| Jazz Stumble On Authored by Ben Wilkinson - March 8, 2005 - 12:16 am
I was in Vegas over the weekend. While walking around the Hard Rock I happened to glance up at the Sports Book odds. As a basketball fan my eyes immediately looked for the most reasonable bet that could make me a little extra cash this spring. While scanning the different odds, there was one that stood out like a green thumb: the odds of the Jazz winning the NBA Championship this year stood at a mind boggling 250-1.
For those of you unfamiliar with betting odds, let me explain this to you very simply: for every dollar you bet on the Jazz winning the NBA Championship, you will win 250 dollars if they actually end up winning it. Put another way, there’s no way in hell anyone in Vegas thinks the Jazz are going to win this year.
If anything has been consistent about this year’s team it has been their inconsistency. For example since the All-Star break the Jazz have gone a 3-4. During that time they matched their longest win streak of the season which was (and still is) 3. They had wins against Houston, the Clippers and Atlanta, while they suffered home losses against Dallas and a revamped Boston team (who hadn’t won in the Delta Center in 17 years), as well as a disturbing road loss against a horrible New Orleans team as well as a loss to San Antonio last night, in a game in which they were competitive for much of the game.
Carlos Boozer hasn’t seen a minute of playing time since the All-Star break because of a strained right foot. Because of this, the Jazz have had to once again change their starting line-up and replace Boozer with Matt Harpring. Harpring has been anything but spectacular. Aside from his 28 point outburst in the win against Houston, he has averaged a pathetic 13 points per game. Unfortunately for the Jazz, nobody seems willing to help out when someone goes out with an injury. Some nights it’s Andrei Kirilinko. Other nights it’s Raja Bell. Other nights it’s Mehmet Okur.
The point is no one on this year’s team has stepped up and showed any sort of leadership necessary to carry a team to the playoffs, let alone a championship. Kirilinko for the past two years has been the closest thing that this team has had to a leader since Karl Malone and John Stockton left the team. The sad part about that is AK47 is only 23 years old. The Jazz desperately need veteran leadership if they have any hope making the playoffs next year or anytime in the future. And while Kirilinko is slowly developing that leadership, no one currently has what it takes to get the job done.
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