推 hardaway:GOOD 03/15 02:15
推 gratitude:battle-tested coach = Sloan 03/15 07:32
推 gratitude:battle-tested PF = Boozer 03/15 07:32
Magic, Jazz headed in opposite directions
The roles have been reversed for the teams since the last time they met.
Tim Povtak | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted March 14, 2007
Karl Malone and John Stockton aren't walking back through the door any time
soon, but that's OK now.
They aren't needed anymore.
The next generation of the Utah Jazz has begun to shine.
The Jazz (43-20) are atop the Northwest Division and headed for their first
playoff appearance since the celebrated farewell finish of Malone and
Stockton in 2003.
They have won six of their past seven games and 14 of their past 17, finally
convincing the rest of the league that the great start (12-1) was no fluke,
and they aren't going to fade in the final five weeks of the season.
The Jazz don't live in the past anymore.
"This is a new year, a new team," forward Matt Harpring told reporters in
Utah last week. "We're going for it all."
They might not have the playoff-tested veteran team that exists in Dallas,
San Antonio, Phoenix, Detroit or Miami, but the Jazz have proven to be one
of the NBA's most improved teams, and they are one that looks ready to last
for many years.
They will face the Orlando Magic tonight at Amway Arena.
It's a stark contrast from when these two teams last met. On Nov. 27,
Orlando marched into Salt Lake City to kick off its first big road trip of
the season. The Magic were 10-4, boasting the best record in the Eastern
Conference. The Jazz were 12-2 and were unbeaten at home.
Orlando won 85-77 and would go on to start the season with 13 victories in
their first 17 games.
At the time, who could have known the Magic would be the team to fade out of
the playoff picture in the weak East while the unheralded Jazz would stick
around in the star-studded West?
"We just keep playing and try to see where we end up," said veteran Coach
Jerry Sloan, who coached the Jazz twice to the NBA Finals with Hall of
Famers-to-be Malone and Stockton. "It's OK to have confidence, but the worst
thing is to start patting yourself on the back."
The Jazz won 26 and 41 games the past two seasons, making another major jump
this season. They join the Toronto Raptors, Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls
and New York Knicks as teams that have made the most significant improvement
from last season.
They have two first-time all-stars in power forward Carlos Boozer and center
Mehmet Okur, another one-time all-star in Andrei Kirilenko and a future
all-star in point guard Deron Williams. And all of them are under 28 years
old.
They have veteran role players such as Harpring, Gordan Giricek and Derek
Fisher who have learned to fit their games around the young stars.
They have a battle-tested coach in Sloan, who has had only one losing season
in his 19 years with the Jazz. He is finally in position now to win his first
NBA Coach of the Year Award, but that is the furthest thing from his mind.
"Even when we were struggling [at midseason], I still thought this team was
going to be pretty good," he said. "But we really haven't done anything yet."
The biggest reason for improvement is that they have remained healthy,
losing only 27 games to injury this season, compared to 227 games last
season. Boozer, their leading scorer and rebounder, missed eight games
with a hairline fracture of his fibula, but he has returned to form.
Compare that to the Magic, who have coped with extended absences by Trevor
Ariza and Tony Battie.
Another reason is the mental toughness they have developed under Sloan.
They have won games 14 times this season (most in the NBA) after trailing
by 10 points or more. They have overcome 15-point deficits five times to win.
They have five players averaging in double figures, giving them a balance
that is difficult to defend.
Boozer has become the dominating player the Jazz expected when they signed
him as a free agent three years ago. Kirilenko is scoring less, but he has
learned to change his game for the good of the team.
Williams is showing the promise that was expected when the Jazz took him so
high in the 2005 draft. He was the first Jazz player to have a 20-point,
15-assist game since Stockton did it in 1997.
Okur is having his best season (18.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg), no longer worried about
unfulfilled promise. Fisher has brought championship experience.
"Whether we're good or not, it's a good thing that we think we are," Harpring
said. "If you play with confidence, it makes you play better. If you think
you're better than you are, then maybe you play better than you are."
Tim Povtak can be reached at tpovtak@orlandosentinel.com.
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