Recent slide could signal start of big changes in Utah
Posted Jan 28 2011 10:12AM
• The Jazz are the pick for upper-echelon team in line for the biggest shakeup in the second half. The last couple weeks have been that unacceptably bad, tangibly because of bad defense. But the real concern is mounting chemistry issues. That's the biggest surprise in the six-game losing streak that has included defeats to the Wizards, Nets and 76ers and blowout defeats to the Celtics and Lakers. The same group that showed record-setting heart with a string of huge comebacks on a November road swing now appears so heartless.
• The threat of mood swings like this always existed. Utah's best player, Deron Williams, is emotional, essentially flicking lit firecrackers into the middle of the room last season by holding his impending free agency over the franchise when good friend Ronnie Brewer was traded. Utah's longest-tenured player, Andrei Kirilenko, is emotional. Utah's coach, Jerry Sloan, is emotional. A rock of stability in his longevity, but emotional. If Sloan rides away on his tractor tomorrow, it's not a shock.
• It's getting later faster in Salt Lake City than it is for any team that had hopes of a playoff run. The Lakers were never going over a cliff a few weeks ago -- no matter how many people were having panic attacks. Predictions of eternal doom as the Heat lurched through the opening month were always a ridiculous overreaction, too. It's different with the Jazz because their margin of error was never great. Utah was the easiest of the Lakers' four opponents last playoffs and then lost several key players, though the commendable response held Utah's place as a factor in the West. Now, the urgency is in January.