Name a player that wouldve won Stockton & Malone rings.

[LogGrad98]

We needed to trade for Dick Bavetta, Hue Hollins and Danny Crawford.

You couldn't trade for them, they were part of the Bulls front office payroll.

 

[infection]

Agree Houston would fit well, and realistic.

Best for me would be Sabonis.
Then Detlef Schrempf and Robert Horry off the bench just wins

Sabonis would have definitely taken us over the top and kept us much more relevant in the early 2000s, but I don’t think there’s any way we could have gotten him.

Horny was on his last leg literally. Having someone better in that spot for the finals would have been huge. He was so good though for those teams… just didn’t have enough left at the highest level.

Honestly having Seikley or Ike Austin may have been enough to push those teams over. They were so close the last dance year.

During our first finals run I was sad AF seeing Isaac Austin get MIP and tearing it up in Miami because he could have been the guy we needed.

There were a few players that I think could have helped in the 97 offseason as I thought about this in years past.

Not even talking trades, there were a lot of good free agents that last year as I recall: Bruce Bowen, Bison Dele, Horry, Brian Grant was a beast at the time. Pretty sure they were all free agents we could have had without any trades, but I may be misremembering.

Problem is we were over the salary cap, so had limited flexibility.

I believe we tried to sign Bison Dele, aka Brian Williams, but he chose the Bulls instead, then made some comment during the finals about how the lake stinks. I don’t know that I’ve ever smelled the lake in my entire life. However, when I was in 5th grade we had cracked a stink bomb in the bathroom at school and the recess ladies were trying to calm everyone down saying “it’s just the lake!”

 

[LogGrad98]

Sabonis would have definitely taken us over the top and kept us much more relevant in the early 2000s, but I don’t think there’s any way we could have gotten him.


During our first finals run I was sad AF seeing Isaac Austin get MIP and tearing it up in Miami because he could have been the guy we needed.


I believe we tried to sign Bison Dele, aka Brian Williams, but he chose the Bulls instead, then made some comment during the finals about how the lake stinks. I don’t know that I’ve ever smelled the lake in my entire life. However, when I was in 5th grade we had cracked a stink bomb in the bathroom at school and the recess ladies were trying to calm everyone down saying “it’s just the lake!”

Yeah the lake can stink, no doubt.

 

[Gameface]

I think what we actually needed was for Dorothy to find Ostertag the Cowardly Lion a heart, courage and a brain. If he had lived up to any of his potential I think that makes the difference.

Oh, and a devoted fan to pull a Tonya Harding on Dick Bavetta

 

[jazzVA]

Phil Jackson…

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Getting a coach who would convince John Stockton to take more than 10 shots per game.

 

[The Fresh Prince]

Why would the Knicks at that time do that trade? I don’t think the jazz had the assets to pull that trade off not sure how that’s even realistic. Not sure the Knicks would be all that interested in late firsts.

Wouldn't be NY it would be Detroit. That's where he was before he went to NY. Detroit does it so they wouldn't lose Houston for nothing.

 

[infection]

Back toward the tail end of the Stockton and Malone era, there had been some pretty consistent rumors regarding trading Bryon Russell and Donyell Marshall for Keith Van Horn. I was very against that because I valued both those players, but in hindsight I think it would have hypothetically been a very solid move and made us much better. I don't know that it would have taken us over the top at the time, but it would have gotten us out of the first round, at least.

 

[The Fresh Prince]

Houston would've been the missing piece Factor, man!




He also seems like a Sloan guy. Small town, unselfish no nonsense guy who knows his role. Clean cut, no tats, clean shaven. I was a big H20 fan as a kid and always wanted Allan on the Jazz. He's criminally underrated because he fell under the radar most of his career. There's no denying though that he had one of the smoothest jump shots in the game.

Plenty of games where Houston took over, put the team on his back and went nuclear too. 53 points vs. The Lakers in 03, 50 points vs Milwaukee a few games later.

 

[LogGrad98]

I think what we actually needed was for Dorothy to find Ostertag the Cowardly Lion a heart, courage and a brain. If he had lived up to any of his potential I think that makes the difference.

