Boozer a victim of success?

看板UTAH-JAZZ (猶他爵士)作者RonnieBrewer (Ronnie Brewer)時間19年前 (2007/01/12 16:19)推噓14(14推 0噓 6→)

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Boozer a victim of success? Since his great start of the season, opposing defenses lately have been focusing more on the Jazz forward By Phil Miller The Salt Lake Tribune Article Last Updated: 12/30/2006 02:21:50 AM MST Like cigarettes and aspirin bottles, Player of the Week trophies should come with warning labels attached. Danger: May cause double-teaming Carlos Boozer has collected two of the awards so far this season, and here's guessing he would give them back if it meant opposing defenses would just leave him alone. "We're really seeing a lot of teams attack Carlos defensively now," said Jazz assistant coach Phil Johnson. "They help each other a lot more, send extra guys over, try different things. There's a lot of that lately." And since the Jazz made a conscious effort this season to make Boozer their first option on the offense, that attention is putting pressure on Utah's ability to score. Boozer's statistics remain strong, and the Jazz aren't complaining about his production. He is scoring 21.7 points a game, which ranks 18th in the NBA, and collecting 11.7 rebounds, which is third. But because NBA teams scout each other so completely, Boozer is no longer putting up MVP-quality numbers on a nightly basis. The Jazz forward was held below 20 points only six times in Utah's first 22 games, but his nine-point outing Thursday in San Antonio was his fourth under 20 in the past eight games. And while Boozer made 57.9 percent of his shots in November, ranking him among the NBA's top three, he has connected on just 45.1 percent in the past two weeks, heading into tonight's meeting with Portland (7 p.m., KJZZ). "Teams are switching, they're being physical, they're double-teaming Carlos at times," said teammate Derek Fisher. "They're doing a lot of things defensively. They're being more aggressive on Deron [Williams] coming off the screen-and-roll than they were earlier this season. We need to adjust and I know we will." They're trying, Johnson said, but the ability to react instantly to defensive adjustments takes time to develop. The coaches have emphasized that message lately, and Johnson said he is noticing progress. "We're trying to teach better spacing, so players are in better position to receive the basketball," Johnson said. "Carlos is a good passer, and we are trying to open passing lanes for him to take advantage of when the defense collapses on him. This is kind of a new experience for him, to be the focus of the defense, and a lot of the young guys are learning how to react when [defenders] go after Carlos." Until read-and-react becomes ingrained, the Jazz's offense will have difficulty maintaining the efficiency that produced a 12-1 start to the season. Utah led the league in shooting percentage through the first three weeks, and made at least half of its shots nine times in those 13 games. It's happened just once in the last eight games, however, and the team's .477 mark now ranks fifth. The Spurs, though they inflicted a painful loss, provided a terrific example Thursday of what the Jazz need to do, Fisher said. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are veterans who have played together for five years, so it's not fair to expect Utah to exhibit the same instincts yet. "Those guys, they're playing as one out there. They're not having to think about what they want to do," Fisher said. "The ball is moving, guys are cutting - those are things that good teams are capable of doing. For us, after tearing out to such a good start, teams are taking note of things we like to do, and they're starting to take a lot of those things away, particularly against Carlos. We've been really deficient in making the adjustments and still figuring out ways to be effective." Mehmet Okur's recent scoring spree - he averaged 21 points on the Jazz's five-game road swing - has helped, but the Jazz aren't getting consistent offense from enough places, Johnson said. And Okur's foul problems in San Antonio doomed Utah's chances. "We need a balanced attack, that's what will take the defense's focus away from Carlos," Johnson said. "As they key on him, it opens up other opportunities elsewhere and that's what we're trying to teach. . . . When you help others get open, you help yourself get open." pmiller@sltrib.com http://www.sltrib.com/ci_4924298 -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 59.41.172.202

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