The 30 GMs were surveyed. If you are a Utah Jazz fan, you might be a little surprised by the results, although you probably shouldn’t be.
Let’s take a look at some of what the GMs thought (all answered anonymously and reported on NBA.com):
Predictions
The Utah Jazz are the overwhelming favorite to with the Northwest Division, getting 92.6% of the vote, but they don’t get any votes when it comes to winning the Western Conference or the NBA Finals in 2009.
Why is that?
In my opinion, it is because they play terrible defense, especially on the road. Teams that don’t play good defense rarely win in the finals, let alone make it there. If Utah can greatly improve their defense this year, they’ll have a chance. If they don’t, look for them to win 55+ games and be out in the second round.
You don’t need defense to win games in the regular season, but you do need it to win in the playoffs. Every GM knows that.
Players
Deron Williams is the only Utah Jazz player to even show his face in this part of the survey, and he only managed one vote for the question of “Who is the best point guard in the NBA?” Chris Paul got 88.9% of the vote.
Why is that?
I think everyone generally agrees that Chris Paul and Deron Williams are the best two point guards in the game, having just this year surpassed Steve Nash. Everyone also knows that Chris Paul’s stats are fantastic. New Orleans is as good as they are mainly because of Chris Paul.
I’ll agree with all of that.
What I don’t understand is why people don’t look at the head-to-head matchups between Paul and Williams and see that Williams has won more of those.
Is Chris Paul the best point guard in the NBA, but Deron Williams a better player than Chris Paul if the two are matched up?
Shouldn’t it be easier to judge a player when they are on the same court than when they are not?
Apparently not.
Chris Paul is deserving of accolades for his body of work, perhaps even more so than Deron Williams, but I can’t believe that head-to-head matchup shouldn’t mean anything.
After all, did we really know that the Celtics were that much better than the Lakers until they finally met in the finals last year and the Lakers offered up little more than a whimper?
Honestly, I do think this was probably a very hard call for most GMs, and Chris Paul probably barely edged out Deron Williams 29 times to make it look like it wasn’t even close when, in fact, it was.
Offseason Moves
Utah didn’t make any.
Rookies/International
Nobody thinks that Utah’s rookies will go very far this year, or in the next 5 years.
Why is that?
Some of it is probably the fact, that Utah didn’t draft very high, and there isn’t likely to be much playing time this year for the rookies considering the Jazz roster. Still, 5 years from now, one of Utah’s upcoming big men could be making some noise.
NBA GM’s also don’t think that Utah’s international players are the best players in the NBA, nor are they likely to do anything far above the norm in the upcoming campaign.
Why is that?
They are mostly looking at younger rookies. Okur and Kirilenko are apparently perceived to have shown us what they’ve got. Utah’s younger international aren’t perceived to be very likely to excel. I guess we’ll have to see, but I don’t think I’d count them out just yet. They’re both very young, and there could be ample room for a big man to get a nice starting gig in Utah in the next few years.
Defense
Surprisingly, Utah garnered no honors in this category.
Why is that?
I think the answer is obvious.
No shotblocking big men.
Kirilenko is more worried about offense now than defense.
They allow too many points per game.
They play horrible defense on the road.
Coaches
Jerry Sloan was 3rd place, behind (1st) Popovich and (2nd) Phil Jackson.
He was also 4th place for making good decisions in the game, 3rd place for being the best in the last two minutes, and 2nd for running the best offense.
Interestingly enough, he is also the third best coach for defense — too bad the players don’t necessarily follow his lead all the time.
He doesn’t ask for the honors. And honestly, third on this list is pretty dang good, especially considering the fact that he hasn’t won a Coach of the Year award… ever. Plus he is in the top for just about every coaching accolade you can possibly name.
We have a pretty good coach.
Another note is that Tyrone Corbin received a vote for the best assistant coach in the NBA.
Miscellaneous
Utah is perceived as having the best home-court advantage with 44.4% of the vote. Hurrah for us!
Some of our other players also get votes for:
Best Pure Shooter: Kyle Korver (4th) – 7.4%
Best Passer: Deron Williams (4th) – 3.7%
Best in the Open Court: Deron Williams (1 vote)
Does the Most with the Least: Carlos Boozer, Paul Millsap (1 vote each)
Toughest: Matt Harpring (3rd) – 7.4%