Remember when the Jazz were 15-5 and had just pulled off four straight miraculous comeback victories on the road? Remember when the Jazz were 27-13, and cruising towards a high playoffs seed?
Ya, neither do I.
Those memories don't feel like they were from this century, let alone this season. The Jazz have fallen off a cliff faster than Wile E. Coyote chasing the roadrunner.
From Mehmet Okur never becoming 100 percent, to Deron Williams bickering with Jerry Sloan, to Sloan resigning, to Williams getting traded, to the Andrei Kirilenko and Devin Harris injuries, to Al Jefferson getting benched by Tyrone Corbin, this season has progressively just gotten worse and worse.
It's finally time to pull the plug. The 2010-2011 Utah Jazz will be remembered as the team that went from so good to so bad in a matter of months, and they could go down as the team that sent the franchise spiraling out of the playoffs for the next several years.
The Jazz are in a complete rebuilding phase, and it all starts with the draft. The Jazz will own two lottery picks this June. Unfortunately, this isn't considered a strong draft, but there is still some talent to choose from. If the Jazz can get lucky enough pick up a guy like Derrick Williams or Brandon Knight with their first pick, and then take Jimmer with their second pick, we could actually have some excitement back at EnergySolutions Arena.
But even when Deron Williams and Jerry Sloan were with the Jazz, it was still extremely difficult to get talented free agents to sign on the dotted line. But now, why would a free agent want to play in Utah? Where is the attraction? To be part of an unstable reconstruction project?
The Jazz franchise is at a crossroads. And while I do like the possibility of Harris and Jefferson building a strong chemistry together, the heroic efforts continuously put forth by Paul Millsap, and the upside of Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward, even with two high draft picks this summer, I don't see a playoff team in the near future.
I hope I'm wrong. Because if the team can build a strong foundation from a strong core of young players, Jazz fans will get excited about this team again. It's just right now, they probably feel like following Wile E. off the cliff right now.
But while the end is near, the future is about to begin.
