Utah Jazz preview by Layton Shumway
1. What can the Jazz learn from the 2006-07 season to help them improve their 2007-08 campaign?
The young Utah Jazz's trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2007 gave them the one thing they needed more than anything else: experience. For the previous couple of seasons, the Jazz have been ravaged by injuries. They were finally able to put it all together in 2006-07, and showed the league what this team can do with a healthy Carlos Boozer, a veteran Deron Williams, and a confident Mehmet Okur. Even though the Jazz bowed out fairly quickly against the San Antonio Spurs, Williams and Boozer talked about how valuable the experience was, to play in a high pressure playoff environment against the best team of the decade. The Jazz know what it took to get there, and they know their potential. Now they can use that knowledge to get back, and possibly beyond.
2. What was the Jazz's best and/or worst move during the offseason, either by free agency, trade or draft?
With a young squad looking to grow together, GM Kevin O'Connor and Jazz management wisely stayed away from major offseason changes. The biggest change is point guard Derek Fisher's departure for the Los Angeles Lakers due to his daughter's eye cancer and a desire to stay closer to her and her treatment centers. The Jazz will miss his leadership and timely shooting.
With Fisher gone, the Jazz signed Jason Hart from the Los Angeles Clippers and Ronnie Price from the Sacramento Kings to back up Williams at the point. Hart really picked up his play in L.A. at the end of last season, and as for Price... well, the Jazz have never forgotten the 16 points he dropped on the Jazz last November, including a monstrous dunk over Carlos Boozer. Neither player should have a massive impact, but are upgrades in athleticism from Fisher and Dee Brown. The Jazz also talked pretty seriously with Morris Peterson, but he ended up signing with the New Orleans Hornets.
In the draft, the Jazz picked up shooting guard Morris Almond from Rice, and center Kyrylo Fesenko from Ukraine. Almond performed well during NBA Summer League games and should provide the outside shooting help the Jazz desperately need. Fesenko is a project, but impressed management and coaches with his athleticism and energy. He will likely spend part of the year with the Utah Flash of the NBDL, but he has a ton of potential.
3. Who is the Most Important Player on the team? The MIP is not necessarily the most talented, but the one that makes the biggest difference in his TEAM doing well each game.
Without question, Deron Williams is the conductor of this Jazz band. The third-year point guard from Illinois came into his own last year, finishing behind only Steve Nash in assists per game and arguably outplaying his more-publicized Hornets counterpart Chris Paul. But his coming-out party really came in the playoffs, where he willed the Jazz to victory over the Houston Rockets and dueled the Golden State Warriors Baron Davis to a virtual draw. In the handful of games Williams missed due to injury last year, the Jazz looked hopeless. Jerry Sloan's pick-and-roll offense demands a capable floor general, and D-Will is already one of the best. He's also become the kind of team leader that players will follow.
