Post#5 » by erudite23 » Fri Apr 3, 2009 8:20 pm
I think this team could have won a championship this year. I honestly believe that. The problem is that we haven't ever been able to find that offensive rhythm that we got into the final 3rd of last year. In order to compensate for our weaknesses on defense, we really have to be an unstoppable offensive juggernaut. Which we are capable of being.
The problems here are that Boozer is not Boozer. The guy is nowhere near what he has been in the past offensively. He used to routinely put up 12 for 16 or 9 for 13 type of shooting nights. Now he's at or under 50% every single night. Its a big difference. He's lost his explosion going to the hoop, and his little mid-range pull-up has been forgotten. His rebounding has still been very strong, but his offensive game is not there.
As a result, the PnR isn't as reliable and the ripple effect of this is felt throughout the roster.
Other problems that have been holding us back:
- Deron has lost that edge he had for that stretch in February and most of March. His shooting is down, and he doesn't look quite as sharp. He appears to have hit a bit of a wall energy wise and isn't getting the lift on his J that he is used to.
- CJ has completely regressed. Its ironic that he was the only starter doing anything against the Nuggs, because he hasn't been doing well at all lately.
- Harpring isn't able to give us that 15 mpg of toughness and grit. This effects the way our other players play as well. In the past, he's given us a mentallity for scrapping that we don't seem to have right now.
- AK is in a slump. Every single part of his game. Shooting, rebounding, passing and defense.
Now its just too late to get it together. It just is. Miracles can happen, and I might be proved wrong as the Jazz catch fire like they did two years ago after a dreadful late season collapse, but time appears to have run out.
Moving forward, we just can't keep trying this. Who says Boozer will ever get back to his previous form? So we just let him go, you say, but then who takes his place? We've seen enough to know that Millsap is not a #1 post option. He just isn't.
This means that we need another strong post player to build our offense around. Where do we find it? Your guess is as good as mine.
This team will still be a 50+ win team next year, and maybe even appear at times to be championship caliber, but that will be an illusion. We have to find a player who can be a force on offense and a factor on defense at the same time. Boozer isn't either of those right now. There is an excellent chance that our fate comes down the ping-pong balls in next year's draft.
*shudder*
