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Jazz owner says he's not getting his money's worth

Discussion in 'NBA Dish' started by Yaowaming, Feb 11, 2005.

  1. Yaowaming

    Yaowaming Contributing Member

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    http://www.sltrib.com/jazz/ci_2562291

    Jazz owner says he's not getting his money's worth

    By Phil Miller
    The Salt Lake Tribune



    Money doesn't buy wins, Larry Miller knows by now. Paychecks purchase players, not guarantees of success, or the Knicks and Blazers would be in the NBA Finals every year.
    But the Jazz owner figures million-dollar salaries ought to at least purchase an honest effort every night. And Miller doesn't believe he's getting it - notably from, though hardly limited to, the player whose paychecks are biggest.
    Carlos Boozer "has been terrific some nights. [But] some nights, he has looked like he didn't care that much," Miller said Wednesday of the most expensive free-agent purchase in franchise history. "I like Carlos a lot. I try to remember he's only 23. But he's here because we need a big presence at power forward, and I just hope he will play the way he ought to 82 games a [year]."
    That means, with hustle and heart, attributes sometimes lacking from this season's 16-32 Jazz team. Miller was careful to emphasize that "a lot of players are culpable. I don't think it's just him." Yet the $10.97 million Boozer is earning this season, the first of a $68 million, six-year contract, makes the third-year forward a conspicuous offender when his game lags behind expectations.
    In other words, Miller admitted, Boozer hasn't delivered what the Jazz figured they were paying for - though "I think there's a lot of players I could say that about," he added.
    "If you go just on his performance, season to date, there's an argument that we overpaid a little bit, from what we expected," Miller said.
    Miller cited half-speed efforts to run hard up and down the court, failing to muster energy on defense, just standing up to the rigors of an NBA schedule. "He's a talented player, [but] I don't know how tough he is," the owner said. ". . . It's hard for me [to tolerate] anybody who doesn't play up to his physical capability, especially defensively."
    Miller, who has committed his franchise to nearly a quarter-billion dollars in long-term contracts (counting Andrei Kirilenko's upcoming extension) in the past seven months, seemed to be challenging Boozer to reassert himself on the court, rather than simply criticize his forward's play. His tone was impatience and annoyance, not condemnation.
    That's as opposed to his tone Monday night, when the owner stalked into the Jazz's locker room after an overtime loss to the Knicks and blasted his players to their faces with a 30-second scream.
    "I've been embarrassed by a lot of what I've seen this season, and I was pretty hot that night," Miller said. No player said a word as he shouted his critique. "I had been in the locker room, wanting to say things a few times, but I said, 'I won't, I won't, I won't. The heck I won't.' . . . I just figured I'm going to tell them how I feel. If they like it, fine, if they don't like it, that's OK, too."
    Same goes with Boozer, though Miller believes he will respond


    - positively to the challenge.
    "There's definitely enough good things there that I don't have any sense of despair at all," Miller said, adding that other teams have expressed willingness to trade for Boozer, something he doesn't plan on doing. "Knowing what I know now, I think I would sign him again for the same money."
    But if he did, Miller said, he would make it more clear to Boozer what sort of effort the Jazz expected, and "see if he couldn't commit himself more consistently."
    Boozer was not available for comment on Wednesday, the Jazz's day off. The team, which has lost five of its past six games, will practice again today before meeting the Timberwolves on Friday in the Delta Center.
    Boozer's game has clearly suffered lately. Though still the Jazz's leading scorer at 17.8 points per game and the leading rebounder at 8.9, the power forward has slumped to 12.0 points and 7.2 rebounds since Jan. 10. Boozer averaged 20.2 points in November and December, but the last time he scored that many points in a game was on Jan. 8.
    The team has been no better, falling to sub-.500 opponents New Jersey, New York and Charlotte in the past 10 days alone.
    Boozer and the other Jazz players had adapted to not having Andrei Kirilenko around, and when the Russian's knee injury healed, Miller wondered, "Are we going to go through an adjustment period?" he said. "We're going through something. I mean, we suck, we really do."
    But part of the reason for Boozer's slump may be pressure to live up to that enormous contract, the owner reasoned. "It thrust him into a position where it certainly would suggest he should be a leader on the team, both as a basketball player and an emotional leader, and that was a role he wasn't used to being in," Miller said. "We're still expecting him to step up and be at least one of the leaders we hope would come forward."
    Can he do it? Can he be more than a role player, a characterization Miller agreed with thus far in Boozer's Jazz tenure? "I think he'll learn how to do that," Miller said. "I think his attitude is fine. He's had some great games, [and] he's also had some tough nights. He's in the process of trying to figure out how to do that every night."
    pmiller@sltrib.com
     
