The Jazz are going to be good for a very long time. Boozer, AK47, D.Williams and Ronnie Brewer are all 25 years of age or less. 3 of those 4 are already all-star caliber players with Bozer and Williams getting MVP talk. This team is only going to get better as they continue to grow both as a team and as individuals. Are they the best young core of players in the NBA? What team currently has a better core of youth at this point? I hate the Jazz. And could not wait for Karla and Stockton to retire and loved the fact that they did not win a championship but this current group may be better. It is no wonder they are 12 and 1.
Boozer? Williams? both look to fill that role. Dont forget about AK47 because he can take over as well.
No, not really. They will be a good team. With some time, they MIGHT have a team like the 2003-2006 pistons. I say might because of injury prone players and the lack of a good FA magnet (who the hell wants to live in Utah?).
Boozer as an MVP candidate I can understand, but you lost all credibility when you think Williams is a candidate. And when has Kirilenko ever taken over games offensively?
Remember how well the 1997 Pistons started out, going somethin like 20-4, I mean no one expected that, then they evetually leveled off and finished at 54-28. That's what I see the Jazz doing.
Yeah definitely.. I think JAZZ are gonna be very good for a long time... They have very good players at all positions but the 2.. But Brewer is not too shabby either. Utah also has one of the best coaches EVER in Sloan... So thats what they have going for them... The thing they do not have going for them is a Superstar media eye candy such as Lebron/Kobe/Wade/Carmelo etc etc.. They also in UTAH.. Which is not appealing to most early 20s professional basketball players.
So you think one of those guys can be the one that can take over in the playoffs or in the 4th quarter when they're down and everyone's missing? I'm talking about a T-Mac or Kobe style take-over. Utah's players aren't as good as the Detroit champs were, if they were they'd be in the Finals. Neither do they have a Wade to carry the team on his back.
Well, if you look at NBA.com's road to MVP, this week Williams entered as the 10th in the player rankings. I guess that should be enough to say he is getting MVP talk. This Jazz team looks pretty good. They are young and talented, and above all, they play under Sloan and is disciplined. The only problem for them is that their players have been injury prone. If they can stay healthy, they can be really good.
What about last year's Pistons, who started out 33-4 (or something like that)? You don't win championships in November. The rest of the NBA hasn't had time to figure the Jazz out yet. When it happens, they will stumble, be forced to adjust and then we will get a real look at how good they are. I'm confident Sloan will keep them winning at a decent % but it remains to be seen if they will rank up with the Mavs and Spurs come late in the season. It works to the Jazz' advantage they have a seasoned coach like Sloan who has seen it all and will know how to tweak them when defenses start taking away what they do best on offense. From my standpoint, their two biggest concerns are injuries and Kirilenko shutting up. I expect him to open his mouth again as soon as they hit a rough patch.
I think they might be. However, the Bulls are a close second. They have a roster loaded with young talent too. Only, unlike the Jazz, because the Bulls have the right to swap their pick with the Knicks, the Bulls are in the Greg Oden sweepstakes. I shudder to think of what that young team could be like two or three years after adding Oden to Heinrich, Gordon, Deng, Nocioni, Tyrus Thomas, Duhon and Sefolosha.
I'll wait for the litmus test for teams like this. If they can recover from a losing streak and then reproduce this winning % or even get close to this winning %, then I'm a believer. Right now they're like the Seattle Supersonics of 2004/05.
The Bobcats with Emeka Okafor, Raymond Felton, Adam Morrison and Gerald Wallace are not too far behind.
18 points and 9 assists a game is right on par with Steve Nash who averaged 16 and 12 and 19 and 11 in his back to back MVP seasons and Williams is only in his 2nd year in the league.
Who cares about the "MVP" discussion that you guys are having. The NBA is a team sport - not an individual game...the Jazz have the right mix and they get the job done over and over again. I don't even dislike this Jazz team...it's kind of refreshing to see a top team without a "superstar." I think the superstar stuff is just hype anyways. It's hard for a team to win with a Garnett type salary on the squad...which is why, eventually, it will be hard for the Jazz to keep it all together. If the team does great for the next few years - the contracts will come around to renew-time and they won't be able to afford all the "team-players" once they see themselves as stars in their own right. If Boozer wins an MVP - this team is gonna be screwed over salary-wise.
I like the Jazz. It was really Stockton & Malone that I hated, and I still respected Stockton's game.
