Same record at this point in the season as last

[Sloanfeld]

regardless of the facts or the current events, i just don't really get why you are so desperate for people to acknowledge you... pretty annoying honestly.

For the same reason that people wanted me to acknowledge every time Boozer has had a sub-par game since he came back from injury (and other than the first couple, there's hasn't been many).

One thing that I forgot to mention in my original post was that everyone who kept insisting that last season's team better could not have possibly been that dumb. The rebounding, lack of offensive execution, and poor starts were huge red flags. People saying that this seasons team is better were simply using that as a defense mechanism because they didn't want to face the truth. I see this team as nothing more than a second round exit. I see last seasons team as the second best team in the conference and conference champions had somebody else knocked off the Lakers.

 

[vslice02]

I see last seasons team as the second best team in the conference and conference champions had somebody else knocked off the Lakers.

Throw in "when fully healthy," and I will agree with you on the 2009-10 Utah Jazz. People like to laugh when I write this, but I will forever claim the 2007-08 Jazz team would've made the NBA Finals if not for Bob Delaney and Steve Javie in Game 5.
Those Jazz teams didn't have many faults, but unfortunately the Lakers were one of the few teams able to consistently magnify those faults.

 

[LogGrad98]

For the same reason that people wanted me to acknowledge every time Boozer has had a sub-par game since he came back from injury (and other than the first couple, there's hasn't been many).

At the risk of sounding jr.-high-ish (I know, right?), you started it.

When I came into the discussion I never made a claim about last years team vs. this years, and I still haven't. In fact I got into the discussion about whether the Bulls are better than we are since they are Jazz pt 2. My statement there was that we cannot compare since there is too much disparity among the teams and that record alone cannot prove anything really, especially when the records are so close.

No what struck me to begin with was how you started foaming at the mouth (keyboard? meh) whenever anyone insinuated at all that Boozer was not the greatest thing since sliced bread. I noticed that your every single post revolved around Boozer and what he meant to this team and how bad he was missed and how you demanded vindication for all the wrong everyone has done you for not acknowledging that you were the Almighty Sloanfield, All-knowing Boozer Fanatic and Prognosticator.

For many of us this is a moot point as we never necessarily disagreed with your initital premise that last years team is better than this years. Many of use said the jury was out on the changes, or said we didn't like some of those changes, etc. Sure there are disagreements about why we are worse this year, and it is obvious the crux of the issue for you is Boozer. Others disagree with that sentiment. The point is there is a spectrum here, which is what you would expect from a diverse group of opinionated people. But you have lumped everyone into 2 boats. You and everyone else. Fit my mold or you must belong to the other. You sound like an extreme left- or right-wing politician.

At first I thought you were just playing it up. Now I can see how seriously this has affected your psyche. You need to remember this is an internet forum that really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. It is, in the end, an entertaining waste of time. I know some people espouse certain opinions just to get a convo going or to bolster an argument of someone they like, or whatever. You are taking this far too seriously.

And in the end you have no objective evidence that Boozer is why we are worse this year, or even the biggest reason. There are just too many factors. It is your opinion, and I can respect that. Please respect that after copious discussions others have differing opinions.

And you can be happy with your opinion even if others disagree, or if they refuse to see or acknowledge your point of view.

 

[memo is money]

Sloanfeld is right about the fact that this team has not been as good defensively or offensively as last year's team. About the offensive execution, it was totally expectable from the start of the season; a Jazz fan having watched some Jazz basketball troughout years can easily figure out that players get more confident, more efficient and fluent in this offense as they get adjusted to it, spend some time working and getting better at it (which is obviously something these clowns have not done so far, being content with miracle wins, comebacks) so comparing a roster featuring Okur, Boozer, Williams, Miles, Brewer, AK, Millsap (all with 3-4 years together) with a roster featuring 6 new faces and an injured Okur is not logical and applicable at all.

However, one thing we knew for sure and expected is the defensive improvement. This new team played stellar defense throughout the first 20 something games of the season. Miraculously, their offensive efficiency as a group has not improved a lick and the worse thing is they have stopped playing any kind of defense (the worst team in defending the shot recently) and they just do not execute the plays. I wish I knew the reason. Players have eyes to see what Deron or coach implies when the offense is about the set, they have mouths and they can hear, they can communicate. Recently, I started to think about them not having sufficient IQ to figure out things, really, but I think the problem is effort and commitment. How can you lose a game before it even starts? Isn't it the way you feel, think when you see the body languages of players?

The key elements of former Jazz team spent at least 4 years together and they eventually became a phenomenal offensive team, in REGULAR SEASONS. They could not stay in first 10 both in off. efficiency and def. efficiency consistently in any year. They did not prove that they can win with defense. What I liked about the new team was that they are more flexible, deeper, tougher and way more capable of playing lock down defense to win. I guess how things look like on the paper does not immediately and always comes true in reality. I do not want to believe that the Jazz do not have the right pieces to play Jazz basketball, we have some time to figure out, I hope the whole experiment will not result in a epic failure.