The last time a Jazz player was in an All-Star game, he got his coach to resign and then was promptly traded. Jazz remember this infamous point guard as Deron Williams. The talented point guard had the Jazz at 4th place in the West and owned the skills competition and All-Star game. One night after getting outperformed by MVP Derrick Rose, Deron got in a spat with Coach Sloan and the rest is history. The Jazz went on to lose a great amount of games under interim head coach Ty Corbin and missed the playoffs.
Fans hope that their next All-Star doesn’t curse them. Fans will get a chance to see what happens as star small forward Gordon Hayward was voted to be a reserve for the Western Conference team. Jazz fans will be excited to see him get some minutes in this game but they will care more about what he does between April and July.
How will he take the Jazz in the playoffs? Will he decide to sign a new mega deal with the Jazz or will another enticing team like his college coach’s Celtics? There are so many unknowns about Gordon Hayward but there is one player that the Jazz can be sure about: Rudy Gobert.
The best Center to not make the All-Star game is Rudy Gobert. Some people can chirp about Anthony Davis but this year that Pelicans star is more known for his unibrow than what he does on the court. Gobert “The Stifle Tower” leads AD ever so slightly as the number one blocker in the NBA and his top five rebounding mark is impressive too.
Rudy will play out of his mind as he was already self-motivated before being told he wasn’t good enough. He won’t like the doubting whispers in his ear. Coach Snyder will pump him up to swat more shots like flies.
One player who could make some noise in an All Star competition is Jingling Joe Ingles. The Jazz are reportedly bidding to get him into the three point shooting competition. The Aussie is definitely deserving as he has improved to 44.8% shooting from beyond the arc.
The last Jazz player to win an individual competition in the All Star game was Jeremy Evans in the 2012 Slam Dunk Contest. The Human Pogo Stick dunked two basketballs at once and provided many highlights. Joe Ingles has proven to be more than a spot up shooter as he is a pesky defender that hustled and forced even King James into turnovers.
All-Star Predictions:
Gordon Hayward will score an impressive 10 points in 12 minutes. He will also add a steal, an assist, a rebound and a block to show an impressive stat one for his play time. The West will win and Russell Westbrook will win the MVP award with a triple double despite having some tense moments with former teammate Kevin Durant.
Joe Ingles will finish as the runner up in the three point shootout. Next year is his to win but this year the winner will be Splash Brother East, Kyle Korver (a former Jazzman).
Even though he isn’t an All-Star, Gobert will play like one the rest of the year and finish the season on top in blocks per game en route to a defensive player of the year award.
No trades for the Jazz before the February trade deadline. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
A gangly white boy from Indiana and a Stifling center from France are trying to fix a team that has been rebuilding for half a decade.
The rebuilding period is over and a home court playoff series is on a silver platter for the Jazz to get.
Take note.