Jazz Hype - A Utah Jazz Blog » Players

Carlos Boozer Exits… And I Plead for Some Sanity.

Justin — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 05:53:14 +0000

Yeah, it’s been a long time since any of us here at JazzHype have posted anything, and it’s been quite the summer at that. We’ve seen the unveiling of the new logo (and, as you can imagine, we here at JazzHype are not fans of this guy):

(The note’s all you needed guys. This looks like garbage.)

We saw the draft come and go, and the immediate “sky is falling” reaction by Jazz fans for the selection of Gordon Hayward (as for me, I said from the start I wasn’t sold on the pick, but I’m willing to give the kid a shot.. I didn’t think any of the bigs left were the “answer” anyways. That being said, the Jazz simply must find a big in the free agent market. We’re not gonna find the “answer” there either, but with Okur’s injury, we can’t leave it to Fes and Kofous and hope for the best.)

But today, the story of summer 2010 for Jazz fans hit…

Carlos Boozer is gone.

Later I’ll get into what I think this means for the Jazz as a team, but I want to take an opportunity to plead with Jazz fans.

Please, for the love of John Stockton, don’t boo Carlos Boozer.

Please lose the “if you don’t wanna be here don’t let the door hit you on the way out” mentality.

I know it’s second nature for us Jazz fans to feel like the world is against us. After the Ron Harpers and Rony Seikalys of the NBA, I can understand why we’ve developed this syndrome, but frankly, it needs to stop.

Carlos Boozer was the first semi-big name free agent to choose to come to Utah.

Even two seasons ago when he was stupid enough to announce to the world he was getting a raise and opting out, it wasn’t because he hates Utah and our glorious bounties of ice cream and Glenn Beck fans… It was because he wanted to get paid. Would Carlos rather live in Miami than Salt Lake City? Sure. But now that he’s in Chicago, I can guarantee you his house in Miami isn’t going anywhere. Think Chicago fans are going to moan about Carlos not living in Chi town year-round?

Carlos left Utah for Chicago because the Bulls were willing to pay him more than the Jazz. As the always excellent Ross Siler tweeted earlier today, Carlos gave the Jazz every opportunity to match if they so chose.

So don’t boo the guy because the Jazz didn’t want to pay what another team was willing to.

I’ve always been proud at how Jazz fans were always considered to be loud, knowledgeable and classy in terms of NBA fans, but between the reception we give Derek Fisher and now Carlos Boozer? We’re starting to look and sound like a insecure and mean-spirited mob.

It’s definitely your right to give Booze whatever kind of reception you want when he makes it back into the Energy Solutions Arena. And I’ve understood and agreed with a lot of the frustrations Jazz fans have had with him over the years, but consider this a formal plea.

Don’t boo.

[Video] New Deron Williams Mix — Gangsta!

Brandon — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 23:04:15 +0000

Watching this video today made me realize just how lucky we are that Deron Williams is on the Jazz. Charles Barkley just called him the best point guard in the league, meaning he is the best point guard in the world as well. Hard to argue that after watching this.

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

TPT: Deron Williams Dunks in Dallas!

Brandon — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:13:52 +0000

Did anyone catch Deron Williams Dunk in the All-Star game in Dallas? Wait scratch that — both of his dunks in Dallas?!? They were awesome to say the least and you could tell that Deron had a lot more energy than most the other players out there. Deron truly was excited to be at the game, and it showed. He was so excited that at the end of the game he forgot what the score was and fouled Dwyane Wade with just seconds to go as the score was tied. We still love you though Deron!

Follow Deron Williams in Dallas

Brandon — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:20:54 +0000

I thought it would be fun to follow Deron Williams in Dallas during the All-Star weekend. Just to keep tabs on what he is doing, because this is his first All-Star appearance, so we may as well cover it the best we can. We will be updating this as much as possible over the weekend, so stay glued!

SATURDAY – These 3 guys all have one thing in common. Dallas. Deron practicing with Steve Nash & Jason Kidd. Thanks to @saltcityhoops for the pic.

SATURDAY – I normally like Craig Sager, but man I really think he butchered this interview when talking with Deron on Saturday. This is just pretty awkward. What do you think?

FRIDAY – After some interviews earlier, Deron spent the afternoon in the cold, painting houses with other All-Stars. Gotta get that commercial made for the NBA to make it look like it’s players are doing some good. Thanks to @Utah_Jazz for the tip!

FRIDAY – Deron impressed everyone with his ability to answer extremely tough questions on Friday. More media interviews to follow. This guy was made for interviews. Thanks to @NBA for keeping us updated!

THURSDAY NIGHT – Deron plays NBA LIve at the NBA Live party against Kevin Durant. They played with their own teams and KD ended up beating Deron. I am glad Deron is a better basketball player than he is an XBOX player. Thanks to @JonesOnTheNBA & @reesreport for the info.

