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Utah Jazz: If We Still Had Trevor Booker...
Brooklyn Nets

Utah Jazz: If We Still Had Trevor Booker...

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 3:09 p.m. ET

After suffering perhaps the toughest loss of the season against the Memphis Grizzlies, Utah Jazz players, fans and GM Dennis Lindsey are missing Trevor Booker more than ever.

On July second of 2016, the Utah Jazz parted ways with Trevor Booker and made a choice that would severely alter the future of the Utah Jazz. I wrote an article on this when it happened and I copped some criticism for stating how much Booker meant to the Jazz organisation.

At the time, neither the fans nor the media made a big deal of it thinking that he was a replaceable part of the team. It then made perfect sense to everybody when Utah signed Boris Diaw as an ‘upgrade’. However, it is blindingly obvious now that the Jazz were merely filling the void of Booker’s departure.

Back onto the subject of Utah suffering the ‘toughest loss of the season’. On paper, a seven point loss to the Memphis Grizzlies without Derrick Favors doesn’t seem too bad. But in reality, it was just 48 minutes of previously unseen problems that may not be fixed easily.

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    Personally, I am a huge fan of Quin Snyder and he has done everything right since joining the Jazz two and a half seasons ago. Saturday night was the first time I’ve seen him without an answer. The game was lost for the Jazz as soon as Gobert exited the game in the first quarter when Diaw and Lyles were playing the four and the five.

    NBA: Memphis Grizzlies at Utah JazzWhen you’re against the best offensive big man duo in the NBA, you can’t guard them with undersized power forwards. It seemed for certain that Diaw and Lyles would split all 48 minutes at power forward and deservedly so. Playing either of them at center just makes no sense at all. Jeff Withey and Joel Bolomboy sat quietly on the bench while Randolph and Gasol scored bucket after bucket.

    When Gobert returned to the ball game, it was too late; Gasol and Randolph already found enough rhythm to keep the Stifle Tower at bay. The opportunity arose for the Jazz to get back in front and win in the fourth quarter, but for the first time since I can remember, the Jazz lacked fight. They looked disinterested and without will to go on. With the exception of Rudy Gobert of course.

    Now where does Trevor Booker come into this? During his two year stint with the Jazz, he came in late and dug the Jazz out of hole after hole. He was responsible for as many Jazz wins as anybody else on the team because he tried hard and it meant so much to him. He is different to every other player in the entire NBA because he works harder than every single one of them.

    Just look at his game and what he’s done with the Nets so far this season. They are the worst team in the NBA talent-wise and he has dragged them over the line on numerous occasions. What I love about Booker is that he doesn’t have great size and length, a great jump shot or much of an offensive game, but he gets the job done anyway.

    If you were a tennis fan you could call him the Lleyton Hewitt of the NBA; he fights and scraps for every ball and he gets the best out of himself every time he is on the court.

    If I were picking my squad heading into game seven of the NBA Finals, I’d take him before players that are in the MVP race because he does what he has to do to get the job done. He’s not threatened by bigger or better players because he might know that he can’t outplay them, but he can outwork them.

    After all, the sun will still rise tomorrow, the world will still spin and it was just one game for the Jazz. Although I do have faith they will bounce back, I just wish Booker would have stayed because he was such a great influence on the team.

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