Now that Jimmer is out of the tournament, I'll weigh in on whether or not he should be with the Jazz next season if he's available with their own pick.
If he's there, and he will be, I don't think the Jazz should take him. The only reason I could see them doing it would be to get some of the fan base excited and hoping that he sells tickets. To me, I think his high risk isn't worth the reward.
You can find tens of thousands of people that know how college players translate to the NBA better than I do. But when I think of what his ceiling vs. what the worst-case scenario is, it's not worth it.
Also, I don't think he's a good fit for the Jazz. The Jazz are in rebuilding mode and I don't think he's a player that would be part of a core for that type of team. I really see him doing well if he got drafted by a veteran team where he doesn't have to come in and perform and they can bring him along slowly.
Finally, he doesn't fill a need with the team. He's going to be either a third-string PG or an undersized SG. That doesn't fit with any of our needs. He needs to be a difference-maker and I don't think he will be.
Normally Thursdays are basketball (the actual playing of the game and not watching) nights for me. It normally doesn't conflict with the Jazz because Thursdays are TNT nights and the Jazz don't have many of them.
However, I missed one of the better games of the year, regardless of how it turned out. I was there to start the game and figure I'd watch the rest when I got home. Instead, I looked up highlights and read recaps.
After seeing the Okefor Miracle, I can't help but think that this was another games the Jazz could have had had they had a healthy roster. We've been so close on a lot of these games. I'm not saying that we would be humming along, but we'd certainly have a better record and possibly still be in the playoff chase.
For all of you Xs & Os people, Sebatian Pruiti has a great breakdown of just how many ways the Jazz get the ball to Millsap.
You know, I've missed Memo this year. Obviously we could have used him on the court and maybe things would have been different. I think though I miss him more for his attitude and drive to win. We know he probably shouldn't have been playing last year against the Nuggets in the playoffs. Yet he knew that his team needed him.
Then you have this quote from him yesterday about coming back early this season,
I tried to come back too quick, because I was really hungry to play basketball. It's been 10 months, no basketball for me. I only play like two scrimmage. I just want to go out there and play. It wasn't really a good thing about coming back early. But I wasn't thinking right because I was hungry and I just wanted to be on the floor and play. If you go back 11 months ago, I wouldn't have done the same thing. I would've wait to get 100 percent then I could play.
He really is one of my favorite Jazz players of all time. It's been hard to remember that because he's been out all season for the most part. He's another though that loves it here in Utah. I don't know what the future holds for him (his contract is up after next season) with the labor situation, but I hope we can keep him on.
Friday poll...