The lack on consistency is what's been the most frustrating part of the season to date. No matter what your expectations have been for the last few seasons, you knew for the most part what you were going to get from the Jazz each night.
We haven't had that this season. We've had Deron Williams look like he couldn't care less on the court and getting frustrated enough to where he's chucking a bullet to a rookie who had yet to play a handful of NBA games. Then it looks like we get the Deron of old when he takes over in the third quarter against the Clippers and eliminates a 16-point deficit.
We destroy Oklahoma City one night on the road, a team that was a foul call away from sweeping us last season, and then can't grab a rebound against Golden State.
CJ Miles is (insert yo-yo/roller coaster/wave metaphor here).
Since we don't have a consistent bench right now, Sloan is struggling to find a consistent rotation. A lot of that has to do with match-ups, but it's not a strength right now.
For a team that's averaged 50 wins a season for the last 22 year, with the same coach, the same offense, and the same everything, it can be a bit frustrating when we don't have the consistent team we've had in the past.
It will come though, we just don't know how long it will take to find that consistency.
Speaking on consistency, from NBA.com,
Guess who's back, back again
Jerry's back, tell a friend
Guess who's back, guess who's back,
guess who's back, guess who's back,
guess who's back, guess who's back,
guess who's back...
Given that next year could be shortened/eliminated by a lockout, there's got to be some kind of Onion-like headline where Sloan is awarded COY in a season that doesn't happen.
At this rate, your children's children will only know one coach for the Jazz as well.
That consistency in the offense may not come for a while. Right now the Jazz are running limited offensive sets given that Jefferson is still learning. Sloan tells Genessy that he thought Al was going to pass out when he told him there were about 25-30 more plays to come.
Some have suggested that perhaps we play a lineup of Deron, Bell, CJ, AK, and Millsap given that they know the offense and could run all of the plays. That would certainly make sense in some match-ups.
Looking at the early numbers though, our best lineup, both offensively and defensively, has been with Deron, CJ, AK, Millsap, and Big Al.
From Basketball Value, this team has the best offensive and defensive rating of any unit with significant minutes. They've scored a 125 offensive rating and a defensive rating of 89. Both of those are other-worldly. That the unit with the second-most minutes together.
When you swap CJ for Bell, the offensive rating drops to 103 while the defensive side climbs to 100.
So take these values for what they're worth given that we're 6 games into the season. If CJ should start though, does that weaken our bench?
You won't be able to go head to head with Deron in NBA2K or NBA Elite (given that it's cancelled doesn't help matters) as he doesn't play them. However, he and the rest of the team are Call of Duty addicts. He tells ESPN that the team has come back from a road trip and stayed up late with teammates playing sometimes until 5 in the morning. It's a good thing that Jerry doesn't know about the intertubes.
They're all hardcore games it sounds like. We know AK likes Wow. Hayward will play Halo with you.
Sounds like we need a photoshop of the team in COD though.
Speaking of video games, who is ready to kick my can in NBA 2K11? I think it's time to start up a league. I just got waxed by my five-year old last night so I'm a guaranteed win for you. I only have an XBOX, so sorry PS3ers. Feel free to start one though. Email me at basketballjohn@gmail.com or tweet me @slcdunk if you want to play.