the jazz under sloan never really changes. their system, both offensively and defensively, has not hardly changed. it is a tough or tougher matchup for us, but they in my mind a quite beatable, especially when we have home court. back in the 90's they were a tough one for us, but it's not nearly as problematic as seattle. and the players on their current team are largely identical compared to 2 years ago.
Go back and read. Someone said Yao wasn't tough enough for us to beat the Jazz in the playoffs but he would excel against other teams. My response to him is that Yao wouldn't necessarily perform against other teams in the playoffs as he does during the regular season because of the game-planning that goes on in playoff basketball. To your question in this post: In 2007 against the Jazz, getting Yao the ball wasn't the problem. The problem was Okur did just fine guarding Yao one-on-one. He did so well that the Jazz didn't need to double-team. After the series was over, Okur talked about how slow and predictable Yao's moves were. Perhaps you have a different recollection, but that series most definitely was NOT Yao's proudest moment. I won't re-hash everything here but Yao was blasted in the GARM by nearly everyone. I cut him some slack because I thought he might have been injured.
Adelman has been with the Rockets for 2 seasons and didn't coach in 2006-07, right? That means you are saying the Jazz team from 4 seasons ago is as good as the current one with a much improved Deron Williams, Okur becoming a better and better player, depth of talent with Millsap, Brewer, Korver, etc... I don't agree. If the Jazz didn't lose Williams early in the season as well as Boozer and Kirilenko in the middle of the season, they may be several games ahead of the Spurs right now. Sure, Millsap and others stepped up admirably but that hurt their bench depth. Since Boozer has come back, their bench production has improved measurably. The Jazz have ridiculous depth at almost every spot.
the problem isnt that Yao is denied the ball. the Jazz play him man on man. The problem is Yao not being able to score on Memo Okur. Memo Okur = Yao stopper
hardly. a double doesn't have to right away when or even before yao gets the ball. many happen after he gets the ball or takes a dribble (like stretches of last night's game). and double teams don't have to be all the time when a certainly player is on the floor. many coaches like to mix it up a little and give the offensive player different looks.
ibm, This is an excerpt from Wiki on the Jazz: 2003-2006: Rebuilding In the 2003-04 season, the Jazz finished with a 42-40 record. The team featured several unheralded players who emerged into key contributors, including Kirilenko, Raja Bell, Matt Harpring, and Carlos Arroyo. In particular, Kirilenko demonstrated versatility on both offense and defense and earned a spot in the All-Star Game. Kirilenko helped the team late into the season's playoff hunt, in which the Jazz missed out by just one game to the Denver Nuggets, ending their streak of 20 consecutive seasons in the playoffs. Jerry Sloan finished second in the voting for the NBA Coach of the Year Award, losing to Hubie Brown of the Memphis Grizzlies. In the 2004 offseason, the Jazz obtained free agents Carlos Boozer (from the Cleveland Cavaliers) and Mehmet Okur (from the Detroit Pistons) and Greg Ostertag left as a free agent to the Sacramento Kings. The Jazz also updated a new logo. The franchise was again expected to contend in the West. The season began well for the Jazz, but a series of injuries, first to Arroyo and Raul Lopez, and later to Boozer and Kirilenko, caused the team to fall to the bottom of the division. There were rumors of internal discontent between the younger players and Sloan, leading to the trading away of Arroyo mid-season to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Elden Campbell (who was immediately waived). They ended the 2004-05 season with a record of 26–56, their worst since the 1981–1982 season. In the summer of 2005, the Jazz continued to shape their roster by dispatching some of their underperforming young players and trading three draft picks in order to acquire the #3 pick overall, with which they selected point guard Deron Williams of the University of Illinois. Raja Bell left the team for the Phoenix Suns, the Jazz re-obtained Greg Ostertag from the Kings, and oft-injured point guard Raul Lopez was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. The 2005-06 season was injury-plagued before it even started; Boozer missed the first 49 games and Gordan Giricek and Kirilenko both missed significant time due to injuries. Okur and Kirilenko, however, showed consistently good play, while Williams, despite a midseason slump, did not disappoint. However, rumors of discontent between Jerry Sloan and the young players persisted, while team owner Larry Miller continually expressed his displeasure with the team's effort. They stayed in the playoff race until the third-to-last game, when they lost to the Dallas Mavericks. The Jazz ended the season 41–41 and just 3 games out of the playoffs. Ostertag retired at the end of the season, having spent 10 of his 11 seasons with the team. In the 2006 NBA Draft, the Jazz selected promising University of Arkansas shooting guard Ronnie Brewer in the first round and in the second round selected point guard Dee Brown and power forward Paul Millsap. Several young players were traded away for Golden State Warriors guard Derek Fisher, giving them a veteran point guard. The Jazz were heralded by several major sports websites for drafting well and making good offseason moves. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Jazz -------------------------------- So, if you were referring to Adelman's success against the Jazz a few years ago, that was during their "rebuilding" phase. --------------------------------
that maybe. but the spurs may be ahead of the lakers now had they not missed manu or/and parker for many games. or we could be safely ducking in the #2 position right now had we not had so many injuries and dramas earlier in the season. every team has to face adversity at some point of a marathon season, unless you're lucky to only have minor issues.
