Millsap is no Boozer

[Soul Patch]

Having Boozer back will make us a better team. Our PF rotation is the best in the league, so is a Knight, AK- Millsap bench. We'll start out rebounding teams again. Not because Boozer>Millsap at rebounding but because transition to Boozer-Millsap is a thousand times better than Millsap-AK Harpring or Okur at the PF spot in terms of rebounding.

[J_Ray]

The main difference between Boozer and Millsap IMO is that Boozer is stronger and can score against bigger defenders better and more consistent. Millsap is a nice player and all, and he does actually play defense but Boozer makes up for it with great rebounding and brings a post threat that HAS to be doubled time to time. Has anyone actually doubled Millsap so guys like Brewer or Harpring can cut and C.J. Miles and Korver can spot up for 3's? Not having Millsap on the bench also leaves a gaping whole there because he was the hustle guy that came in and outdid everyone's 2nd unit. Coming into the year, we had a top 5 bench and were probably a top 4 team in the West at least. After Deron went down, everyone else started dropping like flies. Look how beasty Utah started the season off w/o Deron, they were flowing and looked great. I still believe that we can get everything together if we can stay within striking distance until Boozer & AK gets back. Playing with injuries has made this team better and forced guys like Mo Nuts and Koufos get experience that usually wouldn't happen under Sloan, which ultimately adds more depth to our bench. If that Andrew Bynum injury ends up being season ending, that also opens the West back up, and I wouldn't be scared of the Lakers anymore.

[BarneyGumble]

Problem is Boozer had Milsap backing him up. Who does Milsap have?

+1. Our bench suffers no matter what if we dont have one of the two.

[BiggMann]

It's simple.

DEPTH. With Boozer out we have to rely on Milsap to produce.

Sure Boozer is better than Milsap, Boozer has been in the league much longer and has a much better offensive game, but this year we have seen a huge improvement in the young Paul Milsap and it's obvious we're not going to be able to afford both of them... so if Boozer opts out, he walks; if he decides to stay hopefully Milsap will accept the MLE.

[erudite23]

It should be expected that Boozer would be better than Millsap at this point in their careers. Millsap is a 3rd year guy who has only started 25 or so games, while Boozer is in his 7th year and has been a starter almost the whole time.

Remember when Boozer came here in 04-05? He was just a rebounder/hustle-guy who had supposedly benefited from playing off of LeBron in his breakout 2nd season (15/11 on the year). His first year with us he just began to expand his game to start taking more shots, using more post-ups and initiating offensve with his inside game. It took him 3 years before he really arrived as a legit star caliber player.

I think Paul can get there, though he may never be the consistent scoring force that Boozer is--though it certainly isn't impossible. He just needs time.


As for Boozer....I have to laugh. Sports are an emotional pursuit, and its hard not to throw blame this way and that when your team is struggling. So I understand the bickering to an extent.

But the way that people have continually thrown Carlos under the bus around here is downright laughable, really. The guy is a legitimate awesome player. There are a small handful of human beings on this earth right now, less than 2 dozen, that are better than he is. Think about that. He is only an average defender, and is particularly unimpressive at helping at that end, but he is an awesome player at nearly every other thing involved in playing the game. How can not having that around do anything but hurt your team? It can't.

Right now, the Jazz have lots of issues. But Boozer is the first and foremost. Getting AK back is another. Very quietly Kyle Korver has been an absolute train wreck this year. He's been a turnover machine for a guy that is spends so much time catching and shooting. He has been downright awful from 3 point land, shooting 35% after he averaged 40% for his career, and had peaked at 44% with Philly. Even his FTs have gone AFK.

CJ Miles has been dreadful for almost 2 months after a really good stretch of basketball. The dude refuses to crash the defensive glass, and his shooting is in the midst of a cold stretch. He is a big reason for our continued slow starts.

Ronnie Brewer has regressed in a shocking development, considering what we expected coming into the year. He has decided that he needs to become the next Jeff Hornacek and jack up tons of 18 footers instead of working off the ball to get layups and dunks. His 49% shooting is still terrific for a SG, but that is a huge dropoff from the 55% he posted last year--and here's the thing: its not just because of his shot selection. He's also failing to convert at the hoop nearly as well has he has in the past, which is inexplicable. If he's going to make up for his horrific rebounding and passing numbers, he has to continue to convert at around a 60% TS mark, and he's only at 56. So that has hurt us.

Brevin Knight has been below average for a backup, and not quite as good as we had expected him to be (though in comparison to Jason Hart, you can't really complain).

Deron is just now getting back to his dominant self, as the rest of the team is falling apart.

Memo is in a down spot right now, and his unbelievable peaks and valleys are the most prominent of the many reasons why he ultimately has to go. There is no excuse for him NOT to be averaging 8+ defensive boards a game with Boozer out and him playing the opposing teams center every night.

Right now, Millsap is probably the only thing RIGHT with the team (except for Deron, who has just recently gotten there). His weak defensive rebounding is the only real weakness in his game, and he almost entirely makes up for it by dominanting the offensive glass.

If you simply list the players who are slumping, regressing, or otherwise hurting the team with their play--relative to what we expect of them given their talent, history, and growth curves respectively--then it would look like this:

Brewer
Miles
Korver
Memo
Harpring
Knight

Then there are the guys who are doing their part and keeping their end of the bargain/expectation:

Williams
Millsap

And then there are the injured guys:

AK
Boozer






That's our 10 man rotation, right there.

When there are 2 good and 8 bad (to varying degrees) its easy to see why your team is really struggling.


The good news, if there is any, is that of all those, few if any are certain to continue indefinitely. Miles and Brewer could turn a corner at any given point. Memo was playing lights out just two weeks ago and will come around and go back down on a whim. Korver may not get back healthy this season, but you would think that his wrist would heal eventually.

Knight and Harpring are the only ones that are fairly certain to remain where they're at, and they play the least minutes and have the least impact, so we can live with that.



Overall, health is the biggest part of the puzzle, but certainly not all of it. I know its hard to imagine with the way we've played recently, but this team could turn around in the blink of an eye if the right elements come into play. The health will come. Young players go up and down as always. We could become a juggernaut overnight, or we could fall into the lottery and be watching the playoffs from home. I'm just glad that I'm not the one in charge of figuring out what needs to happen. I feel bad for Jerry right now.

[drivewayball]

Bynum is out for 8-12 weeks. Both Millsap and Boozer just got a whole lot better ... at least against the Lakers.