Joshua Moore on July 24, 2008 said:

The thing not mentioned is CJ’s ability to defend over Almond’s. The few games Morris played in the NBA, the defender went right past him. I’m not saying either one compares to Brewer’s defense, but when it comes down to it, you have to appreciate CJ’s D over Almond’s lack. My hope was one of the two would learn from Ronnie this offseason and work on their defense. Sounds like neither have.

justalars on July 24, 2008 said:

I say sign him and trade harpring and collins for a decent back up center so fess and koufos can stay in the D-league. Then CJ can back up AK. Just a thought

Jared Conger on July 24, 2008 said:

lets get almond in the rotation, he has a better shot than CJ, and plays the offense great! come to an RMR game and see what i’m saying. his defense has vastly improved.

if love ‘im set ‘im free.

Clint on July 24, 2008 said:

Joshua – Last season, I would totally agree with you, but just this last week in the Revue, I’ve seen Almond’s defense improved 200%. Granted, these are just d-league type players and rookies he’s playing against, but his defense looked very solid compared to what I’ve seen him do last season. I have very high hopes for Almond, but only time will tell if it carries over to the regular season.

Pudge on July 24, 2008 said:

Even so, I’m not sure Almond is as much of an improvement on the offensive end as you guys are making him out to be. I think the Jazz should match the offer sheet and let Miles see spot duty at the swing positions. Why let talent go for nothing when you can keep it for a reasonable rate?

Joshua Moore on July 24, 2008 said:

The Jazz are definitely in a hard spot here. How many players have the Jazz drafted that you’d say was a benefit to the team three years later? I in no way mean to demean the organization. I just don’t think there have been many to choose from at the picks we had. We just took the best that we could get. I think whoever saw Brewer for what he could be AND that he would work to get there should get a raise. Obviously D-Will is golden, but look what pick he was. Look at the rest of the team and past few years:

D-Will – 3rd pick in the draft – hopefully we’ll never have such a bad season to get such an amazing player.
Boozer – we’ll just say he wasn’t drafted by us.
Okur – trader for.
Korver – traded for.
Harpring – traded for.

Arroyo – couldn’t get rid of fast enough.
Ostertag – gets stuffed by the rim a little too often.
Kirilenko – as much as he works hard during stretches, he’s not worth what we’re paying him. I think the brass have learned not to give big money and long contracts anymore. Unless you’re D-Will and have proven you are the man.

If I’m the Jazz brass, the big question is not”is CJ what we’re looking for. He’s not – at least not now and doesn’t seem to be working toward his potential. The question is if we signed him, would he be a valuable trading piece to get what we really want. Jerry thinks CJ doesn’t work hard to improve his game, case in point not playing the RMR. He’s right. Why would you play CJ or Almond unless they give you more than Brewer (no chance) or Korver (he’d have to have a pretty bad game). If Almond truly has picked up his defense, then he could give Korver a run for the money, but I’ll have to see it in a regular season game.

Summary: the best players we’ve had are either really early draft picks or trades. You really only have control of one of the two, and even then, talking people into picking up big contracts and/or giving up a great player for those who aren’t there yet.

Phil on July 25, 2008 said:

what i thought is i should keep CJ, i mean jerry should give him more chance to show himself, i have watched jazz games for 15 years. now jazz is on a right track, but the problem is that sell AK, and then put ronnie to replace 47, sign CJ back or take advangae him to trade a good shoot guad or centre. next year is the best year to get the chamption for jazz, cheers

Linda McFarland on July 25, 2008 said:

Why reward CJ for bad behavior? That’s not going to bring on any maturity. The Jazz have always been built on great work ethic and CJ just doesn’t show the maturity to do that. I love the kid a lot but that is the problem, “the kid”. I have to agree that Morris is improving his D by leaps and bounds. He has paid his dues by doing what he was told to do and has done so with little complaint. If his D continues like it has started out and CJ refuses to do what he should,, then Morris should get the nod. I realize that in the NBA it is not all rewarding the good guys and not the bad guys but look at things in the past. If a team has a player that can’t follow the same work ethic as the rest of the team you begin to run into big problems.. I think that what DWill thinks about the situation is important too but I have no idea what he would think. I would hate to be in the”mucky mucks” shoes the last few days making the decions!!