Pivot Points: Utah Fans Can Expect More of the Same from Jazz

While every other playoff team in the Western Conference were upgrading their rosters for the upcoming season, Utah's biggest move was retaining the rights to Paul Milsap.

It was important to re-sign Milsap, because along with Deron Williams, he represents the Jazz's future, but for now Utah seems stuck in the present.

San Antonio, Dallas, Portland, Los Angeles, and Denver all added players that should immediately up grade their rosters, while Utah went with the same is more approach.

I know that Utah fans are resilient and kind of spoiled, being that their team are perennial playoff contenders, but where is the fun in knowing that in all probability, that your season will end in about the same spot?

I'm not counting Utah out, because Jerry Sloan is one of the better coaches in the league, and he has a consistent approach to the game.

He knows how to win, and his Jazz teams are usually one of the more disciplined teams in the NBA, but he may have gotten all that he can out of this bunch.

Two of his better players, Andre Kirilenko and Carlos Boozer, have probably hit their ceiling as far as potential goes, and Boozer doesn't really even want to be there.

The Jazz may regret not moving Boozer when they had a chance, because he has the tendency to get lazy and uninterested, and for a veteran like Boozer, this is too late in your career to lack motivation.

Deron Williams may end up being the Jazz's saving grace, because he definitely has not yet reached his professional ceiling, and is already a top-five point guard in the league.

Williams has the right combination of size, strength, and moxie to be dominant on both ends of the floor. His offensive game is there, and his defensive game is rapidly improving.

Ronnie Brewer is a player that seems to be still searching for his professional identity. He does a number of things well, but doesn't excel in any one area.

He is athletic, long, and able to jump out of the gym. Where does that translate though, in the big picture for the Jazz?

He's basically the same player that the Jazz drafted, and if he were to show some developmental improvement, then he has the chance to possibly heighten the Jazz in their struggle for playoff seeding.

Believe me, it will be a struggle, because while the injury to Houston's Yao Ming helps the Jazz, there are teams that were beneath the Jazz ready to leap up and seize the moment.

In order for the Jazz to avoid another first or second round exit, they have to strive for a seed better than fourth, and with the same makeup as last year that chance seems very scarce.

Every season brings new hopes and every team starts the season undefeated, unfortunately for Utah and their fans, this script seems all to familiar.