Boondock Saint on April 28, 2009 said:

I’m sorry to hear about the health problems but glad you are back blogging. You said it, this season held so much promise for me and we took some heavy hits along the way. I, too, was raised with a passion from the Jazz that I got from my Dad. My mom was the chairwoman of a child abuse prevention agency and held countless fundraisers which the Jazz organization supported greatly. She became close friends with Karl, Mark Eaton and Frank Layden so my room was (and still is) covered in signed posters, trading cards, and all sorts of Jazz stuff. I’m looking forward to learning from this season. After all, what doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger right?! Deron has grown as a leader, Korver has proven that he’s not just a shooter, Millsap is still giving it his whole heart and maybe after last nights game Sloan will see the value in the energy that Price brings off the bench. In time, I think this team will earn that “gold” status that Hots, Karl and John, and the Jazz of my youth hold in my heart.

Jeremy Shen on April 28, 2009 said:

I’m a Jazz fan in Taiwan , this is my 1st time writing a message on this blog …

I saw NBA & UTAH since Stockon & Malone’s era , even JAZZ was beaten by Bulls twice , I still love this team due to baseball should be a sport of “team work” . Feel sad now cause Jazz lost in Game 5 and saw it in Taiwan’s TV program today. Hope next season D-will and Boozer still could co-work again , also AK-47 and Okur and other memebers . and win NBA Finals of 2009-10 .

NEVER GIVE UP !!

Besides , also trying to save some money to attend a JAZZ game in energy solution , wish that day will be coming soon !!

Trent on April 28, 2009 said:

What a crazy season with a crazy upcoming offseason. Things are sure to get interesting this summer. Who knows how this team will look next year?

Perhaps a starting lineup of -
-Koufos C
-Okur PF
-AK47 SF
-Brewer SG
-Williams PG

I love Millsap, and I think with the above mentioned lineup he’d be on the bench. Boozer may still be around, so that would change things as well. Keeping Millsap, Okur, and Boozer is probably impossible however…

Either way, I love the Jazz and hope for great things to come!

Shannon in Sacramento on April 28, 2009 said:

I totally feel you about the heavy heart. I watched last night knowing that it was the last game. I’m really interested to see what the summer will bring. I really think that whoever is in the lineup come October/November we have a renewed sense of confidence and a desire to win with defense. Defense wins championships. This is why the Lakers lost last year. A great offensive finess team, but when they came up against a team (Celtics) that had way better defense, they crumbled. That’s what I hope for the Jazz for the next few years. I’d like us to get back to being tough and nasty. Where we bang teams around and make them pay for coming into the paint. I too grew up watching with Karl Malone, John Stockton and listening to Hot Rod’s play by plays. In fact, I feel the most sorry for losing Hot Rod. I just don’t know who they can get to replace him. They did play a pretty good tribute to him on TNT last night. Here’s to next year!

Betty on April 28, 2009 said:

Thanks for the beautiful blog. I too am sorry to hear about your health problems and hope that everything will work out for you. This season has definitely been hard to watch. I hope that the 4th quarter of last night’s game is a sign for next season. If the rest of our team can learn to play with the guts, heart, and passion that Price played with last night (and that Deron has had all season long) we will have a completely different team. This season DWill has definitely stepped up and has been a great leader but we need more than him playing that kind of game. I don’t like losing to the Lakers but what I saw last night gave me hope for the future. We didn’t have the best season, we had injuries galore, and our confidence was shaken but we didn’t go without a fight. I’m disappointed with the losses but I’m excited for 2009-2010!
I love my boys in white and blue.

Annie Whittaker on April 28, 2009 said:

Thanks Christie, very nicely written, I’m sorry that I didn’t know of your troubles sooner. I agree with you and in fact I decree that from now on, all things will get better and brighter. How about it?

