Well, the season went better than many expected, I believe. While few predicted that the Jazz would advance to the Conference finals, I think that fans and experts alike were down on the Jazz after their poor finish heading into the first round against the Houston Rockets. Nevertheless, here are my season grades for each player. Feel free to leave your own feedback.
Rafael Araujo (Grade: C): Okay, he didn’t put up statistics any better than his dismal rookie season, but Hafa definitely impressed coaches and teammates with his hard work. While ‘potential’ may still be the key word, it’s too early to say he couldn’t contribute in the future. Araujo played some solid defense here and there, although he’ll ultimately draw the wrath of fans for his klutzy play.
Carlos Boozer (Grade: A): One of the two candidates for team MVP, Boozer probably made the most consistent contribution to the team. He did miss eight games this season, but Jazz fans won’t complain. Double-double machine, every night.
Ronnie Brewer (Grade: C+): The minutes came sporadically, but when given a chance, Ronnie Brewer impressed fans (and coaches?) with his athleticism. His bizarre shooting form still produced an awesome field goal percentage, but many of his points came off impressive dunks, alley-oops, and reverse lay-ups. He also gave a great effort on defense, and will challenge C.J. Miles for a roster spot next season.
Dee Brown (Grade: C): Okay, I think expectations were pretty low to begin with. He gets a C for making the roster, and he can’t be any worse that Hafa.
Jarron Collins (Grade: C+): Probably the most boring player on the roster, though he does draw some nice charges (or flop awfully well). Collins had the worst year of his career, but he knows the system. When Collins is out on the floor, we don’t really get anything out of, and we don’t really lose anything by playing him.
Derek Fisher (Grade: B+): He got a grade boost after providing a great lift in the playoffs, but he didn’t provide that same leadership all season long. Fisher doesn’t play his natural position for the Jazz, but he still made significant contributions.
Gordan Giricek (Grade: B-): Giricek had a fairly mediocre season, but his shooting percentages went up. At times he appeared to play defense, although it sometimes resulted in tick-tacky fouls.
Matt Harpring (Grade: B+): Harpring helped form the Bully Brothers bench, and took advantage of his opportunities to score easy buckets and fight on the boards. Although I was skeptical about whether Harpring would live up to his contract, he played 77 regular-season games — avoiding the knee injury that made him damaged goods.
Andrei Kirilenko (Grade: B-): Yes, the grade may be harsh, but his play has stunk this season. At the beginning of the year, fans noticed he was in a slump. That continued throughout the whole season up until the Warriors playoff series. Still not a bad player, but not worth the contract and currently a team cancer.
CJ Miles (Grade: C): He deserves a good portion of credit for the Jazz’s 12-1 start. He didn’t do a lot, but the first month of the season was impressive. Still a glimmer of hope, although he may spend more time in the local D-League.
Paul Millsap (Grade: B-): I still don’t understand why Millsap dropped to the second round. His college career should have counted for something, but I won’t complain now. Millsap surprised many fans and NBA personnel, and had an outstanding rookie year.
Mehmet Okur (Grade: A-): His play faded at the end of the year, but Mr. Big Shot had an excellent season, especially behind the three-point line. His defense proved invaluable in the playoffs, and his confident shooting stroke helped the team win many games.
Deron Williams (Grade: A+): Williams gets the A+ because nobody expected him to improve like he did. As a second-year player, he dominated many of the best and became the natural team leader. He won’t be an All-Star snub next year, and he’ll be face of the franchise for the next decade. Not bad…
La287 is a contributing writer for UtahJazzBlog.net — while also maintaining Daily Basketball, a round-up of the latest NBA and NCAA sporting news.
June 5th, 2007 at 11:14 am
I think you were way too nice to Kirilenko. The guy sucked this year. He went from scoring 14 a game to 8 and his stats were lower across the board.
As for Millsap, you were too low with him. For a second round pick to play regular minutes and contribute at a high level as a rookie is impressive. Especially when you consider the other front court players that he has to compete with for time. I can not say enough about him.
Other than that, good grading. I agree with your take.
June 5th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
I’d have to agree with memotforever. I don’t think you can give AK and Millsap the same grade. Millsap’s performance is even more impressive when you consider how much Sloan loves to play rookies.
June 5th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
They weren’t graded so much by expectation as their overall contribution. Millsap definitely surprised people; I’m saying that both he and Kirilenko made similar contributions on the court — not considering contracts, expectations, experience, etc.
I agree with memotforever as well. Kirilenko did suck this year, but players do look over their shoulders when he’s on the floor.
June 12th, 2007 at 11:27 am
I strongly disagree with the Fisher and CJ grades. CJ may have started out decent, but he failed to contribute anything at all the last 9/10 of the season. I would give him a D or D-. And Fisher probably contributed some to the growth of Deron Williams, but as for his on court contributions, they were overrated. His poor shot selection and FG% killed the Jazz, especially during the last few weeks of the regular season. Also he couldn’t defend larger 2-guards, and (although this is Sloan’s fault) took minutes away from Ronnie Brewer, who looked very promising. I’d probably boost Millsap to a B+, but I agree with your other grades.