  2. Yaowaming

    Yaowaming Contributing Member

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    #2 Yaowaming, Feb 11, 2005
    Last edited: Feb 11, 2005
  3. Deuce

    Deuce Context & Nuance

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    Utah should trade Boozer to Cleveland for Z. :p
     
  4. Fegwu

    Fegwu Contributing Member

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    Wow! All I can say is wow - I guess this is how it is done in SLC. But how come Larry Miller did not mention/critique Okur? He was given fat contract as well. Anyway I am glad Carlos and his wife took the money and ran away with it. Folks in Cleveland will be laughing at Larry Smith and Utah Jazz organization now - of course they cannot laugh at Carlos cos he got his money. The good thing (optimistic silver lining) for Carlos and Utah is that 'Los can always regain his form and hopefully live up to his contract. I do not see anyone picking up that contract at this time in a trade unless you are Atlanta or Milwaukee seeking for a credibility in the most desperate way.

    Now check these quotes out....



    ......contradiction maybe?


     
  5. scotia

    scotia Contributing Member

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  6. meh

    meh Contributing Member

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    You know, I wonder what it would take to pry him loose from the Jazz. Boozer is overpaid. But that's no big deal for the Rockets, who won't be under the cap for the duration of Boozer's contract. He certainly fits the description of the PF we would love next to Yao. I wouldn't mind giving them 2 1st round picks + fillers to match salaries. The picks won't be lottery ones anyway.
     
  7. emjohn

    emjohn Contributing Member

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    My thoughts exactly when I saw this.

    It is nice to see someone calling out Boozer for his inconsistency. It has to be maddening to see him go for 30 and 12 one night only to turn around and get 8 and 5 the next.

    Evan
     
  8. SamFisher

    SamFisher Contributing Member

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    So it looks like Utah is a free agent quarantine zone after all. HA HA HA HA HA.
     
  9. TheFreak

    TheFreak Contributing Member

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    Wait, I thought everyone's stats were supposed to be inflated under Sloan?
     
  10. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

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    That's what I thought. Actually, it seems to go two ways with Sloan: the players who react well to his style do particularly well and those who chafe under it doing particularly poorly. But, it's strange that Boozer would start well and then lose it.

    Anyway, good news all around. Glad to see Boozer sucking since I still think he's a punk for screwing Cleveland over. Glad to see Utah suck because they are Utah. Plus, we didn't really want to have to fight another team for playoff seeding.
     
  11. Rockets34Legend

    Rockets34Legend Contributing Member

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    Typical Jazzhole running his mouth.
     
  12. TheFreak

    TheFreak Contributing Member

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    Or perhaps his effect on performance has been overrated all around?
     
  13. Jonhty

    Jonhty Member

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    Boozer's stats are 17.8 ppg on 52%FG and 8.9rpg. that's not bad at all. actually it's about the same performance Yao has been putting up this season. and we all know Yao's going to get much more money than Boozer after his rookie contract's up. Yao'd better start playing better...
     
  14. Mr Boo

    Mr Boo Contributing Member

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    Just this line a lone kinda makes me like Larry Miller as an owner. It's kinda admirable and refreshing to know that an owner still calls out its players like that.
     
  15. room4rentsf

    room4rentsf Contributing Member

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    Boozer has similar stats and just like Yao is inconsistent (although Yao has picked it up as of late)

    one great game 2 crappy games 2 great games and so on.

    J
     
  16. fa7999

    fa7999 Member

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    I don't know that Carlos has a wife now. I thought that he divorced his agent last summer.
     
  17. fa7999

    fa7999 Member

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    The problem is that Boozer is playing crappy consistently while Yao has been solid and spectacular these days.

    People only care about what you have been doing lately instead of what you did for them previously, fair or not.
     
  18. fa7999

    fa7999 Member

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    BTW, Boozer scored 10, 8, 9, 18, 5, 4 points while shooting 38% from the floor during the last 6 games. That's just plain bad for a player like Boozer.
     
  19. emjohn

    emjohn Contributing Member

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    If he put those numbers up every night, it wouldn't be such a big deal. Unfortunately he's getting a bad rep for his D, and consider his last four games:
    2/1 32 min, 9 pts, 4 boards, 5 fouls
    2/5 30 min, 18 pts, 5 boards, 1 foul
    2/7 21 min, 5 pts, 3 boards, 6 fouls
    2/8 19 min, 4 points, 6 boards, 4 fouls

    HIs game log is pretty frightening. It would drive any coach mad, and this is Sloan's squad.

    Evan
     
  20. dharocks

    dharocks Contributing Member

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