I think one needs to really evaluate some of these euros' toughness and "thug" mentality.
Just look at what Perkins has done to the Thunder.
Just look at how much we're missing toughness at virtually every position. We need some thug on this roster.
Aren't we all tired of the defenseless Jazz? Of people driving the lane like it's a freeway? Without fear of taking a hit? How often have we waltzed into opposing cities to only play lackadaisical and sleep walk through a pounding?
Some of these euros might have nice shooting strokes, but do any of them have mean streaks? How competitive are these guys? How will they react when the chips are down? The NBA is much more of a street fight than a euro 3 point shooting contest.
With the case of the Jazz, I think KOC needs to not only look at upgrading the athleticism and size of this team, but he needs to also rebuild the attitude of this leaderless team. Right now we shouldn't look for complimentary pieces that can rise up to the play of longtime hardasses Karl Malone and John Stockton.
In fact, just the opposite, we need to find some hardasses. Because quite honestly, the soft weak play of Al, Fess, AK, CJ, etc just isn't going to cut it. Raja is tough and mean, but sucks royally. Millsap is tough, but not mean. Favors seems pretty reserved and Hayward still looks like a boy (although the sorta beard is a nice start to becoming a hard a).
Right now, a young Raja Bell, CP3 (dude is carrying the Hornets), Tony Allen, Shane Battier, Kurt Thomas, or Perkins or Rodman would be a lot more valuable to this tissue soft team than a talented scoring softie, like Pau Gasol.
