Thursday, January 29, 2009

Surgery Necessary


Indeed, we discover that AK47 (the human fly-swatter) needs to have surgery on his ankle. His absence from the team is still left to be determined. It's been estimated that he'll be out for 3 to 4 weeks.

My thoughts regarding the team have been mixed. There's no doubting that we're suffering through a terrible losing streak. But to me, my thoughts go beyond that.

I have to admit that I was celebrating (internally) Paul Millsap's success as an impact player. He's been phenomenal for this team. He has softened the blow of having Boozer injured and out of the line-up. On top of it, I think that all of us Jazz fans can see the inevitable departure of Carlos Boozer. He's been such an enigma! Who knows when he'll be back to play for us this season?

After stating all of this, I still believe that we miss the Booz. Enormously! His inside presence on the offensive post is sorely missed. He commands a double-team. We really don't have an "offensive-post-player" as good as him. To make matters worse, not having Andrei Kirilenko AND Carlos Boozer is downright detrimental. This team can't win without the both of them. We won't make the playoffs without AK & the Booz!

To tie it all together... I can't help but think of how our team's injury woes have mirrored the health concerns and tragedies of our owner (and people... please don't take my comments out of context... Mr. Miller's health issues have been so much more dire, severe & downright depressing than anything we've seen). I feel terrible for our owner & his family. I hope that somehow he'll be able to reach well-ness and regain a sense of functionality again... and in like manner, see our team rise from the ashes of internal struggle and find itself healthy again. We can only hope...


4 comments:

Tucker McCann said...

the jazz will finish the season in the 9th spot.

Pasty Gangsta said...

Your optimism is always appreciated, Booner.

I too am worrying a bit more about the Milsapp/Boozer tradeoff. Their numbers are very similar but, as the Guru points out, their skills aren't. Paul is even more undersized than Carlos and gets his buckets and boards off of hustle, which is great, but it doesn't create spacing and tough matchups like Boozer's play does.

To make a run in the playoffs we're going to need everyone healthy, preferably for a month before the post-season starts. We're also going to need to at least sneak into the 7 spot because opening against the Lakers will be death.

Tucker McCann said...

The 7th spot is unrealistic.

The Jazz will finish 9th in the West.

Pasty Gangsta said...

Note to Booner: we are currently a game and a half out of the 7th spot in the playoffs.