Playing without Deron Williams for the second time in three games, the Jazz gave away a game they could have easily won. Deron has established himself far and away as the leader of this franchise. When he is not on the court, the Jazz look almost hopeless.
But last night should have been different. The Lakers have been struggling lately and Kobe had the flu, bla bla bla. The fact of the matter is that Smush Parker kept them in the game in the 1st quarter and then the refs kissed Kobe’s ass during the entire second period when he was able to draw a foul when somebody looked at him wrong. The refs tend to do this at times with players like Kobe, D-Wade and Lebron. It is unfair, boring to watch, and absolutely not good for the league. Yet, it happens time and again. For the game, Kobe shot 24 free throws, the Jazz shot 26.
Not that the refs bias toward Kobe cost the Jazz the game, it didn’t. Kobe’s follow dunk late in the fourth contributed just as much to the Jazz loss as did his free throws. The fact is that the Jazz played far too slow, and missed too many crucial shots to walk away victorious.
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This game, along with the Portland loss, illustrates just how valuable D-Will is to the Jazz. He dictates tempo and puts others in a position where they can really succeed. For all of Derek Fishers greatness, he does not have the same ability to set up his teammates. Twice last night he tried to set up Memo for a late three, but he did not get him the ball in a prime position to shoot, he had to bend over or otherwise adjust to a pass that was not quite crisp enough.
The worst part of all is that Williams has a strained groin. One of my good friends pulled his groin in high school while he was pitching. It took an entire off season and into the spring ball of the following year for it to return to normal. My brother pulled a groin while playing college football. He tried to tuff it out, and ended up getting dozens of hairline fractures through his pelvis due to the excess stress. That injury prevented him from running or lifting weights for eight months.
My point is that this is not an injury that heals quickly, and it is not something that you want to play through, it can cause a lot of compensation damage. Hopefully, it is very minor and he can get back in the swing of things quickly. But ultimately, I would like to see him take some time off and get healed before he comes back, it would be far better for the Jazz to have him fully healthy for the playoffs.
February 27th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
I agree it is now obvious that deron williams is the most valuable player on the Jazz. It is not Memo or Boozer, it is D-Will. He just knows how to run the offense so much better especially that high pick and roll that they run late in the game where he flicks it back to memo for the three. Derek Fisher is just an average veteran NBA player, he is not the kind of guy you want trying to put up the biggest numbers for your team. I know he was the leading scorer last night but honestly I hate seeing him trying to create for himself in the half-court game, that isn’t even Jazz basketball and If someone were to play one on one ball to create offense it would not be him. He is much more of an offensive threat when spotting up for threes and other jump shots.
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:07 pm
The league likes when its stars are at the foul line, because it’s the one chance they get to take a close-up of him while he’s standing still, and it allows the broadcasters to polish his knob for a few seconds.