...And Boozer has officially become a distraction

[Bat]

http://www.sltrib.com/jazz/ci_13700148

Some of Jazz coach Jerry Sloan's postgame comments suggested that Boozer's return to Utah has become a distraction. "He's the guy that all the attention has gone to," Sloan said, "and that started before he ever got here and people couldn't wait to see him fail."
...
"He's in a tough situation," Williams said. "With everything that went on in the past year and this summer, he put a lot of pressure on himself. Hopefully, he can play through that and not worry about the contract situation."

And it took all of three games.

It isn't Boozer talking to the media, but when your coach and franchise player talk about it after an alarming loss, you know it's a distraction.

My guess is the Boozer in Utah era is coming to a close very rapidly.

[schneiderjazz]

http://www.sltrib.com/jazz/ci_13700148

Some of Jazz coach Jerry Sloan's postgame comments suggested that Boozer's return to Utah has become a distraction. "He's the guy that all the attention has gone to," Sloan said, "and that started before he ever got here and people couldn't wait to see him fail."
...
"He's in a tough situation," Williams said. "With everything that went on in the past year and this summer, he put a lot of pressure on himself. Hopefully, he can play through that and not worry about the contract situation."

And it took all of three games.

It isn't Boozer talking to the media, but when your coach and franchise player talk about it after an alarming loss, you know it's a distraction.

My guess is the Boozer in Utah era is coming to a close very rapidly.

It isn't. The Jazz are happy being mediocre. I'm starting to think we should just trade Boozer to save money. That Haslem and crap deal is starting to look good. At least we know we'll get a hard working player. That's what we're needing right now. Guys that will actually play hard. Also, our offense is not suffering near as much as I thought without Boozer. He's been horrible and we can score 100 on any given night. I wouldn't be opposed for the Boozer for Hamilton either if the deal was on the table.

[HolyToledo]

I said Loozer was going to be a distraction and none of you guys believed me. It is better for the Jazz and Loozer to faciliatea trade asap. Sometimes I wonder if Loozer is just giving a haphazard attempt of hustling trying to force the Jazz hand in trading him. Like I said before the season, Loozer has NO trade value whatsoever.

[seejaydeja]

Off to a crap start and everybody freaks out. That's normal. You'll see, he'll come around and Jazz FO will NOT trade him this soon. If Boozer leaves it's gonna be in February.

[kamazilla]

...Like I said before the season, Loozer has NO trade value whatsoever.

Well, that would be the rationale for hanging onto him until the deadline approaches, right? His value as an expiring will increase, and he'll have the chance to get comfortable again and play the way he is capable of playing. Obviously, he can't get any worse. The only way his value goes down right now is if he gets injured- with Boozer always a looming possibility.

I don't see the Jazz moving him before February unless he re-establishes his worth through stellar play. It doesn't make sense to trade Boozer because he's playing like crap three games into the season.

[erudite23]

If we're looking for knee jerk reactions, how about focusing on the fact that D-Will just put up 20 shots and Boozer only took 6, and the fact that we rarely run the high pick and roll with he and Booz anymore after it has been such a devastating weapon in the past.

I am just as discouraged and pissed off about last night as anyone here, but it has nothing to do with Boozer being a distraction. This team is kind of lacking its identity right now, and we just aren't playing well. To be honest, I wouldn't mind if we fell apart and finished with a bottom 10 record. Getting two top 10 picks would be huge for our future.

[HammerDunk]

If we're looking for knee jerk reactions, how about focusing on the fact that D-Will just put up 20 shots and Boozer only took 6, and the fact that we rarely run the high pick and roll with he and Booz anymore after it has been such a devastating weapon in the past.

I am just as discouraged and pissed off about last night as anyone here, but it has nothing to do with Boozer being a distraction. This team is kind of lacking its identity right now, and we just aren't playing well. To be honest, I wouldn't mind if we fell apart and finished with a bottom 10 record. Getting two top 10 picks would be huge for our future.

How about this. Boozer got pushed around like a rag doll in that game. He got 11 or so rebounds, but look at how many offensive rebounds the Rockets got! It is astounding to me that you didn't see him getting man-handled by Hayes, Scola and Landry in ways that an all-star power forward never should. You think Deron wanted to take 20 shots? I seriously doubt it. It was apparent that neither of our PF's could get anything going against this undersized team, which we should have done well against.

This is why one of them has to go. Boozer is a heartless, lifeless waste of space on our roster right now. Sap wants to start, and you can see his frustration. He has earned the starting spot to me. Boozer has earned a ticket out of SLC in every way, shape, and form. He IS a distraction. This team doesn't deal well with distractions. They have enough to deal with already with injuries, salary cap issues, and looking for the right 2 spot solution. You honestly think that all that off-season BS that happened has nothing to do with how we have started the season? In both of our losses to rival teams, we have given up in the 4th quarter. We have allowed the other teams to get rebounds they shouldn't. We have had weak PF play. And against Houston in our own house!

You might not mind finishing in the bottom 10, but I sure would mind it. That's not how this team does things, and it's not how they should EVER do things.

[DWill_daShizzle]

Boozer is a below-average player when you take away his left. Teams figured this out last season about 2 weeks before he went down with injury. Its why nobody traded for him, or wants to trade for him, unless they can clear a ton of space and give us nothing in return.

Boozer's best days are behind him. His legacy will quickly be forgotten, except by bitter Cavs and Jazz fans.....

[red4hf]

Maybe what Sloan meant is that Boozer returning has distracted attention away from just how great of a Coach Jerry Sloan is.......

[UTJazzFan_Echo1]

If we're looking for knee jerk reactions, how about focusing on the fact that D-Will just put up 20 shots and Boozer only took 6, and the fact that we rarely run the high pick and roll with he and Booz anymore after it has been such a devastating weapon in the past.

I can't believe it! We may actually agree on something!

I am so glad I am not the only who has noticed the nearly complete disappearance of the pick and roll from the Jazz offense. I honestly believe it may have started once Korver showed up. The coaches fell in love with those elbow jumpers with KK, Matty, Booze and Millsap all being able to hit them.

[GP]

If we're looking for knee jerk reactions, how about focusing on the fact that D-Will just put up 20 shots and Boozer only took 6, and the fact that we rarely run the high pick and roll with he and Booz anymore after it has been such a devastating weapon in the past.

I am just as discouraged and pissed off about last night as anyone here, but it has nothing to do with Boozer being a distraction. This team is kind of lacking its identity right now, and we just aren't playing well. To be honest, I wouldn't mind if we fell apart and finished with a bottom 10 record. Getting two top 10 picks would be huge for our future.

I agree, I think some fans are trying to pin everything negative that happens to boozer. "its raining today, damn you boozer..." Its easier to blame one person, than it is to realize that maybe the jazz aren't championship contenders and its not just boozers fault. The whole team is rife with flaws.

[HammerDunk]

29 points in the 4th. 25 of them in the last 7 minutes. Our bigs are BY FAR, BY FAR!!!!!!!!!, our worst problem. I don't care what you say, something has to be done with the 4/5 spot. You take your pick, Boozer, Sap, Okur. Which do you want to move first? I say undoubtedly Boozer, but if you want to keep him, tell me how running the pick and roll will solve 29 points in the 4th.

If Sap has better D, as most people think, he needs to be in the game to finish. Boozer has great offense, but not great enough to offset the defensive atrocity he has become.