In defense of Mehmet Okur

One of the most common complaints about recent Jazz teams is the lack of a shot-blocking center.

Fans want a big man who can make up for Williams, Brewer and Kirilenko's inability to guard anyone. They want Dwight Howard.

But they know that Boozer's buddy Superman isn't going to be coming to the SLC anytime soon. So, fans have accepted that all they need is longer center who can block shots and help the defense. Nothing special, just a player to make it more difficult for opponents to score.

Listen to that. They want Greg Ostertag.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Yes. You want a huge presence in the middle. Someone who can block shots. Or at least disrupt drives to the basket. The player doesn't even need to score that much.

Ostertag says: I did all of that. For 10 season. But you all wanted a center who could score from the outside. An offensive presence. Remember Todd Fuller?

The center position in the NBA today isn't very good. How many 5-men are, without any doubt, better than Okur? PFs who play a little bit of center don't count (Garnett, Duncan).
-Howard
-Al Jefferson
-Brook Lopez
-Chris Kaman
-Andrew Bogut
-Marc Gasol

After that, there are a bunch of maybes. Shaquille O'Neal, Andris Biedrins,
Andrew Bynum, Emeka Okafor and Spencer Hawes.

These days it would be hard to find even a Greg Ostertag. And there aren't many options coming up in the draft. The best bet is Greg Monroe from Georgetown.

It would be really nice to have a shot-blocker, but the Jazz have a better chance of learning how to guard people with what they have.