Minnesota: We lost that lovin feeling....

  This summer in the NBA is a pretty special one.  Starting Thursday we have a rematch of last years finals With the Spurs versus the Heat. Which proved to be a great series.  This will be the first time since the 97-98 season in which we have had the same two teams return to the finals.  The last teams to do so were the Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls.  Kind of ironic, considering these two teams are fashioned similar to the Jazz and Bulls of the 90's.  Should make for another great series.

  Then in a few weeks we have the most coveted draft since Lebron James came in to the league.  A draft deep on talent with the top 3-4 players considered franchise building/cornerstone type players.  Four days following the draft, free agency begins with big names like James, Wade, Bosh, Nowitzki, Anthony all having the ability to find a new home if they so choose.

  But the biggest name being talked about is not a draft pick, not a free agent to be, but a player that is under contract next season.  A player that seemingly holds all the power in their hands due to an early out clause in his contract that could make him a free agent in the summer of 14-15, that being Kevin Love.

  Love has been been a Timberwolf  his entire career having been drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies and traded on draft day 2008 to Minnesota.  In his six years in Minnesota, the Timberwolves are yet to make the playoffs much to the dismay of Love.  So much so that there was a rumor at the beginning of last season that Love had requested to be traded.  The rumor was denied by both love and the franchise but the foundation had been laid.  Love was not happy and Minnesota need to appease him by adding quality teammates or lose him in free agency.  Minnesota chose to call Love's bluff and did not trade him before the deadline last season.

Bringing us to present day.....

  Love and his camp have officially lobbied for a trade now and are no longer denying their desire to move on.  As for Minnesota, they seem to want to believe it is all a bad dream.  They continue to hold to the fact that Love is under contract for the next season and that they fully expect him to play for the Timberwolves.  There have been hints and rumors that Minnesota is softening its stance on trading Love as they know they can not let him walk or lose him for nothing.

And that is where things get difficult.

  With Love having an early termination clause on his contract and technically only being under contract for the following season, he has all the power or control over where he gets traded.  At this point no team seems to be willing to role the dice on Love without the assurance that he will sign an extension.  The one team that might would be the Los Angles Lakers who did so with Dwight Howard who in turn left money on the table and left the lights of L.A. for greener pastures in Houston Texas.

  But this is different, as the Lakers are supposedly a preferred destination for Kevin Love.  It would be unlikely that the Lakers would need that assurance from Love, as he is a west coast guy, a southern California guy having been born in Santa Monica.   Last year Love was asked about playing for the Lakers and said that he was not sure the Lakers were a better situation than he was currently in in Minnesota.  He went as far as to say the Timberwolves were the better team.  True at the time.....

  But are we to believe that Love doesn't really want to play for the Lakers?  I believe that if he could choose and all things were equal, there is no way he turns down the Lakers.

  So what other options are there?  Cleveland did just win the #1 pick in this summers draft.  They are said to be in a "win now" situation and seem to be likely suitors for Love.  What about the Phoenix Suns?  They have multiple first round picks as well as a couple of young assets they could move.  The Suns first round picks include 14,18 and 27.  Is the combination of those picks and Gerald Green appealing?  What about the Chicago Bulls?  They have picks 16 and 19 the expiring contract of Carlos Boozer.  Maybe Jimmy Butler, Tony Snell.  Its unlikely they give up Taj Gibson....Or the Golden State Warriors.  They have no pick this year, but have young players like Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes.  Many Jazz fans have clamored to get in the Love sweepstakes and the Jazz do have both picks and assets to do so, but I find it hard to believe the Jazz could get the assurance that Love would sign and extension.

Now we have the Flavor of the Month, the Boston Celtics.

  This weekend was a hot weekend for Love and Celtics rumors.  As Love took in a Red Sox game at Fenway.  It was also reported that Rajon Rondo happen to be at the same game.  There was also the this tweet from Red Sox DH David Ortiz, #cityofchampions.  As well as the rumored communication with Celtics legend Bill Walton.  Again, do the Celtics have the pieces to make this happen?  First off, they have a relationship with Minnesota thanks to a trade years ago in which a very similar situation was transpiring with then Timber wolf Kevin Garnett.  The Celtics also have picks 6 and 17 in this years draft.  They actually have 17 first round picks stockpiled in the next 10 years!  So picks, they have the assets.  What about players?  They have a good young small forward in Jeff Green, a young power forward in Jared Sullinger, big man Kelly Olynyk and veteran Gerald Wallace.  If the Celtics look to make the deal it is unlikely that they add Rajan Rondo, who too has been rumored to be on the trading block.  So clearly the Celtics have the assets.

  This may be the best situation for Love.  He would get the big market he so desires.  Would have the opportunity to play with a great point guard in Rajon Rondo and the Celtics will likely have picks and the flexibility to add a few other pieces to their two studs.  Personally, if Love is going to go somewhere, this is one place that I would like to see him.  One, it keeps him from the Lakers and two he is on the east coast.  I would like to see a little more balance in the conferences and this would help move towards that.

  Its only a matter of time at at this point.  Love has said he wants to be traded before the season and with the teams in play its likely that a trade gets done in the next couple of weeks.  Where ever Mr.Love ends up, I hope that he is able to get back "that loving feeling" again....

Luck of the Irish, Boston gets their first win. Jazz fall to 0-5

 Ouch! The Utah Jazz fall to the Boston Celtics 87-97.  Jazz had a great opportunity to pick up their first win of the season tonight but lacked effort other than the 1st and 4th quarter.  There are far too many negatives than positives on a night like tonight and really don't want to make excuses for the Jazz or the staff.  Simply put the Jazz have to be better.  They are a better team then they have shown in the last couple of games.  Lets recap....

