Memorial Day weekend is supposed to be the beginning of summer fun. In Virginia, growing up, Memorial Day weekend is when all the water parks, theme parks, and pools open up. It is when the summer fun begins. Many families pull out the grill, spend time with family, and visit the graves of family members who have pasted away. With a two year old, these events happen between naps. So, naptime for me over Memorial Day weekend was movie time. I watched some movies I never get to watch because they are inappropriate for a toddler. One of the movies I choose to watch was the boxing classic, Cinderella Man. (If you haven’t seen the movie before I put a preview below for you.)
As I watched the movie I thought how unfortunate it was for Braddock to be rushed to the classification of a title contender too soon. He never fully developed all his boxing skills. Braddock eventually fell out of boxing graces and broke his hand. It wasn’t until his hand was broken that he learned how to use his left hand. Then through a lucky break he was back in boxing and eventually won the title. (This is all according to the movie, how it happened in real life I just don’t know.)
After watching the movie I started to think about the Utah Jazz and how the story of Cinderella Man were similar. The Jazz haven’t learned how to build a title contender. They were lucky to draft Stockton and Malone. However, without the two legends, the Jazz have fell short in building title contenders. They always seem to forget a critical part of the team.
Since the Stockton & Malone era, the Jazz have had one top team in the DWill & Carlos Boozer tandem. However good that team was there was one fatal flaw. No Defensive Enforcer. Everyone that was doing some sports betting knows how much money they lost when betting for a Jazz win over the Lakers. The Lakers would dominate the paint all game long. Then finally this version of the Jazz team was demolished to build a new foundation.
Now, the Jazz have a new foundation. It consists of a post offense that is near unstoppable. Even with a team so one dimensional on the offensive end the team still managed to make the playoffs. The new foundation even includes a defensive foothold in Derrick Favors. However, the team once again has a fatal flaw that will prevent it from being a title contender, an outside shot.
This is not old news. Anyone who has watched the Utah Jazz can tell you the same thing. The Utah Jazz Blog even did a two-part blog on possible trades to fix the problem. Unfortunately, the Jazz organization is not a team to adapt to change quickly. I do not think this fatal flaw will be fixed. For something to happen, the Jazz are going to need to break their hand, like Braddock, before this team will ever compete for a championship. Unfortunately, I really think the Jazz brass are just content to make the playoffs every year. They get the bonus from the league for doing so, the fans stay interested, and the organization makes more money. That’s right people in the end it is all about the money.