Oh, and a devoted fan to pull a Tonya Harding on Dick Bavetta

You are not wrong. If Ostertag took the game seriously he could have been a force. He had the body and the skill. Just had that goofy attitude that showed that in the end he really didn't care.

 

[LogGrad98]

Back toward the tail end of the Stockton and Malone era, there had been some pretty consistent rumors regarding trading Bryon Russell and Donyell Marshall for Keith Van Horn. I was very against that because I valued both those players, but in hindsight I think it would have hypothetically been a very solid move and made us much better. I don't know that it would have taken us over the top at the time, but it would have gotten us out of the first round, at least.

Marshall is another one who could have been the X-factor for us, but he seemed disgruntled from the time he got here. I think he didn't like the tight ship that Sloan was running and the no-nonsense approach Stock and Malone took to the game. He had real potential and as a third for the big 3 could have been the missing piece. So many players derailed by bad attitudes.

Imagine that, young people with too much money that feel entitled, that never happens, right? Right?

 

[infection]

Marshall is another one who could have been the X-factor for us, but he seemed disgruntled from the time he got here. I think he didn't like the tight ship that Sloan was running and the no-nonsense approach Stock and Malone took to the game. He had real potential and as a third for the big 3 could have been the missing piece. So many players derailed by bad attitudes.

Imagine that, young people with too much money that feel entitled, that never happens, right? Right?

He had a bit of a resurgence here and I don’t remember any attitude issues. He was a pleasant surprise because I was disappointed we lost Eisley (though S&T) in the deal. But by the time he signed with Chicago, I was fine with him going because I was ready to enter the new era with Kirilenko, who became a much bigger letdown.

 

[LogGrad98]

He had a bit of a resurgence here and I don’t remember any attitude issues. He was a pleasant surprise because I was disappointed we lost Eisley (though S&T) in the deal. But by the time he signed with Chicago, I was fine with him going because I was ready to enter the new era with Kirilenko, who became a much bigger letdown.

I remember some interviews with Marshall where he seemed frustrated in general. Just never seemed to be at home here. True about AK. Too bad there too. He had some of Ostertag-itis. Just kind of didn't care.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Getting a coach who would convince John Stockton to take more than 10 shots per game.

Sadly a coach that would be a little more flexible would have helped. One that believed in the three just a little more would have been great.

Honestly flipping 5-10 minutes of Hornacek for some additional Shandon Anderson time would have helped too.

 

[PresidioTrojan]

Kirilenko was played out of position as soon as Boozer got healthy in '06-'07 and we kicked him to the wing.

I'll die on this hill.

 

[infection]

Imagine having Gobert instead of Ostertag and Okur instead of Foster. And Deron Williams.

 

[Elizah Huge]

It really is a shame Harper’s ego got in the way. He would have been awesome for us.

 

[Isaiah 1:13]

When you really take a hard look at the egregiously bad calls made against the Jazz in both the 97 and 98 NBA finals, I’m not sure that any player personnel would have offset the Jordan effect. This is including but not limited to: in 97, allowing Chicago to play a zone, no goaltending called on Pippen for popping the rim on a Jazz shot; in 98 game six alone, two shot clock discrepancies from Bevetta, no call on the Jordan push off on Russell.

David Stern had an agenda to create a mythology and icons and when you look at Jordan (with the help of Nike) no doubt he succeeded.

 

[Thee Idiotic Minivan K]

Wouldn't be NY it would be Detroit. That's where he was before he went to NY. Detroit does it so they wouldn't lose Houston for nothing.

Someone would outbid us.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Sadly a coach that would be a little more flexible would have helped. One that believed in the three just a little more would have been great.

Honestly flipping 5-10 minutes of Hornacek for some additional Shandon Anderson time would have helped too.

Crazy that in the 97-98 season the Jazz were dead last in 3pt attempts per game despite being 5th best at making them. Bryon Russell is one of those dudes who if you put him in the modern era he's probably a drastically more impactful player.