Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Jazz Update 1/29/8: Crazy crazy nights....

Three wins in three tries? Including one win against the San Antonio Spurs? What does dramatic gopher have to say about that?



That officially means that the Utah Jazz are leading the Northwest Division, half a game ahead of both the Denver Nuggets and Portland Trailblazers.

This win streak began on Friday night at home, as the Jazz beat the Sacramento Kings, 127-113. Even though both teams forgot to bring their defense, it was somewhat like an All-Star game in the sense that everyone was just looking to score. You could see this especially in Carlos Boozer who scored thirteen consecutive baskets and had 33 points on the night. Kings forward Ron Artest had his hands full guarding Boozer, as he was frustrated into getting two technicals and was ejected in the fourth quarter.

The Kings were kept in the game mostly buy guard Kevin Martin, who scored 32 points on the night.

The Jazz had a bunch of players with good statlines including:
  • Deron Williams, who had 16 points and 14 assists.
  • Kyle Korver, who came off the bench to give 15 points on some outside shooting.
  • Andrei Kirilenko, who played like the All-Star he was back in 2004, scoring 25 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 blocks. That's an insane stat there.
Sunday the Jazz traveled to Texas to take on the Houston Rockets. Everyone knows about the Jazz's trouble on the road so this game could have easily been another loss. But it wasn't, as the Jazz took one on the road, winning 97-89.

They were helped out by the Rockets, as Yao Ming missed the game due to an injury and they surely missed his defense. The Rockets also seemed to be able to get nothing done offensively, shooting 36-82 from the field. Tracy McGrady led Houston with 21 points, but really hurt them as he shot 10-24 on the night.

For the Jazz, things were different. Ever since the first round of the playoffs last year, Boozer has made a reputation for himself in how much trouble he can cause when Yao has to defend him. Without his partner there, he had a really off game, scoring only 13 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.

So who carried the offensive load for Utah? Williams, Kirilenko and Kover, who each scored 17. This was Korver's highest point total since he came to the Jazz. Deron had a game high 12 assists and Kirilenko played great defense throughout the goal.

This leads us to last night when the Jazz beat the Spurs, 97-91. How the hell did this happen? The game being in Utah had some effect on it, as the Jazz are killers at home.

The Spurs got 26 points from Tim Duncan and 29 from Manu Ginobli. But what they didn't get from Duncan was defense on Boozer. Carlos had 23 points and 7 rebounds, but what was so impressive was that he had 7 assists on the night. He was able to find an open man when he was in trouble, and hopefully he'll be able to contribute in that area more often.

Tony Parker was also held to 5 points and 3 assists. Williams (11 points and 14 assists) and Ronnie Brewer (8 points) kept him in check throughout the game. Kirilenko had another superb game, with 23 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals. Even Mehmet Okur had some quality plays last night. Watch him, a big slow center, come out of a curl for a three pointer!



Wow.

In a nutshell, we've learned that the Jazz win when they do the following:
  • Boozer being a beast in the paint.
  • Williams going out of his way to set up his teammates and playing good defense against opposing all-star point guards.
  • Kirilenko being an option on offense.
  • Korver and the rest of the bench coming up big.
January has been much better than their awful December. The Jazz look like they're back and have a chance to further improve the record when the New York Knicks come to the Energy Solutions Arena this Wednesday.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Jazz Update 1/25/8: Jazz try to beat Kings at home...TONIGHT

Tonight the [[Utah Jazz]] look to make it three wins in a row as they take on the [[Sacramento Kings]] tonight at the [[Energy Solutions Arena]]. The Jazz hope that they can get some proverbial “home cooking” and pick up an easy victory at home.

On the flipside, the Kings feel very confident about tonight; they’ve won 11 of their last 14 games in Utah. They should also feel confident, as their roster seems to be complete for the first time in a while.

The last time the two teams met was on November 12, and the Kings won 117-93. This was mostly due to an epic collapses of the Jazz in the fourth quarter.

Recently, the Jazz have picked up their defense and have been limiting their opponents to 93 points a game.

Currently the Jazz are one game behind the playoff eigth-seed [[Golden State Warriors]]. I’d like to see the Jazz improve on their record heading into the All Star Break.

As for tonight’s game, the Kings are a much quicker, guard oriented team as opposed to the bulldozer forward style that the Jazz uses. To combat this, Utah must make sure that they play strong man-on-man defense, limit their own turnovers, not give the Kings too many opportunities at the foul line and control the paint.

Gametime starts at 9 PM Eastern Time.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Jazz Update 1/22/8: Utah celebrates MLK with a W against the LAC

How did the Utah Jazz celebrate Martin Luther King Day? By getting a rare road win against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center, 109-93. This was the second time they beat the Clippers in the last four days.