Oscar Gonzalez on April 28, 2009 said:

I am a Jazz fan from the most southern part of california. I have had my battles with laker fans and Kobe lovers. I followed this team via nba league pass this year and witness a team that never got it completely together. To many injuries diminished this team’s potential to reach the nba finals. This team reached the playoffs despite all the injuries and nobody really comments on that! I hope Boozer is back! He is an important player to this team and the organization. Moreover, I hope we keep this roster. This team needs to add some pieces. We need a dominant defensive post player. Chris Weber was saying last night that the Jazz were pretty much done for years to come. I don’t believe that. I have a feeling this team is going to stick together! I hope for the best in the 2009-2010 season!

Sincerely,
The number 1 Utah Jazz fan in Calexico, California!

Brian McCann on April 28, 2009 said:

Alright, alright, we had a horrible season. But let me ask you an honest question: If any other team in the NBA went through what the Jazz went through this year, would they have won 48 games? If the Lakers had lost Kobe for half the season, Pau for the first month, and the rest of their team sporatically throughout, do you honestly think they would be the number one seed in the west? I feel it my duty to blog about this tomorrow…we are not at the end of the Stockton/Malone era again! Period. Deron is 24 years old. Look at Cleavland last year…did any of you really think they would do this good this year? My guess is no. They were a team in disaray last spring, but they tweaked some things and now they are the best team in the league. I wonder what old Chris Webber would have said about them. We are a young team, and just need some tweaking. Mark my words, most of these guys will be back next year, healthy, more experienced, more confident, and without the injury pademic floating over their heads. This season will only serve to make us stronger, I guarantee it.

Just please Jazz do not resign Brevin Knight. Please!! In fact don’t go any where near the Clippers organization this summer in search of a backup for Deron. Ronnie P deserves his shot!

JayD on April 28, 2009 said:

First of all I would like to say that I am sorry to hear of your health problems Christie . I truley hope that you will get better soon . I have wondered why I havent seen your blogs from you , and now I know .It was nice to hear from you again .
I think that all of Jazz Nation was very sad to have our season end so soon . We all expected so much when this season started . But sometimes things dont go quite as we planned . But I think that this is just a slight detour to next year . We will probably have some new faces next year . I know that we need some inside help . I do think that the majority of the team will stay intact . It will be intereting to see what they do in the off season .
I have to agree with Brian , I am sure that this year would have been different if we had not had all those injuries . We made the play-offs and gave it a shot . I dont know if any other team including the Lakers , would have done much better with the injuries to key players for most of the season . I knw that most teams did have injuries this year , but they were not to more than 1 key player at a time .
I would love to see RP being D-Wills back-up . I dont know why they didnt play him more . Maybe now they will .
I thought that the bench played extremily well when RP was in the game at the end . I was begining to think that we were going to have a chance to win .
I have my oppinions of why we lost but I will leave it alone .
I think that these guys will learn from this and become a stronger team for it .
Better Luck in 2009-2010 . I will be cheering you on .
Jay

Betty on April 28, 2009 said:

Thank you BRIAN AND JAYD! We need to be more optimistic. Sure we had a crap season…but please someone name ONE team that hasn’t had a few crap seasons. I think we’ll come back strong and I can’t wait. I’ve said it all season long play Ronnie Price. Every time that Sloan put BK in instead of Price I wanted to scream. Maybe now he’ll realize.

Boondock Saint on April 29, 2009 said:

Betty…Sloan did get it. In the press conference he said that he should have played price sooner and more often because he brings energy and heart. Here’s to next year and I’m loving the new optimism thing.

drew on April 29, 2009 said:

it took him an ENTIRE season to realize that about price. that is one of the dumbest things iv ever heard; very poor coaching on sloan’s part. and it maybe too late next season because price could easily go to a worse team and be a star point guard. i just love price and think there were some very grave mistakes made throughout the season with who sloan played.

DeronWilliams4President on April 29, 2009 said:

I’d like to address a few things here:

First of all, Christie, I’m sorry to hear about your health, I hope that you’re doing better now. There’s not many things that are more important then Jazz basketball, but I’m thinking your well-being just might be one of them.

Secondly, Jeremy Shen, if you ever do save up enough money to make it out here I’m sure any bot here would be willing to go to a game with you so you don’t have to go alone. True fandom is living across the world and still reading about your team every day. I think we could all take some heart from you.

