a really strong first game we thought just for a second that this might be a different AK-47. But than Houston shut him down inside and he struggled scoring points. He ended up shooting just 40% from the field after shooting 8 for 12 in first game. But his defensive intensity in the final game helps his grade.

Ronnie Brewer: B
After failing to show up in 1st game he was pretty consistent. I would have liked him to get more steals, he only averaged a steal a game. But offensively he shot 51% from field which is what we expect out of him

deron A
boozer C-
memo B
ronnie C+
kirilenko C+
millsap C
harpring B-
korver C
price B-

sloan B+

The bench

Kyle Korver: B
He took the right shots the problem was houston was running at him all series long. They did a good job of getting him out of his rhythm.
Still he finished shooting 45.5% from the field because he shot 11/16 on 2 pt shots. Also he averaged a block shot a game, so he definitely gave some extra effort on the defensive end.

Paul Millsap: C-
I was really disappointed with Mansap because he looked clueless on the offensive end like he was a rookie, he got outplayed by his man too many times this series.

Matt Harpring: B
No major complaints about Harp. Just asked him to bring energy and he did for the most part.

Ronnnie Price: C
After playing so well in Houston the shots just stopped falling for him

How everyone is giving Ronnie Brewer these low grades I will never know.

Kyle Korver: F

Every time Korver stepped on the court his man was scoring. Whether it was Bobby Jackson or Shane Battier. It was obvious he was a defensive liability. Combine that with some silly turnovers and a overall poor shooting performance and you have a guy that hurt us more than helped us during the series.

Williams--A
No comment needed.

Brewer-B+
Played very well in the series hit his shots and was very active defensively.

AK-C+
Did all the little things we needed, didn't put up huge numbers but was always active.

Boozer-C+
No comment needed.

Okur-B+
Thought Okur had a pretty good series in many aspects. His shot was on, he did a good job.

Milsap-C-
Like others people here, I thought milsap looked pretty bad in this series. He is too out of control on offense and was out hustled.

Harpring-C+
He did better than I would expect (I expected nothing).