Where Do We Go From Here?

Well folks, the first half of the Jazz season has come to a brutal end.

Are the Lakers a better team without Kobe? Does Charlie Daniels play a mean fiddle?

The Lakers sent the Jazz in to the break with a HUGE victory in Utah last night, and don't you dare try to blame it on a back-to-back game night. It looked like Utah didn't even show up, considering they were the second hottest team in the NBA entering the game. Their free throws and 3-point shooting were pathetic, heck, there overall shooting was just terrible. It was a bad loss. Let's not forget, however, that we are still 9-1 in our last ten games, which is amazing! Even though we will enter the break with a tough loss, we must go in with our heads held high... here is why: 1. We are third in the West 2. We DOMINATED many teams on our win streak, and good teams too! 3. Kirilenko is starting to play like he used to 4. Finally, there are no back to back games in the playoffs, so that excuse will be out of the question.

The second half of the season is actually looking very promising for Utah. We really have a chance at passing Denver and moving in to second place in the West (Let's face it though, we aren't going to catch the Lakers). My expectations, however, aren't even that high. If the Jazz can go in as the 5th ranked team I will be happy, but they can do better, we've seen it. But, for the Jazz to be real contenders they need to make some adjustments. Here is what I expect (or would like to see) from the Jazz after the break:

1.USE THE TRADE DEADLINE
As the other writer Grant once pointed out to me, the Jazz are definitely an OK team, but they are not contenders... yet. While on trade is not going to make all the difference in the world, it would definitely help. I think the Jazz need to seriously consider trading Carlos Boozer. I know, I know, he has been playing great, but we can get a solid, maybe even more consistent player if we trade him now instead of holding out. An interesting trade I ran for fun in the ESPN Trade Machine was Carlos Boozer and C.J. Miles for Chris Bosh.... logistically it worked... would the Raptors do that, though? Who knows... but isn't it worth a shot?

2. LITTLE LESS MILES, LITTLE MORE KORVER
I won't lie, I was not a big Korver fan. I always thought Miles would be better. As time goes on, however, Miles keeps getting more and more minutes, and yet doing more and more of nothing. He was supposed to be some sharp shooter that would be a "deep threat" but he hasn't proven himself any better than even Memo from beyond the arc. Korver on the other hand is shooting a very respectable 61% from 3 Point Land, yet Sloan refuses to give him minutes. If Miles is not traded, I would like to see Korver given a chance at proving himself.

3. WILLIAMS MUST TAKE OVER
The nine game win streak was nothing short of amazing for Utah. Each player had his big night (Boozer, Okur, Kirilenko, Millsap, and Price all had huge games). D-Will also played great throughout the whole thing, passing the ball like we have never seen, but he didn't need to take over like he used to because other guys were doing it. Last night against the Lakers, nobody could step up, not even Deron, but I don't blame him. He was in a zone of comfort where he had many games where his heroics weren't needed, so when push came to shove, no one was ready. Deron needs to be the scorer the Jazz haven't had since Karl Malone. He can still get his assists, but I would also like to start seeing 20 points out of the young man as well. When that starts happening, the Jazz will be scary (add Chris Bosh to that line-up and we've got a championship team... just saying....)

4. STOP PLAYING SOFT
The last thing I want to see this half of the season is the stopping of this soft play by the Jazz. I don't know if other teams do this, but Utah does it all the time. You know, someone drives the lane, but instead of going up strong looking to score, Utah goes up soft looking to get fouled, missing the shot, then looking at the refs in disbelief when no foul is called. This needs to end. Take a page out of Lamar Odom's book and look to score first and get fouled second. The Jazz defense is also greatly undersized. Millsap can't defend most guys in his position because they are all bigger than he is and Boozer is too soft. Okur is getting there, but his lack of speed is what kills him, not strength. The Jazz need to be more physical.

The second half of the season is like a whole new season. Nobody can really predict how things may go. But, no matter what happens, just remember: No matter how bad it gets, we are not the New Jersey Nets.