| Are the Jazz Finally Ready to Take the Final Step? |
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| Written by Inaki Angulo | |
| Monday, 25 August 2008 | |
 During this span, they drafted Andrei Kirilenko and Deron Williams; they signed free agent Carlos Boozer and traded Carlos Arroyo for Mehmet Okur. All four are starters and key players right now. The past two seasons, the Jazz have been over the fifty wins, reaching the Western Conference Finals in ‘07 and the Conference Semi Finals in ‘08. They are a settled team and one of the main contenders for the upcoming season, but are they ready to take the final step? Do not doubt it. First of all; Jerry Sloan is one of the most intelligent guys in the business. He knows how to manage winning teams and he knows that he has, maybe the most talented crew of players of his career. Moreover, most of the players are in their best moment. No one has peaked yet, and everyone has improvement margin. They have a deep roster, full of great players. D-Will needs no presentation. He is the emotional leader of this team. He had a breakout season in 06-07, and since then, everything is rolling at Salt Lake City. He can assist, he can score and he has the physical condition to play smart D. He makes his team-mates look better. Everybody takes incomes from Williams at the point guard. Kirilenko and Okur are pretty versatile guys. The Russian is an all around player, able to score from the perimeter and defense opponent stars. Okur is also a versatile guy. In my opinion he is the most beneficed of Williams’ presence. Boozer is also one of the top Power Forwards in the NBA. He is a tough guy, who is not only a scorer. He is able to battle in the low post and grab a bunch of rebounds. He is an intimidator. Ronnie Brewer is "the other" starter. Do not underrate him. Brewer will be a full time starter in the coming season and he would have a breakout season in 08-09. Opponent defenses will not pay much attention to him. He will have to capitalize it and become another threat for the Jazz’s Offense. They also have good players coming off the bench such as Matt Harpring and Kyle Korver. Well, they have the talent; but talent is not enough. A winning team always needs something more. A winning team needs poise, attitude and experience. I think that they have all three. They have Playoff experience and huge attitude, especially when they play at home. The Energy Solutions Arena is a tough place to play. The 34-7 record at home last season proved it all. Their time has reached right now. They have to step forward, do their best during the regular season, clinch the home field advantage through the Playoffs and complete the assault to the NBA Finals. They are a settled team, perfectly prepared to face the challenge at the upcoming season.         Set as favorite Bookmark Comments
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