Utah Jazz and Boozer the Loser

I thought it was possible for the Jazz to win last night. They had a disappointing game 1 but certainly things couldn't get much worse.

Unfortunately they did. Sort of.

Worse in respect that they lost again to a Lakers juggernaut that is now 6-0 in the playoffs. The results for the last 4 Lakers teams to start the playoffs 6-0?

1 NBA Finals loss and 3 championships.

Needless to say this doesn't bode well for the Jazz. For that matter neither does Carlos Boozer. This is a guy who took the time to record a special TV appearance with a local network and yet somehow hasn't found the time to score above his season average since March.

Sloan's philosophy has always been that if you aren't an offensive threat or are in a slump, there are still 4 things you can do:

1) Play defense.
2) Box out and rebound.
3) Work on your free throws.
4) Play some more/better defense.

It's these keys that kept Jason Hart around for so much of this season even though everyone in the building and his grandma knew he couldn't hit a 12-foot jump shot to save his life. Ronnie Price has since eclipsed him to take the backup job. Why? Because he can now do all 4 of those things better, hit shots and has grasped the offense.

SO WHY HASN'T THIS HAPPENED WITH BOOZER?

Millsap has proved to have im-proved enormously since last season. Last night he only had 5-6 three point play opportunities. He scored 13 in 17 first half minutes and was the only reason Utah didn't trail by over 20 going into the half. He finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Still not good enough to avoid getting subbed out with Jaron Collins in favor of an Okur/Boozer combo down the stretch.

Come on Sloan. Start playing your players based on performance and not salary, media attention, or "All-Star" status.