You could just tell that the Jazz were confident and playing tough. After all, they really need to shed their image as a weak road team. Yesterday they showed that, and at one point had a 23 point lead against the Clippers. That’s the total points that LA’s lead scorer Corey Maggette had in the whole game.

So how did they do it? They did a good job on defense, causing the Clippers to turn the ball over 20 times during the game. That led to 29 easy points for the Jazz.

"We ran and pushed the ball up the floor more than we should have instead of just walking it because we hadn't put a lot of pressure on the defense until today. That's what we have to do on the road. We can't just sit back and wait,” said Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan.

Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy agreed. “You just have to look at one stat line. Our 20 turnovers led to 29 points for them, which tells the story of the game for us. There were too many easy baskets because of our turnovers. They established a style of play and played a more physical game than us."

The Jazz had seven players in double digit scoring. Deron Williams got his typical 18 points and 13 assists, while Carlos Boozer had 12 points and rebounds. His scoring is down the last month, but I think that’s a combination of other teams defending him better and Williams getting other players involved more in the offense.

Kyle Korver had 13 points (3-5 from three point land) and Ronnie Brewer appears to have gotten himself out of Sloan’s doghouse, getting 15 points.

Paul Millsap and Matt Harpring each chipped in 17 points. This was of note for Harpring, as he’s been medically cleared by his doctor to now have no playing time restrictions due to his ongoing knee problems.

Much of yesterday’s playing time came at Andrei Kirilenko’s expense. AK-47 picked up 4 quick fouls in ten minutes of playing time and was scoreless. I hope this isn’t a sign of Kirilenko and Sloan aren’t feuding again, but more so that this game was an easy win and that Kirilenko was just having a really bad game or some sort of unnamed injury.

The Jazz have some time off this week. Their next game is on Friday, January 25 against the Sacramento Kings at home.

Monday, January 21, 2008

Jazz Update 1/21/8: Jazz beat Clippers on Friday, play them today

Oh the whacky world of NBA schedules. The Utah Jazz get to pretend its playoff time as they played the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday and get to take them on again this afternoon as one of the league’s many Martin Luther King, Jr. tribute games. Thirteen NBA games are scheduled for today.

Friday night, the Jazz looked to make a statement after getting routed by the Denver Nuggets. They beat the Clippers 106-86 at the Energy Solutions Arena.
How did they do it?

They started the game strong, outscoring the Clippers 106-88 and never looked back. The Jazz were lead by Carlos Boozer, who had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Seven Jazz players score din double digits. The Jazz’s pass first offense was in full effect; the team out assisted the Clippers, 28-19. They were not lead in assists by [{Deron Williams]] who had 6, but by Andrei Kirilenko, who had 7 on the night. The Jazz really look sharp when they can have those two running the offense.

On the defensive end, they did a good job causing problems for the Clippers the whole night. The Clippers wound up turning over the ball 14 teams to the Jazz’s 10. Utah also did a good job throwing off Clippers swingman Corey Maggette. He did lead Los Angeles with 20 points, but he was prevented from adding any assists or rebounds to his stat line.

This afternoon, the Jazz get on the road to play the Clippers at the Staples Center at 3:30 PM ET. Will the Jazz continue their problems on the road?

Timing might benefit the Jazz, as this is the Clip show’s third game in four days. The Jazz have been off since Friday. The Clipper’s fatigue is a benefit for the Jazz. But then again, Utah does like to blow games on the road.

Regardless, the Jazz have to get over their funk. If they did the three things they did last time: execute their offense, defend and force turnovers, they just might be able to pull this out.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Jazz Update 1/18/8: Jazz get rocked by Nuggets, 120-109

The Utah Jazz’s road game nightmare continued last night, as they lost to the Denver Nuggets, 110-109.

Usually the Jazz give up the game in the fourth quarter, but last night they seemed to be more than happy to seal the game in the third. At the half, they were barely trailing, as the Nuggets was up 61-59. They came out of half time, allowing Denver to outscore them 37-29.

While Carmelo Anthony (23 points) and Allen Iverson (28 points) had their usual high scoring game, it was Linas Kleiza who scored a career high 41 points thanks to an awful Jazz defense. He was 11-14 from the free throw line and 4-8 from the three point line.

Kleiza also earns a spot on the poor sportsmanship list. During a play halfway through the third, he was fouled by Kyle Korver (16 points), who made collided with him after making a clean play for the ball. Instead of getting himself up and walking away, he got up, kneed Korver in the back intentionally and stood over him, talking trash. That’s unacceptable behavior, even for Philadelphia Flyers standards.

What’s even worse is that no one on the floor from the Jazz got up to defend Korver. Not Carlos Boozer. Not Deron Williams. No one.

That says a lot of this team. They don’t stand up for themselves, and lack some leadership as well as toughness.

