The Utah Jazz | as seen by Basketball John

Welcome to the first precap (Preview/Recap) of the year.  After the Jazz were down 75-48 at the half last night against the Lakers, I turned off the TV and went to bed.  It was one of the ugliest things I have ever seen.  It reminded me of game 5 against the Spurs last year.  There was nothing from the start and the Jazz were rattled early and couldn’t recover.

It’s to the point now where if we do make the playoffs, we should just forfeit all road games and save ourselves the trouble and expense of traveling.  Now if somehow we could get a second franchise in Utah and spilt time at the ESA like the LA teams do, and square off against them in the first round, we might have a chance.  And after we pulled off the Giricek trade today, if we could somehow send Harping and Collins to someone for a veteran big man, we might get back on track.

Now we have the Celtics coming to town.  The good news is that we’re at home.  The bad news is that it’s the Celtics, the best team in the league right now.  They have the three vets in KG, Pierce, and Allen who can get their shots and can get the calls.  They also allow the least PPG in the league.

Allen and Pierce scare the crap out of me because I can see both of them camping on the three point line and firing away all night.  I wonder if we’ll see a lot of zone to try to take that away.  Of course that leave KG free on the inside.

Which team will show up tonight for the Jazz?  A win would be a ginormous boost and a loss could very well put us near rock bottom.

Celtics Blog

That’s what you get when you step away from the computer for a few hours, KOC goes and pulls a trade behind your back.

Earlier this morning, the Jazz finally found a suitor for Giricek and sent him and a future conditional first-round pick for Kyle Korver.  The Jazz get rid of Gordan and the Sixers free up some cap space for next year.  There weren’t any details on the pick traded, but it probably won’t end up being a high pick, and if it is, it’s probably top 5-10 protected.

This is one of the trades that works out for all involved.  Gordan gets to start over and be a viable option coming off their bench.  He’ll be able to play for a contract next year in the NBA or overseas.  And of course he’ll finally be able to move out of Jerry’s doghouse and not have to worry about being yanked.

I was going to say that Korver would be moving to a contender, but I couldn’t really back that up with anything lately.  But he should add a deep threat for the Jazz who rank last in almost every three-point category.  We should be able to see him shoot as he comes in with the second team.  He’s only shooting 35% from behind the line this year after coming back from a groin injury.  But he is a lifetime 40% shooter and so hopefully we’ll see that from him.  And we got the league’s free-throw percentage leader.  Maybe we’ll have someone down the stretch that can hit some?  91.4%.  I don’t remember having any players on the team that shot that high.

My overall reaction is that this is a good-very good trade.  The draft pick hurts a bit, but the Jazz aren’t likely to have a high pick for the foreseeable future barring a catastrophe.  But we had to get rid of Gordan.  It was becoming a distraction and it was obvious Giricek wasn’t going to be part of the plan anymore.  So now we have a three that can shoot the three.  One question is whether Korver will knock Harpring out of the regular rotation.  Let’s hope so.  He’s got a better shot and we all know he has to be a better defender by virtue of being able put one foot in front of the other.  He’s also been getting about 30 minutes with the Sixers.  That would probably drop to about 20 minutes I would guess with the Jazz.  With his contract, that’s pretty expensive.  And he’s not quite the veteran presence I wish we had, but it’s a step in the right direction.

We won’t see Korver tonight against the Celtics.  That should give him plenty of time to come to the SLC, see the lights at Temple Square, catch a handsome cab ride, and get his hair done.

And don’t worry Giricek lovers, you’ll see him soon enough as the Sixers return to Utah on the 2nd.  How does that always happen?  Whether it’s in basketball, baseball, football, whatever, if you’re traded to another team, you’re guaranteed to play your old team within a couple days.

Fan Reactions: JazzFanz, SlTrib, ESPN - Great quote from someone, “Korver is a stand up guy and the city of Utah will love him.”  I’m sure the rest of the state of Salt Lake will like him as well.

Other reactions:

• ReclinerGM
• Luhmmy
• HoopsVibe
• InsideHoops