The rumor mill has been talking about the Jazz signing Francisco Elson, the only Dutch NBA player of Surinamese descent. A legit seven-footer, Elson is a veteran player with the height and length to give Utah some depth behind Al Jefferson and Mehmet Okur. He also has championship experience after picking up a ring with the Spurs in 2007.
Do you know how hard it was to find a picture of him that wasn't of him getting posterized? Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images North America
Here’s Hollinger’s Scouting Report:
Elson’s main selling point is his mobility for his size. Even though he’s 33, he still runs the floor better than most centers and is a good pick-and-roll defender who can check smaller players. However, he lacks muscle and bigger centers maul him inside. As a result, he fouls a lot (more than once every seven minutes) and doesn’t grab many rebounds.
Offensively, Elson is too thin to play the post and mediocre at best as a midrange jump shooter, hitting 35.8 percent of his long 2s over the past three seasons. He’d get more baskets around the rim but he has terrible hands; plus, he has poor instincts as a scorer and rarely finds easy buckets off cuts and feeds.
Lacks muscle? Gets beat up by centers? Terrible Hands? Rarely finds easy buckets off cuts and feeds? He might just fit right in with a long line of similar Jazz big men.
It’s always nice to have an extra big body and six extra fouls to go around. Obviously with Okur out the Jazz would love to find someone who isn’t going to foul at a high rate and knows the system. And while Fesenko certainly has potential, he’s taking his dear, sweet time to sign the tender from the Jazz.
That’s why (okay, deep breath. I can’t believe these words are going to leave my mouth) the Jazz need to go out and sign Jarron Collins. There I said it. Yes, Jarron Collins. If Fes isn’t coming back, the Jazz should bring back Collins.
[Editor's Note: I am not on board with this. Repeat, I am not on board with this.]
The Jazz said they got tougher this year. Collins likes hard fouls. Sign him. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Michael Chow)
Collins could relief minutes for Al Jefferson while Okur is getting healthy, and then later in the season, when everyone is healthy, he can be the foul machine that Sloan enjoys. With Jefferson and Hayward a few new joining the team and learning the new system, adding Collins could make the process of gelling as a team easier. He is a good locker-room presence and the players know him. If the Jazz are going to sign a guy who is going to foul then why not a guy who is huge and knows the system?
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