SALT LAKE CITY — Karl Malone is home in Louisiana, living the quiet life. Up in Spokane, John Stockton is watching the trees grow. Jeff Hornacek has a babysitting job. He’s coach of the New York Knicks.
Clearly the Jazz aren’t going back where they were in the 1990s when they had one former All-Star and three hall of famers, including their coach.
What they didn’t have was a first-rate bench contingent.
Optimism for the Jazz reigns this year, centered around a healthy starting lineup of Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, Rudy Gobert, Rodney Hood and George Hill. Nearly as obvious is that the Jazz have a tantalizing bench in Dante Exum, Trey Lyles, Alec Burks, Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw.
Fans expecting a big year for the Jazz should focus just below the waterline, where the real intrigue lies. If injuries or chemistry problems don’t interfere, this will be a lineup as deep as the cast of “Murder on the Orient Express.”
“It’s evident right now,” said longtime Jazz analyst and former player Ron Boone, “that with some guys out (with injuries), the team can count on the bench to get the job done.”
The good old Jazz days, i.e. the 1990s, were pure entertainment: two trips to the NBA Finals, plus three other conference finals appearances. Malone, Stockton and Jerry Sloan were on their way to enshrinement. Hornacek is No. 16 on the all-time free-throw percentage list.
That’s a nifty starting point for anyone.
But the team’s bench, the foot soldiers, had limited talent, or too many miles.
The Jazz backups were OK in the 1990s, but aside from the enigmatic Chris Morris, they never had someone who could drop 30 points in a guest appearance. With starters out, the bench would tread water at best.
About the time the Jazz started rolling deep into the playoffs, the bench did improve. The 1991-92 team had Mike Brown, David Benoit, Delaney Rudd and Ty Corbin. Good players, but no All-Stars. The next year included the addition of Jay Humphries, John Crotty and current Ute coach Larry Krystkowiak. (Side note: Also on that roster: Tim Legler, whose TV success superseded a 10-year NBA career.)
In 1993-94, the backup crew included Benoit, Corbin, Crotty, Humphries and career-closing Tom Chambers. They also added future starter Bryon Russell. The Jazz lost in the Western Conference finals.
The next year Adam Keefe arrived, along with the sound of barking.
Antoine Carr, the Big Dog, had arrived.
In 1995-96, Carr, Howard Eisley, Greg Foster, Keefe and Morris (who also started 33 games) were on the bench. The team made it to the conference finals.
Then came the Finals years. The 1996-97 Bench Bros: Carr, Foster, Eisley, Morris and Shandon Anderson. Not bad. Anderson and Morris were athletic, but unpredictable. Morris didn’t play defense and Anderson, a shooting guard, wasn’t a shooter. Eisley was competitive but overmatched. Foster and Carr had their moments, but excelled at screaming and waving towels.
In 1998 it was the same group, with the addition of Troy Hudson and Jacque Vaughn, neither a momentum changer.
None of the 1990s benches compared to this year’s, though former Jazz assistant coach Phil Johnson cautions that the current group’s success “remains to be seen.”
Regardless, Exum is rapidly learning under Hill, and by season’s end should be starting. Diaw is a major factor in mentoring and refining Gobert, as well as adding versatility to the team. Burks could start on other teams. Joe Johnson, a seven-time All-Star, is 35 but hasn’t forgotten how to shoot. Lyles, at 20, is a an inside-outside threat.
“What I look for is a player who can come off the bench and make an impact in a short period of time, or a player who can come off the bench and get 25 or 30 in a night,” Boone said. “When I look back, a lot of those (Jazz) teams didn’t have those guys.”
Role players, yes. Game-changers? Nope.
This year’s team doesn’t have starters like Stockton and Malone, but CBS Sports ranks Utah’s bench the league’s best.
“On paper, I would say they’re very strong,” Phil Johnson said.
It never hurts to first put an idea on paper.
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