While the Jazz were on offense, Marcus Camby shut down the lane and kept them out of the paint. Camby was collecting stats like this was a video game, pulling down 24 rebounds an 11 blocks.

This caused the Jazz to settle for jumpers the whole thing, which doesn’t help guys like Boozer (18 points), Ronnie Brewer or Andrei Kirilenko, who operate primarily in the paint.

In my preview, I also mentioned that the team that shoots better from the freethrow line and doesn’t turn over the ball will win. Denver lead in both categories; 12 turnovers to the Jazz’s 18, and 33-40 from the charity stripe to the Jazz’s 15-25.

Ouch.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Jazz Update 1/17/8: Jazz make first trip to Denver tonight!

Tonight the Utah Jazz look to take one on the road against the Denver Nuggets. Currently, the Jazz are a game behind the Nuggets, who are second in the Northwest Division. With a chance to overtake a team that is somewhat a division rival, the Jazz players are taking this game very seriously.

"Every game is big for us right now, just because we dug ourselves in such a hole," said Jazz point guard Deron Williams, referring to the team’s awful December.

"We're trying to catch back up to where we'd like to be at in our division, and the playoff hunt in general. So every game is a big game. As it's been for about a month. But this game we have an opportunity to actually gain an entire game on one of the teams in our division, and that's huge for us because we'd like to repeat as division champion if we can. So it is a big game," added Jazz power forward Carlos Boozer.

Small forward Andrei Kirilenko tried to downplay tonight’s game. “You media like those words ‘rivalry’ and ‘special’ games. It is a special game.”

The Jazz are coming off a four game home win streak. Unfortunately, they’ve been awful on the road, winning only 6 of 20 away games. They will be playing at the hostile Pepsi Center, where the Nuggets are 15-5 this season.

Even though the Nuggets clearly have a home court advantage, an undermanned roster is going to be detrimental, especially in their front court. Nene is on a medical leave due to having a testicular tumor removed. His website has announced that his tumor was benign, and on behalf of Utah Jazz fans everywhere, I wish him a healthy recovery. Kenyon Martin is battling a staph infection in his buttocks. I’m not making that one up.

Taking their playing time is Eduardo Najera, who has been scoreless in his last two games. His condition is suspect as well; he was recently inactive due to a hyperextended elbow.

The Denver guards’ situation isn’t much better either. Chucky Atkins is out with a hernia, and J.R. Smith might be suspended due to a verbal argument with NBA referee Marc Davis during Tuesday night’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

On the other side, the Jazz lineup is fairly healthy and has no combustible incidents. This will be the first these teams will play each other. That said, there is not much to go on but prior encounters. So how is the Jazz going to win tonight?

The Jazz must keep Allen Iverson out of the paint. When he’s driving to the bucket he’s at his best; he can score, he is a very accurate passer in traffic and he can draw fouls. The latter is a huge problem because he’s great from the free throw line. Fortunately, Iverson isn’t the best outside shooter. The Jazz really need to keep him as far away from the basket as possible.

Denver’s other high scorer, Carmelo Anthony poses other problems, as he can score with great versatility. In previous Jazz/Nuggets games, I’ve noticed that Matt Harpring does a great job guarding him. Harpring’s physical defense seems to really irritate Carmelo, which forces him into taking really bad shots and turning the ball over. When Carmelo gets frustrated he really shuts down.

Offensively, the Jazz really need to get Mehmet Okur involved. With him being a good shooter from the outside, that causes Denver center Marcus Camby out of the paint. Camby is undeniably great (he’s a former Defensive Player of the Year), but around the three point line he is not nearly effective.

Getting Camby away from the paint allows Boozer to be a beast from the block, and allows guys like Williams and Kirilenko to cut from the basket. If they keep Camby down low, the smaller Nuggets guards will have a difficult time guarding the seven footer.

Either way, it should be a great game to watch. Both teams can score, and the team that does a better job controlling the ball and shoots better at the free throw line will win the game.

Tonight’s game starts at 9 PM Eastern Time and is available on NBA League Pass.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Jazz Update 1/15/8: Jazz buck Milwaukee

The Utah Jazz have been on a tear since the New Year, and last night they beat the Milwaukee Bucks 98-87 to sweep a four game homestand at the Energy Solutions Arena.

The Jazz pretty much were in control of the Bucks from early on. The only lead that Milwaukee had was during the opening of the game, where they went up by 5 on the lead. From then on, the Jazz had complete control, and they flirted with a thirteen point lead in the fourth quarter.

The Jazz were lead by Deron Williams (33 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds, 4 steals), who flirted with the ever elusive 4 x 5. Carlos Boozer had a quiet night with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Mehmet Okur, who has had some great games recently, seemed to have took the night off with 9 points. That allowed Bucks center Andrew Bogut to come up big for his team with 23 points and 10 boards. Maurice Williams (21), Michael Redd (16) and Charlie Bell (11) all scored in double figures for Milwaukee.

