I'm bored. Watched some of the 1988 Jazz/Lakers Playoffs.

[northeast]

Man , Stockton was amazing.
Stockton and Malone teams nearly outplayed perhaps the two the greatest teams of all time:
Magics Lakers in the 80s and Jordans Bulls in the 90s.

Just one or two calls different and the series could have gone the other way, and you know the Jazz didn't get the calls those other 2 teams did.

Anyway, I think Favors should know that part of what made Malone so good was his ability to simply get up and down the floor faster than other bigs. Jazz fans talk a lot Malone's muscles, but when he was building his career, he was fast and had great endurance. He would really get out on the break and finish -- got a lot of high percentage buckets that way.

 

[dipship31]

I wouldn't call late 80's Lakers one of the greatest teams of all time, but they were still quite good and how the Jazz played that series they looked like a team that would take off with success very shortly. Problem was they pretty much stayed stagnant for 10 more years until they finally got over the hump in '97.

 

[spycam1]

Anyway, I think Favors should know that part of what made Malone so good was his ability to simply get up and down the floor faster than other bigs. Jazz fans talk a lot Malone's muscles, but when he was building his career, he was fast and had great endurance. He would really get out on the break and finish -- got a lot of high percentage buckets that way.

Agreed, and I think Favors and Kanter will both be very good at getting up and down the floor.

 

[Urzajazz]

I wouldn't call late 80's Lakers one of the greatest teams of all time, but they were still quite good and how the Jazz played that series they looked like a team that would take off with success very shortly. Problem was they pretty much stayed stagnant for 10 more years until they finally got over the hump in '97.

If Eaton didn't have a career ending injury those early 90s Jazz teams may have gone to the Finals. The Jazz had to reload after that happened and kind of got lucky with Ostertag (no he wasn't spectacular, but he wasn't subpar either) .

I would cal the late 80s Laker teams some of the best ever. The NBA probably had the highest concentration of "talent" from about 1987 to 1991. Every playoff team was a hard battle. I still think had the Jazz kept AD and retooled the offense for AD and the Mailman things may have turned out differently.

The Jazz did have some playoff stinkers (like losing to Golden State in the first round..) they did go to the conference finals a few times and nearly overcame that hump.

 

[vj_74]

The Jazz had to reload after that happened and kind of got lucky with Ostertag (no he wasn't spectacular, but he wasn't subpar either) .
.

Really? You really think Jazz were "lucky" to get Osterfart? Shows how deprived the Jazz center position has been for years. Osterfart had one decent season to get the contract he got and then just destroyed whatever hopes Stock and Malone would have had for a legit title shot the following years with his terribly inconsistent play. The guy didnt even show up in shape most of the time

 

[vslice02]

Really? You really think Jazz were "lucky" to get Osterfart? Shows how deprived the Jazz center position has been for years. Osterfart had one decent season to get the contract he got and then just destroyed whatever hopes Stock and Malone would have had for a legit title shot the following years with his terribly inconsistent play. The guy didnt even show up in shape most of the time

Ostertag was a non-factor in Utah's return to the '98 Finals, although he had a big contritbution to finally getting Utah over the hump in '97 when he played solid defense against Shaq and then Hakeem, and was actually Utah's most effective presence in the paint in the Game 5 loss to Chicago (flu game).

But Utah's leap from Western Conference contender to back-to-back Finals appearances had more to do with the team's overall improvement in mental toughess and competitive greatness, Karl Malone's individual improvement to become one of the best passers and jumpshooters among bigmen in the NBA, and the development of Bryon Russell (at SF), and Howard Eisley and Shandon Anderson (to form one of the NBA's best benches).

 

[akirac73]

I still think had the Jazz kept AD and retooled the offense for AD and the Mailman things may have turned out differently.

The reason Malone blossomed into the superstar is because the Jazz traded AD away. I do wish we could have gotten something better for AD than Kelly Tripucka and Kent Benson though...

 

[Scorpjazz]

I do think we were lucky to get Tag. He was a D presence that we didnt have any other way. It is easy to find everything wrong with him, he had a ton of them. BUT, he was far better than any options we had while he was here.
People, I think, expect too much sometimes, and as such are always let down.

 

[One Brow]

Personally, I don't see why a center picked in the late 20s couldn't be exected to have all the skills and talent of an Olajuwon. People are far too easy on Ostertag.

 

[Lakers_Slapper]

I couldnt agree with you more. His overpayed salary deprived the Jazz of recruiting one or two more assets to our team. And yea, didnt show up in shape most of the time? He played his whole NBA career out of shape. F Ostertag

 

[Scorpjazz]

I think you missed sarcasm. I think.

 

[northeast]

The Jazz got a lot of performance out of guys that were NOT high draft picks.
Start with Stockton and Malone, Hornacek, and Eaton
but also add Ostertag , Kirilenko and many others to that list.
If Jazz fans spent half as much time trying to get the refs to call the games fair as they did ripping there own players, they'd have a few championships.
Teams that win have fan bases that support their team, not rip them apart.
Category (a) : Lakers, Bulls, Heat, Spurs, Mavs, Rockets, Celtics
Category (b) : Jazz, Knicks
Yea, some of the Jazz players were overpayed, just like with most teams.
You should be happy your teams owners supported your team.

 

[LogGrad98]

*their

 

[Joe Bagadonuts]

I still think had the Jazz kept AD and retooled the offense for AD and the Mailman things may have turned out differently.

Malone would never have become the player he did had AD been standing in the way. Trading AD told Malone that he was the future of the franchise and they believed in him. He responded in a way that exceeded the highest expectations by a wide margin. The AD trade was a brilliant move.

 

[Joe Bagadonuts]

Really? You really think Jazz were "lucky" to get Osterfart? Shows how deprived the Jazz center position has been for years. Osterfart had one decent season to get the contract he got and then just destroyed whatever hopes Stock and Malone would have had for a legit title shot the following years with his terribly inconsistent play. The guy didnt even show up in shape most of the time

I couldn't agree more. Ostertag showed promise, got a fat contract, and put it in cruise control. He's yet another argument against guaranteed contracts. It doesn't look like removing guaranteed contracts is going to be one of the results of the new CBA, but it sure should be. No single step could do as much to improve the quality of the NBA.

 

[NUMBERICA]

If Jazz fans spent half as much time trying to get the refs to call the games fair as they did ripping there own players, they'd have a few championships.
Teams that win have fan bases that support their team, not rip them apart.
Category (a) : Lakers, Bulls, Heat, Spurs, Mavs, Rockets, Celtics
Category (b) : Jazz, Knicks
Yea, some of the Jazz players were overpayed, just like with most teams.
You should be happy your teams owners supported your team.