I think these playoffs are showing that the Jazz deserve more post-season awards, yet because the networks, such as TNT and ESPN, rarely showed the Jazz, no one really knew much about them.
It's a joke that Kevin O'Connor didn't win executive of the year. After losing two Hall-of-Famers, the two building blocks of the franchise for two decades, the Jazz missed the playoffs only three years. And now, in the fourth season after Stockton and Malone departed, the Jazz are about to return to the Western Conference finals. Incredible. Absolutely incredible.
What's more incredible is the versatility of this team. They can play great as a slow-down team. They can play excellent as a push-the-ball team. Carlos Boozer has power and speed, ditto with Deron Williams. This is a team that realistically has four All-Stars (Boozer, Okur and Kirilenko have already been selected, and D'Will will soon be a regular at All-Star games).
Let's look at O'Connor's achievements:
- Spend the 2003 off-season unsuccessfully trying to sign restricted free agents. When that didn't work, O'Connor dumped non-working parts, including famously dumping useless John Amaechi (how can you be 6-foot-11 and shoot less than 30 percent from the field?) for a player who had already suffered a career-ending injury, and got draft picks and cap space. The 2003 team still won 42 games, thanks to head coach Jerry Sloan, who is always underappreciate and should have won NBA coach of the year that season. Traded the nonproductive DeShawn Stevenson for the more-productive Gordan Giricek. Hung onto Matt Harpring.
- Spent the 2004 off-season using that cap space to acquire the frontcourt the Jazz now enjoy, signing unheralded young players Carlos Boozer and Mehment Okur and investing long-term in Andrei Kirilenko.
- Spent part of the 2004-05 season as well as that off-season dumping worthless players on other teams. He traded Carlos Arroyo to Detroit, and bundled that pick with the Utah's own pick to move up to draft Deron Williams. That off-season, he got rid of the useless Kirk Snyder, Curtis Borchardt and Raul Lopez. Made a decent second-round draft pick in getting the promising C.J. Miles with the 34th pick.
- In this last off-season, O'Connor ripped off Toronto, getting the situationally-useful Rafael Araujo for the never-useful, spells-his-name-like-a-girl Kris Humphries. And then O'Connor managed two even bigger steals: First, he drafted Paul Millsap in the second round, who only proved to be one of the league's best rookies this year; then he dumped some more Jazz bench players--Keith McCloud, Milt Palacio and Devin Brown--for Derek Fisher. O'Connor's other two draft picks, Ronnie Brewer and Dee Brown, have been OK.
ALL TOLD, LOOK AT WHAT O'CONNOR HAS DONE TO ASSEMBLE THIS TEAM
The Starters
G: Deron Williams. Drafted by O'Connor, after O'Connor made an important and beneficial-to-the-Jazz trade to move up and nab him. The decision to not draft Chris Paul is looking more genius as the playoffs go on.
G: Derek Fisher. Traded for by O'Connor. The price tag of Brown, Palacio and McLeod looks really low, especially when you consider Fisher has played a key role in winning two games in this series against his old team. Say you want about Fish, but we're much better off having him on our team than we are in facing him.
C: Mehmet Okur. Signed by O'Connor. An unknown when O'Connor signed him. Made his All-Star debut this season. His 3-point shooting in the clutch helped the Jazz win the division title this year. His rebounding in this series has been outstanding.
F: Andrei Kirilenko. Drafted by Layden, re-signed by O'Connor. One of the last imprints that Scott Layden left on this team from his days of being in charge of player personnel. Kirilenko, a former All-Star, has rebounded in the playoffs from a rough regular season. With Kiri playing hot, the Jazz are a contender.
F: Carlos Boozer. Signed by O'Connor. Establishing himself as one of the NBA's elite forwards in this post-season.
The Reserves
F: Matt Harpring. Acquired by O'Connor. Harpring's blue collar style remain important to the Jazz, as he averaged 11 points and six rebounds this season.
F: Paul Millsap. Drafted by O'Connor. Succeeds by his sheer work ethic. An excellent role player who could blossom into a top starter in this league.
C: Jarron Collins. Drafted by O'Connor. A second-round pick who has been an OK back-up center for a long time.
G: Gordan Giricek: Traded for by O'Connor. Well worth giving up DeShawn Stevenson. Giricek is a good shooter and doesn't make too many mistakes.
G: Dee Brown. Drafted by O'Connor. A team player who was excelling in the playoffs until an injury derailed him.
G: Ronnie Brewer: Drafted by O'Connor. An exciting player with a lot of potential. Has succeeded in some important moments of this playoff series against Golden State.
C: Rafael Araujo. Traded for by O'Connor. Araujo is useful in slow, physical games. He will be an important piece for the Jazz should they play the Spurs in the conference finals. Like Brown, Araujo spends his time on the bench cheering for his teammates.
G/F: CJ Miles. Drafted by O'Connor. Saw meaningful minutes at the start of the season but little playing time lately. Still has a lot of potential.
Jessica Gomes
Anne V
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Marvelous assessment, Sledgehammer. As a native of Manti, I feel bad that the national media has given but little exposure to the Jazz this season. While I'm primarily a Mavericks fan, I still love my home town team and perhaps this current installment more than any of them, even those great Stockton/Malone/Hornacek teams of the late '90's. Oh well, if you're shining once the calendar turns to May and June, then you get all the important exposure, especially with a standout like Derek Fisher in our midst. Just one thing, though, I hope in the WCF, we play Phoenix, so if that means Araujo continues to sit the bench, that's a risk I'm willing to take. Good job!!!
Brad James
Manti , UT
Total Comments (37)
Have fun with Araujo, who makes a lot more than Kris Humphries (who actually played in the playoffs) you gotta be kidding me. Yes the Jazz had a great year and are having a great playoffs, but Bryan Colangelo took a team that was so bad they were facing extinction, he turned the top pick in the draft by going against the norm and taking Bargnani who will be better than Nowitzki. Signed obscure players playing overseas who became starters in Anthony Parker and Jose Garbajosa. Traded a me-first no hustle player in Charlie Villaneuva for promising young super quick PG (although now way near as great as Deron Williams will be) in TJ Ford-even though conventional wisdom says you never trade big for small. Unloaded some terrible contracts and dead weight. Re-Signed Chris Bosh to an extension by convincing him things will change. Went against his first instince to fire Sam Mitchell (nowhere near the coach that Jerry Sloan is and its a travesty he gets shafted for COY every year) and gave him a chance to turn around the team which he did. Hired the best basketball mind in Europe in Maurizio Gherardini and the relationship he has that will instantly allows the Raptors to have the best chance in tapping into the euro market for young upcoming talent and free agents-he already helped get Garbo. Then Toronto goes out and wins the division, ties a franchise record for wins despite losing Bosh for 10 games, Bargani to appendicitis and Garbo to a broken leg. Yeah its the East but 47 is a lot better than 21 wins. Perhaps the greatest thing is he made ppl believe in the franchise and turned a sport that is sadly an after tought in Canada into the biggest game in town and the premier franchise owned by Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment, sorry leaf and hockey fans.
Tony K
Beverly Hills , CA
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