One of the biggest criticisms of the Jazz this season is how they’ve been unable to close out teams in the fourth quarter, sometimes giving up a substantial lead and the game to their opponents. Last night, the Jazz showed that they can defend and execute down the stretch. They outscored the Bucks in the final quarter 27-15, not so much because the Bucks were having an awful offensive game but more so because they were playing some tough defense.

In fact, the Jazz’s defense was looking pretty good last night. They didn’t foul the Bucks too often (18 to Milwaukee’s 33), which severely limited their free throw attempts. Milwaukee only had 18 attempts on the night.

Compare that to Deron Williams, who made a killing from the line (16-20). He outshot the Bucks from the charity stripe!

The Jazz are 6-1 since Kyle Korver joined the team. He had 7 points in last night’s game. Somehow, he also wound up with 2 blocks.

Last night’s game sold out the Energy Solutions arena. Their next game is on Thursday, as they go on the road to take on the Denver Nuggets.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Jazz Update 1/14/8: Preview of Bucks vs. Jazz

After John Stockton retired from the Utah Jazz at the end of the 2003 campaign, it was a race between three young point guards to see who would wind up inheriting the job.

There was the often injured Spaniard Raul Lopez.

There was the Puerto Rican journeyman Carlos Arroyo.

There was the rookie second rounder Maurice Williams.

Unfortunately for the Jazz, they went with Lopez (who they believed would overcome injury after injury and develop into a top guard) and Arroyo (who they signed to a nice contract due to him torching Allen Iverson at the 2004 summer Olympics). Williams wound up signing with the Milwaukee Bucks and officially made his way onto many Jazz fans’ front office regret list.

The flipside is that the Jazz wound up being awful in the 2004-2005 season and wound up with Deron Williams.

Tonight its Williams vs. Williams as the Bucks travel to the Energy Solutions Arena. The Bucks (15-22) have had their troubles of late, as their frontcourt players are battered and bruised. The Jazz (21-17) are shaking off an awful December and the team is looking to make it their fourth win in a row at home.

This is a very winnable game for the Jazz; the Bucks haven’t won a game in Utah in six years. The plan will be to attack the basket and to take advantage of Milwaukee’s limited front court. Dan Gadzuric is listed as having a bruised left shoulder and Josh Voskuhl is suffering from a strained right hip. Former University of Utah standout Andrew Bogut has a long night ahead of him, having to deal with Carlos Boozer, and healthy and surging Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko.

With all the injuries, the Bucks might have to play Yi Jianlian at the center and play small ball. If they want to be competitive tonight, Mo Williams and Michael Redd are going to have produce big time.

If the Jazz win this game tonight, they’ll be back into the playoff hunt. They will be tied with the Golden State Warriors for the eight seed. I’m not saying that this is a make or break game for the Jazz, but they definitely need to get back on track.

The game starts at 9:00 pm Eastern time.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Jazz Update 1/13/8: Jazz live by the line while the Magic die by it

The last time the Orlando Magic played the Utah Jazz, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy blamed everyone--his bench, his assistants, even the fans--for their loss.

This time, Van Gundy can blame his team for not working on their free throw shooting; the Magic stunk from the charity stripe, shooting 20-21. This was enough to let the Jazz come through with a win at home, winning 119-115.

To call the game physical is an understatement. Each team had 32 fouls called against them.

Offensively, both teams were on fire. Every starter wound up in double digit scoring. Each team also had their sixth man get at least ten points.

Magic center Dwight Howard was his usual self, scoring 29 points and 15 rebounds. That was counteracted by the Jazz's Mehmet Okur who also got 29 points and eight rebounds. Both players also had two blocks each. Talk about parity. I think its safe to say that Memo's back.

At the power forward, both teams' starter tried his best to shoot his team out of the game. Macigian Rashard Lewis was 9-20 on the night, with a disgusting 2-10 from three point land. Missed three pointers lead to long rebounds and give your opponent a chance at a fast break. Lewis really made Orlando management look questionable for signing him to that $100+ million contract this summer.

For the Jazz, Carlos Boozer had 15 points on 5-15 shooting. That's not very efficient and he got abused by Howard and Lewis.

Both teams also pulled down a total of 39 rebounds each.

With all this parity, the Jazz won this game due to their offensive efficiency. They out assisted the Magic 32-16. This is classic Jazz basketball; make the extra pass to a cutting player. Their offense isn't that complex but it always works.

This great ball movement is thanks to Deron Williams, who got his typical stat line of 17 points and 11 rebounds.

