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Breaking down the bigs on Utahs roster
Thursday, September 21, 2006 1:20 PM CDT
Chuck Nunn/Jazz Session
While the final roster for fall camp has yet to be announced and there is
still time for trades to occur, it’s still possible to get a pretty good
idea as to how the Utah Jazz roster will be shaping up this season.
So I think it's a good time to break down the Jazz lineup by position in the
days leading up to fall camp Oct. 3, barring any changes being made as final
announcements come in on the camp roster.
For now, let's start with the center and power forward positions. I'm
combining the two because Utah has three players currently on its roster
who can play both positions.
Two of those players can be expected to be part of Utah's starting lineup on
opening night. Six-foot-11 Mehmet Okur and 6-9 Carlos Boozer finished out
last season as Utah's starting frontcourt along with Andrei Kirilenko.
Okur, entering his fifth year in the NBA, is considered by many to be a
center. But with Boozer injured for much of last season, Okur saw a lot of
minutes at the power forward position. He made a big improvement in his
second season with Utah, leading the Jazz in scoring with 18 points per game
and in rebounding with 9.1 boards per game.
Utilizing his inside-outside game, Okur creates a lot of matchup problems
on offense. While his 3-point shooting dropped off a bit last season to 34
percent, he is still a deep threat from behind the arc or within it. Okur can
also take his man off the dribble for layups, and he has a respectable post
game.
I've already mentioned his rebounding. Okur has made great strides in that
area, which helped make Utah one of the NBA’s top rebounding teams last
season. He's also been somewhat of an iron man, having played in all 164
games since signing with Utah in 2004.
Boozer, who has been a power forward for most of his NBA career, also saw
time at the center position toward the end of last season. After missing more
than half the season with a recurring hamstring injury, Boozer came back
strong with his post play, finishing the season as the team’s second leading
scorer (16.3 ppg) and rebounder (8.6 rpg).
Boozer's biggest struggle in a Jazz uniform has been in staying healthy.
If he can do that this season, he should emerge as the major post presence
Utah wanted when it brought him aboard, also in 2004.
Jarron Collins, at 6-11, has played all five of his NBA seasons with the
Jazz. While he's never been the kind of center who will give you a 20-10
every night, his cerebral approach to the game has made him a solid role
player. Collins contributes basically because he makes very few mistakes
in the halfcourt and plays good team defense.
While Collins did have decent numbers last season (5.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg) and
started 41 games, it's reasonable to expect that he will probably be more
of a second unit player this season, providing some stability and hustle
off the bench.
Utah's newest center on the roster, 6-11 Rafael Araujo, heads into the new
season as a bit of a question mark. His first two seasons as a pro with the
Toronto Raptors were a disappointment without question.
But Araujo, who came to Utah in exchange for forward Kris Humphries and
center Robert Whaley, seems determined to make the most of his new start
with the Jazz. In offseason workouts, Araujo has trimmed down, coming into
the Rocky Mountain Revue around 15 pounds lighter than his listed 290, and
has been working on his quickness.
After a rough start to the Revue that included getting ejected after a
flagrant foul on the Atlanta Hawks' Marvin Williams, Araujo was able to
settle in and put together some decent performances. But right now, it
remains to be seen how much he's progressed. Fall camp and the preseason
may be indicators on how much Araujo's improved since last season.
Finally, one of Utah's second round draft picks, 6-8 Paul Millsap, may not
have a huge impact on Utah's season immediately, but he could very well have
a great future with the franchise.
Millsap, out of Louisiana Tech., was the leading rebounder in NCAA Division I
play for the past three seasons. Not only does Millsap have a nose for
rebounding, he also averaged 19.6 points per game during his final season
withthe Bulldogs. With a front line as deep as Utah's is, Millsap still has
a decent shot at cracking the rotation at the four spot.
Contact Chuck Nunn at cnunn@southidahopress.com ore feel free to blog this
column at www.southidahopress.com.
http://www.southidahopress.com/articles/2006/09/21/sports/local/jazzsess.txt
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