Northwest Division
1) Utah Jazz
As is the case with any Jerry Sloan-coached team, execution is the key to Utah’s success.
Fortunately for them, Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer are two of the brightest young superstars in the NBA.
However, the Jazz are also one of the least athletic teams in the league, and until they rectify that situation, they won't be a serious contender for the championship.
With all due respect to Chris Paul, Williams is the game’s best young point guard, and after Steve Nash and Jason Kidd cycle out of the league in a few years, he could be the best in the NBA.
His automatic long-range jumper makes him lethal on screens-and-rolls. If he isn’t picked up, he’s also excellent at finishing strong on the run, or dropping passes off to the roller or to the various cutters and spot-up shooters spacing the court.
Most importantly of all, Williams has the patience of a 10-year veteran in waiting for a play to develop. With all the complicated sets and plays Jerry Sloan employs, and with the constant pressure he puts on his point guards, Williams’ mastery is doubly impressive.
Carlos Boozer is a perfect screening-and-rolling complement to Williams, and has an unstoppable midrange jumper of his own. Boozer prefers to unleash shots and start drives from either the left baseline or the high post. He's also a solid defender and a menacing rebounder.
The rest of the team is more of a construction crew than a basketball squad.
Matt Harpring will cut harder than you, run off screens harder than you, box out harder than you, set screens harder than you, and defend harder than you. He has the uncanny ability to get opponents in foul trouble simply by cutting off the ball, and has a deadly jumper coming off screens.
However, Harpring is a below-average finisher, and can’t keep up with some of the more athletic players he's asked to guard.
Mehmet Okur is a long-range bomber with good defensive and rebounding techniques. But if his jumper isn’t falling, his lack of athleticism makes him a hindrance rather than an asset.
In a perfect world, he’d be a second-stringer, brought into the game to be a matchup problem. In this world, he doesn’t do enough as a starter to allow the Jazz to take the next step forward.
Gordon Giricek is a spot-up shooter with no athleticism.
Jarron Collins will bang around and excel at grunt work, but his offensive repertoire is limited to tip-ins and put-backs.
Paul Milsap is a rebounding vacuum with limited offensive skills.
Despite his inflated view of himself, Andrei Kirilenko is strictly either (a) a weakside defender who's adept at blocking shots and poaching passing lanes, or (b) an anchor at the top of a zone who gums up the perimeter offense.
He can run, and he can jump, but unless his wife is giving him permission, he isn’t a great scorer.
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