They were also helped out by a returning Andrei Kirilenko. Mr. Always-Near-A-Tripe-Double himself had a line of 16 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists. He chipped in 2 steals and a block as well.

Involving Andrei on the offense has worked very well this season for the Jazz. Having him and Williams running the offense causes a huge problem for the defense, as they're always looking to set their teammates up.

The one surprise of the night was the lack of CJ Miles, who didn't get any playing time tonight. He'd been contributing as of late and hopefully he'll get himself back into the rotations.

The Jazz continue their home stand against the Milwaukee Bucks tomorrow night.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Jazz Update 1/11/8: Slightly undermanned Jazz beat undermanned Suns

The theme of last night’s Utah Jazz/Phoenix Suns game was “what’s your excuse for not playing!”. Let’s look at both teams’ absence reports:

Phoenix Suns:
Steve Nash—Stomach Flu
Grant Hill—Appendectomy
Shawn Marion—Bruised Elbow

Utah Jazz
Andrei Kirilenko—Lower Back Inflammation
Ronnie Price—Sprained Ankle
Matt Harpring—Wife Giving Birth

What was the difference? Both teams were missing three players. Unfortunately for the Suns that it was three of their starters. The Jazz were able to beat the undermanned visiting Suns 108-86.

So who helped the Jazz ensure this victory? They got their usual contribution from Deron Williams (17 points, 11 rebounds). Carlos Boozer had 18 points, and one rebound.

Instead of those two, look to center Mehmet Okur who had a simply dominating game with 22 points and 17 rebounds.

“We're a lot better team when Memo plays like that," Williams said in a Deseret Morning News post game interview. "I think that's his one of his best games of the year, if not his best game, because he did it from everywhere, he rebounded inside-outside, he played great defense."


Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE/Getty Images
Amare watches in awe as Memo dunks on him.

It was great to see Memo having a game like that. He scored from all over and cleaned up the glass much like the way that Amare Stoudemire does for the Suns. He had 21 points and 15 rebounds on the night.

On the defensive end, Okur was notably more active than usual. During one play halfway through the second, he did a great job on help defense, picking up a charging Marcus Banks using his size to pretty much force him into a turnover.

The Jazz also had a strong showing from Ronnie Brewer, tying a career-high 21 points."He played great tonight," Williams added. "Ronnie was everywhere tonight. You know, putbacks, he shot the ball well, he slashed to the basket, he finished, hit free throws. "It was a great game for him on a national stage, and I feel good for him that he got that exposure because people need to see him."

Because of all the Phoenix absences, it’s not the most fulfilling victory, but a win is a win. The Jazz did prove that they can do two things tonight.

If needed, they can play the Phoenix run and gun style and not be awful at it. They have a lot of quick players like Williams, Brewer and CJ Miles that can make it work. With a returning to form Okur and Kyle Korver, they can shoot from outside which stretches the defense.

The Jazz also showed that they are finally learning how to break a zone defense. After the Suns went to a 2-3 zone in the second, the Jazz’s offense was stifled to stay the lease. But after getting Okur and Korver involved from outside, they were getting enough space to feed Boozer at the low post. Hopefully they will remember this.

The Jazz have tonight off and they take on the Orlando Magic at home. Kirilenko said he might be playing then, but if not, then he’ll get to hang out on the bench with his buddy, rookie Kyrylo Fesenko.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Jazz Update 1/10/8: Key to victory? Steve Nash's tummy!

Tonight the Utah Jazz get to make an appearance on national television, as they take on the Phoenix Suns at home in the second game on TNT tonight.


While the Jazz easily dispatched the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday, the Suns seemed to have their hands full. They overcame a 16 point deficit going into the fourth period and wound up winning in overtime. After that, they had to get ready to fly to Salt Lake City. Oh the grueling schedule of the NBA.


Steve Nash didn’t fly with them last night, as he sat out a good chunk of the game thanks to a stomach virus. He still might be at home; there has been no announcement if he’s joined the team or is staying home sick. Suns coach Mike D’Antoni has also said that Leandro Barbosa and Shawn Marion were feeling somewhat ill, as well.


What does this mean?


Does it mean that the stars and moon and suns are aligned in a way that the Utah Jazz might be able to get the win tonight?


Possibly.


When a full Suns roster played the Jazz back in December, the Jazz nearly won the game. In the fourth quarter—surprise of surprises—the Jazz choked and allowed Phoenix to get the win, 103-98.


In addition to the gastrointestinal problems, the Suns are also missing Grant Hill. He’s gone through a sort of renaissance this year as an all around player, adding rebounding, passing and leadership.


This absence doesn’t have anything to do with his ongoing ankle problems, but an appendectomy. Who would have thunk.


For the Jazz, they are still missing Andrei Kirilenko (back) and Ronnie Price (ankle).

