Rantings of a mad Utah Jazz fan...

I know most of you don't give a damn about the Utah Jazz, or even the NBA for that matter, but it is necessary for my own sanity to rant about the conclusion of this years season.

Going into the playoffs most Jazz fans knew that it was going to be an uphill battle facing Kobe and his Los Angeles Fakers, I'm the first to admit that. In fact, I would have been SHOCKED had Utah come out on top in the end. Yeah the Jazz had their "shiny moments" against the Lakers, but in the end those moments of execution hardly sidetracked the Laker course and Los Angeles closed the series 4 games to 1.

So what now?

I'll tell you what, some changes MUST be made. If I was offered the chance to make aforementioned changes this off season, without any hesitation they would be:

1. TOUGHNESS - With very few player exceptions, the team as a whole is neither mentally or physically tough enough to prosper in an NBA post season. Charles Barkley said it best while referencing the Jazz "Its hard to win in the playoffs when the toughest guy on your team is the coach." Jerry Sloan as a player was notorious for being rough and tough, was even named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team 4 times. Sloan is also the fourth all-time winning coach in NBA history. He's as hard ass as it comes, my hats off to you Jerry, getting ejected in the final Jazz game of the post season says it all(below). If nothing else at all, the Jazz should try to emulate Jerry's intensity ON the court.


2. Loose the Booz - Carlos Boozer is a worthless power forward. While he was out with an injury during the regular season, the Jazz thrived. You would imagine that a player of his size and stature (6'9" 266) would be a force in the post, but Boozer consistently shoots fade-away jumpers and throws up weak lay ups like a terrified middle-schooler. He's done nothing more than prove to Utah that he's a big softie that can't contribute when it matters. He also seems to believe that screaming after his in-game mistakes makes everything better. Seriously, who can argue...Paul Millsap has done more good on the court CONSISTENTLY than Boozer has done all season. I'd give Millsap the starting position (if he decides to stay) or bring in someone else for far less money. Losing Boozer would open up a lot of money for the Jazz, he made $11.6 million this season. Lets hope he opts out of his remaining contract before the start of next season. *fingers crossed.

I could easily keep going, but these were the biggest to chunks I needed to get off my chest. Now that our season is officially over, the Jazz need to spend this off-time recouping and thinking about how to building a better supporting cast for Deron Williams, he deserves it, Utah deserves it, hell, the late Larry H. Miller deserves it. That's my rant and I'm stickin' to it!