THURSDAY – Today Deron was signing autographs for fans at the All-Star Jam Session area. Looking good D-Will! Thanks to @NBAJamSession for the info.

Deron Williams in New Nike ‘Human Chain’ Commercial

Brandon — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:12:53 +0000

Deron Williams has been the man in the advertising world lately. His newest gig is this sweet commercial from Nike called the ‘Human Chain’. It shows Deron performing his murderous cross-over and then dunking it home on a 9 foot hoop.

Regardless, this is still great stuff for Deron. He is still getting all kinds of hype across the nation, even though he is playing for a small media market team.

Beardless.

Justin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:28:35 +0000

Being a UVU Alum, I have many friends who attended the Ronnie Price Hall of Fame night, and a few posted pictures they snagged of a few of Ronnie’s teammates who showed up for the event.

It would appear that Deron went ahead and shaved the beard.

(apologies for the poor image quality. I stole it off a friend’s Facebook album – but that beardless guy over Korver’s shoulder is Deron)

I was pulling for him to keep this fountain of win appropriately trimmed, but attached to his face nonetheless for the rest of the season. Let’s hope we can sustain the magic without Deron’s beard keeping us afloat.

Also, congrats to Ronnie P. After watching him play in college, and hearing numerous stories about what a cool guy he is in person, very stoked for the guy.

No related posts.

Booze or Sap?

Justin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:31:44 +0000

Oh I can’t believe we’re back to this whole debate.

Who am I kidding, of course I can believe it. Year in and year out it seems the Jazz need to find themselves a whipping boy to get them through the roller coaster ride of the regular season. Greg Ostertag was the perfect example of this. Yes, he was quite the easy target, and really didn’t do a ton to help himself over the years, but it seemed like Jazz fans found a little too much comfort in thrashing the guy. Even Karl Malone, half of the reason this team was ever able to survive in this market, was the constant outlet for Jazz fan frustration. Now Carlos has done much to frustrate me over the last few season, I’ll be the first to admit it, but I always took the “wait and see” approach with the guy. When they introduced him on opening night, I didn’t boo, I didn’t cheer, I just waited to see what he did next.

While he pressed a bit too much to start, eventually what he did next was become the most consistent player on the team, and the obvious on the court leader. Still, we all saw the writing on the wall, and as the Jazz struggled through the first couple months of the year, many of us (myself included) were adamant that a change must be made in order for the fortunes of our Jazz were to turn around. So, with the off season fresh in many fan’s minds, Boozer was always the centerpiece in that trade. None of the rumors ever gave me belief that the trade would benefit the Jazz in either the short or the long run, so I was glad to see that none of them ever came to fruition, but I was constantly told I was being foolish.

Then came the streak. Booze finally started getting cut some slack, and we all just started to get caught up in the pandemonium of it all.

Then the calf.

Then Millsap goes off v the Kings, and the Jazz win an exciting game in Dallas.

So here we are, right back where we started. Boozer haters feeling justified to start shouting, and Boozer apologists deflecting as many arguments as possible.

I don’t feel I truly belong in either camp, I think that barring anything completely unforseen, Booze is gone at the end of the year so the notion that getting something is better than getting nothing has creedence. I also think that the Jazz overpayed for Millsap. Yes he’s had a couple monster games since Booze went out, and I truly hope he can keep that up when the starting job is his full time, but just on a hunch I looked at the last few games the Mavs and Kings have played and they gave up the following inside performances to opposing bigs:

Dallas:
v. Portland – 21 points to LaMarcus (and of course the 52 to Andre Miller – I don’t have the stats to back this up, but I’m going to go out on a limb and guess most of those weren’t jumpers)
v. Phoenix – 22 points to Amare and 13 to Admunson
v. Milwaukee – 32 points to Bogut

Sactown:
v. Denver – 24 to KMart
v. Charlotte – 38 to Gerald Wallace (4 jumpers, rest in the paint)
v. Miami – 21 to Michael Beasley

So yes, Paul was fantastic in the games v Sacramento and Dallas, but I’m not ready to say “who needs Carlos?” quite yet.

So I want to hear from all of you on this one. Boozer haters, Boozer…non-haters (I was going to say lovers, but wasn’t sure that had become socially acceptable around here yet), and the rest. Please sound off and let us know what you think. Should we trade Boozer? If so, why?

Jazz Deal Ronnie Brewer to Grizzlies for 2011 Draft Pick

Deron Williams Nasty Dunk Over Joel Anthony

Brandon — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:35:39 +0000

A Deron Williams dunk is a thing of glory. This is a video of Deron dunking of Miami Heat player, Joel Anthony. But before the dunk, notice the sick crossover Deron pulls on D-Wade. Wade just tried to brush it off as if he didn’t get worked, but we all know that’s not the case. Oh I love it when Deron does this! It sends chills down my spine!