Fair enough. We know about injuries as much as fans of any other team so I agree with you on that point. I may have gone too far to try to prove a point but Adelman did not own a Jazz team a few years ago that was comparable to the current Jazz team.
Then why did you give the response you did in the 1st post on this page? As a counter to my point that Adelman didn't face a Jazz team as good as the current one, your response was that the Jazz team from 2 years ago was the same as the current one. First off, Adelman wasn't with the Kings two years ago. Second, the current Jazz team is also better than the Jazz team from 2 years ago, even though that has nothing to do with Adelman.
yao was ineffective back in 2007 no doubt, after coming back from a broken leg. the thing is, if yao doesn't play well and cannot be effective and efficient in the playoffs, the chances for us to lose will be greater than otherwise - no matter how well or poorly others do, or whom we play against. this will be particularly true this year, since we don't have a first class wing man. to enhance our chance, adelman's coaching will be more important than usual. that's all i was saying.
You bring up a very good point. We sometime forget how different playoff basketball is in comparison to the regular season. The intensity, focus by every player just goes to another level. The observation that Yao has not been able to punish the Utah team on single coverage is one of the main reason why we don't do well against them. This is also the reason why we do not want to face them in the 1st round.
ibm, If you want to talk about the early 2000s, which is a tangent from the original point, here's another excerpt from that same link: 1999-2003: Stockton and Malone's final years In the 1999 season, shortened to 50 games due to a lockout, the Jazz finished the season 37–13, tied with the Spurs for the best record in the league. They defeated the Sacramento Kings in five games in the first round of the playoffs. However, they lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Portland Trail Blazers. Despite yet another disappointment, Malone was awarded his second MVP. During the 1999-00 season, the Jazz finished 55-27 and won the Midwest Division but once again struggled in the postseason, losing to the Portland Trail Blazers, again during the second round. During the offseason, Hornacek retired and Howard Eisley was traded in a four-team deal that brought in Donyell Marshall. They selected promising high school basketball star DeShawn Stevenson in the first round of the NBA Draft. In the 2000-01 season, they went 53–29, but their playoff woes once again struck when they blew a 2–0 series lead in the first round of the playoffs to the Dallas Mavericks, a team that had not made the playoffs since 1990. In the 2001-02 season, Andrei Kirilenko made his rookie debut, but overall the Jazz began to show their age and dwindling talent. The Jazz finished just 44–38 and lost to the Sacramento Kings 3–1 in the first round of the playoffs. In 2002-03, Marshall and Russell moved on to other teams. Matt Harpring, however, was brought over from the Philadelphia 76ers, contributing to the offense and experiencing his best season. The Jazz approached 50 wins going into the playoffs, ultimately going 47–35 and again losing to the Kings 4–1. After the season, the end of an era came when Stockton retired and Malone moved to the Lakers in the hunt for a championship ring with several other future Hall-of-Famers (The Lakers fell to Detroit in the Finals the following season, after which Malone retired). The Kings did, in fact, take out the Jazz in 2001-02 and 2002-03 but the Jazz were flaming out at that point. Stockton and Malone were done. Stockton retired and Malone left for the Lakers after 2002-03. A couple of years earlier, when the Jazz were still elite, they took out Adelman's Kings.
since you have the drive and energy to google or wiki it, why don't you do me a favor and tell me if the kings in their heydays defeated sloan's jazz, or not? my point was, sloan's system has not changed in his some 20 years in utah and adelman has had success against the jazz (system) in the playoffs as recent as this decade. this year the jazz is better than they were 2 years ago? maybe, maybe not. even so, it's by a narrow margin. you see their young guns like brewer or milsap getting better, but they also have boozer regress a little.
Clearly Yao must play well for the Rockets to advance. But if he does play well, other players will be required to step up when the opposing team decides they've had enough. Adelman's coaching will be a factor and we can judge him on what kinds of plays the Rockets run in response and how good the shot attempts are. But as we saw Tuesday night, the players have to make the shots. And Adelman has to put a leash on dumb players and hold them accountable when they do dumb things.
Yes, the Kings beat the Jazz during the KING'S HEYDAY which coincided with the END OF THE STOCKTON/MALONE ERA. When the Jazz were elite in the early 2000s, they took out Adelman and the Kings.
that was like adelman's 2nd year in sactown and the kings' first time playoff appearance in an awfully long time. details...
obviously if Yao continues to shoot 40% against the Jazz and have his shot stuffed by Memo Okur then everyone else has to pick up the slack.
I wanna see Shaq dominate the Lakers. One time big mannnnnnn throw it down one timeeee! Speakin of which wtf happened to Bill Walton? Haven't heard him lately.