• Early in the first quarter, the Jazz were getting a lot of deflections, playing the passing lanes but not getting any steals.
• Positive, Derrick Favors is evolving as a passer, seeing the floor better.
• The Jazz pushed the tempo really well in the first quarter.
• Jazz still not getting any calls from the officials.  Excuse, maybe. But Ty needs to get a T and put officials on notice.
• Ty also seems to do more screaming and yelling at this young team than teaching and developing.  The only person that is noticeably teaching these kids is Brad Jones.  Maybe be his role, but it should not solely be his.
• Jazz ran a lot of the new sets again tonight.  Completely derailed the team in the second quarter.  
• Did you see Trey Burkes pants?
• Second quarter the Jazz couldn't throw it in the ocean if they wanted to.  Had some decent shots, nothing fell.
• The officials really got to this young team tonight. Specifically Derrick Favors.
• The Jazz seemed to be thinking more than playing or reacting.
• Back to back games where Richard Jefferson struggled from the field.
• Ian Clark did get a considerable amount of time tonight.  Was not overly effective.
• Substitutions were completely different in the second half.  No subs till 2 minutes left in the quarter
• The Jazz closed the game with Burks, Clark, Hayward, Harris and Kanter.
• Jazz stopped running the new sets in the 4th quarter, cut the lead to single digits.
• Ty's game management was questionable.

 

Consolation Prize...

 Not a lot can be said about tonight's game.  In my humble opinion, the front office and the staff are going to be responsible for the regression of young players, specifically Burks and Hayward.  They did not provide a capable back up point guard.  Yes, no one knew that Trey would get hurt.  But the staff and front office are asking far too much from a pair of players that have never been asked to do so much.  They are trying to make these players something that they are not and it may hurt their development.  The staff and Ty specifically needs to do a better job fighting for these guys.  I understand its the players out there on the floor and they are the ones that need to go out and win the game. But they need to know their coach has their back.  On a positive note, Gordon Hayward is really going to work.  I have been really impressed with his effort and his work on the boards.  If Gordon continues to play the way he has the last 2 games he may play himself into that max contract that he is looking for.  I have been on record saying that I can't see him as a #1 option, but he may be a really good #2 option.  There are going to be some really tough decisions for the front office going forward this season and off-season with both players and coaching staff.....

The battle for Wiggins tips off tonight in Boston, Jazz vs Celtics.

  The Utah Jazz take on the Boston Celtics tonight in Boston.  This game takes on the special meaning tonight as the loser is in the driver seat for the #1 pick early in the season.  The Jazz really struggled last night just making a shot.  Richard Jefferson went 1-7 from the field 0-4 from three.  Favors was 2-8 and Tinsley was 1-5.  That is just not going to cut it.  The defensive end of the court, the Jazz just had no answer for Brook Lopez and his size.  On the season, Lopez is shooting nearly 70% in the lane.  That is where he got the majority of his shots.  Jazz did not push him out and do their work early.  Overall was a tough night all-around.  Lets take a look at tonight's match-up versus the Celtics.

Defensively-The Jazz will really need to tighten up their rotations.  Last night versus the Nets, there was a play early where Richard Jefferson rotated to the player going to the basket and his man dove to the basket received the pass and scored.  Jefferson, clearly upset turns to the bench basically asking where his help was.  Guys looked tired and star struck last night.  They will need to come out with better effort and energy on the defensive end.  Boston's highest scorer is Jeff Green averaging 16.8.  Boston is not a team that is going to light it up and put up a lot of points.  This team does not have a lot of offensive weapons so the Jazz should be able to really focus on fundamentals and their team defense as a whole.  Boston does have two very good young players in Kelly Olynyk and un-drafted rookie Vitor Faverani.  Faverani is averaging 9.5 pts and 7.3 rebs.  He is a big that likes to get out and run the floor.  He has a big body and will use it inside.  The Jazz bigs will need to transition well.  Olynyk is a really good pick and pop player and a fabulous passer.  Probably the best passing big man since Greg Monroe came in to the league.  Boston runs a lot of offense through him a the high post as he looks for teammates cutting and coming off screens.

Offensively-This is really where the Jazz need to focus tonight.  The Jazz will not win games with Jefferson, Tinsley and Favors shooting the ball the way they did last night.  The Jazz did run a number of new sets last night.  Most of them seemed to come out of the "FLEX" offense.  The Jazz did not execute these plays well at all.  According to David locke, these were installed recently and the Jazz have not worked on them much.  Tonight could be a night to build on that offense, but I believe you will see the Jazz go back to a more pick and roll, pick and pop heavy offense tonight.  The key to the offense has to be the execution.  Also the Jazz did not run the floor well last night.  On occasion, I have noticed John Lucas really push the ball ahead of the defense and get all the way to the bucket.  The issue there is is his lack of size and inability to finish.  Also, there is no one else running with him in these circumstances.  Look for the Jazz to push and get some easy baskets.  I feel that Ty is also searching for someone besides Alec Burks that can come in and give this team a spark.  Last night he played Ian Clark 12 minutes.  He was 1-2, the one make he had was a 3 pt shot from the wing that he seem to get off quickly.  Look for Ty to give Clark some more time on the court tonight, especially if he is able to knock down shots and spread the floor.

  Tonight just might be the night that the Jazz get their first win of the season.  Albeit against the Boston Celtics.  But a win is a win.  It will be interesting to see how the Jazz handle all of these losses and come out tonight after getting thumped by the Nets.  I will be very interested to watch players body language to see how involved they are.  Kanter mentally seems to be a little fragile right now and he really beats himself up.  After last nights performance, which really wasn't too bad on his part, it will be interesting to see how he bounces back.  Always excited for a Jazz game even if they are really struggling.  The effort is there and these guys want to improve.  GO JAZZ!