Power Forward's or Powder Puff Forwards?

[majortripps69]

I realize we are getting tons of topics in this forum, so I'm adding to it. Here we will talk about our $20M logjam of Powerless Forwards.

From what I can see, neither one of these guys looks remotely comfortable. Boozer has been getting shots, but he isn't making them. Millsap is making bonehead offensive plays. I don't want to call it, but is this Greg Ostertag 2.0? Tag got the big contract after a great season/playoff and then regressed into what we all loathed. I hope this isn't what Millsap will do, but let's be honest, he doesn't have the same motivations to perform that he had last year in his audition for big bucks.

This is where it is troublesome. Boozer IS auditioning for a contract, and he is flat out laying an egg. The one game both players played well was against the hapless Clippers. For the other three games, they have given us nothing. Boozer at least played well in preseason, while Millsap has been off his game completely.

I think they will come around, but when? I am still not sure we made the right decision in resigning Millsap and I am now kind of wishing we would have worked a trade for Boozer over the summer. If the play stays like this, we won't be able to offload him at all unless someone really wants an expiring and wants to dump salary on us, which we won't do.

Unless something changes quickly, and I believe this starts at the coach, we will be spending this season rooting for whoever plays the Knicks and not for our own team.. Two lottery picks? Do we own our #1 next year? I can't remember if it is lottery protected.

[Soul Patch]

The pick is lottery protected.

Millsap seems frustrated with his role. Should improve next year with Boozer gone and Favors getting the rookie treatment from Sloan coming off the bench. When Favors is developed it'll be easy to ship out Millsap because of his decreasing contract.

[outerspacefella]

Millsap's frustrated because he's as soft as any of the other players in the Jazz team. He's a role player, and a player vast marjority of Jazz fans wanted and loved when he Blazers extend him their offer sheet. But he's a role player; a really good one, but just a role guy. He will be frustrated as long as people continue to set high expectations on him, or as long as he thinks he's more than that.

[HammerDunk]

I really think that Millsap will do well once this is all cleared up. Just imagine, you are told you are the man at work, it's all about you, you are the future of the company. Yet they have this old guy there that has been the man in the past, and he won't leave. He keeps getting all the good jobs, the ones you should be getting. He isn't doing particularly well with these jobs, in fact he is doing bad. Yet, you are still below him, waiting for him to leave.

Some people might handle this situation better than Sap has. In fact, I'm a bit disappointed that he hasn't kept doing well all along. But I don't think this is jump ship time on Sap. He hasn't had the chance to be the man on this team, which he should be. There is just no way we can keep both of these guys, especially financially.

At the other end of the spectrum, I completely see why Boozer has become such a robot. He knows he is out of here, that we don't want him here, and he is playing like crap because he doesn't care. I guess he feels like the loads of money he has made while he has been in Utah is enough, and that he doesn't need to earn another big contract. That is really sometimes how it seems to me. We drastically need to get him off our books. We also need to get him out for the team to be able to come together again. I wholeheartedly feel this way.

I wanted to see how it was going to work out, and I think this has been plenty for us to see that it just isn't going to work this way. I know 4 games isn't much, but how much of this season do we want to see flushed down the drain when the team can be working things out with Sap at the starting 4/5 spot. Sap and Booz are butting heads, and it is getting ugly. How many more double digit losses do we need to see against contenders to realize that something has got to give?

[ele.ven]

I hate defending Boozer. I really do. But honestly, I think he is putting too much pressure on himself rather than just playing. He is a very skilled offensive player - his offense will come. The important thing is that his defense has been significantly better.

Millsap on the other hand really has been under performing. Someone mentioned that he was absent in the preseason though...that's not true. He had some solid games.

[QuantumMacgyver]

Millsap's frustrated because he's as soft as any of the other players in the Jazz team.

Now that just stains any credibility you may ever have had.

[Soul Patch]

It's an awkward situation that's affecting both players. I don't see what's so hard to understand about that.