Carlos Boozer Out 4-6 Weeks

When Carlos Boozer went down last Saturday against the Hornets after banging knees with Tyson Chandler, it just seemed like a bone bruise. Boozer had an MRI on Sunday that came back negative and sat out the Jazz's heart breaking loss to the Nets. In a revaluation today, a hairline fracture was found is Boozer's left fibula, sidelining the likely All-Star selection for 4-6 weeks. Was anybody really surprised by this? Boozer has missed at least 30 games in each of his first two seasons with the Jazz. His first season in Utah he missed 31 games and last season he missed 59. Boozer was the key to the Jazz's resurgence this year, leading the team with 22 points a game and almost 12 rebounds. This latest injury puts the Jazz in quite a pickle. Right now they are sitting on top of their division, but they are going to have to find some scoring and rebounding to make up for Boozer's loss or they are going to lose their division and quite possibly be reeling towards another lottery selection in next year's draft. Rumors have been circulating about a possible trade of Andrei Kirilenko. If the Jazz can get someone that scores over 15 a game, I would consider it an even swap for Kirilenko. Kirilenko has a massive contract and getting rid of him would free up cap space for the Jazz to sign a free agent this summer. Rookie Paul Milsap filled in for Boozer last game and did well (16 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists), so now that I think about it, maybe Boozer is the one that needs to worry about his roster spot when he returns. Milsap is going to participate in the Rookie Challenge, which is pretty amazing considering he was a late second round pick in the draft. Let's all just relax, the Jazz just might be alright, another rookie from La. Tech is going to save us. Are there any guards from Gonzaga coming out next year?

Jazz Must Learn to Defend the 3 Ball!

In what has now become commonplace at the Energy Solutions Arena and abroad, the Jazz have fallen once again because they cannot defend, especially the 3-pointer. Watching the Jazz play lately has reminded me of the 05-06 Phoenix Suns, a lousy defensive team that scores in the 100's every game, but allows even more. The Jazz have dropped two straight games at home that they should have win (allowing over 50% shooting from the 3-point land in both games), and are now a woeful 7-8 in January. Talk about going into the All-Star break on a roll, eh? The Jazz are still first in their division, but they are battered and bruised both mentally and physically. In the last two weeks, the Jazz have lost three games on last second shots. First they lost to the Washington Wizards on a buzzer beater by Gilbert Arenas, then to Memphis Grizzlies on a shot by Eddie Jones, and last game to the New Jersey Nets on a 3-pointer by Vince Carter. You can see it on their dejected faces of disgust and unbelief as they walk off the court, the Jazz are not playing their best basketball. Then on the physical side of things, Carlos Boozer went down on Saturday with a bruised knee. The MRI reports came back negative, but we should still expect Boozer to miss the next couple of games. In what started out as a very promising season has quickly turned into a situation where the Jazz are holding on to a playoff spot and just trying to stop the bleeding before they become lottery bound for the fourth straight year. I simply cannot watch the Jazz anymore, they are the hardest team to watch. Every game they lose is in a way that breaks your heart and brings back feelings of the '98 NBA Finals - Game 6. Last week after the Jazz let Gilbert Arenas go Hibachi on them, I vowed to not watch a single Jazz game the rest of the year until they made the playoffs. I caved in tonight because I literally had nothing else to do and they broke my heart again. I can't take it anymore, if I continue in watching Jazz games with the type of results that have been coming lately, I'm going to die of a heart attack at a very, very, very young age.