Written by Spencer | 11 February 2008

I'm glad that Jerry finally saw what many of us have been watching all season-- that Ronnie Price is better in every aspect than Jason Hart. Besides the fact that he is a local college product, a fan favorite, and a team energizer ( like Millsap was last year), he statistically is much better than Hart.

Jerry has always said that a player will not lose their job because of an injury, but Hart's/Brewer's injuries are a blessing for the Jazz and their fans. Why? Because we get to see Price on the court for longer than two minutes at the end of the game. Sloan and company are seeing what Price can do in real game situations and finally will start rewarding him for his production; by giving him Hart's minutes. So here is some information that I gathered from 82 games.com:

Hart and Price have played together a combined 32 minutes out of the total 2500 minutes played thus far this season. Even though they were probably garbage minutes, they still count in these stats. Some of the stats may have overlapped in these 32 minutes, but as far as everything else is concerned, these stats are when they are not on the court together.

Total Minutes:
Price 237
Hart 535

Per 100 Possessions:
Price +18.1 points over the opponent
Hart +1.7 points over the opponent

Per 48 Minutes:
Price +76 points
Hart +38 points

The Jazz Turnover Differential:
Price +7
Hart +1

Mind you, all of Price's stats are with almost a third less playing time. Can you imagine how much better the Jazz would be with Price taking ALL of Hart's minutes? Well you don't have to imagine, just rewatch the last two games and you can see for yourself.

Whenever Hart comes in, it seems like he's playing similar to the NFL's prevent defense. He has a bend but don't break mentality. The only thing a prevent defense does is prevent you from being a good defense. He is tentative, slow and the offense rarely gets run the way it is supposed to. He rarley gets fast break points nor does anything that leads to them.

On the other hand, Price plays with intensity, speed and he can score by himself or help others score. I hope that the price continues to be right for Sloan and the boys. I think from here on out Price will be the back up to D-Will and I know that the fans and the rest of the team have been waiting for this all season. Sorry Jason, this is your Dear John letter.

- Spencer

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