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Jazz player most likely to be in the running for MIP

davidbenoit

davidbenoit

Well-Known Member
Most Improved Player

I know it's a long shot but it's fun to make a conjecture. I think it will also be interesting to discuss who will have the biggest jump from last year.

I really only see 3 possibilities and they are as follows:

Al Jefferson: Will D-Will and a new system make him into a true franchise player? I predict 24 ppg, 11 rebounds and 1.9 blocks. But expect a slow start with his injury and all.

CJ Miles: His stats are slowly improving each year(except for FT shooting: 87% in 2009 and 69% in 2010 WTF!?). Will he have a break out year? He better! I'm sick of hearing about his potential. He did average almost 13ppg and 4 rebounds in March and April of last year.

Paul Millsap: Gotta feel bad for the guy. Finally gets rid of Boozer and then we go and trade for the guy that is most often compared to Boozer (20/10, bad defense). I doubt both of them can average 20 or so ppg, but it would be freakin' awesome if they did! Especially since we do better when D-Will doesn't try and carry the scoring load all by himself. Yeah he probably has zero chance at MIP but I felt dumb only giving two options.
 
Millsap won't improve much, he'll just get more PT. AJ had solid stats last year and therefore won't improve that much. To me, C.J. is the most likely candidate.
 
We can only hope its CJ. We've invested enough time and money into the kid...he needs to step up to the plate.
 
I think CJ has (or did) improved substantially during last season. Toward the end of the season he seemed to be much better and sounder in almost every aspect of the game than in either the earlier part of the season or prior years. At this point, I just hope he doesn't backslide, ya know?
 
I hope it's Fes. If Memo is limited or out early in the season, we'll need Fes in the regular rotation. A more consistant Fes would be huge for us!
CJ, as noted by Hopper, improved the latter half of last season. He just turned 23, which translates to "just out of college". Still young...
 
Why do people feel bad for Millsap when we bring in someone better than him to take on the scoring load that Boozer was responsible for the last several seasons? Maybe if Millsap was the dominant force some people think he is, we wouldn't need to look for an upgrade in the 4/5 scoring department...
 
honz said:
Why do people feel bad for Millsap when we bring in someone better than him to take on the scoring load that Boozer was responsible for the last several seasons? Maybe if Millsap was the dominant force some people think he is, we wouldn't need to look for an upgrade in the 4/5 scoring department...
Click to expand...

I don't regularly agree with ya' Honz, but I do here. I like Milsap, a lot. But to think there's no upgrade is homerism.
 
I think our best chance of any kind of individual award is Sloan for COY. Losing 3 of the teams top rotation players, replacing them and having an above 50 win season in a very competitive conference. I could see Dwill getting top 5 MVP consideration too if he steps his stats up a little bit and Utah has a great season.
 
I would expect Jefferson to start at C, Millsap at PF. Memo and Fes would be coming off the bench as b/u C's. Unless we bring in an experienced PF Sloan would play, AK and Jefferson would likely split the b/u PF minutes. Unless we're playing a big team like the Lakers, I don't see Memo and Jefferson on the court together much; too slow in transition.
 
Another reason to not feel bad for Millsap is that WITH a healthy Memo there are still 30-32 minutes a game for Millsap, Memo and Jefferson. Obviously with Memo's injury the minutes will be in greater surplus; I don't see Memo averaging more than 25 minutes a game until February.

In the end, Milly is going get his PT, and I think he is going to produce. I think he'll thrive playing off a solid low-post presence like AJ. So, I think Paul's name deserves to be in the MIP debate.

My personal hope is for CJ. I think he can be a 15/4/3 player this year.

(Dwill_pwn is right about COY)
 
Deron Williams. He's going to come out passing like Stockton and Shooting like Jordan, and single handedly win it all. In the championship game against Miami, He's going to drive the lane and dunk on Bosh, Lebron and Wade all at once...

Oh wait, this is the really real world huh?
 
Sloan is a good one, being he hasn't received Coach of the year yet, that would be an improvement stat wise.

Bell is the obvious choice to me. His stats last year were what.... zero? Him and anyone on the second team will probably show improvement. Price, Howard, AK, and Fes. Probably AK will improve the most until Memo plays. When memo is back it will probably shift to Bell or Howard or Price whoever get the most playing time compared to last year.
 
I don't really understand the Sloan for COY thing. KOC replaced the guys we lost, not Sloan. I think most of the media still has us at about 50 wins.

Also, I would love love love love it if Fes was our most improved player. Is anyone else secretly hoping Memo never heals? Fes would get a ton of playing time and could really start to improve/gain confidence. I really like our second unit this year:

Fes
AK
Raja
Gordon
Hopefully someone else than Price or Gaines
 
davidbenoit said:
I don't really understand the Sloan for COY thing. KOC replaced the guys we lost, not Sloan. I think most of the media still has us at about 50 wins.

Also, I would love love love love it if Fes was our most improved player. Is anyone else secretly hoping Memo never heals? Fes would get a ton of playing time and could really start to improve/gain confidence. I really like our second unit this year:

Fes
AK
Raja
Gordon
Hopefully someone else than Price or Gaines
Click to expand...

First off, KOC replaced known quantities and qualities with potential, nothing is as simple as plug-and-play. Even so, that perspective says nothing about personality changes and a very different locker room that needs managing. If the Jazz improve this year it will be very hard to overlook Sloan. (Watch them give to Spolstra (sp?)... I'll bloody puke).

Also, I think AK will/should be in the starting line-up. He was at his best last year in that spot, and the Jazz were better off too. My depth chart looks like this:

DWill/Price/Gaines
CJ/Bell/Jeffers or Anderson
AK/CJ/Hayward
Millsap/Jefferson/AK
Jefferson/Memo/Fes
 
Also, Millsap isn't gonna be bothered by whether he starts or not. As already said, he'll get solid minutes and be happy.
A grizzled FA PF who's still out there is Joe Smith. Never spectacular, but at 35 still good for 10 minutes a game. He's productive; can rebound or score when asked to, a team player, and is cheap. For those who don't like AK playing too much PF :cool: He'd be a better choice than Jarron Collins!
https://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=788
 
NotDeadYet said:
Also, Millsap isn't gonna be bothered by whether he starts or not. As already said, he'll get solid minutes and be happy.
A grizzled FA PF who's still out there is Joe Smith. Never spectacular, but at 35 still good for 10 minutes a game. He's productive; can rebound or score when asked to, a team player, and is cheap. For those who don't like AK playing too much PF :cool: He'd be a better choice than Jarron Collins!
https://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=788
Click to expand...

I'd rather AK get some minutes at the 4 than sign a guy like Smith. In fact, AK with 10 minutes (+/-) at the 4 should help keep Memo's minutes down during the regular season (Jefferson playing more at 5).
 
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