I understand Utah beating us when they have the ball, they execute beautifully in the half court. But this was a game where we should have done better offensively. Utah does not double team much and Boozer, while strong, is not a shot-blocker. Funny thing is Brand and Boozer are pretty equivalent players, essentially 20 and 10 guys, both a tad short at PF. The rest of their starters were Koufos a rookie, Brewer who is a very good defender and a decent shooter, but not close to dominant as a player or shooter, CJ Miles and Deron Williams, passing well but shooting poorly coming off of the injury.
My point being, there is no reason our starting five can't play as well or better than their's, especially when Deron is less than 100%. Their outside shooting is not spectacular without Okur, and Boozer, like Brand, is a pure pick and roll/pop player, not a Dwight Howard type beast on the low block constantly. Our team is more athletic and are a decent match-up at every position except PG. But the reason they took us apart is simple, they execute plays far better than we do. They are far better coached and more disciplined and certainly some of their players have better basketball smarts than ours do.
We can bitch about our personnel all we want, and some changes will be made down the road, but this team is ill-prepared todefend or play offense in the half court.
I also don't see Brand at PF as the problem. Thad at PF was a short term gimmick that worked against tired and tanking teams down the stretch. This team should be able to run with Brand, he runs well, rebounds and blocks shots, he's not a lumbering stiff. The running game is bad because the defense is so bad and the defense to offense transition, when we finally force a TO, is out of sync too. Mo is out of his league coaching a team like this and it is showing up big time. This is the best they can do, against a team that does not swarm on D, after 4 solid days of practice?