So what should the Jazz do tonight? Defend.


If Nash isn’t playing, try to keep the ball in Barbosa or Marcus Banks’ hands. Force them to turn the ball over as much as the possible.


The Suns also like to set up their three point shooters, so defend the perimeter. This gives the Jazz a chance to work on using a 3-2 zone defense, something that will definitely help them in the playoffs.


Related to that, is that they need to step up their help defense in Kirilenko’s absence.

The Jazz are going to have to be careful on their use of physicality on defense. I’m not saying that the Suns are softies, but they rarely foul their opponents when they are defending. The teams just have two completely different styles. The referees know this, and will probably give the Suns the benefit on this one and be more critical on the Jazz. It would be different if it were say the Detroit Pistons, another physical defender.


On the offense side, the Jazz have shown that they can score in bunches, something that is needed to compete with the Suns. They do have to remember that they don’t have to compete with the Suns as to who is going to be faster; they should just be concerned on their execution.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Jazz Update 1/9/8: They beat the Pacers

All the Utah Jazz needed was one quarter to get themselves back on track last night against the Indiana Pacers. In that period, they outscored the visiting Pacers 40-19 and never looked back.

The Jazz wound up beating the Pacers, 111-89 in front of a sold out 19,911 crowd at the Energy Solutions Arena.

Utah's quick offensive onslaught last night allowed their team's top scorer Carlos Boozer jto drop 22 points and pull down 4 rebounds in 24 minutes. Deron Williams score 10 points and picked up 8 assists in 25 minutes and Mehmet Okur had a productive 24 minutes, with 9 points and 7 rebounds.

I'm assuming Jazz coach Jerry Sloan decided that it was going to be a victory early on and let his starters rest up for their game against the Phoenix Suns tomorrow night.

All eleven Jazz players got a chance to score and geton the stat sheet. Most impressive was second year forward Paul Millsap. "The Paperboy" almost got a double double, scoring 9 points and getting 8 rebounds. Jarron Collins played like a decent back up center getting 4 points and 5 rebounds. Backup point guard Jason Hart played better than some of the starters in the league, with 11 points, 3 assists and 5 rebounds.

As for the swingman shoot out bonanza I called in the preview, Matt Harpring clearly won that one with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.

Here's how the rest did:

  • CJ Miles got 7 points and 5 rebounds, predominately as a small forward.
  • Ronnie Brewer got a 4x3, picking up 9 points and 3 in each rebounds, steals, and assists. Most of his points were picked up at the free throw line.
  • Kyle Korver scored 12 points on 5-11 shooting. He was 1-6 from three point land.
  • Morris Almond got his first NBA bucket, where it looked like everyone on the Jazz was passing to him to try to set him up. That would be his only points of the night (2 total), which is very funny considering he's looking like Kobe and shooting up the D-League.

I'll chalk up the Jazz's win to the following:

  • They outrebounded (48 to 42) and outpassed (27 to 17) Indiana.
  • The Pacers were awful from 3 point land, shooting 5-24.
  • The Pacers put the Jazz on the free throw line 34 times where they scored 27 points. Compare that to their own 16-26 shooting.

Danny Granger lead the Pacers in scoring with 17 points. Jamaal Tinsley chipped in 13 and Mike Dunleavy Jr. added 12.


Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Jazz Update 1/8/8: Utah Jazz look to pace ahead of Indiana tonight at home

For more, check out Jazzcore.blogspot.com

It's been a rough stretch for the Utah Jazz. They've been getting killed on the road and have a chance to start to redeem themselves and get back on track. This month (January, they have a fairly light schedule and they take on the Indiana Pacers at home.

This is the first time both teams have met. The Jazz will be without Andrei Kirilenko (back injury) and Ronnie Price (sprained ankle). Unfortunately there is still no timetable for AK's return.

Here are some key points to tonight's game.

  • Guard the Pacers' wingmen. And I'm not talking about the guys who are willing to go after the ugly chicks. Danny Granger and Mike Dunleavy Jr. can be a handful, especially if they get past their man. I know I sound like a broken record, but the Jazz really need to step up and work on their help defense.
  • Jermaine O'Neal vs. Carlos Boozer. Tonight should be a challenge for Boozer. O'Neal is a better than average defender, and on the opposite end of the floor can get his own on the offense. Boozer is going to have to deal with a bunch of talented power forwards if the Jazz can get themselves back into considering themselves a playoff contender.
  • Mehmet Okur vs. Troy Murphy: Self, meet former self. Or self, meet future self. Both of these guys have a similar style of play; a big guy who can and seems to prefer shooting from the outside. Okur has been having a rough time of it and hopefully can have a big game tonight. For Murphy, this could be a vision of what could happen to him in the future. Which might not be too bad for him, considering Okur already has an NBA championship ring, an All-Star appearance and a marriage to a Turkish super model.

