RE: Williams----->Small changes, big pay-off

In the post before last, superstar reader Holdinator wrote:

"This summer will be a lot more interesting for the Jazz than last summer, and I'm not sure I think that's a good thing. It's so fascinating to me that the best thing the Jazz did this past summer was sign Wes Matthews. They don't have either of their draft picks, but they have this rookie free agent starting for them, and doing a decent job.

I'm looking for some consistency from Deron. Last night's game against the Clippers was awful. It was almost an identical performance to the Kings game, and that makes me nervous."

I respond to the second paragraph first, then the first, second:

When he went to the free throw line last night, I knew Defense Williams would miss one. I wasn't prepared for him to miss both.

I started paying close attention to his last-second(-ish) shooting last year. He never makes them, and they seem to miss the exactly same way every time: bounce off the right front of the rim, ricochet off the backboard, hit the rim somewhere and then go to a rebounder. A person would think that he would make finally make one, but his time has not yet come.

I know that he hit one against the Cavs a few years back, but I can't think of any others. He also hit a clutch shot in the last minute of the playoff win last year. Perhaps he was due. I was hoping that meant he had gotten over whatever mental block was affecting him, but alas, he has not. Karl Malone is known by even Jazz fans as a choker for missing two free throws.

Defense Williams is generally good at making passes in crunch-time, but has also made some terrible ones. Remember on New Year's Eve when he passed the ball to Ronnie Price? I'm not confident in Williams in the waning seconds, but Price is even worse.

Williams also had that flop on Kaman's perfectly fine screen. Sure, Baron Davis probably would have still scored, but you can't just let your man go free to the hoop like that when you are down by more than one possession.

Not Defense Williams' finest moments. Some of his worst, in fact.

A lot of Jazz fans seem to think the Jazz need to "blow up" the roster every time they have a terrible stretch. This is stupid. Well, I guess I need to know what they mean by "blow up". If they mean get different role players, then I guess I can get behind the "blow up". But that is like a pretty weak explosion. If they mean get rid of Boozer, Williams or Okur (if just for the heck of it), then it is a stupid idea. Getting players as good as Boozer and Williams isn't easy--especially a big man like Boozer. You might as well blow up the Delta Center if you are going to be that hardcore about making a change. It is way too drastic.

If you are a fan pyro, the best to hope for is holding on to Boozer and Williams, probably Okur too, and tweak things here and there. Because of how vital and awesome I think Matthews is, I think he should be held onto at all costs.

This speaks to your point about their best offseason move being the discovery and signing of Wesley Matthews. A little move can make a huge difference.

It also makes me excited to see what the next little move is. (see: the post before last)

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How about another track that references a Jazz player?



At 2:07:

It’s like that [fellow] Jordan, I’m Scottie Pippen
It’s like Magic, Worthy
Parish, Bird be
Stockton, Malone ish