Sweet music & sour notes -- Oct. 20
Friday, October 20, 2006
Game 3 of the preseason got underway last night (Jazz/Blazers), with Utah taking a 104-90 victory. Let's hear some sweet music & sour notes ... \
Sweet Music
* The Naked Russian: 15 pts (5-7 FG; 5-5 FT), 6 reb, 7 assists, 6 blocks - Don't try to tell this guy preseason games are worthless. After missing the past two preseason games with lower back trouble (uh-oh), Kirilenko went crazy against the Blazers. When he's playing this well, it's easy to find more sweet music.
* Carlos Boozer: 23 pts (8-13 FG), 7 reb, 4 assists and 2 BLOCKS!! - Nice to see Boozer playing defense and boxing out once in a while. Just stay healthy and AK-47 will make you look like an all-star.
* Mehmet Okur: 13 pts (6-10 FG), 12 reb, 2 blocks - It's nice when the frontline contributes. Okur will probably have more games like this (minus about 3 rebounds and 2 blocks) on most nights provided The Naked Russian and Boozer do their jobs.
Sour notes
* Jazz fall asleep on lead - Utah led by as many as 17 points before the Blazers closed the gap to three with 8:16 left in the fourth quarter. Not a good sign against any team, but a really bad sign considering it was Portland. The Blazers will probably be challenging for the worst record in the league, so you've got to put them away early.
* Brandon Roy & Jarret Jack - They scored only 27 points combined, but had Juan Dixon found his shot last night (4-13 FG), the crappy Jazz defense in the backcourt would have been exposed once again.
* C.J. Miles struggles - I like that Ronnie Brewer and Matt Harpring played well, but Miles is supposed to be the future, too. A one-for-three night from the floor with 2 fouls in 16 minutes isn't too good. He seems to be having trouble getting into a groove.