Most interesting about tonight's lineup for the Jazz will be watching who gets time at the shooting guard and small forward. Consider all the players the Jazz will have tonight who play those positions:

  • The Jazz have called up rookie Morris Almond from the NBA D-League. Almond was drafted due to his enormous perimeter shooting and potential.
  • Kyle Korver who the Jazz just traded for his outside shooting prowess.
  • CJ Miles, who at times shows lots of potential from downtown but then have an awful game.
  • Ronnie Brewer who began the season as the 2 guard of choice due to his high shot percentage and strong defense.
  • Matt Harpring, all-around favorite player of Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan.

So who's going to win the Utah Jazz swingman contest? Other than Harpring, who ever shows the most effort on defense. I suspect one of these five could be very well traded by the end of the season.

That's all for now. Tip off is at 9 PM EST.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Jazz Update 1/6/8: Oops, Portland beat them again...

This season, the Utah Jazz have shown great difficulty closing out teams in the fourth quarter. Last night against the Portland Trailblazers at the Rose Garden, the Jazz choked in the third quarter, getting outscored 36-22 and losing a three point lead that they had in the first half. The final score was 103-89. Portland won their series against the Jazz 3-1.

In a game that could have been winnable, thanks to Portland guard Brandon Roy going out with a bruised tail bone (yes, you are reading that right), their forward Martel Webster game off the bench, figuratively carrying his team to the win. He picked up the scoring slack, getting 24 of his 26 points in the third quarter. He was supported by LaMarcus Aldridge's 20 points and 8 rebounds.

So what went wrong for the Jazz?

  • Andrei Kirilenko was out of the game with his back injury. His man on man and help defense would have really helped neutralize Webster tonight. They really need to get him back. In a post game interview, Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan said there is no timetable for his return.
  • If Carlos Boozer is going to have a rough game, the rest of the team will suffer. Last night he only had 6 points, 9 rebounds. He was 3-16 from the field last night and missed both of his free throws. When he's playing well, he frees up outside shooters like CJ Miles and Kyle Korver, who chipped in 6 and 4 points respectively. Boozer also should have played more aggressively in the second half of the game, as Portland center Joel Pryzbilia had four fouls. He's possibly the best Blazer defensive big, and getting him out of the game would have opened up the paint.
  • Sloan gave his team too much freedom in the third. He really should have called a time out, but instead watched as the team didn't score on eight consecutive possessions and Portland went on a tear in front of the home crowd. At times, I think he forgets how young the team is.
  • Mehmet Okur (15 points, 7 rebounds) really needs to become more of a leader. He's starting to play much better than he did earlier in the season, but he needs to become a better help defender and needs to regain his ability to be a clutch shooter for the team at the end of games.

In case you were wondering, Deron Williams had 23 points and 7 assists on the night.

The Jazz have off till Tuesday when they take on the Indiana Pacers. Tomorrow's update will show us how the Jazz get down and party like a rockstar.

Friday, January 4, 2008

Jazz Update 1/4/8: AK-47 out for Portland game, Okur fights Giricek, Secret on Joining the Jazz


Andrei Kirilenko Checks Himself Before He Wrecks Himself

Kirilenko's case of fragility reared its ugly head today at an unfortunate time--during the end of today's practice session. According to the Deseret News, AK will be staying home tomorrow night and not joining the team as they go on the road to play the Portland Trailblazers. He's suffering from back spasms, an injury which caused him to sit out some games during the 2005-2006 season.

With these starting small forward minutes, coach Jerry Sloan has a few options as to who will get the start tomorrow.

  • Matt Harpring, who just may be Sloan's favorite player in all of professional sports, is a likely favorite.
  • CJ Miles has been playing really well the last few games and I could see him getting some extra tick. His perimeter play would compliment Ronnie Brewer's inside game.
  • Paul Millsap might get some extra minutes at the three, but he's more valuable backing Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur.
  • Kyle Korver has played well in his first two games, but if there's one thing Sloan doesn't like doing is veering from the plan. You never know, because Sloan has been very pro-Kyle since he joined the team. I'd personally like to see them play a Boozer/Korver/Okur/Deron Williams/Brewer lineup. The Williams/Boozer pick and roll would cause mayhem in the paint, freeing up Okur and Korver on the outside and Brewer to slash towards the basket.

This will propably be a game time decision so we'll just have to wait and see. Hopefully AK will get back quickly, as his help defense will be missed.

