Thread Tools

Display Modes

**unluckyseventeen** · 11-15-2006, 09:11 PM

Really, he is.

First off, the year he inked Boozer and Okur was probably the best thing he's ever done.

Now, let's go back in time for a little bit.

Boozer was turning into a good player in Cleveland as a second option. Though, his scoring was still not stellar, his rebounding was great, and he looked like a hustle player - a Jazz guy. O'Connor inked him for what looked to be a HUGE deal. Right now Boozer is out-playing his contract and is already being included into early-season MVP talks. Wow! Honestly, when the Jazz signed Boozer, my first thought was "What?... We aren't taking Kenyon Martin?" I didn't know what the Jazz had in mind with this guy, but he is looking spectacular so far this season, and his defense is slowly improving. Nevermind that we have him locked up for the next 3 seasons, and he's just barely 25. Has he hit his prime yet? Probably not. Scary thought as to what he'll be if he adds a defensive game, because his offensive game is pretty, to say the least.

Okur, on the other hand, whoa. I mean, really, Okur was an out-of-shape, soft Euro center with almost nothing proven, almost nothing notable done over the course of a season prior to signing with the Jazz. To me, he looked like another role player, but we still had no big scorer, or no big post presence at all. O'Connor threw a long-term deal at him, and Memo turned into a hell of a player. Okur is also 27, and looks to be nearing his prime. His defense is also steadily improving and his post game is really picking up lately. Watching him torch Kaman on both ends of the floor during the Clips game said to me that this player is ready to be one of the best in the game at his position. And I mean, he DOMINATED Kaman. O'Connor landing him was also brilliant, and nobody saw the value of it until now (or perhaps last season, when he "broke out").

Throw drafting Andrei into the equation, stashing him in Europe, and letting him loose on the leash to allow him to play his game, his style, and adapt the team around a skinny lurp with very little offensive game. Sign him to a max deal!!? What, is O'Connor crazy!? Turns out he wasn't. Kirilenko was lighting teams up all season last year, and is still a fabulous defensive player. The scariest thing - he STILL has no offensive game!! Imagine when he develops a consistent outside game. Wow. Max-deal worthy? Yes, sir.

Drafting Deron Williams was the right move. The reason being a few things. One is that Deron is a bigger player and a better defender than Paul at this point. Deron is an animal and as aggresive of a player we've seen in Utah since Karl himself. The good thing is that his aggression leads to excellent plays, and you couldn't ask for a more heady, smart, and disceplined player. One thing I also may add - Sloan has made this kid. He really has. When Deron was playing the 2 for all that time last season, the kid learned to fill positions that we needed to, and is still continuing it. His jumper from 18 feet is money, and his 4th quarter performances this season have been nuts. Is Paul the better player? I don't really care. Deron was the right choice for this team. End of discussion.

This clutch of young players we have is probably the best we've EVER had. That's right, I said it. CJ Miles, Ronnie Brewer, Paul Millsap, Dee Brown... all of those guys could be starters in 2-3 years on ANY team. And personally, having CJ and Brewer play at the same time in the future will cause teams to have fits. And the thing is, it seemed like ALL of these guys were steals in the draft. How is it that O'Connor sees great value in some players that slip and slip and slip in the draft? He's a genius... I'm telling you.

Throw all of the other moves he's put this team under, as far as adding Fisher this season, trading all of the complete CRAP we've had for the last couple seasons, and then making this team legitemately 10 players deep for the remainder of the season, next season, and the season after that. Wow. Seriously... wow.

The guy has put his master plan into works. It's paying off this season already, and with this core of players, as well as excellent role players, we are going to be a very feared team for years to come.

This is where I ask LHM to show the cash the next few years. When Deron's rookie contract expires, and all of our other key players' deals expire, LHM better be ready to throw money at it, because this team is quite possibly the best young team, built for the future, in the NBA right now. The best part of it is that they are winning NOW... earlier than a lot of us had planned.

Excellent way to build this team. Not only that, the entire Jazz's management is spectacular. The chemistry on the team is probably also the best in the NBA... I just have a great appreciation, especially as a season ticket holder, for what this organization has done lately.

Bravo, Jazz. Bravo.

**HKF** · 11-15-2006, 09:14 PM

Great post. The draft picks are turning out to be very solid. Millsap was a damn steal. Then again Ryan Gomes, Craig Smith were second round picks who are showing their stuff. Just goes to show that being undersized is not a concern, if you can play, have excellent technique and you work hard.

Darkwing Duck · 11-15-2006, 10:16 PM

Didn't Layden draft Kirilenko?

O'Connor also had a few bad years drafting.

I don't think the addition of Boozer is a big O'Connor thing. LHM has said several times that the formula thing the team uses (I've heard it mentioned before O'Connor) had Boozer rated as either the second or fourth best PF in the league his last year in Cleveland. Of course you'll go after him if he opts out of his deal.

O'Connor seems to me to be average, right in line with all the other no name GMs in the league.

AK-47 · 11-15-2006, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darkwing Duck

Didn't Layden draft Kirilenko?

