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The Utah Jazz may seem like an odd name for a team based in the desert in the Mormon land known as Salt Lake City, but the team simply did not change names when they moved from New Orleans in 1979. Those post 1979 years meant five struggling seasons with a fan base that cared less about winning and more about seeing Pete Maravich relive his scoring exploits of his years at LSU. Pistol Pete Maravich played a highly stylized game of basketball a couple of decades before it became the staple of the NBA. His style was more entertaining than effective with the talent deficient rosters of the Jazz in that era, leading to plenty of jaw-dropping highlights but few wins.
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About Utah Jazz
The move to Salt Lake City did not immediately change the direction of the Utah Jazz. Instead they searched for players to build around. Those players came in the mid-80s. In 1984 Utah drafted John Stockton and in 1985 the Jazz drafted Karl Malone. The pair of players would develop a relationship on the court that has rarely been duplicated. The Utah Jazz still struggled as Stockton and Malone perfected the pick and roll.
In the meantime, Mark Eaton manned the middle and established himself as one of the best shot blockers in NBA history. AT 7 foot 4 and 290 pounds he was a force down low on defense. The team became a playoff contender with new coach Jerry Sloan. The Utah Jazz quietly played a very successful second half of the 1980s, but really started to shine during the ‘90s.
Stockton and Malone were among the most dangerous player combos in the league and the front office tried to build around them. The Trailblazers and the Rockets constantly thwarted their efforts, but the second half of the ‘90s the roster came together. The Utah Jazz had big bodies like Greg Ostertag and Antoine Carr, wing players like Jeff Hornacek and Byron Russell, and pesky backup point guards like Shandon Anderson and Howard Eisley.
The pinnacle of their performance was in the 1996-97 and the 1997-98 season. Those seasons the Jazz went to the NBA Finals, but had to play the Chicago Bulls. Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoc, and Dennis Rodman and the rest of the Bulls closed out their second three-peat with two closely fought series against the Jazz.
Malone and Stockton had five more seasons together to try and take the Utah Jazz to the NBA Championship, but their time had passed them by. Players like Donyell Marshall, Matt Harping, and Andrei Kirilenko tried to fill in, but the Jazz became perennial first round victims.
Kirilenko and Harping were not able to help Malone and Stockton win a championship, but they were far from poor players. They began to shine after the legendary pair left in 2003. The Utah Jazz began to build again. They signed Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur in 2004 and drafted point guard Deron Williams in 2005. Williams and Boozer spent the next two seasons becoming the new Stockton and Malone. In the 2007 postseason the Utah Jazz surprised everybody and went to the Western Conference Finals before losing to the San Antonio Spurs.
The 2007-08 season held high hopes for the Utah Jazz and after an initial slow start a midseason trade brought Kyle Korver to EnergySolutions Arena and the Jazz played great basketball once again. They finished with a 54-28 record and lost in the semifinals to the Lakers.
The Utah Jazz return after an exciting 2007-08 season with high expectations. Deron Williams may never emerge form Chris Paul’s shadow, but he is without a doubt one of the best point guards in the league. The Jazz score with a combination of interior scoring from Boozer on the post and off-the-ball movement that leaves players like Matt Harpring, Ronnie Brewer, and Andrei Kirilenko open for layups. Mehmet Okur is a deep threat and Williams is a streaky shooter the opposing team must always watch.
The trade last year that brought Kyle Korver over forced teams to cover the perimeter after the team struggled early on. Korver and Okur are still the best outshooters on the team, but the Utah Jazz are unstoppable when Harpring and Williams are knocking down outside shots. The Jazz are not a great defensive team and are prone to fouling, but the team is so deep and so well run by Jerry Sloan that their offense outshines those deficiencies. The season should see the Jazz as one of the top contenders to win the Western Conference and dethrone the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.
