The killer for the Jazz on Tuesday was the third quarter, when Pierce scored 17 of Boston's 37 points. The forward, who shot 6-for-6 from the field in the stretch, matched what the Jazz had as a team with much better production. Utah was just 5-for-19.
Kirilenko's eyes started to tear in the locker room as he talked in a shaky voice about his frustrations and inability to stop Pierce. He played just four minutes in the final quarter because of his inept defense, but his small consolation was that none of his teammates could do any better.
"There were a couple of times he would get screens right in front of our bench, and we'd look over like 'What are we supposed to do now?' " Sloan said. "You have to fight through those screens and you can't keep making defensive mistakes."
Funny, and almost a bit sad that Sloan should mention the word 'fight,' for that is one element the Jazz can't seem to muster.
The Jazz are a cautionary tale, and only one of several, about the risks of the rebuilding strategy that R.M. and myself have endorsed. With Stockton's retirement in 2003 they decided to let Karl Malone play out his last games elsewhere and rebuild through the draft and free agency.
It's only been a few years but things haven't started out well. This is partly because the last several drafts have contributed very little to the current team. Kris Humphries is the only recent pick still in Salt Lake City and he's only averaging around 10 minutes a night and is frequently rumored to be a throw-in for trades. Kirk Snyder, Pavel Podkolzone, Aleksandar Pavlovic are all playing elsewhere. 2001-02 first round picks Ryan Humphrey and Raul Lopez are already out of the league. Celtics fans that remember with a shudder the incredible drought that was our team's drafting between 1998 and 2002 can appreciate the situation Utah is now in. When you aren't adding talent through the draft you better hit a few home runs with your free agent signings and trades.
So how has that gone for Utah? Well enough, I suppose, but not well enough to lift them out of the lottery. To some degree the jury is still out since Boozer and Kirilenko's injuries torpedoed last season and much of this.
At the same time while Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur are decent enough players Utah paid a steep price for both. Both are examples of the watered-down quality of free agent talent that has resulted from the CBA. The last five years have seen a steady decrease in the volume of top talent hitting the free agent market, to the point where career rotation players like Okur are considered one of the prizes of their free agent class. Hold demand steady and reduce supply... and the teams that gut their payroll so they can build through free agency end up looking like Utah: Bad teams with $35-40M in long-term contracts to players unable to get themselves into the playoffs.
If Utah is a cautionary tale about the dangers of trying to rebuild through free agency at the expense of the draft, they may also turn out to be a cautionary tale about who you invest a significant amount of your payroll in. The Celtics will sink or swim over the next several years with Raef LaFrentz, Wally Szczerbiak and-- if he resigns-- Paul Pierce. That trio has lottery written all over it. If their salaries end of forcing the team to sign-and-trade players like Al Jefferson and Delonte West at the end of their rookie deals, well, we might end up looking something like Utah does today.
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