JAZZ

The New Orleans Jazz came into the National Basketball Association in 1974 but immediately struggled with a 23-59 record. The team picked up their play in the next three years but after the 1978 season, the team was relocated to Salt Lake City where they became the Utah Jazz. The team didn’t post their first .500 season until 1983 but then managed to follow it up with more than 20 straight seasons of winning basketball, a streak that is still active. The Utah Jazz have never won an NBA championship but they did make it to the finals in back-to-back years in 1996 and 1997. Both times, they had to take on the Chicago Bulls, led by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, and both times, the Bulls took the series in six. The 1997 finals had some of the more memorable moments of the last 20 years. One of the moments that true NBA fans likely won’t forget was the “flu game” where Michael Jordan was running a severe fever and was very dehydrated but still continued to play in the elevation of Salt Lake City. On numerous stoppages of play, Pippen and other teammates would have to pick Jordan up to carry him to the bench so he could hydrate himself again. Another moment that will live on forever will be the moment Jordan “created space” to hit the game winner in game six in Utah. The Bulls were down late and the Jazz knew Jordan would be taking the shot so they put defensive specialist Bryon Russell on him and took their chances. Jordan took the ball to the left elbow and used a bit of a push-off with his right arm to create space and hit the game winner with only a few seconds left. After hitting the shot, Jordan stood in place with the follow through of his arm in position, almost tempting Russell to look at him. That game six winner will also be known as the last championship in the career of Michael Jordan, a moment that many people will also never forget.

The Jazz teams of old were led by future hall-of-fame players like Karl Malone and John Stockton and Coach Jerry Sloan but the teams now have a different feel to them. They’re still led by Sloan, but we don’t see the same “pick-and-roll” flavor from the new Jazz. This team is led by Andrei Kirilenko, one of the best all-around players that you’ve never heard of. Last year, Kirilenko averaged 16.5 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 3.1 apg, and also had steals and blocks. He also played in 78 of the 82 games and almost led the Jazz to the playoffs in what was to be a “rebuilding” year. This year, he’ll have help in the form of Carlos Boozer, one of the top young forwards in the league that the Jazz signed in free agency. The team also signed Mehmet Okur from the Detroit Pistons but lost Greg Ostertag to the Sacramento Kings. Carlos Arroyo will likely be the opening-night point guard for the team and Matt Harpring will return from last year’s season ending knee surgery to start at shooting guard. Kirilenko will start at the small forward position and Boozer will work his way into the power forward spot. He was one of the better power forwards in the Eastern Conference last year but he’ll have to compete with the likes of Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, and Chris Webber a lot more this season. The starting center will be Okur who will bring experience after helping the Pistons win the championship last season. The team also struck gold in the draft by selecting Kirk Snyder and Kris Humphries. Snyder, a shooting guard out of Nevada, led his team to a surprising NCAA Tournament run last year and has tons of athleticism. Humphries is a big man out of Minnesota and showed he has tremendous touch around the basket, on the run, and on the perimeter. Rumors around draft night started that he had an attitude and could be a cancer on a winning team but with a coach like Jerry Sloan, that shouldn’t be a problem in Utah.

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