推 JerrySloan: 11/18 00:23
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Don't Sleep on the Kids
By Travis Heath
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Nov 16, 2006, 16:55
The Utah Jazz came into Tuesday's contest against the Los Angeles Clippers
as perhaps the hottest team in the NBA. However, they also had to play the
contest without Andrei Kirilenko. No big deal, right? It's not like the
Jazz don't have depth, and how important could AK-47 really be, anyway?
Well, in point of fact, the Jazz were 14-40 all time without Kirilenko in
the lineup prior to Tuesday's game. The Jazz overcame the odds, however,
by dominating the Clippers in the second half en-route to a 112-90 beat down
sans Kirilenko. Oh, and by the way, the win helped improve Utah's record to
7-1 for only the third time in franchise history.
Can you say scorching hot, people?
Obviously, the Jazz are a better team with Kirilenko in the lineup, and they
need him to be fully healthy to continue their special run of the season's
first eight games. That said, the Jazz finally have the depth to compensate
for the loss of a player or two to injury -- even a player of AK's caliber.
In season's past for the Jazz, with injuries came losses. Now, with injuries
come opportunities, and two rookies ceased their opportunities on Tuesday.
Your friendly neighborhood columnist tried to warn the NBA about Paul Millsap
in the preseason. Maybe the Clippers should have visited HOOPSWORLD to learn
something about the young player from Louisiana Tech, because he caught them
totally off guard with his effort on Tuesday.
Millsap did what he does best against the visitor's from Los Angeles --
the intangibles. He was a beast on the boards on both ends of the floor.
Perhaps most impressive, though, was his defensive prowess. Millsap blocked
four shots in the contest, the most impressive of which came half-way through
the fourth period when he swatted a Clipper attempt to half court drawing
ooh's and ahh's from the Jazz faithful. Millsap provided an encore
performance denying a Corey Maggette attempt in dramatic fashion just a few
minutes later.
As if four blocks weren't enough, Millsap also had four steals in the game.
In the fourth quarter, he picked Elton Brand clean in the high post leading
to an easy transition basket for his team. It's almost like Millsap was
aware of what the Jazz would be lacking with Kirilenko out of the lineup, and
as a result, he made a conscious effort to bring it defensively. Not too bad
for a second round pick, huh?
Millsap was not the only young player who stepped up in Kirilenko's absence.
Fellow rookie Ronnie Brewer got the starting nod on Tuesday from head coach
Jerry Sloan, and the kid didn't disappoint. Brewer scored 12 points on 5-7
shooting, and he also blocked a couple of shots in his spare time. Most
importantly, he played under control for most of the game, and he turned the
ball over just once. Mistake free performances like the one Brewer gave on
Tuesday, will ultimately help Sloan gain more confidence very quickly in the
young guard.
The kids are realizing their potential early, and Utah is going to need their
contributions throughout the season. The reality of the situation is that
the Jazz are going to have other important players go down during the course
of the year That's just what happens during the rigors of an 82-game grind.
The question is whether or not the rookies will be able to provide the same
kind of contributions in March and April and avoid hitting the dreaded rookie
wall (to read Brewer's thoughts about the aforementioned rookie wall, click
here). (就是板上第6240篇)
A great start is much better than the alternative, but the rest of the league
is just waiting for the Jazz to come back down to reality. If the kids play
like they did on Tuesday, though, it might be end up being a long wait.
http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_19474.shtml
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