O'Connor also had a few bad years drafting.

I don't think the addition of Boozer is a big O'Connor thing. LHM has said several times that the formula thing the team uses (I've heard it mentioned before O'Connor) had Boozer rated as either the second or fourth best PF in the league his last year in Cleveland. Of course you'll go after him if he opts out of his deal.

O'Connor seems to me to be average, right in line with all the other no name GMs in the league.

no dude, no. He got this jazz team good after 3 years of stockton and malone retiring. Look how long it took the bulls, is taking the knicks, the celtics, ect. A team losing all of it's core players and then a playoff team in the next 3 years is from smart moves by the GM and great coaching by the coaching staff. Our puzzle is quickly being competed and this yougn team is winning and has a bright future.

Boozer was going to sign with Cleveland, but KOC waived the money at boozer and since he already wanted to play here, he took the deal. Okur is a top 5 center in the league, look at his contract! He has drafted very well the last 2 years and added fisher for nothing.

I am glad Larry signed him for more years, he deserves it.

Rednecksbasketball · 11-16-2006, 12:16 PM

I wouldn't call O'Connor a genius, or even a good GM. He didn't draft AK that was Layden. he did however pass up Michael Redd for DeShawn Stevenson, Gerald Wallace, Tony Parker, Gilbert Arenas, Jamaal Tinsley, Mehmet Okur, and Earl Watson for Raul Lopez, Passed up Tayshaun Price, Carlos Boozer, and Ron Murry for Curtis Borchardt, Passed on Boris Diaw, and Josh Howard for Sasha Polvolvic, made three stupid draft picks in 04. He has made numerous bad trades, IE the Podkolzine pick(#21) for the eventual (#27) pick. He traded for Haffa. signed such wonderful players as Milt Palacio and Devin Brown. Right now he's just looking good because the team is looking good, if the Jazz were struggling you'd be calling for his head. also, he isn't the reason the Jazz are good. Jerry Sloan is the reason they are good.

Image had KOC made good picks, the 2003 Jazz team could have looked like this:
G-Michael Redd
G-John Stockton
F-Andrei Kirilenko
F-Karl Malone
C-Greg Ostertag

G-Gilbert Arenas
G-John Starks
F-Carlos Boozer

That team could really have gone far in the playoffs.

**unluckyseventeen** · 11-16-2006, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rednecksbasketball

I wouldn't call O'Connor a genius, or even a good GM. He didn't draft AK that was Layden. he did however pass up Michael Redd for DeShawn Stevenson, Gerald Wallace, Tony Parker, Gilbert Arenas, Jamaal Tinsley, Mehmet Okur, and Earl Watson for Raul Lopez, Passed up Tayshaun Price, Carlos Boozer, and Ron Murry for Curtis Borchardt, Passed on Boris Diaw, and Josh Howard for Sasha Polvolvic, made three stupid draft picks in 04. He has made numerous bad trades, IE the Podkolzine pick(#21) for the eventual (#27) pick. He traded for Haffa. signed such wonderful players as Milt Palacio and Devin Brown. Right now he's just looking good because the team is looking good, if the Jazz were struggling you'd be calling for his head. also, he isn't the reason the Jazz are good. Jerry Sloan is the reason they are good.

Image had KOC made good picks, the 2003 Jazz team could have looked like this:
G-Michael Redd
G-John Stockton
F-Andrei Kirilenko
F-Karl Malone
C-Greg Ostertag

G-Gilbert Arenas
G-John Starks
F-Carlos Boozer

That team could really have gone far in the playoffs.

Plenty of teams pass on players that happen to turn out better. You credit the GM that made the choice, not the dozens that didn't. Otherwise by your criteria, more than half of the GMs in the league are terrible, because they pass on players in the draft ALL the time that wind up being better than expected.

The point is that he's locked up a great future for this team, for the next 3 years. That's a good GM. Even finding Boozer and Okur and expecting/knowing they would be this good is enough to call him a genius. Both players went from mediocre to the top 5 players in the league at their positions.

And yes, my bad. Layden did draft Kirilenko.

AK-47 · 11-16-2006, 04:37 PM

I really hate it when people use "passed on so and so in the draft" You can't tell how good a player will be 5 years down the road from when you draft. A lot of second round steals because of that, there are also a lot of 2nd round picks out of the NBA the next season. You can't do that looking back that far. Some unheard 2nd round pick last year could turn into an all star in the next 3 years, and you can't go back and declare every damn GM that picked before him a bad GM.

Signing Boozer and Okur, no one good would come to utah and we had to fill the roster with palacio and brown. Then the next year he found a way to get rid of them, make the team deeper, and draft 3 good players from this draft and 2 from last. The jazz are deep, sloan couldn't coach the years before with his 2 of 3 best players injured for most of the season because we had no depth. KOC worked on that and we now have depth that can survive without AK and Giricek and still beat a 5-1 team.

L · 11-16-2006, 04:59 PM

O'Conner has done well. Only injuries have witheld the Jazz from breaking out these past few seasons.

Thread Tools Display Modes

Thread Tools

Display Modes