Today’s signing of Kyrylo Fesenko means, as discussed yesterday, that Rafael Araujo is more than likely on his way to Europe, where he can get more playing time in an effort to refine his game and improve his value to an NBA team in a few years.
You can hardly blame the guy for not wanting to sit on the end of an NBA bench for another season. The man wants to get better; he’s trimmed his body impressively towards that end; he practices his butt off, impressing other players, coaches and trainers. If he does in fact leave (he has an invite to Jazz training camp in the fall), I will miss his presence on the team.
A lot of Jazz fans, myself included, would rather see Hoffa stick around than Jarron Collins, the veteran Jazz big man. The Salt Lake Tribune’s Jazz blog recently had a post regarding the pitch that Araujo’s agent used to show the Jazz his usefulness by comparing his numbers to Collins, given equal playing time. It was a convincing argument.
Collins gets a bad rap from a lot of Jazz fans. I have to say, he is an underrated defender and actually has a surprisingly decent shot when he’s wide open. Of course, he has no offensive game, so the only reason he ever is wide open is because defenses are collapsing on Boozer and D-Will. But I was sold on Araujo when I saw the way he frustrated Tim Duncan in Game 1 of the Spurs series this year.
Collins and Araujo actually offer very similar things — solid, physical defense, a big body, not much shot-blocking, and can hit a wide-open jumper from 15 feet and in. The differences — Collins is MUCH smarter, usually doesn’t get stupid fouls, knows how to take charges and has the veteran experience to keep his head in pressure situations. On the other hand, Araujo is MUCH tougher, more physical, plays with more passion, and gets in his opponent’s heads by being nasty, though he has a penchant for picking up dumb fouls.
It’s more or less a push in my mind. But Collins does not have an attractive contract when it comes to trades, and his market demand is non-existent. So I’m sure the Jazz figured, since they were stuck with him, they might as well play him rather than sign another player who does virtually the same things. Plus, Jerry likes him.
If it were up to me? I’d keep Araujo and see if he could develop further with more playing time, since he’s younger and has more potential than Collins. But one of these players already has a contract, and the other doesn’t. In the end, money talks — the money Utah is already paying Collins and can’t get out of — and because of that, Hoffa is going to have to walk. Best of luck, big guy.
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Layton Shumway is the chief copy editor for BYU’s Daily Universe newspaper. You can reach him at lss83@byu.net.
August 15th, 2007 at 10:57 am
Well first off great analysis. But i’m starting to lose all faith in the Jazz front office. To me it is more likely that Fess follows the path of our other recent draft picks. He’ll end up another “casulalty of the lacck of playing time, due to lack of experience” group. (Brewer, Miles, Hoffa, Almond, Brown,) Meanwhile, guys like Mr. Turnover (Giri) and Mr…. Uhhhh (Collins) will eat up valuable learning minutes and cap\roster space. Hoffa is better than Collins period, not to mention he loves the team, is more agrresive, (on a very soft team) and will come at a less price. Dee Brown…or Ronnie Price… Well Stats-wise they’re pretty comparable one played for a big time school, and one played for a school that just got into D-1 level, but one is the Best friend of our superstar, and yet again one for sure loves and is dedicated to the Jazz.. People seem to really underestimate the importance of beliving in your team, and having pride to play for Utah. Should be a no brainer.
Pretty much everyone has agreed that the Jazz won’t be a contender next year, in that mind set, wouldn’t make sense to give those minutes to develop Brewer, Almond, Miles Brown, and Hoffa? Then a year from now we are READY to REALLY CONTEND with the West’s elite.
August 15th, 2007 at 10:57 am
Well first off great analysis. But i’m starting to lose all faith in the Jazz front office. To me it is more likely that Fess follows the path of our other recent draft picks. He’ll end up another “casulalty of the lacck of playing time, due to lack of experience” group. (Brewer, Miles, Hoffa, Almond, Brown,) Meanwhile, guys like Mr. Turnover (Giri) and Mr…. Uhhhh (Collins) will eat up valuable learning minutes and cap\roster space. Hoffa is better than Collins period, not to mention he loves the team, is more agrresive, (on a very soft team) and will come at a less price. Dee Brown…or Ronnie Price… Well Stats-wise they’re pretty comparable one played for a big time school, and one played for a school that just got into D-1 level, but one is the Best friend of our superstar, and yet again one for sure loves and is dedicated to the Jazz.. People seem to really underestimate the importance of beliving in your team, and having pride to play for Utah. Should be a no brainer.
Pretty much everyone has agreed that the Jazz won’t be a contender next year, in that mind set, wouldn’t make sense to give those minutes to develop Brewer, Almond, Miles Brown, and Hoffa? Then a year from now we are READY to REALLY CONTEND with the West’s elite.
August 15th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
Love the analysis Shums, and pretty much agree entirely. I would prefer to have Hoffa over Collins as well, but I’m not sure the Jazz lose too much by keeping Collins. I like Hoffa’s toughness, which I feel we need, especially with Okur as the starting center. Jerry certainly trusts Collins enough to play him, but what you see is what you get with Jarron. Hoffa has a bigger upside, that’s for sure.
I don’t agree with the statement that everyone agrees the Jazz won’t be a contender next year. Maybe I missed that message somewhere, but I feel the Jazz have a strong shot to contend in the crowded West, pending some resolution at the SG spot. If anybody nails down that slot with any efficiency, the Jazz should be tough to beat, though a lot will depend on how AK comes back, and if the Jazz can remain relatively injury free. Most of the main contenders in the West have not improved dramatically. The Spurs are the same, which means tough, but once could argue the Suns have got issues. They lost Kurt Thomas, their only tough inside presence, and although Grant Hill was added, there are some potential chemistry issues on that team. The Mavs have done little, and only the Rockets seemed to have stepped up. Bottom line: nobody’s a lock to take this conference, and the Jazz are certainly in the mix.
August 15th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
What i meant is it seems that everyone has the Jazz contending for the playoffs, but not for the Title. Nobody (media) beleives that we should’ve gotten as far as we did last year, and so far all we’ve done to improve this year is… Lose Derek Fisher. As most of us do, I beleive we have a shot for the Title, but the so called “experts” seem to feel differently.
August 15th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
Losing Hoffa is not a big deal. The numbers per minutes played is also misleading because the vast majority of Hoffa’s minutes are garbage. I do agree though that the Jazz need to find some way to develop young players. I hope that Fes is not another victim of the Jerry Sloan system. I do think that he brings something that the Jazz need which is a big body that has an ability to block shots. Young players in the Jazz system do seem to do a bit better when Sloan has no option but to play them.
August 15th, 2007 at 7:26 pm
Another major difference between Araujo and Flop that was really visible in the RMR…
If Araujo goes across the middle with the ball, chances are fairly good that the ball will get stripped.
He needs to get better control of the ball when powering inside.
Price and Shorty are interchangeable. Even with Shorty/Deron’s friendship.
Neither of them is/was getting much time anyways.
The Jazz have seen what Shorty gives them… now you take a peak at Price. Maybe he impresses.
If not… as was stated, stats are about the same.