Change is coming, warns Jerry Sloan.
Utah Jazz Broadcaster Blogs
11/13/09
by Patrick Kinahan
The morning after the Celtics embarrassed the Jazz, who didn’t compete much
in the second half Wednesday, their Hall of Fame coach indicated he and his st
aff are pondering changes to the rotation. This weekend – starting Friday nigh
t in Philadelphia - could be interesting, if Sloan follows through and revamps
the starting lineup.
“It’s not too early,” Sloan told reporters, including 1320 KFAN’s David Loc
ke, at Thursday’s practice. “We’ll see what happens.”
Beware Carlos Boozer, you’re on notice.
The whipping boy for most of his time with the Jazz, Boozer could suffer the
humiliation of starting the game on the bench. Boozer got a taste of what may
come during the game in Boston, when Sloan replaced him early in the first qua
rter with Paul Milsap.
From my vantage point on the couch, the Jazz big men repeatedly allowed the C
eltics to stroll down the lane for lay-ups. The next hard foul they commit migh
t be the first one this season.
“Defensively is where the effort comes in,” Sloan said. “I don’t think ther
e’s a player out there that didn’t get beat.”
As Jazz fans continue to pile on Boozer, who deserves a lot of the grief for mu
ltiple ill-advised comments the last year, they need to spread around the blame
for a 3-5 start. As Sloan says, there are many culprits.
By benching Boozer, Sloan would send a strong message that would sweep through
the team. But he shouldn’t stop there.
Defense starts from the inside and extends out. In other words, look at the cen
ter in addition to the power forward.
In the last game, Mehmet Okur had more turnovers (4) and rebounds (3) in 25 min
utes. He had a total of one measly rebound on defense – the same number littl
e Eric Maynor managed.
Granted they played in garbage time, but Kosta Koufus and Kyrylo Fesenko each h
ad four rebounds. That’s not to say Okur and Boozer are bums, but there’s nob
ody else to bench, at least not until C.J. Miles and Kyle Korver return from in
juries.
If Sloan is interested in getting the team’s attention, he needs to go bold. S
tarting Milsap only manages to irritate one player. Time to put everybody but t
he ballboy on alert – you hear me, assistant trainer?
It’s not like the Jazz have anything to lose beyond what they’re already losi
ng. As fan base, we’ve got to see more spirit.
Even Deron Williams would agree.
“We’re not putting up much of a fight against good teams,” he said.
As a side note, having Locke cover the Jazz – in addition to his play-by-play
duties – is a major benefit for the team’s fans. Expanding his duties to in
clude being a reporter, Locke is side-by-side with beat writers.
Only difference is he can post the interviews on 1320KFAN.com and the Jazz webs
ite within minutes of talking with players and coaches. Forget the middle man.
Really, there’s no need to go anywhere else for the most relevant and timely J
azz news.
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