(last minute) Amigos' NBA previews: Utah Jazz

First off, I just want to mention that (apparently) someone found this blog by searching Fu-Schnickens and Joe Johnson. Together. Take a motherfucking bow, if you've decided to stick around. And onto the...thing.

Recent Past Post Stockton-Malone, there was a period of moderate suckage, that saw them miss the playoffs three times in a row. But then they got Deron Williams, and some other guys, and now they've been pretty decent for a little while now.

Offseason Nothing really happened, which was a pretty big deal. Millsap and Boozer are still...around, and so this is more or less the same team as last season, as far as I can tell.

Probable lineup Deron Williams, Ronnie Brewer, AK47, Carlos Boozer, and Mehmet Okur as the five. Ronnie Price, Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap, and Kosta Koufos as key subs.

General Overview Jerry Sloan is a very nice coach. This is a quite nice team. And so, it doesn't seem like things should be so...meh.

But they are. And it's not just the injuries that have semi-plagued them, it's the general...failure to show that they can display a somewhat prolonged spell of legitness. They've shown it in spurts, mostly with that scary-good offense of theirs, but when it's come down to it, they've never really done that much. They made the Conference Finals once, but even that was after beating the T-Mac having Rockets and the eight seeded Warriors. So, what we have here is a team that's shown us a lot without actually proving shit. Or...whatever.

And, unlike with other teams, I don't really get the sense that the Jazz are about to break out and prove something. They went out with a whimper against LA last season, and even taking into account how good the Lakers were, the Jazz just really didn't look like a team that would be particularly great against a team of decent caliber. I'm left doubting their ability to defend good teams, even though their defensive stats from last season were actually half decent. In summary, I have no faith in this team.

And so, even with Williams, and Boozer, and Millsap, and somewhat awesome tweeners like Brewer, Kirilenko, and Okur, I don't see this team doing as much as it probably should. Which is sort of a shame, until you remember...sucks to the Jazz, and their stupid non-fitting (I know) name.

If they were a hip hop act Jurassic 5. Similar to the Jazz, I don't like J-5, for no particularly good reason, despite the fact that they're probably pretty alright and occasionally do something significant.

Guessing how they'll do Get the five or six seed, give whoever they have to play a pretty tough time, but probably get knocked out in the first round

Boozer and Okur stay; Impact on Britishy Gordon

So, the Jazz are going to keep at least two of the three bigmen that could have potentially left this summer. Good for them, I guess. I don't know, it's hard for me to get too excited about anything that happens with Utah. I sort of hate them, but in a totally passive way. But, whatever. This means Utah will still be pretty good, as they have been for a little while now. Can they make that next step? I don't know. They looked very good at times this season, but slumped in the end and had to endure a beating from the Lakers.

Paul Millsap's situation is still unresolved, and I'd guess that this news would make the Jazz less likely to throw big money at him. They'd have to go into the luxury tax to resign him, and that's just not something a lot of owners like to do. Especially owners of small market teams. But, who knows. The list of Milsap's potential suitors is pretty interesting. You'd sort of expect Detroit to be interested, but OKC and Memphis are odd names. I mean, we all know that Marc Gasol is the shit, and the Grizz just drafted Thabeet. OKC look relatively set right now, with a promising young lineup of Westbrook-Harden-Durant-Green-Krstic. But Millsap is young, and they're unlikely to sign a big name next summer. So, why not, I guess.

Anyway, the far more interesting (alright, maybe not) impact of this news is the effect it has Ben "I didn't realise Mount Vernon was in the UK" Gordon (at least, Pete Rock* never told me it was in the UK). Now it seems to be either Gordon or Millsap for the Pistons, unless they're going to hold off to next summer (they aren't going to do that). Right now, it looks like the Pistons really need a big man. Sheed and McDyess could both be leaving, and Austin Daye isn't a real big dude. Millsap's a very good fit, you'd think. But Ben Gordon is dreamy. And I'm pretty sure the Pistons would instantly become the biggest thing in Great Britain if they signed him, because Gordon's leading them to gold in 2012. Him and Luol Deng. Wait. Shouldn't the Bulls already be huge there? Are they? We need answers.

*Water No Get Enemy just came on, and I'd never realised that this was the sample on Grown Man Sport. I've heard both tracks plenty of times. How bizarre.