Thirdly, and probaly the things you most don’t wanna hear. I don’t see Ronnie Price staying in Utah guys, I’m sorry. Our money is too committed in all the wrong places. We have AK for another two years, Boozer is probably going to stay, and that means if Okur, and/or Korver decide to stay we probably won’t have enough money to pay Millsap let alone Price. Not to mention Ronnie P can be a starting point-guard at 25 of the 30 NBA teams.

I do still have faith in the upcoming years though. As long as D Will is here, CJ miles and Brewer continue to get better we’ll be a contender. Obviously I’d love to see Millsap and Price stay but I’m just being realistic. On the other hand I’m hoping I don’t know much about NBA basketball orginizations and we find a way to keep those guys and get rid of Booz, and AK

Linda McFarland on April 29, 2009 said:

I started your blog, Christie, then I had to start it again because I felt that I was reading something that I had written myself. Hope your health is doing well because mine is just starting with some messy problems. After the game the other night I said to my husband “what in the world will I do without my Jazz for all these months?? I will go crazy!!!!! They really do become a big part of our lives. I think this year even more so with a new problem showing up every week. I hope we hear from everyone very so often because I think we all become a family too in a strange sort of way. The Jazz management has a lot of work ahead of them but I think I heard they are upping the salary cap so if they are trying really hard to do as Jerry wanted,(to keep under the cap) we may have a little leeway.

Shannon in Sacramento on April 30, 2009 said:

I promise I won’t post too much after this. I just wanted to say thanks to Oscar in So Cal for posting. It’s good to know there are a few good Jazz fans in California, because it’s rough out here being a fan of Utah. I am always defending the Jazz and I think half the Lakers fans are bandwagon fans. Though I must admit, here in Sacramento, you have plenty of people who hate the Lakers, too. In Tahoe though, where I watched some of the games, I was the only Jazz fan for miles and miles. I did wear my D Will shirt proudly though and I am always up for some trash talk. I’m very very hopeful for next year and I think we did a pretty dang good job considering we were banged up from the get go and never really got into synch. I think the Jazz just need to be defensive minded. If you get stops, then you get ahead in points. You would think a Sloan coached team would be the best defense in the league. I’m hopeful though and think that we can do it. I hate seeing DWill do all the work on this team. Here’s to next year and thanks all for giving me a taste of home! It’s nice to see some real loyal Jazz fans out there. My proverbial cup is raised to you all!

jazz4life on April 30, 2009 said:

Sloan Coaches defense more than any other coach in this league but he can only do so much. It all comes down to the players and what they are willing to put into it. HEART!!!! I saw many times when players such as Boozer, CJ, Okur, Brewer, and Knight to name a few gave up on plays and let guys stroll down the paint for an easy lay-up. In order for the Jazz to be successful the Jazz have to take what Sloan teaches about defense and use it all 48 minuets of the game and seriously be NASTY. Basketball is definately not a gentleman’s game. I’m sorry if some of you like Okur. Yeah he may spread the court on offense but his defense SUCKS. The jazz need a true Big Man. One that will put some hurt on a player slashing through the lane. One that will make someone remember that if they are going to cut through the lane they definately aren’t going in unharmed. Okur needs to stick with a gentleman’s game and go play golf where he doesn’t have to worry about hurting anybody. Again one word sums up what all Jazz players need to work on. HEART!!!!
I am way excited for this offseason to see what the Jazz will do. I’m already excited for next season and hope for the best outcome.
GO JAZZ!!!!!!

Caderade on May 01, 2009 said:

It’s kind of sad, Coach Sloan is the last of the old men left now that Hot Rod and LHM are gone. It makes me wonder how long we’ll have him around. Whatever imperfections he may have, he’s still one of the top three coaches in the league, and we’re not likely to do any better once he retires.

Pelon on May 01, 2009 said:

Brian is definately right. Playing on (unfortunately) a perenial losing team, will inflate a player’s stats. Brevin was, and is, simply overrated. Give Ronnie P. his shot.