Quotes from your GM, Kevin O'Connor. Make of them what you will.
Mar. 12 (KALL):** We're gonna figure out a way to try and get to sixth or fifth place in the league. Mar. 15 after the trade deadline expired (KFAN):
** Don't mistake activity for accomplishment.
** Sometimes the deals that you don't make are the best deals that happen.
** Being aggressive doesn't mean being stupid.
** The biggest thing we talk about is playing meaningful games, and we've been doing that. On the road, we've come up short too many times, but we're in those games and we're competing in those games, and we're competing at home. To make the Playoffs is very, very important because then it's more meaningful games and then it's meaningful games down the stretch, and that's what we want....If you play the young guys, you're tanking.
Watching Steve Nash and the way he ran the Suns' offense two nights ago made me really, really miss John Stockton. It got me to thinking about the Jazz's point guard situation, and it just seems to me that Jamaal Tinsley is the most "Utah Jazz point guard" on the roster. Devin Harris has been playing well as of late and I can't say enough about Earl Watson as a leader and tough guy and person, but the way Jamaal runs the team is, well, it's just different.
I took a look at our assist numbers for the season and Jamaal has dished out more assists than any non-starter on the team (6th most) despite having played far, far fewer minutes than anyone not named Jeremy Evans or DeMarre Carroll.
In fact, Jamaal is the only Jazz player to have collected double-digit assists this season. He's gotten 10+ minutes only four times this season, and in those games he's averaged 9 APG.
As Jazz fans, we are so used to our point guard averaging double-digit assists. Our backup point guard, Earl, is averaging the most assists on the team with 4.5. Our starting point guard is averaging 4.4. It's just weird as a Jazz fan to see that. The Stockton-Malone team averaged 27 APG in the 90s, while the Boozer-Deron teams averaged around 25.5. The current Jazz are averaging just 21 APG.
One other note: Big Al has a reputation for being a black hole, but he only has 10 fewer assists than Paul Millsap for the season (in exactly the same number of minutes).
Relive Paul Millsap's incredible game-winner last night, courtesy of @prodigyJF:
History Lesson of the Day:
For Generation [fill in appropriate letter], Ron Boone is simply the guy on the TV or radio during Jazz games that leaves sentences hanging and once posed the question, "What's a skillet?"
Back in his day, however, Booner was the sh--, er, a total stud on the basketball court. Those on Twitter probably know that he played 1,041 consecutive games in the ABA and NBA. Coming out college, he was drafted by both the NBA and ABA and opted for the latter.
In the ABA, Booner is, all-time, #5 in games played, #5 in minutes played, #3 in field goals made, #4 in field goal attempts, #5 in free throws made, #7 in free throw attempts, #3 in points, #30 in rebounds, #6 in assists, #9 in steals, #1 in turnovers, and #2 in personal fouls. (#44 in blocks, in case you're wondering.) In short, he was the Stockton and Malone of the ABA.
Did you know: After the ABA merged with the NBA, Booner was taken in the dispersal draft by the Kansas City Kings...which was coached by Phil Johnson. After two seasons, he was traded to the Lakers (yes, Booner was a Laker), where he played with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Adrian Dantley. Six games into his second season with the Lakers (which now had rookie Magic Johnson), Booner was traded to the Jazz...which was coached by Tom Nissalke. He played two seasons for the Jazz before being waived and ultimately retiring.