Mehmet Okur vs. Gordan Giricek: The Euro War To Settle The Score

Many people think that Giricek's exit from Utah was mostly due to some feuding with Sloan, but maybe it was a beef with Okur. If you remember on Wednesday night's game, Giri took a somewhat hard foul from Okur, to the point he was screaming at the ref that it should be a flagrant. I didn't buy into it then, but look at this footage of the Jazz from their game in Philadelphia in November:


You can clearly see Okur trying to trip Giri from behind. Thanks to the Jazzfanz message board crew for finding this one.

Quote of the Day

"The reason I liked Harpring was he came in here and kicked our tail."

This was said by Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller on a radio interview on January 3. The secret has been revealed. If you want to play for the Jazz, all you have to do is have a good game against them before you become a free agent.

That's it for today and have a great night. We'll be back tomorrow with coverage of the Jazz/Blazers game.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Kyle Korver shoots up his old team

Because of his timely three point shooting, Allen Iverson dubbed him sniper.

Kyle Korver lived up to his nickname and helped the Utah Jazz close out the Philadelphia Sixers 110-107.

It’s kind of funny how things can change so rapidly for an NBA player. On Sunday he was told that he would be traded from the Sixers to Utah. This past Monday he played with the Jazz in their 111-101 victory over the Portland Trailblazers. Tuesday night was spent greeting his old Sixers teammates at the airport and last night he played a key role in beating them.


Former Jazz guard Gordon Giricek gets introduced to his superior replacement Kyle Korver(AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac)


Korver had 14 points (2-2 from three point land) in 11 minutes of play, mostly during the fourth quarter. He also had a few key defensive stops, something that he didn’t show too often in Philadelphia.

Four of those points came from clutch free throws in the final minutes of the game. The Jazz had pretty much dominated the Sixers for the game, having a lead at times as big as 13 points. But as expected, the Jazz started slipping in the fourth quarter and at times were whittled down to a 2 point lead. Korver helped them out big time at the end of the game.

Part of the Sixers rally was due to them crowding the paint by going to a 2-3 zone defensive scheme. The Jazz countered that by having Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer going to a high pick and roll which freed up Boozer to take a jump shot from the top of the key. His jumper is a thing of beauty because it gets so much height.

Boozer finished the night scoring 22 points and 9 rebounds. Williams had 15 points and an amazing 20 assists! Their shooting guards Ronnie Brewer and CJ Miles, scoring 11 and 12 points respectively.

Mehmet Okur had a good game for the first time in a while, scoring 20 points (2-3 on three pointers), but only pulled down a paltry 2 rebounds in 38 minutes of play. A lot of his offense came at the expense of Andrei Kirilenko (6 points); Okur had 14 field goal attempts to Kirilenko’s 6.

The play of the night involved Okur, but not in a good way. In the third period, he—a 6’11” center mind you—was blocked by the 6’1” Sixer guard [[Louis Williams[[, who chased the ball down to the other end for a sick dunk. That Williams wound up scoring 17 on the night. That was joined by Samuel Dalembert’s 20, Andre Iguodala’s 30 and Andre Miller’s 25. Iguodala’s 30 were enough to be his season high.

The other Sixer of note was Gordon Giricek, who played his first game as a Sixer. He was the other part of the Korver trade and was booed pretty loudly. He had 4 points on the night.

I guess the Jazz have made out on the better end of the trade.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Lucky 14: Jazz end Blazers' 13 win streak

The Utah Jazz ended 2007 with something they needed: a win. In particular, this was a 111-101 win at home against the Portland Trail Blazers who had beat them twice this month.

Carlos Boozer (19 points, 9 rebounds) and Deron Williams (18 points, 8 rebounds) played their usual. It was Andrei Kirilenko who really carried the Jazz, with 14 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, just shy of a a triple double. Memo Okur is still slumping, scoring only 6 points and pulling down a single rebound in 21 minutes. Ouch.

Paul Millsap is getting Okur's time, scoring 14 and 6 rebounds. The way Okur is playing, they should start Millsap at the power forward and move Boozer to the center.

The Trail Blazers were led by LaMarcus Aldridge who had 36 points and an unreal three rebounds. Aldridge is going to be a good player but needs to be more aggressive on the boards. Brandon Roy added 17 points and Jarret Jones added 15.

The free throw differential wasn't as bad as it had been during the month; Portland only had 16 more opportunities.

Kyle Korver also made his Jazz debut with 11 points, and pretended he was Kirilenko by adding 2 blocks and 2 steals to hsi statline. He looked like he was playing really well and fitting into Utah's system very well. He also played adequate defense which would lead me to believe one of the two things:

  1. Korver didn't care about playing defense back with the Sixers.
  2. Korver has already realized that the only way to get consistent minutes in a Jerry Sloan team is to play hard.

Either way, I'm really liking his addition to the team. Korver gets to play his old team on Wednesday, as the Philadelphia Seventy Sixers come to the Energy Solutions Arena. Happy new year and enjoy the NHL Winter Classic!